Spat Aliens Spulse Rifle - Upgrades!

Kevin Gossett

Master Member
RPF PREMIUM MEMBER
Embarrassing confession time: up until the last couple of months, I had never seen any of the Alien anthology start to finish. :$ Last summer Amazon had the anthology blu ray set on sale, so I picked it up. I finally got around to watching them all over the last couple of months. During my watching, I also started browsing pulse rifle threads here, and my interest was significantly piqued! Unfortunately, when I get stuck on a prop I get stuck on it. Naturally I had to have one of my own!

On a couple of recommendations, I stumbled on Spat Cave and his resin kit. I could have gotten the airsoft from Evike, but I'm more of a do-it-yourselfer. I opted for the $200 model with static LED counter (set at 95).

The kit:
This thing is beautiful! It arrived well packed, which was a slight concern when I saw that everything fit inside a medium USPS box. The pieces were wrapped in bubble wrap, so everything was unharmed!
With this kit you receive:
- upper shroud in two halves
- grenade launcher and pump handle in two halves
- barrel/vent assembly (solid piece*)
- mag well in two halves
- Thompson lower receiver with working trigger
- mag well front and back plate
- stock

As luck would have it, I was also fortunate enough to pick up a resin grenade launcher from Matsuo, which has a working pump grip, shell litter, and trigger. Here is everything laid out as I received it

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As I mentioned before, this kit is beautiful. Very little clean up work is necessary, and Spat does most of that clean up for you before sending it. All I needed to do was some light sanding on some edges to true everything up. Here is everything mocked up before I began just to test fit parts

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Close up of mag well with LED counter

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Here is the Matsuo GL and the Spat GL for comparison

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As you can see, the two are shaped quite differently. I knew going into it that I would need to do some heavy modifications to either the grenade launcher or the mag well to make this work. At first I wanted to hollow out the mag well so as not to do anything to the Matsuo GL. I realized however that this would be a lot more work, and would be harder to get everything to line up and fit correctly. The easier route was to cut down the GL to fit the mag well.

To accomplish this, I made a paper template using one half of the Spat GL and laid that over half of the Matsuo GL and traced my cut lines. I used a hacksaw blade to make the cuts on each half of the GL. Once everything was cut I sanded everything down to fit flush with the mag well. I also had to carve out a portion of the mag well to allow the pump handle to slide open completely, and to allow the GL trigger to move freely. Here is the finished GL with the mag well.

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Everything else came together rather easily after that. Just glued the shroud halves together, then the mag well halves together. The Thompson receiver came equipped with a working trigger and spring. I simply had to drill a 1/8" hole through each side of the receiver and through the trigger. I cut a small piece of 1/8" rod that fed through the assembly to keep the trigger in place. I left the rod slightly shorter so I could fill each side with putty to cover it up. I then hot glued the spring to the top of the trigger assemby.

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Now I could start assembling the pieces together. The receiver and mag well were glued together, then that assembly was glued to the shrouds. Next, the GL was glued, followed by the stock. The front and back mag well plates were the last pieces I glued on. For the magazine cap, I drilled and recessed magnets so I could take it on and off easily, since that is where the battery pack is kept for the LED.

No flash

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With flash

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I'll take some proper pictures in the next couple of days.

Here is everything all put together with the exception of the barrel/vent assembly*. For the picture, it is just sitting on top. I'm not too keen on having the assembly a solid piece, and I don't think drilling out the vents will be enough for me. I may end scratch building that part.

All I need to do is some minor seam clean up and puttying, then a little bit of sanding before I can paint! Should have everything all done next week :thumbsup
 
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Re: Spat Aliens Spulse Rifle WIP

Always love the Pulse rifles....love seeing the mods done on these......will be watching definitely....nice work so far....
 
Re: Spat Aliens Spulse Rifle WIP

It is hard to resist the urge to get a proper PR.

Plus, You always make the greatest props. Your house must be a museum and that is not a bad thing.
 
Re: Spat Aliens Spulse Rifle WIP

Thanks for the feedback guys! This really was one of the easier builds I've done lately... Looks like rain in the forecast today and Tuesday, so I'll have to get everything finished up Monday!
 
Re: Spat Aliens Spulse Rifle WIP

Question to the masses. What can I put over the LED counter to give it the deep red effect?
 
Re: Spat Aliens Spulse Rifle WIP

a Lee filter should work. I think I have a couple of reds that should fit. Let me dig them out tonight and take measurements. If you want one you can have it.
 
