Dr. Horrible Death Ray

ironmuffin96

New Member
This was a prop I made to go with my halloween costume. It is Dr. Horrible's Stun turned Death Ray, as seen here:
Screen shot 2014-10-08 at 8.55.27 PM.png
This was my first real attempt at a serious prop, and, despite some cut corners due to time limitations, I think it turned out reasonably well. I'd appreciate any feedback or advice. A big thanks to WardenTorBaaL, whose own project was very helpful during my build.
This is also my first post to the RPF so please excuse any formatting issues. I also apologize for potato-quality images.
this one.jpg

20141031_192613.jpg20141101_113005.jpg
The front bit. Mostly PVC. The tip piece was 3d printed.
20141031_192626.jpg
I don't know why this photo is upside down.
20141101_112937.jpg
A close-up of some greebles, which I stole from an old printer.

I also have a bunch of progress and reference pictures if anyone shows any interest.
 
Yep! They just flipped it upside down, drilled some holes, added the scope, and gave it a paint job.
The lab coat Dr. Horrible wears is actually taken from the same episode with no modifications.
 
And both the sonic rifle and the lab coats actually predate Firefly too.

If you've got progress pictures, I'd love to see them, IronMuffin96. It looks great.

-Nick
 
Thanks everyone! I suppose I'll just put up all the progress pictures at once.

Something I didn't mention before: Since the Death Ray was made from an upside-down prop from Firefly, the handle is actually upside-down for the way Dr. Horrible holds it. I decided to sacrifice some screen-accuracy and make the handle right side up, just because it would be a lot more comfortable to hold.
20140929_211900.jpg
Here is the base, cut using a jigsaw. Not the ideal tool but the best that I have.
20141018_112044.jpg
Any round bits I put in with PVC pipes. I built up other parts with wood with the intent to fill in the curves with some sort of clay. The greebles near the front were cut from an old printer circuit board. I chiseled out a recessed area for them and then covered them with some thin plastic to get a layered look.
20141018_121612.jpg
Ok, so this photo is upside down for some reason. This is after I filled in the curves. I decided to use Crayola Model Magic because it's air-drying, lightweight, and cheap. This turned out to be the wrong choice because Model Magic shrinks while it dries, leaving a bunch of cracks in the surface.
20141018_130926.jpg
Next I got to work on the front bit - WardenTorBaaL called it the Beam Concentrator, which I think is an apt name. I used a few PVC endcaps and drilled holes using my school's drill press before cutting them to size with a Dremel.
20141021_222225.jpg
To make the tip piece, I printed a 3D model made by WardenTorBaal, but modified it slightly to be a bit more accurate and, more importantly, to make it fit a nut so I could thread a bolt through the entire front assembly for support.
20141022_184234.jpg
Here is the test fit of the front assembly - sideways, for some reason.
20141026_185908.jpg
Then I was pretty much done with the body, and started painting. Here you can see the handgrip I added, as well as some 3D printed detail pieces.
20141026_150504.jpg
And here is the other side with the base coat all done.

That's my last progress photo. To make the scope, I just used a bunch of PVC pieces to get the right shape, and 3D printed that one fancy red bit. The detail pieces on the stock I cut from some weird cardboard-like stuff I found on the floor. All in all it was about a month's worth of work.

Hey, can someone explain why my pictures are so small?
 
Last edited:
Isn't that also the sonic rifle from the Firefly episode "Ariel"?

Which was made of a casting of a Foosh rifle from "The Sixth Day". Supposedly, the prop company really liked the design of the rifle, and so reused it for "Firefly".

David.
 
Back
Top