Terry Lyons
New Member
Hey Everyone,
I’ve been a frequent visitor to the RPF for quite a while, and have been building props for over a year, but am only now getting around to posting my work. I’ve always been into creative hobbies, building and painting miniatures since I was a kid, and love collecting pieces from my favourite movies and games. I’m a big fan of the Mass Effect games, and seeing the great replicas people have made from the series, I decided to try building something myself. Not having the tools or experience in prop making, I started small and chose to build the M4 Shuriken SMG.
The piece is made of MDF and styrene, and features a working trigger, “safety” indicator light when turned on (the switch under “Lock”), and muzzle flash. The back of the grip is held in place with rare earth magnets and slides off to reveal the battery compartment.
I’ve been into 3D modelling as a hobby for years, so my first step was to gather reference images and build a 3D model of the gun (I use Blender 3D). From this model, I generated blueprints and set to work building the piece. I built the gun as separate components which attached to a layered MDF core that houses the spring mechanism for the trigger, as well as the wiring. For inset areas, I cut out the MDF and glued in a piece of thinner styrene. Most of the piece was cut with a handsaw, and any holes (such as the “heat vents”) were drilled in. I spent lots of time cleaning and filling any mistakes I made while cutting.
I invested in a Dremel half-way through the project which made the shaping of the grip much easier. Once I was pleased with its shape, I sprayed it with Rustoleum Stone Textured Paint and undercoated it black. After lots of sanding and priming, the gun was assembled, undercoated and painted. Here it is prior to weathering:
The finished piece:
I finished this project about 12 months ago and my interest in the hobby has really taken off: I’ve acquired plenty of tools and equipment, and have completed a few more projects since, which I hope to post soon.
Thanks for reading, please visit here for more w.i.p shots and for a look at my other work.
All the best,
Terry
I’ve been a frequent visitor to the RPF for quite a while, and have been building props for over a year, but am only now getting around to posting my work. I’ve always been into creative hobbies, building and painting miniatures since I was a kid, and love collecting pieces from my favourite movies and games. I’m a big fan of the Mass Effect games, and seeing the great replicas people have made from the series, I decided to try building something myself. Not having the tools or experience in prop making, I started small and chose to build the M4 Shuriken SMG.
The piece is made of MDF and styrene, and features a working trigger, “safety” indicator light when turned on (the switch under “Lock”), and muzzle flash. The back of the grip is held in place with rare earth magnets and slides off to reveal the battery compartment.
I’ve been into 3D modelling as a hobby for years, so my first step was to gather reference images and build a 3D model of the gun (I use Blender 3D). From this model, I generated blueprints and set to work building the piece. I built the gun as separate components which attached to a layered MDF core that houses the spring mechanism for the trigger, as well as the wiring. For inset areas, I cut out the MDF and glued in a piece of thinner styrene. Most of the piece was cut with a handsaw, and any holes (such as the “heat vents”) were drilled in. I spent lots of time cleaning and filling any mistakes I made while cutting.
I invested in a Dremel half-way through the project which made the shaping of the grip much easier. Once I was pleased with its shape, I sprayed it with Rustoleum Stone Textured Paint and undercoated it black. After lots of sanding and priming, the gun was assembled, undercoated and painted. Here it is prior to weathering:
The finished piece:
I finished this project about 12 months ago and my interest in the hobby has really taken off: I’ve acquired plenty of tools and equipment, and have completed a few more projects since, which I hope to post soon.
Thanks for reading, please visit here for more w.i.p shots and for a look at my other work.
All the best,
Terry
