Richard Coyle

 Richard Coyle has been in the props making industry since 1979 where he and his company have produced props for numerous films such as Star Treks II, IV, V and VI, Reanimator, Ice Pirates, Creature, Trancers, and many, many more. He has also produced props for numerous television shows including Star Trek, The next Generation, Automan, Nightrider and The Fall Guy. Coyle Now owns and operates his own prop making shop in Arizona. 


Coyle's prop making career began when he went to see  Star Trek for the first time in 1977, and heard of the conventions that came along with it. After going to one, he wanted to do a little more. He found a dealers room where people sold all kinds of things, and with his background in electronics as a TV repair man, he was able to put lights and sound effects into the ray guns, fans instantly took a new shine to the updated models being sold.

This ray gun is possibly Coyle's most well known prop that he has made to date, which was made for the Star Trek movies. He explains having a career in making props is rather challenging, he doesn't get time off and works for a basic living wage right now, he was at his peek in the 1980's. I think this looks like a fantastically made gun, appealing to its sci-fi target audience very well with its futuristic look (When it was created in the 1980's), expressed through the metalic colours and high-tech features, Coyle made the perfect model that fit the film perfectly.