Adding barrel light(s) to a gatling gun?

[DR4296]

Greetings All!

I don't have any pics yet, but I'm about to get started on building a hand-held gatling gun prop, something that will probably be about 12 to 16 inches long.

I am starting / basing it off of a cool plastic drum that came from a thrift-store-bought toy gun. It already has slots where one would normally place up to 30 nerf darts, but I thought I could put 15 gun barrels.

And then I went on ebay and found an identical cannister, cheap, which I could use to hold the "other end" of the barrels. My plan was to drill out the slots in that one so that the barrels could slide all the way through and stick out a few inches.

Unfortunately, the barrel diameter is just smaller than the smallest sized PVC that is widely available. .5 inch outer diameter.

However, a half inch wooden dowel rod fits PERFECTLY. So that's what I'm about to start using for the barrels, as those are cheap at any Walmart.

What I lose by using those, however, is having HOLLOW barrels. I have seen how others have simply added a bright orange LED at the base of the gun, so that the light shines through whatever barrel is on top during rotation.

Now I COULD put foam tips on the barrels (which I have been thinking about doing for safety anyways...and I noticed JoAnns Fabrics has started carrying half inch black foam cylinders for Cosplayers in their new Halloween stuff). But I'm not sure how I'd hollow those things out cleanly or how I'd add an apparatus at the front of the gun to add in the LED gun flash.

Any thoughts?

Thanks!

 

[TazMan2000]

The only way you could do it reliably with plugged barrels is having a set of contacts on each barrel and leaf springs that would make contact with the barrel when it reaches the firing position. Have the leaf spring be adjustable so you can correct the firing/lighting timing.

TazMan2000

 

[TazMan2000]

Having hollow barrels will make figuring out the lighting so much easier by just having the light at the firing position. Is there any way you could do that? The light would come on at the same time as the motor spinning the barrels.

TazMan2000

 

[DR4296]

Having hollow barrels will make figuring out the lighting so much easier by just having the light at the firing position. Is there any way you could do that? The light would come on at the same time as the motor spinning the barrels.

TazMan2000

Well, if I could just find some plastic tubes that had an OUTER diameter of .5 inches, yes. But I just got back from another hardware store, having found a NEW kind of plastic tubing in the plumbing section, one I had never seen before...only to find once again that .5 inches was its INNER diameter.

 

[TazMan2000]

Well, if I could just find some plastic tubes that had an OUTER diameter of .5 inches, yes. But I just got back from another hardware store, having found a NEW kind of plastic tubing in the plumbing section, one I had never seen before...only to find once again that .5 inches was its INNER diameter.

Does it have to be plastic? 3/8 inch copper pipe has a outside diameter of 1/2 an inch. Yes, there is a bit more weight, but a lot more strength too.
You may need to strengthen the axle the barrels are mounted to. If you want plastic, there are companies who make acrylic in several diameters implementing in millimeters. A lot more expensive than copper pipe from the hardware store.

TazMan2000

 

[DR4296]

Does it have to be plastic? 3/8 inch copper pipe has a outside diameter of 1/2 an inch. Yes, there is a bit more weight, but a lot more strength too.
You may need to strengthen the axle the barrels are mounted to. If you want plastic, there are companies who make acrylic in several diameters implementing in millimeters. A lot more expensive than copper pipe from the hardware store.

TazMan2000

Well, I AM going for a slight Steampunk angle on my overall costume, so I guess that would be okay. Right now, for an axle for the whole thing, I was going to use a threaded metal rod. Bought two different sizes last week, just to compare and test with. But I may have to go one size up from those.

Geez, what adhesive would one use for locking them in-place inside a plastic housing?

That E6000 stuff?

 

[DR4296]

By the way, here is a quick photo of those two drums, showing what both sides look like.

 

[DR4296]

Gonna buy a sample copper pipe piece here in an hour. Figure I'll try my supply of superglue first (I have had good results with some stuff I got off of Amazon last year).

