Following The Battle Of The Blue Mast, in order to keep production costs down practical effects were introduced on set. While the Denver based visual effects house Forbidden Empire Visuals was retained to produce the breathtaking interstellar maneuvers of the Four Fleets, in order to give the actors a more physical experience it was decided to give the cast a more realistic setting when filming the interior scenes aboard the ships. Puppeteers, Magicians, and Special Effects teams were brought in to build many practical effects into the set itself.
An excellent example is the scene in season 4 episode 7 in which James Aracana speaks to an agent infiltrated aboard The Singing Crone. This effect was accomplished using the Pepper's Ghost Illusion, the same illusion that produces the ghosts of the Disney World ride The Haunted Mansion. This allowed the actors to speak to each other in real time while still giving an unsettling transparency to the image that later became iconic in the ship-to-ship communications arrays. Critics hailed the use of this practical effect as it allowed for the actors to more accurately convey the fear of being an agent in hostile territory about to lose their nerve. This scene, and more like it are frequently re-enacted by fans at conventions during the talent portion of Cosplay events.
Sleight of hand was first employed in season 3 episode 2 when Captain Hellman's penchant for the Ta'll Maruke is first explored. It was later employed by many members of the cast when a variation of the sleight, commonly known as the English Transfer, was used during the reloading of ammo in extended fire fight scenes. The design of the pistol was based on the props department's adaptation of the Nerf Fortnite SMG-E Blaster, and thus did not have a book-accurate loading mechanism for ammunition. To maintain continuity the cast would vanish the ammunition as it was "inserted" into the pistol, so that the props team would not have to further alter the base design.
Many of the panel decorations in the cockpit of The Singing Crone were provided from a local pawn shop Dusty Dewey's Knick Knack Shack. Fan's of the show recognized as many of these decorations were eventually given away as audience prizes on the panel trivia podcast The Quiz Box.