Collektor
Sr Member
A few months back I designed a sci fi pistol prop and decided to scratch build it. The first build I did was using foam core board and the layer method. While cutting the shapes was tedious it wasn't bad, however when it came to sealing and sanding the edges it was a nightmare, so I scrapped the build and went looking for a better material to scratch build from. Living in an apartment ruled out using MDF as I have no access to the tools I'd need to make the cuts.
I found a source for several large sheets of 1/8th inch black sintra, and having seen what others have done with it I decided to try the build again using sintra this time. My goal was to include a working trigger and a removable magazine in the build. The design of the gun draws inspiration from a number of sci fi blasters ranging from the BSG blaster to the Blade Runner blaster. The goal was to establish a design that merged the removable magazine of a semi auto pistol with the design esthetic of a revolver.
Here's my build log
Instead of going with a layer method, I decided to build the frame as a box essentially with one half having the sides attached and the other half the frame acting as a cap that would be bonded to the assembly to create the base of the gun's frame. This eliminated having to cut the frame shape multiple times to build up the thickness, as well as making the magazine well and trigger assembly easier to install.
I first started by cutting out a cardboard template of the frame and tracing it down onto the sintra. The sintra was then cut to shape. After that was done, both halves of the frame were taped together and holes were drilled through both pieces so the rivets would line up symmetrically when they were later installed.
I glued tabs of cut sintra along the interior of both frames. These serve two purposes, one they provide additional support to the vertical pieces that form the spine of the frame, and two act as registers to insure both halves line up when assembled. My first idea had been to take one long piece of sintra and heat and bend it to conform to the shape of the frame, but the number of tight angles on the forward part of the grip proved too tricky. So instead individual pieces were cut to fit the areas, with the gaps to be filled in later.
After a day of cutting and gluing the spine of the frame was completed and I was able to try the first test fit of the finished frame. There was a little play between the frame halves in a few spots but I figured that would give me a little wiggle room to insure an exact fit before the glue bonded fully.
Up next was the trigger assembly. My first instinct had been to just make it static, but then I recalled the time I had to replace both triggers on a BR stunt blaster due to a guest casually attempting to pull the triggers. I didn't document this part but the basic mechanics were pretty easy to figure out. I first cast up a trigger then drilled out a post hole in the trigger. After that I pinned the trigger casting to a piece of foam core and drew a basic box around the trigger. By rotating the pinned trigger I could see where the trigger would hit the edges of the assembly and where to place the spring. From there I used some left over rivet pins cut to size to make the post for the trigger and two posts for the spring which I harvested from a ballpoint pen. After building the box around the trigger and spring, two additional pieces of sintra were glued to the sides of the box so that it would be flush with the frame and eliminate the need to fill it with body filler.
Up next was building the side covers which would give the pistol its revolver aspects. Since I wanted to maintain symmetry in the design while still having angles that were mirrored I repeated the process used in making the frame, A cardboard template was cut out and traced on the sintra. Then holes were drilled into it to create mounting points and visual details. Once the parts were cut they were layered over another block of sintra and glued together. From there the side covers were sanded to give angles and curves to them. Some liberal use of apoxie sculpt helped round out the shape, and a few small detail pieces were glued on. Then the side covers were fitted to the frame with tape and traced off on the frame so that they could be glued on in the same position later.
At this point in build I set to work on the box magazine that fits into the top of the frame. Being able to have the frame taped together made it easy to double check the measurements and fit of the part of the magazine that inserts into the frame. However it was clear that a simple friction fit wouldn't hold it in place when handled. I drilled out holes in both the magazine body and the pistol frame then dropped in two small magnets that would sit flush with the surface. This allowed the magazine to remain firmly seated and made a satisfying click when it snapped into place. The top part of the magazine was made flush to the top of the pistol frame using apoxie sculpt to fill the gaps.
From this point I scrounged some old parts to create the barrel and an led that would stand in for the laser mounted under the barrel. It was at this point in the build where I kind of kicked myself in the ass for not having better thought out where and how to place an on/off switch and battery assembly so I could kick the led on. There was certainly plenty of empty room in the frame, but oh well maybe on the next build. I mounted a post into the front of the barrel assembly so that I wouldn't have to mask off the metal of the barrel during painting. The led was also left off to be added after the painting was finished.