Re: Spat Aliens Spulse Rifle WIP

Lens filter was a thought of mine, too. On a whim while grabbing some groceries for dinner, I thought I would take a look around to see what I might find. As luck would have it, I came across this

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Looks to be the right color I am wanting, and looks great over the LED counter

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Best part is it is tape, so I don't to worry about any kind of adhesive

Thanks for the offer though!
 
Re: Spat Aliens Spulse Rifle WIP

Nice! I love it when we stumble on a good solution to an unusual problem in some location as general as the grocery store!! LOL!!

Awesome work!
 
Re: Spat Aliens Spulse Rifle WIP

I have been needing to get something red for mine, havent found something thin and sturdy enough yet.....still hoping to find something.....
 
Re: Spat Aliens Spulse Rifle WIP

Kevin, your build is going great. Love the mods your doing to it.

On my second PR I needed to do the same. I found in my stash of models an old funnycar kit by Polar Lights that the body was molded in clear red plastic. Yep, I found a nice flat spot on it and cut a section out for the counter window. Later I decided I wanted a smoked window instead of the red. I took one of the T-Tops from an Aoshima Knightrider model and trimmed it to fit. Turned out great. I still have the other T-Top so I will use it on m my next PR.

Guy, I can send you a red Lee filter if you want it. They are a thin acetate type of plastic that can be cut with scissors and are rich in color.
 
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Re: Spat Aliens Spulse Rifle WIP

I was obsessed with getting this color right, and after tons of experimenting, I wound up using one of the red lenses from a pair of anaglyph 3D glasses, then I put a piece of adhesive window tint over that, then covered both with a sheet of thin plastic to keep these very thin layers safe. Really came out perfect.
 
Re: Spat Aliens Spulse Rifle WIP

I think what I will end up doing is using two layers of the red tape with a thin piece of clear plastic over the top. Should give me the right coloring and diffusion that I'm looking for :thumbsup
 
Re: Spat Aliens Spulse Rifle WIP

Kevin, your build is going great. Love the mods your doing to it.

On my second PR I needed to do the same. I found in my stash of models an old funnycar kit by Polar Lights that the body was molded in clear red plastic. Yep, I found a nice flat spot on it and cut a section out for the counter window. Later I decided I wanted a smoked window instead of the red. I took one of the T-Tops from an Aoshima Knightrider model and trimmed it to fit. Turned out great. I still have the other T-Top so I will use it on m my next PR.

Guy, I can send you a red Lee filter if you want it. They are a thin acetate type of plastic that can be cut with scissors and are rich in color.
Kevin , I love your build so far....even I can learn something new from other members....great job.....:$:cool:cool

Robiwon , I will be sending you a PM, to talk further about that, dont know much about these....but sounds like it may work, appreciate it ...(y)cool
 
Re: Spat Aliens Spulse Rifle WIP

I think what I will end up doing is using two layers of the red tape with a thin piece of clear plastic over the top. Should give me the right coloring and diffusion that I'm looking for :thumbsup

You know....so many things that we buy these days come wrapped in that 'death plastic' you know the clear stuff that almost always draws blood when we open the packages...if you have any of that stuff laying around and can cut the shape out nicely, it may be just what you need to sturdy things up!

:thumbsup
 
Re: Spat Aliens Spulse Rifle WIP

Just love this, I am working on mine atm. I bought a kit about 14 years ago in a little shop in London that did garage kits, gee I cant even recall the name of it, anyways I asked if they had a pulse rifle and the guy said that he had someone just starting to make them I arranged to have one so paid him and flew back home. few weeks later I gets the first one off the line in the mail :) so 14 years later this has been traveling around with me and I'm now just getting the time to put it together : very excited Ill start a new post with mine but love how urs looks great job :)
 
Re: Spat Aliens Spulse Rifle WIP

Thanks again for all the kind words!

Did a little bit of work this weekend doing some seam filling and minor touch-ups with the spot putty. Then shot some primer on everything.

This morning I decided I would take a look at the barrel/vent assembly to see what I could do to create my own for a more authentic look. Took some measurements and went to the hardware store, and bought some 1/2" PVC pipe and a 1/2" brass coupler to make the barrel. The vent assembly will most likely be made from styrene. Cut the PVC tube to size, slipped the coupler over the end, and then using a 1/2" bore bit I drilled 3" into the shroud so that I could sink the barrel in and keep it secure.

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It's just slightly crooked, but I can certainly straighten it out with a bit of sanding and keeping it straight while gluing.

All the parts have been sprayed with flat black and are currently drying right now. Just need to draft a pattern for the vent assembly so I can cut those from styrene and get them ready for paint too!
 
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