 

[DR4296]

At the hardware store now (Menards). The half inch copper is its INTERIOR diameter, not exterior. So that wont fit. Damned heavier than I expected too.

I DID, however, locate some aluminum tube.... 1/2 inch OD. 4 foot length = $5.99.
But they only have one. Buying it. If this works, I'll see if the Lowe's near me has any tomorrow.

 

[TazMan2000]

The pipe you need is 3/8 inch. That has the outer diameter of 1/2 inch. All plumbing pipe is referenced by the internal diameter. Aluminum pipe would be even a better choice, but a more expensive one.

I wouldn't get threaded rod for the axle. That stuff bends fairly easily. Solid aluminum rod would be my first choice. You may be able to get away with threaded rod if the barrels pass through both the front and back disks. However, that would mean your light would have to be positioned further back, which may alter the design of your weapon.

I used to work on the M61-A1 20mm cannon (amongst other weapons) when I was in the air force.

TazMan2000

 

[DR4296]

The pipe you need is 3/8 inch. That has the outer diameter of 1/2 inch. All plumbing pipe is referenced by the internal diameter. Aluminum pipe would be even a better choice, but a more expensive one.

I wouldn't get threaded rod for the axle. That stuff bends fairly easily. Solid aluminum rod would be my first choice. You may be able to get away with threaded rod if the barrels pass through both the front and back disks. However, that would mean your light would have to be positioned further back, which may alter the design of your weapon.

I used to work on the M61-A1 20mm cannon (amongst other weapons) when I was in the air force.

TazMan2000

Yeah, I'm thinking I will probably drill some holes into the back of the rear drum barrel slots...but not make them so large that the barrels themselves would come through. And the only purpose for those holes would be to have light from an LED housed to the rear apparatus behind that drum shine through.

I'm going to need to build a rear housing anyways, as the idea behind my character is that his forearm IS the gun. And I have to shove a motor back there for rotating the drum too. And a trigger. And a battery. Robbing from some toys for that stuff.

I'm a little unsure of my planned motor system. Originally, I thought about using a cordless screwdriver, like a lot of similar builds seem to recommend. But I was worried about how to attach the screwdriver bit firmly to the axle for these drums. So now I just have this motor and wheel from a toy car. And I'm planning on attaching a slightly smaller cylinder at the back of the rear drum...and locking the toy wheel and motor in place to rotate it, sort of like a gear system. There is a cheap build on Youtube that does this.

Regarding the threaded rod: My thinking behind that was that I would need to lock each drum in place with washers and nuts. I guess I would need to drill holes and use pins to lock them in place on a solid rod?

Yeah, the aluminum is indeed expensive. I thought about getting a quote from my local plastics company.

 

[TazMan2000]

A cordless screwdriver would work. There are several gatling gun type toy that fires nerf style projectiles and some that just have poor lights. This may be a fast track into getting something that would work. You can still replace some of the components with stronger metal or plastic ones.

TazMan2000

 

[xl97]

Is ther a pic of the whole gun?

Something has to 'hold it' together... no?

The Nerf Maverik?

Or is the whole 'barrel' rotate as one piece? and there is no top/bottom or side pieces holding the rotating barrels in place?

If its set up like the Nerf Marverik.. it wouldnt be hard:

My guess is its more like the SW type where the whole 'front' (barrels) are connected to a bearing or sorts...

 

[DR4296]

Is ther a pic of the whole gun?

Something has to 'hold it' together... no?

The Nerf Maverik?

Or is the whole 'barrel' rotate as one piece? and there is no top/bottom or side pieces holding the rotating barrels in place?

If its set up like the Nerf Marverik.. it wouldnt be hard:

My guess is its more like the SW type where the whole 'front' (barrels) are connected to a bearing or sorts...

