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