Just bought this - working with accessories and original box - want to convert it to the pke meter- looking for tips, advice , guides to conversion - ect — appreciate any help
-Randall in Ohio
My honest opinion, I wouldn’t ruin it by turning it into a pke. I would mold the shell inside and out, and modify the cast, then make more and finally provide nice shells. But that’s just me 
I faced the same choice 20+ years ago.
After building a PKE meter from scratch in 1989,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpBYY05WPqE
a friend of mine gave me an Iona shell around 1993. My original plan was to make a cast of the shell, modify that and make finals from that so I could return the shell to my friend. I was never able to get a good cast, and my friend told me he didn’t need the Iona back, so I decided to modify the Iona directly.
What’s the point of keeping a pristine old shoe polisher?
If you’re comfortable cutting, filling and sanding styrene and building parts from scratch it’s not an impossible task. There are other PKE build threads on these forums. Perhaps I can post some shots of the one I’ve been working on for a LONG time. I can also post some reference photos the same friend who gave me the shell took at Modern Props in 1993 or so.
Shawn
Is there a pattern for the “wings” ??
I have now gutted the polisher - much lighter now - anyone want or need the motor or accessories ?
Been looking into how much in materials it would cost to mold it , once modified - I have a lot of casting experience , have many of my own works for sale in other forums
Here’s what the wings look like in the real prop:
I’ve scratch-built my wings from styrene.
I filled them with a bit of polyurethane resin to add strength.
This shows how I plan to mount them in my modified shell:
When I get time in the next week or so I’ll create a thread showing my build.
Best.
Shawn
My plan last year was to create molds of my modified Iona and use a resin cast for my final prop. I ended up with a handful of decent copies:
Though these would be useable with different degrees of clean-up, I was never happy with the feel of the resin. I tried two different types made by two different manufacturers, but neither really felt like styrene, so I’ve decided to use my modified Iona for my hero prop. It would be more fragile than a resin copy, but it would be a more authentic reproduction of the actual prop.
I’ve been working on this stupid thing for over 20 years. I had the shell pretty much finished around 2003, but I wasn’t able to get the electronics working properly. A few years ago I learned about the Teensy Arduino, and I was able to prototype functional electronics to drive the servos and LEDs. Then I got greedy a year ago and decided to explore adding sound effects. I made some progress, but life and work got in the way, and I haven’t touched it for almost a year.
I made a big push last week to upgrade some of the lights in my 1984 Proton Pack, and I’m itching to continue that and this PKE.
Shawn
Great googly moogly! I’m anxious to see more
Shawn - nice shells- would love to build those
Trying to figure the best way to fill in the hole on the bottom-had considered putting tape on the outside and then using two-part 5 minute epoxy and fiberglass mat on the inside and then building up the outside with Bondo I think that would work?
The idea of putting fiberglass into styrene frightens me. As far as I can tell on the original prop (as visible in the photo above), and in my reproduction, they glued a circle of styrene plastic over the hole and filled the other side with filler. I used Bondo and spot putty.
Note that to be accurate you have to reconfigure the holes for the upper screws, moving them out to accommodate the ribs.
Shawn
Thanks for the responses !
I plan on doing a "close " replica - I’ve come this far , might as well move the screws too , LOL
The photos my friend Bryan took:
http://www.gbfans.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=42356
don’t show those screw holes very well. This shot from GB 2 was my best reference.
Sharper images could probably be pulled from the Blu Ray.
Shawn
More work - built temporary display
Closed in bottoms with Sintra and epoxy 