The gun I am trying to model is somewhat in my head and somewhat taken from Youtube videos.
You see, the character I'm making this for (and this is for a Halloween costume, by the way) had a one episode appearance in Doctor Who. And he's basically a cross between the Terminator and Clint Eastwood's Spaghetti Western Trilogy "Joe/Blondie", in terms of vibe:

The gun behaves somewhat like a Gatling Gun in that the front of it a bunch of "barrel holes" and the whole thing rotates. Now, it fires energy, not bullets, and it fires onesie-twosie, which is lame. But you can see how, with the slots in the side, it reminds you of a gatling gun.

Now, my thinking was to do this but to make the gun more like it came from the 1868 Old West and was then modified to become his arm.

I found a few Youtube videos, but here is one specifically on making a very similar, but very low budget "gatling gun arm":

Then, while hunting the thrift stores for parts for this costume, my wife actually found the toy gun that provided that big plastic drum. The toy itself only rotated this by a sort of "racheting action" when you pulled the trigger. So, again, onesie-twosie firing.

I just thought maybe I could do like in that video, except I could work off of the inspiration of that drum. And so when I found I could get another identical drum off of ebay shipped to me for $8 total, I bought it.

There are 30 slots for barrels, so I figured, of course, I'd do 15. Yes, a bit nuts.

And, as per that video, I'd run a central rod to attach the two drums, attach the rod to an L-bracket (probably after, like they do in the video, attaching a skateboard wheel with bearings to the back of the drum). Then, after I built the rear of it, where the motor, battery, switch, and my hand would go, I'd find something to act as an outer plastic shell to travel up to my elbow. And I also thought I'd extend that shell forward to cover SOME of the barrels, sort of like is being done in the photo above. That way, I could attach maybe a laser sight or some cables.

So, that's the plan... in my head.

I welcome ideas. The lighting up of the barrels just seemed like a nice extra. There was another Youtube video I saw where they did that.

I did submit a request for a quote from that local plastic company regarding 1/2" OD PVC. Their website indicated they had them, but only in CLEAR PVC, not white. Interesting. The aluminum tube I bought last night was about $6.50 (with tax) for a four foot length. You figure I need 15 feet worth but I'd probably get 20, just in case of sawing / cutting mistakes. But we'll see if that company gets back to me tomorrow with a quote. I think I'd be willing to pay about the same, maybe even a little higher, for plastic instead of aluminum. I don't want to accidentally whack anybody in the head with this gun, but, just in case.....

Thanks!

 

[DR4296]

Well, my local plastics company doesn't have any 1/2" OD PVC in stock. They offered acrylic, which is cheap, but I'd have to wait on it to get shipped from Wisconsin. So, maybe I can find some acrylic locally this weekend. Other than that, aluminum is my next option, assuming I can find more locally.

 

[xl97]

+1 for Wisconsin at least! LOL

 

[DR4296]

Ha! Eureka!

So I looked at 1/2 inch Pex, but that has a slightly larger outer diameter. Found some clear PVC on Ebay but it'd cost about $30 with shipping. Figured I would stop worrying about it for a few hours.

Went to dinner and then a couple of thrift stores, searching for other stuff for my costume (mostly clothing and leather).

Then, suddenly, I saw this:

A kids tent! I pulled out my tape measure and it seemed like they were half inch diameter !! Half price day at the thrift store made this cost me $2.50 ! And there is easily 15 feet of tubing here. Heck, if I don't mind my barrels being a few inches longer, I don't even have to cut them!

Brought them home and they fit! Not quiiiiiiite as snugly as I would prefer. There's still a bit of wobble room. But good enough for me!

So, now to get to work building this thing.

Thanks!!

 

[DR4296]

Oh man! I wish this thing came with a half dozen more of these. They would make fantastic barrel tips!

 

[xl97]

primer & paint will build it up to make a better 'fit'

 

[TazMan2000]

Glad you found this instead of Pex. From what I know of Pex, it loves being curved and doesn't take paint very well.

TazMan2000