D-Projects: Dredd 2012 Lawgiver II Upgrade Build

Delmustator

Sr Member
Since I practically hijacked Joe and Sean's thread selling their excellent Dredd 2012 Lawgiver II prop. I thought I would move the upgrade build here so I don't keep messing in their thread.

So, I acquired the prop from Morganthirteen, no relation to Morgan's Eleven, and started planning.

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I simply drew an outline of the prop and started adding the electronics for the upgrade for light and sound effects.

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I primer'ed and painted the prop using a coat of silver followed by a coat of stove paint. The stove paint gives it that 'parkerized' appearance.

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So here is the prop, post painting and weathered.

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I didn't much care for the look of the resin bullets so I made my own from aluminum bar stock. It's actually lighter than the resin.

Now to open the pistol grip. With some persistence and the blunt end of a razor knife blade, I was able to slowly remove the resin connecting the magazine butt plate to the grip. It took a while but I found that the resin was rather thin in this area.

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I drilled a channels, as depicted on my planning drawing, using a special 12" drill bit that I fabricated in the shop. You could probably buy one but they get rather expensive the longer they are. There was a small amount of hardened foam in the grip. It was easily removed.

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There is plenty of room for a 2-cell 7.4 volt lith-ion battery pack. I may possible have enough space for the BlasterCore in there also. I will be adding a recharge port so there should be no need to open the compartment unless the BC needs reprogramming.
 

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Running the wires. Had to order a few parts. I'm still figuring out how I will run the wires for the trigger and configuration buttons. The trigger wires are really small gauge so running them will be a challenge.

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Trying some new speakers also. This is the speaker assembly for the Samsung Galaxy S3. Anyone that owns one of these phones, knows how loud these speakers can be. They run about $10 each and I will remove them from the replaceable module. Running them (dual) on both sides of the Lawgiver II should provide abundant sound.

loud-speaker-buzzer-with-antenna-and-jack-connector-for-samsung-galaxy-s3-accessories.jpg
 
Going to be watching your project closely since I want to do the video modification and it's going to involve similar things. Especially carving up the Lawgiver.

So the grip wasn't too hard to clear out at all? What about the body itself? And I'm waiting to see how you handle the static trigger, it's a pretty tight spot.

Love the idea for the cell phone speakers! Going to have to look into getting those.
 
If you received the roto-cast version of the prop, the interior is mainly self-expanding foam. It's fairly rigid but is easy to remove. Some areas around the static trigger is relatively thin, so use caution if you plan to put a switch here. I plan to use a micro-switch button. I will dremel a spot for it and seal it off with JB Weld Quick. The stuff works like a champ on resin or metal. If you put the video screen on the side, once it is done and you're happy with it's placement and fit. I would squirt/replace the foam inside the prop to provide support for the electronics from the inside. Once it dries, it should hold the stuff in place nice and firm. I'm going to make a pocket in the grip with a sleeve and replace the foam that was removed. With the sleeve in place, I will still be able to remove the battery pack (if replacement is needed) and still have structural support inside the grip. Remember that the resin is only about 1/8 to 3/16 of an inch thick in that area. I found it to be less than a 1/16th in the trigger guard.

Going to be watching your project closely since I want to do the video modification and it's going to involve similar things. Especially carving up the Lawgiver.

So the grip wasn't too hard to clear out at all? What about the body itself? And I'm waiting to see how you handle the static trigger, it's a pretty tight spot.

Love the idea for the cell phone speakers! Going to have to look into getting those.
 
Finally got the trigger wire run. THAT was a PITA! I pretty much had to remove all the other wires and run it first. Using a special hook device that I fabricated to grab the wire made it a little easier. Note: With the foam in the inside, you WILL NOT be able to run small gauge wire without something to grab it.

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My super-duper wire fishing tool... Large paper clip bent straight with a small hook, hot-melt glue attached to a piece of 1/8th aluminum TiG welding rod.

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I installed the trigger micro-switch today. Here are the pics:

I slowly removed material with my dremel til the switch fit snugly in place. The leads have already been soldered and the switch tested.
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You want the switch to sit slighty above the static trigger so it actuates with minimal pressure. Too low and you have to use your fingertip to actuate it.
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Using JB Weld Quick as filler, I filled all the holes made during this process. Use wax paper to smooth out the stuff. Leaving it on any longer than 10-15 minutes will cause the JB Weld to stick to the wax paper when it hardens, so remove it after about 6-8 minutes.
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Well the speakers and batteries finally arrived from Singapore.

This is the Samsung speakers liberated from their enclosures.
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After testing, they are a little weak for what I want them to do. They cannot handle bass as much as I had hoped. So I ordered a 23mm deep bass speaker usually used on model trains to do some more testing. The train speaker can handle up to 2 watts of power.

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Battery packs are made and ready to go.
 
Everything is coming together. I installed the train speaker but it's not as loud as I had hoped. So I may go with an oval speaker instead. The Lawgiver is 90% done. I'll post up more pics soon.
 
Nice build! Might be the first of our kits to have sound too. Makes me kinda regret not adding a couple extra wires to the trigger assembly in my own build with the working display- the sound could easily have been added later. Maybe for version 2.0 haha.
 
Great work. Very interesting and something I may do in the future to teach myself electronics.

Thank you for posting so many progress shots (it really helps those of us learning this stuff)
 
Great job!!!!
Just wondering what sounds are you planning to play with the speakers?

I need to listen to the sounds the Lawgiver makes in the movie again. Once I have an ideal of what I want, I will mix some up and load'em into one of the BC's sound banks. I have some already mixed, of stupid stuff of course, like a suicide bomber blowing himself up.. I cracked up when I heard it. So it has to go into the Lawgiver...

Here it here: Suicide Bomber 2 Sounds | Effects | Sound Bites | Sound Clips from SoundBible.com
 
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