bigbisont
Well-Known Member
I have been away from this forum a long time (still building and still obsessed with Aliens gear, but got pretty heavy into the 1/6th figures) so I figured I'd dangle my feet back in the water!
Over the last few weeks I acquired some of the old 'pop' guns that were used to build the ever-mysterious, yet always present "belt tools" that 6 out of 9 Colonial marines carried clipped to their belts and/or straps. They had anywhere from 1 to 3 units each, and this was also the same foundation prop (but cut down even further) that comprised the Smart gun "batteries" that Vasquez kept extras of. So in a sense, 8 out of 9 marines had these things. So I decided I needed at least one!
I got an original, 1984 "vintage" single barrel one on ebay (Black and gray below). Then a couple weeks later I stumbled upon the newer style "4 barrel" versions that are still sold at random places on line (Bright green and white).
The accessories & gear props for Aliens suffer from the same "Olive Drab" or "Brown Bess" argument they Pulse rifles are subject to. BB was used, but with the blue filter and low light everything looked OD on screen. I wasn't sure which route I wanted to go, so I painted one of each! I made the 3rd one black just because many replicas I saw of it were black and it didn't look bad.
Finally, after weighing pros and cons of each, I said screw it. My pulse, tracker, and lamp are all BB (or the BB alternative I have been working with and tweaking). So I committed to the theme and finished em all off the same.
I left the "vintage" prop in better shape than the other 2 on purpose. I didnt want to obscure a thing of beauty like that too badly. The "inaccuracy of the 4 barrel end doesnt bother me as much as you might think. When on a belt, barrel down, I dare say no one will even notice.
Over the last few weeks I acquired some of the old 'pop' guns that were used to build the ever-mysterious, yet always present "belt tools" that 6 out of 9 Colonial marines carried clipped to their belts and/or straps. They had anywhere from 1 to 3 units each, and this was also the same foundation prop (but cut down even further) that comprised the Smart gun "batteries" that Vasquez kept extras of. So in a sense, 8 out of 9 marines had these things. So I decided I needed at least one!
I got an original, 1984 "vintage" single barrel one on ebay (Black and gray below). Then a couple weeks later I stumbled upon the newer style "4 barrel" versions that are still sold at random places on line (Bright green and white).
The accessories & gear props for Aliens suffer from the same "Olive Drab" or "Brown Bess" argument they Pulse rifles are subject to. BB was used, but with the blue filter and low light everything looked OD on screen. I wasn't sure which route I wanted to go, so I painted one of each! I made the 3rd one black just because many replicas I saw of it were black and it didn't look bad.
Finally, after weighing pros and cons of each, I said screw it. My pulse, tracker, and lamp are all BB (or the BB alternative I have been working with and tweaking). So I committed to the theme and finished em all off the same.
I left the "vintage" prop in better shape than the other 2 on purpose. I didnt want to obscure a thing of beauty like that too badly. The "inaccuracy of the 4 barrel end doesnt bother me as much as you might think. When on a belt, barrel down, I dare say no one will even notice.