The trigger guard was made by taking a strip of sintra and warming it and bending it carefully into shape so that it fit into the gap in the frame spine.
Up next were the grips, the design of the pistol was somewhat inspired by a Rhino revolver, but due to the hard right angles of the design it needed grips that weren't too thin or too thick. I cut templates for the grips and then traced those out on the sintra and cut four sets of grips. Those in turn were glued to each other. At this point I marked off where the sweeps and thumb reliefs were to go on the grips as well as the mounting holes. Then using a dremel with a grinder wheel at low speed I rough shaped the sweeps. The rest of the shaping was done using sandpaper of varying grits to shape and smooth them out.
The final assembly consisted of gluing the trigger box to one half the frame, then applying glue around the edges of the spine and attaching the other side of the frame. Once all this was glued, I took a hand riveter and attached the rivets to the frame as they're just cosmetic details and don't actually hold it together. Next was filling in the gaps and sanding down the edges to take the real sharp 90 degree corners down a bit. After that the side covers were glued into place.
At last we got to my favorite part of the build, the painting and weathering. The frame was painted with several coats of flat black. Once that was dry, the green marking lines were masked off and airbrushed. I then took a stick of graphite, sanded it down to get a little pile of powder, which was then rubbed all over the frame to give it a metallic appearance, paying attention to hit the high spots and wear areas a bit more. A very light bit of dry brushing with silver paint was added in a few spots. A bit of scrounging around turned up an old sheet of white transfer lettering which was used to make the white markings on the frame. The markings on the laser module were done using a rubber stamp I had made for my CARB rifle build. After those were applied, the frame was shot with a clear coat to seal the graphite. The magazine was primed in flat white (I was originally going to go with a red for it but liked the white better).
Once the clear coat was dry, the barrel and led were installed in the muzzle. As of this posting, I have the grips held one with double sided tape as I still need to get some allen head screws to mount them, and I'm toying with the idea of molding the grips and either casting them in transparent resin or rubber. But overall this build is 95% done.
Here are the pics of the blaster with the finished paint and assembly.
Thanks for looking
I found a source for several large sheets of 1/8th inch black sintra, and having seen what others have done with it I decided to try the build again using sintra this time. My goal was to include a working trigger and a removable magazine in the build. The design of the gun draws inspiration from a number of sci fi blasters ranging from the BSG blaster to the Blade Runner blaster. The goal was to establish a design that merged the removable magazine of a semi auto pistol with the design esthetic of a revolver.
Here's my build log
Instead of going with a layer method, I decided to build the frame as a box essentially with one half having the sides attached and the other half the frame acting as a cap that would be bonded to the assembly to create the base of the gun's frame. This eliminated having to cut the frame shape multiple times to build up the thickness, as well as making the magazine well and trigger assembly easier to install.
I first started by cutting out a cardboard template of the frame and tracing it down onto the sintra. The sintra was then cut to shape. After that was done, both halves of the frame were taped together and holes were drilled through both pieces so the rivets would line up symmetrically when they were later installed.
I glued tabs of cut sintra along the interior of both frames. These serve two purposes, one they provide additional support to the vertical pieces that form the spine of the frame, and two act as registers to insure both halves line up when assembled. My first idea had been to take one long piece of sintra and heat and bend it to conform to the shape of the frame, but the number of tight angles on the forward part of the grip proved too tricky. So instead individual pieces were cut to fit the areas, with the gaps to be filled in later.
After a day of cutting and gluing the spine of the frame was completed and I was able to try the first test fit of the finished frame. There was a little play between the frame halves in a few spots but I figured that would give me a little wiggle room to insure an exact fit before the glue bonded fully.
