Blade Runner PKD blaster / That Gun

[BeardySi]

So I did the text. Turned out pretty well, the print wasn't as neat as I'd have liked but it was the best I could manage in a hurry - should have built them at high-res ideally.

I didn't have room for the armourer's marks in front of the serial, I think the proportions are slightly out on the base model. Doesn't bother me overmuch. As planned, I kept the original PKD branding as a nod to the original designer. Hopefully it'll look good once the metal paint goes on.

I added some strips of styrene into the muzzle to imitate the rifling. I didn't make it spiral, I'm not that mad. Once the inside of the barrel is painted black it'll not be noticeable anyway. Am currently in the process of tidying it all up.

The switches I got were a bit on the big side for my cunning plan of controlling the lights with the triggers, so I'll go back to the original plan of having the cylinder release being the switch. I probably won't light the green ones at all.

All of the major upper parts are now base coated in black and I'm working up the detail parts - charging handle, switches etc. Initial trials of the Alcad stainless steel look great (no pic, left my sample in work!) The trigger guard needs finishing and I've got to get the wiring in place now that I've decided what to do....

 

[mugatu]

Classic add with the rifling. You are making this redemption appear easy!

 

[BeardySi]

It may be time for an intervention...

I needed to chamfer off the rifling and the barrel end neatly as it was uneven and looked a bit pants. A lightbulb moment led me to use a step drill to get the chamfer - bad idea, it mangled the styrene ribs. Oh well do-over time, not the end of the world.

Before doing that I was idly googling the depth of rifling to see whether my eyeballing was in the right ballpark (it was, though on the lower end it seems) and I realised that the barrel bore was far too big - almost 13mm as opposed to 10.9mm for a .44 round. This was then niggling at the back of my head....

Then I looked at the reference pics of the real prop and saw thst the barrel end was chamfered differently to the kit one. That did it - time to fill the barrel with resin, re-bore it redo the rifling and chamfer it to be more reflective of the original (though I think the kit barrel OD is a little smaller).

This done, pics below. I'm bizarrely satisfied after putting quite a bit of work into a relatively inconsequential detail that hardly anyone will every notice, much less appreciate...

 

[retiredadguy]

I Love it!! I've built about 4-5 of this kit. One Actual Rick Ross run and the rest from who ever he sold the molds to. All but the RR version needed LOTS of work.

Your doing a bang up job Sir!. OUTSTANDING!!!

Beat regards,
e

 

[Mr Mold Maker]

This has been a treat to follow so far! Can’t wait to see this thing progress. Awesome work so far!

 

[BeardySi]

Thanks folks, made some good progress over the weekend, just not got anything to a point where its worth taking pics

The Steyr receiver has had its screws fitted and final satin black coat before Alcad stainless steel. My tests gave good results with both satin and gloss black base coats, but the satin showed a bit more texture which I rather liked. Hard to get a good photo though

I won't be spraying the metals until all the steel components are ready for paint.

The plastic Steyr components are almost finished with a little bit of polishing work left to finish. Am working up the frame with the basic wiring done - have a cunning plan to hide the battery in there - and I'm working on the LED wiring to go in the magwell - it's testing my (very basic) soldering skills trying to keep things neat in a tight space but we'll get there...

 

[Krats]

Top job, looking forward to seeing what comes next!

 

[BeardySi]

Put the bits together to remind me what I'm doing it for - starting to look like there's an end in sight!

The grips and butt have my head melted!

The top screws of the grips are both through the same hole - you'll notice a dramatic difference in the positions of the bottom ones. It didn't bother me overly until I sanded the bottoms of the grips flush with the frame and it highlighted just how close to the edge the bottom screw on the right hand side is. I did briefly consider filling the holes andoulding and casting a new set, but I think I have to draw a line somewhere I can always do it in the future if it's particularly bothering me...

The pre drilled holes on the butt are so far beyond crooked it's unbelievable. They're both at least 15-20deg off square. I mean seriously, why bother drilling them if you're not going to even attempt to do it straight? I'll have to fill them and drill new straight ones. Not a major hassle, but it does really highlight precisely how little the recaster cares about the finished product...

I fitted thread inserts for the grip screws so they can be screwed up properly without stripping. M3 is just too fine to expect the resin to hold for long. I'll do the same for the butt screws.

 

[BeardySi]

Well bugger. Two steps forward and one step back, or possibly three steps forward...

Firstly, going back a couple of days, you can see where I've buried a styrene tube in the frame to carry the wiring along with the switch that fitted behind the cylinder release. A styrene plate goes over the switch and then the cylinder release sits neatly onto the switch slider - all works quite nicely. I also went for a 3v button cell rather than the supplied AAA battery holder which was too bulky to fit well in the grip. A styrene plate goes over the battery compartment to keep it all out of sight.

With inserts fitted for the grip and butt screws it was time for some final shaping. I changed up the grips a bit so they'll need polishing again (I probably jumped the gun a bit polishing them up first thing, but I had to do something while waiting for deliveries to arrive!) It all goes together well and feels great in the hand. Just need to reprofile the butt to match the grips now...

...and that's where the wheels came off. The square end of the butt needed to be taken back to continue the curve down the back of the grip. That's when I realised that the rearmost screw was too far back and I was going to have a problem. Oh well, time to extract the insert, fill the holes and make a new hole. Not a big deal, but rather annoying.

 

[joberg]

Welcome to the wonderful world of prop making Kidding aside; good work all in all!!

 

[BeardySi]

Welcome to the wonderful world of prop making Kidding aside; good work all in all!!

Oh I've been in thst world a looooooong time... You'd think I would have learned by now

 

[hansgruber]

This is an awesome build. I have a similar Rick Ross/ Doppelganger recast of a recast of a recast. Been slowly chipping away at it over a couple of years, interesting to see your approach. I also like the challenge but kind of wish I hadn't of given my money to a recaster. Unfortunately investing in legit kits/gun builds is highly risky with Australian customs.

 

[Tim Prestianni]

Hey man, is it ok if I share your photos with my reddit group, this is an awesome build!