Limited Run Aluminium M40 Grenade (Aliens Pulse Rifle)

Yeah, I'd heard of Weirzbowki's yellow grenade before. Odd that it isn't reflected in any of the third-party materials.

But then, the third-party materials seemingly conflict with the movie. I wish I had better screen captures, or better yet, screen-used examples to study closely, but it seems as if the movie used just different cap colors. Lee Brimmicombe-Wood doesn't go into detail, but one of the uncredited recognition charts floating around out there shows the M38 and M51A variants as having different cap shapes as well as number of stripes.

Me, I'd have differences in the rings (indication is that they are not directly linked to the grenade's function) so as to make a tactile recognition factor for night combat. But then, I'd argue strenuously against using any blue, anywhere, other than the distinctive baby blue of inert practice rounds. It just makes this ex-GI edgy to see a live round marked with blue paint!

Anyhow. I'll keep my eye open for a generic canary yellow (the pics I've seen, it is a pale buttery yellow, not an amber or one of those neon yellows used for safety marking).
 
Sorry, Dan, I've been a slug. Had a run of bad primers. Painting yours up now. Majormalfunction, I still need a shipping address from you. I may not be able to get in to make new primers and fit the buttons in the last round of bodies until this weekend, so shipping out Monday at the earliest.
 
Bump before I put it to bed.

All current orders are shipped. I have three spares ready to ship if there are any last-minute orders.

If there isn't a sudden flurry of activity I'm going to break down and put away tools. I can gear up again if there is interest later, but it will take a week or two at that point (would need to order more raw material, for instance).
 
Bump before I put it to bed.

All current orders are shipped. I have three spares ready to ship if there are any last-minute orders.

If there isn't a sudden flurry of activity I'm going to break down and put away tools. I can gear up again if there is interest later, but it will take a week or two at that point (would need to order more raw material, for instance).

Can you message me nomuse, I'm interested In a grenade but my phone is playing up.
 
Just for laughs --

From comparison of various third-party USCM recognition charts and lists, I'd say the Weirzbowki would have to be a White Phosphorous, M60.

Synthesizing various sources, including screen shots that appear to show the green cap, at least, as having more of a rounded nose, I'd be tempted to identify them as follows;

M40 (HEDP, fragmentation) -- red, square-end cap with one white line
M38 (HEAP, armor piercing) -- green cap with conical taper, also one line
M51A (bounding fragmentation) -- dark blue cap with domed top, two white lines

All the above use the identical shell, but only the M40 has the trigger button. Under the cap, the M38 has a shaped charge with wave-shaper. And although canonically the M51A has the same shell, I think the grooves should be moved to indicate the different areas containing booster charge and fragmentation charge.

M60 (white phosphorous) -- yellow cap in a shallow domed shape, no line.

The M60 is the same aggregate length (with protective cap) but the grooving pattern is different. In addition, it is possible "W.P." is marked on the center ring. It also has a manual button, although the style is somewhat different. This may be shared with other smoke grenades as well as CS; all of them are incendiary types that begin action as soon as the button is released, whereas the fragmentation style have a three-second delay.

If I ever get up to injection molding I'd start making custom caps in the correct shapes. Printing might be possible, though -- would require a fair amount of post-process. Something that is proving quite tricky is figuring out a decent way to do a larger button, possibly with a rotatable safety especially for the M60. My feeling of the moment is these are striker caps; smash the broad flat button against a hard surface to activate, and the smoke begins to issue almost immediately.
 
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Making another run now -- have an new order for eight. This would be a good time to jump on so I can order all of the metal at one time.

After looking at a LOT of reference images, I'm going to adjust measurements slightly; rim down slightly from the .886 I've been using, "brass" longer by up to a tenth of an inch, cap shorter by up to two tenths of an inch. I'm keeping the button at .25" for aesthetics, although the sources seem to indicate it should protrude a wee bit further. Haven't decided whether to standardize the grooves and white line at 1/8" or re-tool to get back to my original plan dimensions of 3/32".

I'm also tempted to find some clever trick that would allow the button to "click" when it is depressed to activation. Would just feel that more real if it could.
 
I cannot say enough how perfect these came. Nomuse was incredibly nice to communicate with and his work is absolutely top notch.

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Bump for May. I have extra metal in stock this month but am short on cash; so I'm putting in a mild price break on multiples and on the solid-body models. Open for requests as always.
 
hey, i am considering getting 4 with plastic caps. considering one for each color, but may go back and watch Aliens again to decide. just wanted to give you a heads-up and maybe to get a total cost for 4 delivered to zip 53593. thanks!

Bump for May. I have extra metal in stock this month but am short on cash; so I'm putting in a mild price break on multiples and on the solid-body models. Open for requests as always.
 
hey, i am considering getting 4 with plastic caps. considering one for each color, but may go back and watch Aliens again to decide. just wanted to give you a heads-up and maybe to get a total cost for 4 delivered to zip 53593. thanks!

That zip reads as WI, so CONUS, so 4 x $40 + $6; $166 for for shipped.

As reference, the red (M40 HEDP) is the most common, filling about 60% of the uniforms and all of the ones Ripley carries and uses, plus is the Gorman-killer. The green (M38 HEAP) is slightly more common than the blue (M51A bounding fragmentation) on uniforms, and is also the only other handled off-uniform (by Newt and Ripley, in the Operations Room scene). A yellow cap (possibly M60 WP) seems to be on Wierzbowski's uniform.

(Third-party material, plausible but difficult to confirm from screen-shots, shows the colors other than red should also have other visual differences).
 
thanks - i will confirm colors by Tuesday. may now do 3 red and a green.

BTW, did you ever add the feature to make the button "click"? i read you were thinking of adding that. thanks!

That zip reads as WI, so CONUS, so 4 x $40 + $6; $166 for for shipped.

As reference, the red (M40 HEDP) is the most common, filling about 60% of the uniforms and all of the ones Ripley carries and uses, plus is the Gorman-killer. The green (M38 HEAP) is slightly more common than the blue (M51A bounding fragmentation) on uniforms, and is also the only other handled off-uniform (by Newt and Ripley, in the Operations Room scene). A yellow cap (possibly M60 WP) seems to be on Wierzbowski's uniform.

(Third-party material, plausible but difficult to confirm from screen-shots, shows the colors other than red should also have other visual differences).
 
Haven't figured out a good way to do a clicky button. I'll keep thinking about it but don't count on it happening.
 
payment sent for 4. 3 red and a green. looking forward to loading these babies up!
 
Bump.

That makes 44 shipped now! If they were ever all in the same place, it might look slightly like this:

44.jpg


My process has gotten slightly more efficient so I'll keep the bulk discount there. Can't really shave it down any further, sorry; between materials and shop time. Would still love to try some alternate loads -- I'll work up a CAD study of those some time in the next few weeks.
 
I am interested in buying a few(6) from you, can you send me a Pm whenever you get the time, with pricing options and what is available. Looking to get a few screen accurate ones to display, but I wasn't sure the best to go with. thanks, Thomas
 
Just started a new job, working full-time (more than full time...the department I joined has been short-staffed for too long and has a backlog). But I just finished cutting nine new bodies to cover the current orders, and have started seating the buttons in them.
 
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