Up next was the trigger assembly. My first instinct had been to just make it static, but then I recalled the time I had to replace both triggers on a BR stunt blaster due to a guest casually attempting to pull the triggers. I didn't document this part but the basic mechanics were pretty easy to figure out. I first cast up a trigger then drilled out a post hole in the trigger. After that I pinned the trigger casting to a piece of foam core and drew a basic box around the trigger. By rotating the pinned trigger I could see where the trigger would hit the edges of the assembly and where to place the spring. From there I used some left over rivet pins cut to size to make the post for the trigger and two posts for the spring which I harvested from a ballpoint pen. After building the box around the trigger and spring, two additional pieces of sintra were glued to the sides of the box so that it would be flush with the frame and eliminate the need to fill it with body filler.
Up next was building the side covers which would give the pistol its revolver aspects. Since I wanted to maintain symmetry in the design while still having angles that were mirrored I repeated the process used in making the frame, A cardboard template was cut out and traced on the sintra. Then holes were drilled into it to create mounting points and visual details. Once the parts were cut they were layered over another block of sintra and glued together. From there the side covers were sanded to give angles and curves to them. Some liberal use of apoxie sculpt helped round out the shape, and a few small detail pieces were glued on. Then the side covers were fitted to the frame with tape and traced off on the frame so that they could be glued on in the same position later.
At this point in build I set to work on the box magazine that fits into the top of the frame. Being able to have the frame taped together made it easy to double check the measurements and fit of the part of the magazine that inserts into the frame. However it was clear that a simple friction fit wouldn't hold it in place when handled. I drilled out holes in both the magazine body and the pistol frame then dropped in two small magnets that would sit flush with the surface. This allowed the magazine to remain firmly seated and made a satisfying click when it snapped into place. The top part of the magazine was made flush to the top of the pistol frame using apoxie sculpt to fill the gaps.
From this point I scrounged some old parts to create the barrel and an led that would stand in for the laser mounted under the barrel. It was at this point in the build where I kind of kicked myself in the ass for not having better thought out where and how to place an on/off switch and battery assembly so I could kick the led on. There was certainly plenty of empty room in the frame, but oh well maybe on the next build. I mounted a post into the front of the barrel assembly so that I wouldn't have to mask off the metal of the barrel during painting. The led was also left off to be added after the painting was finished.
The trigger guard was made by taking a strip of sintra and warming it and bending it carefully into shape so that it fit into the gap in the frame spine.
Up next were the grips, the design of the pistol was somewhat inspired by a Rhino revolver, but due to the hard right angles of the design it needed grips that weren't too thin or too thick. I cut templates for the grips and then traced those out on the sintra and cut four sets of grips. Those in turn were glued to each other. At this point I marked off where the sweeps and thumb reliefs were to go on the grips as well as the mounting holes. Then using a dremel with a grinder wheel at low speed I rough shaped the sweeps. The rest of the shaping was done using sandpaper of varying grits to shape and smooth them out.
The final assembly consisted of gluing the trigger box to one half the frame, then applying glue around the edges of the spine and attaching the other side of the frame. Once all this was glued, I took a hand riveter and attached the rivets to the frame as they're just cosmetic details and don't actually hold it together. Next was filling in the gaps and sanding down the edges to take the real sharp 90 degree corners down a bit. After that the side covers were glued into place.
At last we got to my favorite part of the build, the painting and weathering. The frame was painted with several coats of flat black. Once that was dry, the green marking lines were masked off and airbrushed. I then took a stick of graphite, sanded it down to get a little pile of powder, which was then rubbed all over the frame to give it a metallic appearance, paying attention to hit the high spots and wear areas a bit more. A very light bit of dry brushing with silver paint was added in a few spots. A bit of scrounging around turned up an old sheet of white transfer lettering which was used to make the white markings on the frame. The markings on the laser module were done using a rubber stamp I had made for my CARB rifle build. After those were applied, the frame was shot with a clear coat to seal the graphite. The magazine was primed in flat white (I was originally going to go with a red for it but liked the white better).
Once the clear coat was dry, the barrel and led were installed in the muzzle. As of this posting, I have the grips held one with double sided tape as I still need to get some allen head screws to mount them, and I'm toying with the idea of molding the grips and either casting them in transparent resin or rubber. But overall this build is 95% done.
Here are the pics of the blaster with the finished paint and assembly.
Thanks for looking
