Fallout 4 shotgun pistol (original design)

[Palantirion]

Back in 2020 I made my first ever scratch-built thing. This was, perhaps surprisingly, inspired by Adam Savage's Tested video about building a model of a observation craft from a Moebius drawing. This video in fact:

It hadn't occurred to me how quick and easy styrene is to cut and glue and I wanted to do something quick and easy too! So I made it complex and hard instead...and I nibbled at it over 6 months.

An original design 12 gauge pistol for the Fallout universe. (sorry for the lousy picture quality, old phone, better will come soon).

PART 1, the cylinder.
I started with the cylinder, using 3/4" PVC pipe. Filled the gaps with strips of styrene, then spru goo (I didn't know about epoxy putties back then!) and a ton of hand sanding.

Test fitting. Pics of making the other parts will come shortly...

Used a Dremel sanding barrel to cut in the indexing notches.

Test fitting dummy shell. Also note the recessed magnets which will be used for indexing. The index wheel is styrene, and non functional.

 

[Palantirion]

PART 2, the frame.

I cut the frame by hand with a saw out of some scrap pine 1x8. This is it with the grip buck, but ignore that for now.

Test fitting the cylinder. I used a cut-down fiberglass tent pole as the cylinder shaft, because the metal ends of the pole could be used as bearings.

Said pole. It's held in by a magnet on the trigger end.

I used JB Weld to attach the barrel (more Home Depot plumbing section materials), and CA to laminate the styrene surface panels.

Another test fit, with barrel. Gotta love 1-2-3 blocks!

Because I wanted the design to be functionally in keeping with Fallout's ability to customize weapons the grip, barrel attachment and sights would all be attached mechanically. For the grip, this would be two nails for alignment pins and then screws to these inserts laterally.

More test fitting with grip and muzzle brake pipe.

Lamination has begun!

I used a hand chisel to carve the top and bottom frame channels. Then laminated them with styrene.

From the front.

The hammer area.

Starting to build up the cylinder cover and the magnet that will provide indexing (buried in JB Weld).

Spru goo. Lots and lots of spru goo.

Scribing lines for the cover over the non-existent internals.

And scribing Vault-Tec branding...

...and the serial number.

 

[Palantirion]

PART 3, the muzzle brake.

The muzzle brake started with a couple pieces of PVC pipe that match the threads on the ABS barrel. I wanted the brake to also have a glass breaker tip - for melee against radscorpions.

It was tough laying out the cut lines.

Not as hard to cut them. I used a pull saw, being very careful with the angles.

Refined the edges with hand files.

Pilot holes for the brake ports.

Drilled.

Test fitted.

 

[Palantirion]

PART 4, the silencer.

ABS pipe, some PVC bits. Here is the rough assembly next to the rough muzzle brake.

I used a soldering iron to make the weld lines. I also added non-functional screws to the front face, but don't have in-progress pictures for some reason.

Scribing the serial number. I scribed the Vault-Tec logo on the reverse side, but didn't take a progress pic.

Painted.

 

[Palantirion]

PART 5, details.

I made all the little stuff from styrene. Here is the hammer, with magnets in the end that will allow it to stay in ****** or uncocked positions via buried magnets in the frame. I filed knurling onto the hammer end later.

The hammer and trigger next to the frame.

Using a nail as the hammer pin.

One end of the safety slide. It moves through the frame to safe and fire positions via friction fit.

The safety test fit. And the trigger (which is laminated styrene sheets), also using a nail as a pin/pivot. I mounted a spring from a Bic pen so the trigger can be pulled. Not great action, but better than completely static. The gap in the frame below the trigger was so I could install it, that gets covered with styrene sheet later on.

Hammer and safety. You can see one of the frame magnets the hammer will use.

This revolver will be gate loading. Because reasons. Making the gate.

The gate fit into the keeper by sliding onto a magnet that also acts as a pivot. I'd do it differently knowing what I know now, but back then I hadn't built anything from scratch before.

Testing open position.

I made iron sights from styrene. I planned to make other optics too, but haven't yet. They would all attach with the same screws you can see here. Those screws were also used ornamentally on the silencer and frame cover.

The frame, scribed, showing the holes for the safety and two grip screws.

 

[Palantirion]

PART 6, the grip.

I shaped the wood buck with hand files. Then I laminated Kydex sheets onto it, forming them with a heat gun and my hands. That hurt, but the results were really good.

Using JB Weld to fill gaps. Again, I wish I had known about Apoxie Sculpt back then. But I did learn that you can shape JB Weld after about 2 hours, and after 3-4 you can cut it with a knife. So shaving it then can reduce sanding time later.

Sanding.

Test fit.

Spru goo for finer gap filling.

Always more sanding. I took great care not to sand into the textured area of the Kydex. The finger areas and butt could be smooth, but I really wanted the texture present on the sides as contrast to the metal of the gun.

Primed.

And lastly I scribed Vault-Tec logos on both sides. I don't know why the grip texture isn't visible in this pic. Old phone I guess.

 

[Palantirion]

PART 7, finishing it up.

All the various components, primed.

I also had to make ammo. I used dummy rounds and because I wanted to make a carbine stock later that would have a side saddle I made two different types of ammo. I used hot glue (because noob and didn't know about Apoxie Sculpt) to fill the tops of the dummy rounds and carved the splits for the buckshot rounds and the hollows for the hollow points.

Then they were painted and weathered. A couple real rounds as reference. The dummies pass the 10-foot test, but I'd certainly make them differently today.

And the gun, finished at that time. I painted it black overall and gave the metal areas a light rubbing with graphite powder. Then a little edge and scratch work with silver Rubb-N-Buff. The safety is painted so you can see red on one side when it's in fire position.

The finished gun. I'll get some better pics soon.

 

[Palantirion]

*Update* New pics.

Standard configuration.

Hammer ******.

With silencer (no carbine stock yet).

Silencer's front end.

Glass breaker.

Safety in fire position.

 

[joberg]

Great tuto and results: that gun is a beast

 

[ReplicaZero]

You are not alone here in being frequently inspired by the great Adam Savage. You have a really great write up, your design is very well executed, I mean the end result speaks for itself! I don't think using one material over another makes you a noob or is a mistake etc, there are many ways to reach the same end result and sure, different materials can make your life easier, but look at the final product! Now you have great experience for your future builds and a better handle on using those materials. Great game replica, can't wait to see more!

 

[Palantirion]

Thanks guys for your kind words.

Regarding my self-criticism, I'm quite happy with the results of my first real project. It's just that a few years later I know more about materials and could have made certain parts of the process SO much easier and/or precise than they were. Like using hot glue to fill the shell casings - an air dry foam clay would have been much more appropriate for filling the gap and allowing for basic sculpting. Learning is part of the journey, and most of the fun.

 

[BR12819]

Fantastic looking wrist breaker you built there! I'm really impressed by how well the cylinder turned out. And, that you were able to build in some functionality.

 

[Palantirion]

Fantastic looking wrist breaker you built there! I'm really impressed by how well the cylinder turned out. And, that you were able to build in some functionality.

-Thank you. And thank you for the reminder that I really need to build the stock!

Coincidentally, a friend just pointed me to a video testing a 4 gauge shotgun with a pistol grip - some stupid Russian idea. Talk about a wrist breaker!