Splendid job Jonaas and thank you for detailing out your entire work in the last few weeks. It's been great to see the work in progress resulting in that final piece of art :thumbsup.
Besides the fact that I've wait to another two weeks till Oct 12 for the movie release in India, another thing that saddens me is that I know I can never think of getting this replica as the customs here would never allow it . (Despite not being a real firearm). Same reason I didn't get on the interest list for buying the gun.
I linked directly to Post #173. Here is someone else who saw your work now .
Oh wow! Thanks for mentioning the gun, sir! Now I have to make sure the gun turns out perfectly since the creator knows of its existence.
As for the movie, don't worry...it's WELL worth the wait. Just stay away from discussion forums until then, you do NOT want this movie spoiled for you. As far as the gun goes, even an unpainted resin cast would be stopped at customs? What if I labeled it "Plastic Exhaust Port model" or something :rolleyes
As for the movie, don't worry...it's WELL worth the wait. Just stay away from discussion forums until then, you do NOT want this movie spoiled for you.
Yeah I know, I haven't watched anything besides the teaser trailer as I already knew I am going to watch the movie past two years now . Also I had to stop visiting the movie thread for the same reason after Sept 28.
As far as the gun goes, even an unpainted resin cast would be stopped at customs? What if I labeled it "Plastic Exhaust Port model" or something :rolleyes
Everything gets stopped here at the customs. Here is what happened during my recent encounter with international shipping of just movie posters.
But I think I definitely should risk it and say it's a toy or exhaust tube like you mentioned. I can get it shipped to my NY mailing address and use the parcel forwarding company to ship it to me to India. I need to tell that company the made up description of the item, so that they can explain the same to the customs. I will get back to you on this.
Actually, the run's blunderbuss will be a static, resin slushcast...but my personal gun will have a functioning slide and moveable trigger. The slide is going to be difficult because I have to find a way to mount a return spring to retract the slide on the INSIDE of the gun's aluminum pipe. Unless I hack away a larger hole on the aluminum pipe, I'll have to affix the spring blind somehow.
As far as the break-action, I have brainstormed several ways to do it, based on what I've seen in the movie and the photos of the props.
First off, please examine rear endcap in this photo:
You'll notice a triangular sight on the second ring of the endcap. I believe this is the break-action mechanism. In that same photo, you'll see that a tab that's been mounted to the third ring of the rear endcap slots into the break-action mechanism. I believe that in the hero version of the gun, the sight section of the the break-action mechanism pivots away, which releases the tab allowing the gun to break-open.
Though I believe that THIS version of the prop is the non-opening, firing version, take a look at the bottom of the rear endcaps second ring: See that square? While on this gun, it's gaps have been filled, I think that on the Hero prop this is a square joint, mounted onto the third ring of the rear endcap and the joint is hidden under the second ring of the rear endcap. The gun breaks between the rear endcaps second and third ring (and we see this in the film).
That being said, it wouldn't be hard at all to replicate the break-action feature on my blunderbuss...I simply follow the leader. The reason why I'm not implementing it is because I want my blunderbuss to feel more solid...that's why everything is built upon the inner aluminum tubing.
As for the ejecting shell, it would look pretty nifty, but there's a reason why I wouldn't add it on my gun if I did indeed add the break-action...
During Joe and Kid Blue's final showdown, Joe fires multiple shots at Kid Blue before finally killing him. Because of Joe having to cock the blunderbuss to get another shot in the chamber, I believe that he IS shooting shotgun shells...but somehow I think a blunderbuss round is something a bit more complicated/futuristic than a simple plastic and brass shell. And if the blunderbuss really did use shotgun shells, more than one would pop out of the blunderbuss when it gets broken open (according to the scene, at least 6 or 7 of of them). Yeah, I'm pretty nerdy about stuff like that.
I just picked up my Father-in-Law from the airport who's visiting Cali from Tennessee so he can meet his first grandson, and after dinner, we're all gonna sit down and re-watch The Hunger Games. I'll jump into work on blunderbuss after everyone's asleep.
As for the Blunderbuss run, I've heard back from most of the people on the First Run list. If I don't hear back from everyone by Friday, I'll be pulling people from the Stand-By List to take their places. Please visit my For Sale thread in the Junkyard for more details on how to get in on a run.
Re: Looper Blunderbuss Shotgun - WIP pics begin on Page 3
Bummer Update Time!
Using some 3/8" basswood, I got started on my break-action mechanism/sight. After eyeballing the reference photos for proportions and working from the curve of the PVC coupling I'm using for all three rear endcap rings, this is what I came up with.
Working with wood is usually very slow going for me, and the fact that this piece was so small made task even more time-consuming. I spent about 3 hours designing, cutting, shaping, drilling and smoothing this little piece...
...only to realize that I made it too small. First off, it should be thicker (as thick as the second ring). Secondly, it should be about 1/8" wider too, to necessitate the mounting screws on either side. So for tonight's attempt I'm going to laminate 3/8" basswood with 1/8" basswood to get it to the correct thickness. After that, I'm going to take more precise measurements and examine every angle of the piece from my reference photos before drawing out my pattern.
So lesson learned, everyone: Measure six times, cut once.
In other news, my blunderbuss run is seeing a spike in interest ever since the film came out. The first two runs filled up overnight and the third run is on it's way. However, I've decided that the blunderbuss will only be limited to 3 runs of 10 guns. Why 30 blunderbusses? Well, because time-travel will be invented in 30 years! *rimshot*
So if you've been following my build and are interested in owning a copy, head on over to The Junkyard to see what I'm offering and then shoot me a PM. As of now, there are only 7 copies of the blunderbuss left.
