Star Trek Data’s Positronic Brain Appliance Custom Display
A custom display bust for a screen-used Data’s Positronic Brain facial appliance from the Next Generation TV series.
Data’s positronic brain facial appliance from Star Trek The Next Generation was brought to us by one of our long-time clients looking for a very special custom display. They wanted to mount the appliance to a head to match the look from the episode. It would be an elaborate display but ultimately, it would give the item context and make it immediately recognizable to even casual fans of the show. Better yet, the client had the talented Anthony Sforza restore the electronics so that the lights not only lit up but also flashed in the original sequence!
This facial appliance was worn by actor Brent Spiner in the season 7 episode, Thine Own Self. While on an away mission Data is in an explosion which causes damage to his skin and it reveals his internal android workings, in particular, his positronic brain. On the TV show’s set, this piece was applied to Spiner’s face and make-up “skin” was applied around the edges to give the impression that it was under his skin. With our custom display bust we were able to actually install that brain internally!
Our lead in-house digital artist, Christian Maggi, began with a digital sculpture of actor Brent Spiner based on referencing a lifecast of Spiner. A digital sculpture offers us options that are not available with traditional sculpting. This client is a huge Star Trek collector and owns several different Data props, so the digital file allows us to modify the same base sculpture to fit the needs of each individual project. Changes to his expression or modifications to the sizing which would require a brand new clay sculpture and mold, are able to be done digitally.
The full bust was then output with high-resolution resin 3D printing. Patrick Louie sketched out and cut the “tear” in his face to match the look from the original episode. He then hand-sculpted those edges t give them the look of torn skin like in the show. He created a small access panel hidden under Data’s hair and brackets inside the head, which allowed us to safely insert the wired panel without any permanent modification to the original prop.
Samantha Martino then did the final paint, hair and finish work. The Data bust was finished with a realistic shimmering paint finish and custom acrylic eyes. A mix of lace-backed hair pieces and hand-laid hair and eyebrows brought further realism to Data’s head. We designed the display base to be very minimal and hide the controllers for the lights. This keeps the focus on the screen used piece and how it was used in the show.
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