Oh, the irony.
Interest in props from the Verse is pretty much nonexistent these days, and now we finally get a real Saiga12 airsoft replica (made by Tokyo Marui)!
Those of you who have known me the longest around here, know that Vera (or "Alice") was the first really big prop I ever took on. That first copy was in metal, done while Firefly Fever was still a thing. It's now about 4 revisions later, and I'm still not fully satisfied. And with an accurate (though expensive) Saiga replica available, how I can not have a go?
So, for those of you who are still interested in Verse props... here goes. (Also... feel free to leave a comment or a "like" to the thread, 'cause it'll help me determine how much energy I put towards documenting this build.)
The aim this time will be to raise the bar several notches from my earlier efforts. This time I'll print in resin, not PLA (and no aluminum, 'cause I can't do that myself). I've done a version before with removable mag, folding/locking barrel and such, but this time I want to see how close I can get to a copy that will disassemble and work exactly like the Showtime shotguns. I want to tap all the screws, try to leave the Saiga receiver intact and still able to shoot BBs. (The AK receivers I used before essentially had to be gutted, because they were so different to a Saiga.)
As many as possible of the "machined" Showtime and Firefly addons will interlock, so that I could disassemble and fix or repaint a single part if needed.
For the past week or two, I've been getting started, breaking down the Saiga, looking over all the old reference. (The airsoft was pretty hard to get hold of. Seems like TM are having huge problems keeping up with demand. And since it's a gas gun, not an AEG, it was crazy expensive.)
So far, I've discovered dozens of tiny details that I hadn't seen before... things I can't imagine anyone would really bother with. After frame-stepping through Showtime again, I've managed to work out more or less exactly how the mechanics of the folding barrel actually worked. (I've also noted that the Showtime hero guns were all different. It's like each one was machined with slight differences and you can spot where they obviously had to correct for mistakes in the design! The first redesigned parts are already in the process of being printed.
More later, but in the meantime, here's a sneak preview render of some of the barrel parts so you can see how complex this thing actually is. A lot of folks dismiss it as "just a bunch of Lego blocks" but it's pretty far from that. (Every piece in this render has been rebuilt.)
Interest in props from the Verse is pretty much nonexistent these days, and now we finally get a real Saiga12 airsoft replica (made by Tokyo Marui)!
Those of you who have known me the longest around here, know that Vera (or "Alice") was the first really big prop I ever took on. That first copy was in metal, done while Firefly Fever was still a thing. It's now about 4 revisions later, and I'm still not fully satisfied. And with an accurate (though expensive) Saiga replica available, how I can not have a go?
So, for those of you who are still interested in Verse props... here goes. (Also... feel free to leave a comment or a "like" to the thread, 'cause it'll help me determine how much energy I put towards documenting this build.)
The aim this time will be to raise the bar several notches from my earlier efforts. This time I'll print in resin, not PLA (and no aluminum, 'cause I can't do that myself). I've done a version before with removable mag, folding/locking barrel and such, but this time I want to see how close I can get to a copy that will disassemble and work exactly like the Showtime shotguns. I want to tap all the screws, try to leave the Saiga receiver intact and still able to shoot BBs. (The AK receivers I used before essentially had to be gutted, because they were so different to a Saiga.)
As many as possible of the "machined" Showtime and Firefly addons will interlock, so that I could disassemble and fix or repaint a single part if needed.
For the past week or two, I've been getting started, breaking down the Saiga, looking over all the old reference. (The airsoft was pretty hard to get hold of. Seems like TM are having huge problems keeping up with demand. And since it's a gas gun, not an AEG, it was crazy expensive.)
So far, I've discovered dozens of tiny details that I hadn't seen before... things I can't imagine anyone would really bother with. After frame-stepping through Showtime again, I've managed to work out more or less exactly how the mechanics of the folding barrel actually worked. (I've also noted that the Showtime hero guns were all different. It's like each one was machined with slight differences and you can spot where they obviously had to correct for mistakes in the design! The first redesigned parts are already in the process of being printed.
More later, but in the meantime, here's a sneak preview render of some of the barrel parts so you can see how complex this thing actually is. A lot of folks dismiss it as "just a bunch of Lego blocks" but it's pretty far from that. (Every piece in this render has been rebuilt.)
