Aliens M56 Smartgun

Whoooot:eek:eek Dude, are you freakin' serious? I had to get back on my chair when I started to read your thread!!! Love it when you're in contact with the person who actually built the Steady Cam arm for the movie; you hit the target smack dab in the middle with that move:cool I'm in awe of your dedication; that's right, no need to go crazy on this build, it has to be done right...and you're doing it the right way! I'm not subscribing to your thread, nope: I'm a FAN of this thread!!
 
Ultimate Badass said:
I wouldn't say that I "have" the funds, especially not with the Ecto-1 build, but this is just something I've always wanted to have since I was a kid so it's got to be done!
Click to expand...

Funds or not, you have an extensive number of resources for your parts here and on your Ecto project.:ninja I love seeing them both coming together with your extra attention to detail.
 
I am just so psyched to hear that people appreciate this project. By the way, Art, I saw your signature...I figured I'd mention that I went to the same high school as Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson.

I know there are some awesome smartguns out there (some of them are here on the RPF), and I didn't know if people would really care all that much about the actual steadicam harness project aspect of it all. I had no idea how complex this project was going to be when I started...like I said in the first post, I expected to use an airsoft replica for it. Once I dove into the harness and realized the expense and incredible challenge it would be, I knew I needed a real MG42. Fortunately, so far the entire inventory of parts are truly authentic and vintage.

When I first saw a photo of my Vasquez arm in production I was so ridiculously excited. I had a choice of leaving it weathered or having it repainted and restored to make it look brand new. I opted to leave it weather so it appears as though it's been in battle on LV-426. I hope you guys agree that was the way to go.

I've also gotten some USCM dog-tags in the mail:



No marine would be complete without them. They are clear despite the photo making them appear white (it's the glare...sorry, I suck at taking photos).

I also acquired something to complete my awesome Hot Toys collection:



This thing is huge. I realize that Hot Toys are re-releasing this with a more-accurate Ripley head sculpt...I guess I'll be forking out another chunk of change.

Alright guys, again, THANK YOU for your supportive words...I am glad you guys are digging this project. I can't wait to actually get into the assembly of things. I'll be relying heavily on the help of a handful of people to make it all come together...so that I can do this:



LET'S ROCK!!!
 
Jenette Goldstein is shorter than me (she's under 5'6" and I'm around 5'8"). That said, the gun is big...nearly 4 feet long I'd guess. It's BADASS...of course it's big.
 
I plan on using pepakura to make a fart gun that says petho (spanish slang for fart) instead of adios. I said Smart gun ... not ..Ugh!! Why would i ever!!
 
Great work, Badass! Very impressive! I'll be watching this thread closely as you progress. I'm a professional steadicam operator myself and a huge Aliens fan. I'm just hoping that your model 3 arm isn't a tremendously expensive endeavour (relative to the used market cost of those arms), as model 3a and EFP (basically identical) arms tend to languish on the forum unsold now as they are less desirable to working operators as they are getting a bit long in the tooth 20+ years later. Don't be afraid of the lighter springs as even as heavy as the M56 gets, it still falls into the weight of a modest camera package and easily flown by lighter springs than gold.

Please keep the updates coming.
 
Thanks for your input! My steadicam arm is very expensive because I am having it constructed with each specific vintage piece that was used to make the screen-used arm, it's not just a model III, it's precise down to every component. The MG42 is going to weigh between 35-50 pounds when it's done, so upon input from a number of people in the steadicam community (I love you guys...you're all super helpful), it seemed the way to go, and the gentleman who currently owns the screen-used Vasquez arm says it had gold springs when he acquired it.

I will keep the updates coming for sure!
 
Holy Monkey!!:wacko......."Overall, my expected budget of each smartgun including vest + arm + gun + headset is $17,000 - 19,000 (yes, for each)" you are one dedicated RPFer;)....I'd have to sell all my kids to get that kind of stash for props:D
 
Alright, so when I got home from Dragon Con, I was expecting a package. Well, it wasn't waiting for me as I had hoped. Fortunately, yesterday this showed up at my door...



What was inside was something super awesome (of course)...



My second steadicam vest! This one is a lot more accurate than the other I have (mainly because most of the leather work is black as it should be instead of tan...regardless, the tan leather parts will be dyed to black).

Here you can see the quick-release mechanism:



This will look a lot prettier with my steadicam arm mounted:



Yep, I love it!



This vest will be used for my Vasquez smartgun setup. The one that I already had acquired will be used for Drake's setup when I get around to that sometime next year.

Man, this stuff is expensive!
 

Your message may be considered spam for the following reasons:

If you wish to reply despite these issues, check the box below before replying.
Be aware that malicious compliance may result in more severe penalties.

Similar threads

Church
M56 Smartgun Headset (CRT based)
Replies
5
Views
283
Gold
Gold
Church
M56 SmartGun BFONG Full Auto Build
2 3
Replies
42
Views
2,477
Church
Church
Mozzie
"Nerf" M56 Smartgun from Lehui MG3
Replies
16
Views
4,194
Mozzie
Mozzie
Dax79
Aliens Power Loader - 1:1 Build
Replies
12
Views
751
Dax79
Dax79
dproc
Aliens Locator - No, the small tube one.
Replies
7
Views
792
darthsideous
darthsideous
Back
Top