Berserker Bolt Caster/Shoulder mount

[ThorKrohn]

So, I had a crazy idea while watching “Predators” the other day for my suit, my kids have a bunch of old hand held, battery powered fans. What I want, is a bolt caster that spins like the Berserker Preds, so I have begun to gut the hand held fans for parts: the results will soon be a bolt caster I can control from my gauntlet, hard wired, to the Shoulder mount itsef.

The mount will attach with magnets and I will install a 18 gauge wire plug into the gauntlet so I can separate the cannon from the shoulder and disconnect it from the gauntlet if I don’t want to wear it.

Pics to follow: cross your fingers that my new found sodering skills don’t catch my suit on fire....

 

[ThorKrohn]

Here is some work so far!

 

[ThorKrohn]

Still a bit rough, I will finish and clean up pieces with detail once I get functionality: I am also struggling on whether or not to just add a switch to this bolt caster or still run it with a wire down to the gauntlet...

 

[LunaticNic]

Phenomenal idea!!! Starting to give me some of my own lol

Hope this works out

 

[ThorKrohn]

Oh bro it’s works: already tested it, going to post more pictures as I tie in lights and what not but the sodering is basic level stuff and the piece was like two dollars at Walmart, you can see the little fan and motor in the pic

 

[ThorKrohn]

So here are some more pics: the cardboard was ridged enough AND light enough to be glued straight to the fan motor, as is, then I assembled a vertical cardboard shaft to hold the motor in place as well as support the extra weight of the bolt caster as I add foam and paint. Looking down the barrel, you can see I cut holes and am going to wire in lights on either side of the cardboard cylinder, so as the holes spin past/over the light, it will look light plasma is being generated at the back of the barrel. All will be on the same circuit with a switch and a 9 volt, either in the housing of the caster itself or wired down to the gauntlet (still haven’t decided...)

The motor spins AWESOME with the cardboard attached, doesn’t seem to lose speed much which is great, will defiantly generate the desired effect!

 

[ThorKrohn]

Testing complete! Working on the set up down to the gauntlet!

 

[ThorKrohn]

So, as with most costumes, the bio mask makes seeing things, as well as looking to the left, more difficult with a bolt-caster attached. The pictures in my last post show the switch wired to the power source which I removed from an old child’s car remote control, and would need to be housed in the caster itself. Now, I am working on disconnecting the switch, running the two positive wires from the caster through electrical tubing down to the connector I will mount on the gauntlet, that way I can “unplug it” and remove it if I decide not to wear it. Also so I can activate the bolt caster from a switch on the gauntlet. My biggest concern here is the extra wiring hanging off of my left arm down to the gauntlet. I am also thinking of dogleggong off of this system to LEDS in the mask, but more than likely will have the bio mask it’s own, closed system for the lenses to light up and the tri-laser to light up as well. I REALLY don’t want my head attached to a thick wire making mobility even more of a challenge. More photos to come!

 

[ThorKrohn]

Update: one 9 volt is NOT heavy duty enough to run the fan and power these LEDS at full power, so I will wire in a second battery and switch to make sure the lights are shining at full force!

 

[LunaticNic]

Nice, I wonder what I'll be able to power with eight AA batteries. Got a 8-pack holder from Amazon, and hooked up an led fan to it which worked, but now I'm hoping to power ... a few more led's lol.

 

[ThorKrohn]

Quick update: while working on running wire from my gauntlet to my cannon I had a thought: I am taking apart these little remote control cars and toys my kids no longer use...why don’t I make this thing remote controlled?! While this versions won’t swivel it will just spin and have LEDs, with the right components from an RC car, I should have a push button bolt caster before the day is out!

Stand by for images!

 

[ThorKrohn]

Me again: after some quick testing I have a heads up for anyone attempting this project:

In the following pictures, I’ll Show you the toy car I used, which for anyone attempting this type of build would be perfect! You wouldn’t have to do any of the wiring yourself, just take apart the toy, attach your pieces and you are in business!

I used a Sharper Image Remote Control X-Treme wall climber car: it has a fan already built into the circuit board and is in a 27mhz remote control WITH LEDs! Perfect to create the spinning effect for the cannon and the back lighting although the lights are red.

For me, I already had a fan and blue LEDs wired so I retrofitted the circuit board and receiver and WALL RECHARGABLE BATTERY (so I can charge my bolt caster from an outlet...super cool) to the rear inside of the caster itself. The controller components will be mounted into my gauntlet and it will basically be a wireless, detachable bolt caster. More pics to follow when I finish the housing!

 

[ThorKrohn]

Pics

 

[ThorKrohn]

Final assembly before cover goes on! Works from the remote like a champ! I’ll try to link a video before to long! The green square is a piece of removable sheet of very thin metal like aluminum foil, has the white wire sodered in and is the receiver: I stuck the sticky side to a piece of thin green foam which will have an insert in the housing so when/if I need to remove the housing, everything you see here will be indipendent and not get pulled loose accidentally!

 

[ThorKrohn]

Charging well! Once I have the cover made it will be remove and held on by a magnet, right now I am using hot glue and shaping it!

I will say the way I have my LEDs wired in make it to where they are not bright at all, which is a bummer cause the whole point was for these bright lights to illuminate from the back of the barrel, so even now with the rechargable battery wired in, I still have to find a solution to brighten up the lights...