Raygun:From the junk bin

Ok, this is my third build, I've built a WWII Captain America Shield from an old seat back. And a couple of weeks ago built a lightsaber from trash.

So now inspired by some of the work of others, primarily D48thRonin, I needed to build a Raygun.

So I searched for inspiration! There is of course D48thRonin's work of art:



and a few other pieces of inspiration from the interwebz:

such as this from Weta



and then this work of art:




So with these images in my brain... we set to gathering bits from the junk box.

carrying on...

A speaker from an old iMac



an umbrella handle and drawer pull that I didn't use on another project...



and then the main donator of gizzle to my project! A Oscilloscope that dated from the early 1960's that was in a pile of electronics heading to the metal reclamation yard.






Oh yes! That alone was a work of art inside, everything point to point wired with tubes!

Top side:



Bottom side:



what fun that must have been to solder.

so an initial sketch up in Illustrator, just toying with shape and size...



and roughing it out with some scrap PVC and conduit along with a huge old Federal circuit breaker, "penny in every one!"



Here's where we're at so far. The oscilloscope has a perforated top and bottom aluminum chassis which may be better for the barrel cooling area. Also the umbrella had a pointed tip... I'm thinking wave guide for that, so we're more on the path of a Telsa device.

without pic's, there's no proof.

So here's the umbrella tip:




and the oscilloscope case:




and I have a LOT of bits from old hard drives....





This is going to be fun.

A man after my own heart! Fantastic stuff and kudos for your ingenuity, I'm going to enjoy watching this for sure

The old oscilloscope should provide you with tons of parts for projects to come. Hard to believe they were soldered by hand back then isn't it? This is going to turn out great.

this looks like its going to come out great. I wish i had more junk laying around haha i cant waiy yo see how this will turn out.

My goal is to use as little paint and magic as possible. To use real bits in one way or another. (I hate sanding)

I've had some ideas on the way back from rehearsal, (Merry Wives of Windsor, I'm Falstaff... ) to get the heat shield and umbrella bits to be more in view.

As far as other spares go, the plasma cannon from Wolfenstein caught my eye, that could inspire a rifle version of this build. I have the top of one of my old sailboat masts that could make an awesome butt of a shoulder fired plasma weapon.

Back at it in the AM.

Ok, work on the handle so far.

Handle attached with stove bolt in grip, epoxied in place and then bolted to inside of sphere.

Sphere drilled out to accept tube plugs.




Trigger is from a hard drive. It's the read head of a multi disc platter with the heads themselves sanded off. Drilling that hole through the sphere was a trick!




and the look of the handle section with tubes temporarily installed.




So far, so good!

Can't wait to see the finished piece! Looking great.

Looking very Retro so far...can't wait to see more.

Your junk bin has cooler things in it than mine.

Now THIS is gonna be sweet!

I'm absolutely loving this. Wish I just stumbled across 60's oscilloscopes

The oscilloscope was one of those finds that I couldn't resist. It was at an electronics recycling drop-off day. Someone just put it in the pile.

So here is the umbrella tip with the flange pushed down toward the tip some more.




and with two bits from a hard drive slid over...




Sorry for the lack of depth of field adjustment. I'll bust out the better camera in a few.

and then the barrel. I painted it with copper paint. I wasn't going to, but then I did.




and I took this one step further by wrapping the tube with cat5 cable, which I'll use gold rub and buff to get it too look like bare copper wiring.





So we let that all dry over the weekend.

and here is the mock-up of the inner barrel, with windings bumped up against the back handle and tube section.



and looking down the at the business end.




Now we'll start construction on the outer sheilding, and circuit breaker "clip"

nice build

I bought this ABS reducer:




And cut it in two....




and that will hold my cut aluminum shielding... as temporarily put together here...





I also soldered wires to the tube bases, so you can see that interior looks more interesting. And I slid a rotory switch assembly from the oscilloscope in there to give more interior greeble.

Here's a mock up of where I'm going next...



Don't worry, beauty shots will be taken with a far better camera. But it's getting there!

That's just awesome!

So much fun!
I'd hang that oscilloscope tube board on the wall and call it art!

It's coming along! I have to admit, it's getting HEAVY. it's turning in to a solid prop.

I think I'll finish it this week and build a nice stand for it. The oscilloscope came with a nice plate on the back:




That would look perfect on the stand eventually.

Sweet!

"I have to admit, it's getting HEAVY."

I don't know much about handguns, but how's the balance? It might be pretty hard to blast someone if the barrel's too heavy.

slightly heavy on the barrel is ok, considering the kick this thing has. I am planning on having it as a pulse verses holding a continual wave when the trigger is pulled.

A portion of the pulse will be filtered back via a diode and do an instant recharge of the capacitor...

very nice work
builds like this are giving me the urge to do something with the junk in my garage