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Is the article author here? Mark Dehlinger is a CAD designer. We had the displays made to order. I was part of the restoration team. There was years of research in going through dozens and dozens of LED manufacturers in China to see if we could find anything off-the-shelf first.

If you're having trouble getting hold of Mark, I would go through Joe Walser. This is the main contact page for the team:

https://www.facebook.com/TimeMachineRestoration/

edit: oh, the article is 8 years old :)

I would consider just 3D printing the 14-segment baffles and then use SMD LEDs behind them rather than try to source the exact precise size and color of display.

I don't like how short the middle segments are on those example displays. There's no reason they can't have squarer top and bottom edges. The diagonals don't have double-beveled ends.

This one runs down some other designs for a 14 segment display and also has 16 segment displays (where all of the cross-bars are split in 2 instead of just the middle)

https://uk.rs-online.com/web/content/discovery/ideas-and-adv...

Tip I didn't see mentioned in the article (but a prop maker would be aware of):

If you're having trouble with color-matching with now more rare n-segment LED parts, you might be able to use lighting gels (from theatre, cinema, and photography).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_gel

Nam gyu

(2017)

Also worth a nod toward @mitxela’s gorgeous and absurd Precision Clock series, the latest of which pretty much nails the 7-segment elements TFA references…

https://mitxela.com/projects/precision_clock_mk_iv

Discussed here 1 month ago, 532 points, 130 comments (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44144750)