Fallout 4 Laser Pistol Build

Triple 8 Props

Active Member
I've been playing Fallout 4 for a while now and I finally decided I need to make something from the game. I previously made the 10mm Pistol from Fallout 3 and New Vegas and I was originally planning on making the one from Fallout 4. Then I realized how many people have made it. So instead I chose the Laser Pistol. I am making the standard Laser Pistol but later on down the line I might add some of the modifications that can be done in game.

I'd like to mention that there is a really good 3D model of the Laser Pistol over on Thingiverse done by a person named "lilykill" that I used as a reference for my build. I did, however, find a few flaws in the model which I plan on fixing in my build. I also modified the MF cell from this model but we'll get to that later.

I started by spending a few hours taking pictures of the weapon in game and trying to figure out the scale for the gun. The model over on Thingiverse puts the length at somewhere around 18 inches which was way too big for my purposes. The reason it is this big is because the model in-game has to be transformed from a pistol to a rifle fairly easily inside of Fallout 4's gun modifications system. So things like grip size, thickness, etc have to be constant across a pistol and a rifle at the same time. This puts the pistol at a more sub machinegun size. Moral of the story, I scaled mine wayyy down so that it was a pistol size and would have good proportions with my body.

So let's begin! (Here's a fair warning, this is going to be a long build with a lot of pictures and details, so maybe grab a snack)

I started with the handle which was two layers of half inch MDF glued together and then cut on my scroll saw.

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I also transferred lines that would later be used for shaping.

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Next, I attacked this thing with my dremel. I started by rounding out most of the edges with a standard sanding drum.

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Then I used one of those little ball/engraving bits in my dremel to carve out the recesses in the grip.

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Next I added a PVC sheet panel to the bottom and then proceeded to carve the pommel way too thin.

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Luckily that was easily fixed with some Apoxie Sculpt (which I will be using extensively in this build). For the little circular detail, I used a trick I learned from Zander over at Z-Props. I basically cut a rough circle out of styrene, drilled a small hole in the middle, and then used my dremel as a lathe to make the rough circle perfectly circular and to add an even angle across the edged. The hole in the middle was filled with Apoxie Sculpt and then detail holes were drilled as well.

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All of those dark MDF edges are where I slicked the MDF with superglue to help the painting process later on.

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I also embedded a trigger into place in the handle.

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And there's the finished grip! You can see how I scaled it down so that it fits in my hand unlike the one in-game which would require two hands to hold comfortably.

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Now before I get to the body, I'm going to take a quick exhibition for the Microfusion Cell.

It started as a scaled down version of the MF Cell from the Thingiverse model I mentioned earlier.

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I had this printed via a website called the 3D Hubs. It is basically a website where people with 3D printers can print things for other people without the cost of more proffesional sites like Shapeways. I found a guy right near me with awesome prices and who can ship to me. So after sending him the file, he printed it out and sent me the print a few days later.

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It's definitely rough but I don't have a lathe so this was really my only option.

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To smooth this guy out, I used Smooth On's XTC-3D product. It does a really good jobs on prints like this that don't have a lot of detal which the empoxy tends to cover up. After a good coat of XTC and some sanding, I had a really good looking piece.

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Now it's on to the body which is the bulk of this build. It's packed with complex geometry and pieces that all have to fit together but it's well worth it.

I started with four pieces of half inch MDF. These were carfully measured from the blueprints and they accomadote a cut-out for the MF Cell (yay for planning ahead!).

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After glueing, the pieces were pretty rough but thanks to my super retro yet very handy belt sander, I was able to clean this "core" (as I called it) up pretty quickly.

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Even after a bunch of sanding, the shape still isn't perfect (you can see how the back and fron lift off of the table) but luckily most of this core is covered up by other panels.
 
I stated with details at the back. First I made a square of PVC sheet that slides nicely onto the core. The edges were rounded on my belt sander and details were carved with a dremel.

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A second square was made and this fits inside of the first one (here's that complex geometry I was talking about). It also has angled edges which were also done on my belt sander.

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Inside of this piece are a ton of little details. First I cut 11 of these little pieces. I cut these by hand with an X-Acto knife and the score and snap method.

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These were all glued into place. You can also see where I used Apoxie Sculpt to round out the inside corners of this piece.

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The finishing touch was a little knob/dial. I was planning on carving this from MDF when I noticed my super glue caps had (almost) the perfect shape. All I had to do was cut off the end, plug the inside with Apoxie Sculpt and glue it on.

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That's all I've got so far. Please let me know what you think and I should have more updates ever few weeks.
 
Sorry it's been awhile but here are some updates.

I got to work on the front grip. This started by rough cutting three separate pieces of half inch MDF to the general profile of the grips. I rough cut them now because my scroll saw can't handle a 1 and a half inch piece of MDF all at once.

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This was then shaped with a belt sander and a dremel.

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To add the raised grip pieces, I first shaped a large piece of 1/8" PVC sheet with a heat gun over the MDF base.

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Then I sliced this large piece into several strips with a Dremel and a cut off wheel.

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For the most part, these pieces fit perfectly around the MDF piece.

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These did require a ton of finishing. This involved rounding all of the edges with a Dremel and sandpaper and then carefully superglueing them all to the MDF making sure that they're spaced evenly.

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Now back to the main body!

I decided to skip up to the front of the blaster and I started with some very carefully cut and shaped MDF panels. Each of these are actually three pieces of MDF glued together to make really nice panel lines. Those indents on pieces A and 3 in the pictures were done with a dremel.

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An 1/8" piece of PVC made in the same way as the sides was made for the top. Like most of the pieces on this gun, the edges are rounded but I'll get to that later.

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Now a quick test fit of everything I have done so far courtesy of Scotch Tape!

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The black piece attaching the handle to the grip is just a piece of 1/4" PVC sheet. There is also a piece of 1/8" PVC behind the MF cell that was made by heat forming a piece of PVC sheet around a piece of PVC pipe with the same diameter as the MF cell.

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Despite scaling this thing way down, it's still a monster of a pistol.
 
With the release of the Far Harbor DLC, I figured you guys deserved an update on this build.

A band of 1/4" MDF was glued around the body. It is several pieces and perfect fits the handle and the trigger guard piece.

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I installed a circular piece of styrene with a magnet embedded into it. A corresponding magnet was put in the MF cell for those speedy reloads.

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Side note, these magnets are actually a lot stronger than I was hoping. I thought, given their size, they'd be pretty weak but I was proven very wrong.

Behind this, there is a sort of cone shape that tapers down. I started by backfilling this area with some pink insulation foam because it's light and shapes very easily. The final shape was sculpted with Apoxie Sculpt with a part of a pen embedded as a little detail.

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Lastly, I used by belt sander to round out the shape of the front piece I made previously. I also cut a nice styrene cover plate that with give the front a perfectly flat finish.

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That's all for now!
 

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