Multipass Tutorial - Introduction and Overview

Welcome to my MultiPass tutorial!

This tutorial will walk you through all of the steps necessary to build up a MultiPass kit to look just like this one.

To see the entire tutorial listed in order in your browser, click on this link.

In fact, the picture here was taken at the end of the making of this very tutorial.

I have tried to document every detail of the build, including recommended techniques, tools and methods. If you find anything that is lacking, or think there might be ways I can improve the tutorial, please don't hesitate to drop me a line with your suggestions.

I was digging through some old files on my PC the other day and realized that this project started in August of 2000, if not shortly before that. The idea to make my own MultiPass started long before that, but the actual process of getting together a kit for myself started many years ago. I wanted my Multipass to be the most accurate kit ever made, from the body, to the graphics.

While the kit I made has a few minor flaws in it, I believe it to be the best one made. This tutorial even shows you how to fix one of the flaws.

For the record, there is one detail on the pass that I intentionally did not replicate, and a second detail that I could not figure out how to replicate. The former is a bevel that is found on the ring around the yellow button. There should be a raised lip on the inside of the ring, but I could not find a way to economically accomplish this. I may end up getting a piece machined, and then mold it later, but that's a long way off. The other detail is a small angled edge that can be found just below the LED on the front face. I don't know if this is a cut, a crack in the prop, or a step up from a different level. I have spent many hours trying to reconcile the details found in the different props in the movie with the the details that I "know" to be true about the pass. I came up with a compromise that eliminates this detail, but keeps the pass easy to make. I tried incorporating the step in a couple of prototypes, and just couldn't figure out how to engineer it.

I've seen some other great pieces out there, but none include the research, time/money spent, and just plain dedication to getting the details right that I feel this piece does.

Some steps of the process proved to be more difficult than others. In order to explain what I was thinking or doing at the moment, I often describe in great detail what is being done. The pictures reflect intermediate moments in the process and are to be used in conjunction with the text.

I recommend that you follow the steps in order. At the very least, read the tutorial through in chronological order before attempting to build your own. Some of the steps MUST be done before others, whereas some steps can be done at any time. If you familiarize yourself with the various steps involved before beginning, you can make your own construction decisions along the way.

Good luck!