Sneakers Code Breaker

UPDATE 5/26/24: The case shell extensions have been updated to A) allow you to keep the black tape mechanism plate intact (after cutting away the motor mount and removing gears and pointy bits) and B) to fix the front which was about 1.5mm too shallow. I'm also added cards, short and tall, for the slot either plain or with approximated circuit parts (use #D View to see the back). Additionally, I'm added a 3d printable TO-3 type transistor for the ends of the black box.

There are reference photos of the original prop and more info on the RPF:
https://www.therpf.com/forums/threads/sneakers-movie-props.36944/
https://www.therpf.com/forums/threads/sneakers-janek-black-box-circuit-wip.334112/

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The 1992 film Sneakers is still a great 'hacker' movie to this day and, if you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it.

Much of the film holds up to scrutiny, but the main MacGuffin is a somewhat far-fetched code breaker, sorry 'the' code breaker, that's hidden inside an answering machine. A Panasonic KX-T1450, to be specific.

The gutted answering machine was also modified by the props department to add height to the enclosure. This was done to allow the interior black box and vertical card to fit.

Long story short, this is a ring to add to a gutted KX-T1450 to make it more like the movie prop. If you choose to hinge it as in the film, there's a block for attaching slightly larger hinges, if you're s-inclined, to the ring. I'd suggest either using bolts for the hinges, or printing in 100% infill if you plan to use screws. There's a fairly thin lip on the top side for fitting to the lower shell, so you probably want to print it at a decently high resolution.

There's a 25mm high and a 38 mm high version. The movie version is probably closer to the latter, but, in my opinion, the shorter version looks nicer.

FYI: If you don't want to re-paint the whole machine, which I suspect was done on the original, Krylon Metallic Shimmer is a very close match to the original top piece's silver/nickel finish.

There's also a small piece to fill in the jack ports on the upper shell. Otherwise they'll be open holes. This part is a tight fit, so it will require filing or sanding. But you want it to look nice, right?

UPDATE: Just added a printable 'black box' since I haven't been able to identify the enclosure used in the original. One version has a slot to hold the card, one does not.

The rest is up to you!