I've been wasting away in the poorhouse, and working my ass off lately at two jobs, but have managed to keep some AWS stuff going. I thought I'd show some progress of the prototypes were working on!
I was able to get some of the new 3.0 molds done this weekend, which a few Maryland Ghostheads can attest to them sitting around gathering dust. But I've finally been able to get my new gun body into resin, and am doing a buildup for Egon'sContraption as the "prototype" as well as a cutaway prop for BusterMikeMD's desk (surprise Mike). Anyway . . . here's the lowdown on the gun.
Out with the old . . .
I was loving our 2.0 vacformed gun shell's, but could never get the sharp corners. Two measurements were also off by at least an 1/8 of an inch(ughhh). They were a huge waste of plastic. I also hated that everytime I tried to wire the dang things up, I couldn't get me hands in and had to wire with tweezers. Cramppy, cramppy hands . .ouch. The front wall also had the abiltiy to snap at the corner if the plastic wasn't pulled just right.
Improving the design . . .?
One of the things seen around here that blew me away was St. Louis Kid's "Redbox." It's truley a leap forward. While I never got my hand on one, I loved the opening side for installs, and the openable bottom once the wires are in. Using a combo of Stephan's and Venkman's plans, I got to work. Upon starting my cutaway, I wanted the interior to look "built". I did the St Louis sidewall, with interior "welding", and did the master using hair-cell plastic(think dashboard texture), giving it a neat interior texture. I also put in small divits for where all the lighting goes, as well as a post for the steam knob, and "smaller than actual size" grill holes so folks can choose how big or small they want to cut. Then she went for a silicone swim (That's why the master looks a little banged up, pics are post- squish mold)
What's really cool, is the body is sharp, but has little dips, rubbed edges, etc, that when painted and wheathered, give it the PH look (thanks for the idea Roboprop!). Most of the dips and dings match up with the screen used props. If you want a sharp look though, all theses imperfections can be easily bondoed out(see below for a sharp version).
Adding room . . .
One of the biggest problems I've had with Exoray's light kit (besides blinding myself everytime I turn it on), is once all the stuff's in, I have no place for the vibro motor, or in the world of wishful thinking, a working mechanism for the gun tip. Soooo, I added the slo-blo bar onto the body, and made it hollow. Now I have a little shelf for stuff to go on! I can also run the "Intensify" and "Activate" switches out of it, so no more interferring with the incoming handle/ pack wires (the empty shell is the first test pull, and is fugly. It's in the trash now).
Metal!
While I 've always been terrified to move into new areas of prop building, it was finally time to take a new step . . . metal. While I'll probably never do things with metal the way machinists and others do, I've always disliked the thick, PVC tubing on the guns rear handle, when it can be clearly seen that it's thin steel tubing. So, I got some 1 1/4" tubing today and cut away. I then banged my head on the table several times cause cutting it with my dremel and installing it took all of 15 minutes. :roll: See what fear can get ya? Some putty completed the look( This is Egon'sContraption's build, how's she look Justin?
).
More to come . . .
I'm pretty proud, and am waiting for the weekend to get things like the new heatsink and side knobs with all the correct details into silcone, as well as the trigger box. What's really the challenge now is getting the front tube to turn and stay, and maybe even rigging up the tube extender. I'll be updating this over the next few weekends, and I hope to share the ideas we've got coming for future releases, or just fun buildups. I'd love to hear what you think. Thanks!
Also, we're not releasing these until late summer, so don't ask or PM. This thread just for showing off
I was able to get some of the new 3.0 molds done this weekend, which a few Maryland Ghostheads can attest to them sitting around gathering dust. But I've finally been able to get my new gun body into resin, and am doing a buildup for Egon'sContraption as the "prototype" as well as a cutaway prop for BusterMikeMD's desk (surprise Mike). Anyway . . . here's the lowdown on the gun.
Out with the old . . .
I was loving our 2.0 vacformed gun shell's, but could never get the sharp corners. Two measurements were also off by at least an 1/8 of an inch(ughhh). They were a huge waste of plastic. I also hated that everytime I tried to wire the dang things up, I couldn't get me hands in and had to wire with tweezers. Cramppy, cramppy hands . .ouch. The front wall also had the abiltiy to snap at the corner if the plastic wasn't pulled just right.
Improving the design . . .?
One of the things seen around here that blew me away was St. Louis Kid's "Redbox." It's truley a leap forward. While I never got my hand on one, I loved the opening side for installs, and the openable bottom once the wires are in. Using a combo of Stephan's and Venkman's plans, I got to work. Upon starting my cutaway, I wanted the interior to look "built". I did the St Louis sidewall, with interior "welding", and did the master using hair-cell plastic(think dashboard texture), giving it a neat interior texture. I also put in small divits for where all the lighting goes, as well as a post for the steam knob, and "smaller than actual size" grill holes so folks can choose how big or small they want to cut. Then she went for a silicone swim (That's why the master looks a little banged up, pics are post- squish mold)
What's really cool, is the body is sharp, but has little dips, rubbed edges, etc, that when painted and wheathered, give it the PH look (thanks for the idea Roboprop!). Most of the dips and dings match up with the screen used props. If you want a sharp look though, all theses imperfections can be easily bondoed out(see below for a sharp version).
Adding room . . .
One of the biggest problems I've had with Exoray's light kit (besides blinding myself everytime I turn it on), is once all the stuff's in, I have no place for the vibro motor, or in the world of wishful thinking, a working mechanism for the gun tip. Soooo, I added the slo-blo bar onto the body, and made it hollow. Now I have a little shelf for stuff to go on! I can also run the "Intensify" and "Activate" switches out of it, so no more interferring with the incoming handle/ pack wires (the empty shell is the first test pull, and is fugly. It's in the trash now).
Metal!
While I 've always been terrified to move into new areas of prop building, it was finally time to take a new step . . . metal. While I'll probably never do things with metal the way machinists and others do, I've always disliked the thick, PVC tubing on the guns rear handle, when it can be clearly seen that it's thin steel tubing. So, I got some 1 1/4" tubing today and cut away. I then banged my head on the table several times cause cutting it with my dremel and installing it took all of 15 minutes. :roll: See what fear can get ya? Some putty completed the look( This is Egon'sContraption's build, how's she look Justin?
).
More to come . . .
I'm pretty proud, and am waiting for the weekend to get things like the new heatsink and side knobs with all the correct details into silcone, as well as the trigger box. What's really the challenge now is getting the front tube to turn and stay, and maybe even rigging up the tube extender. I'll be updating this over the next few weekends, and I hope to share the ideas we've got coming for future releases, or just fun buildups. I'd love to hear what you think. Thanks!
Also, we're not releasing these until late summer, so don't ask or PM. This thread just for showing off
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