Re: Looper Blunderbuss Shotgun - WIP pics begin on Page 3
Update time!
I cut a recess into the grip frame to necessitate the trigger. The visible portion of the trigger is rather unusual, but it shouldn't be hard to replicate...I WILL, however, have to figure out how the REST of the trigger looks like before moving forward with it.
After I design the trigger, I'll devise a system to make it functional. There's several gun builds by Blind Squirrel and Volpin that I'll study to see how they made functional triggers and adapt their plans to the blunderbuss's weird trigger.
I also redid the break-action mechanism/slide today. As you can see, I was EXTRA precious about taking proper measurements this time.
This time, the cutting and shaping didn't take as long as it did the first time. From designing to finished shaping, it only took about an hour and a half.
There's a bit more work left on the piece. I've yet to finish shaping the fake screw holes on either side of the sight and then mount cut down screwheads. After all that's done, I'll mount it to the rear endcap's second ring and fill in any gaps with Spot Putty. After that, I'll fabricate the tab that hangs off the third ring and then slips into the the bottom of the break-action mechanism.
And just so everyone understands why I felt the need to remake the piece, here's the two side-by-side, the original on the right, my final version on the left.
So that's it for now, everyone! Later on tonight, I hope to have the second ring completely finished so I can get started on sculpting the first ring's weld line. Tomorrow I'll go shopping for thin aluminum bar that I can hammer the triggerguard out of and possibly thin aluminum tubing that I can make the trigger with.
Re: Looper Blunderbuss Shotgun - WIP pics begin on Page 3
A quick update before bedtime:
The last weld line on the rear endcap has been sculpted. That means that all I have left to do on the rear endcap is fabricate/mount a tab protrudes from the third ring and slots into the break-action mechanism on the second ring.
Though the weld line bead is pretty consistent, I wanted to include this little blob that's present on the actual prop's weld line. Seriously, I just wanted to reiterate that working on the weld lines was the most fun I've had on this build so far.
Re: Looper Blunderbuss Shotgun - WIP pics begin on Page 3
Ok, I have been looking around, it's time to feed the info and get more help! The slider under the rail looks like something off a motor bike, but I also found this!!
Re: Looper Blunderbuss Shotgun - WIP pics begin on Page 3
Hey! I'm a huge Rian Johnson fan and I loved Looper. I was wondering if maybe you could build me a blunderbuss like the one your building now. I would like to have one in time for Christmas. If you can get back to me on that and maybe a price range.
The front "endcap" and rear "endcap" we're all hand machined. The handle was a Waterjet piece clad with the custom wood grips. Every part on that gun is custom save the shroud.
Quick update before me and the wife head out to buy materials to make our Halloween costumes:
The last weld line all painted up. I'm really, really happy with it. Tonight I'll figure out I'm going to put all four sections of the rear endcap together. Remember: I wanted to make sure I could take the gun apart for servicing and upgrades in the future, so mounting the rear endcap will be a bit tricky.
The break-action mechanism/sight still needs to be shaved down a bit from the bottom up (it sits too high). I may have to tick out the center recess a bit to necessitate the tab I'm mounting on the third ring.
And here we are. In all my excitement over the rear endcap, I forgot about sculpting the screws of the grip. During our shopping trip today, I'll also pick up the trigger/triggerguard stuff and some hockey tape.
If you read through this thread, you'll see how worried I was about getting the weld line right and all the different material tests I went through to avoid having to sculpt them.
Cut to the present, where I realized that sculpting the weld lines was my FAVORITE part of the build so far! Time allowing, I may even alter the weld line on the third ring of the rear endcap to get it a bit closer to the source material.
Before I head out, I just wanted to pimp SharpShooter55's Young Joe costume and blunderbuss build. His costume is spot on and his blunderbuss build is very clever and inspiring. Check it out when you have the chance!
After watching "The Hunger Games" with my father-in-law and shuttling the family off to bed, I went down to my workshop to work on the gun.
I decided to get the triggerguard going. I'd picked up a 1/2" strip of aluminum at Lowe's earlier in the evening and got to bending. In one of his builds, Volpin formed a triggerguard by hammering his raw material over a form he'd made out of wood. Since everyone in my house was asleep, my jigsaw was off limits...I wouldn't be able to cut the blunderbuss's triggerguard form without waking everyone up. Still, I wanted to see what kind of results I'd get from simply bending the aluminum strip using only my C-Clamp, a pair of pliers, and my mitts.
After about half an hour, this was my result. Initially, I was pretty happy with it. I thought the only work I had left to do was shave down about 1/8" from the sides and drill the mounting holes...however, when I compared my finished triggerguard to photos of the actual prop, I realized my triggerguard's shape was too square. The only way I could replicate the original prop's triggerguard was to employ Volpin's technique. Ah well. All I can say is I'm glad I'm on Paternity Leave :lol
Still, I couldn't help but get a couple shots of the fail triggerguard on the gun. If I weren't so anal, I could let the triggerguard I made pass...but as I mentioned earlier, I've been afflicted with the Propper's Curse. I'll cut out the triggerguard form and hammer out the appropriately shaped piece by Tuesday.
Also, while plotting out where the grip screws would go, I realized that my grips and gripframe needed some altering. I marked the areas that needed to be sanded down in black Sharpie.
So that's it for now. Tomorrow I have church with the in-laws and then I have to go to the wake of my best friend's grandmother. I'm pretty sure there won't be any substantial updates until Monday.
Also, there are only FOUR blunderbusses left in my run. If you'd like to own an unfinished or finished cast of my gun, PM me IMMEDIATELY.
. (Despite not being a real firearm). Same reason I didn't get on the interest list for buying the gun.
