M-5 Phalanx Heavy Pistol Build from Mass Effect 2

[Ahura]

I've done a lot of reading around here, but this would be my first post.
After finishing my ME2 N7 Armor and M8 Avenger earlier this year, I decided to start on the M-5 Phalanx from the Firepower DLC pack for myself and a couple of friends doing Kasumi and Miranda. I'm planning on getting this cast here soon.

I started with images posted by the original artist on his personal blog (for the life of me I can't find the site now).






After tracing over this in Inventor, I got a rough workable print to go from (see attached .pdf file). Some rough cuts in 3/4", 1/2" and 1/4" MDF and some Sintra, and I had this:



Note that this thing is over 14" long at this point.

A day of beveling and sanding:




And finally, after more beveling, sanding and a couple coats of primer, I have this:









The back didn't photograph well for some reason in this last photo, though I couldn't tell you why. The barrels are cut from sprinkler system tubing and 1/2" PVC, and the top barrel cowl is heat-formed 1/4" Sintra.

I have the resin and silicone ready, though I'm having to wait until after this weekend (Otakon) before I can start molding. Thanks for reading!

 

[Panzer]

Nice work, I've been wanting to put one of these together. Going to get a blue laser for it?

 

[Ahura]

Nice work, I've been wanting to put one of these together. Going to get a blue laser for it?

Thanks! For my own personal one, I don't think I will. Though, when I start doing casts, I could potentially drill out the lower barrel more to allow for one. I dunno how you would switch it on/off though; that sort of depends on the laser I use. I have been toying with the idea of embedding Neodymium magnets into the mold after 2 or so layers of resin have set in, and then finishing up the rest of the mold once they're in place. You could wear it on your hip magnetically!

 

[Panzer]

Thanks a col idea, I've considered doing it for some stuff but had another idea suggested at Comic con. I was talking to a UNSC Marine guy and what he did was use a set of aligned screws that sit out just a bit that go into an open hole and slide down to lock it into place on your hip. That way it won't get knocked off in a busy con like magnets. Great work, I may have to get one from you in the future.

 

[reaper63]

Looking very sweet! looking forward to seeing more!

 

[Ahura]

Thanks a col idea, I've considered doing it for some stuff but had another idea suggested at Comic con. I was talking to a UNSC Marine guy and what he did was use a set of aligned screws that sit out just a bit that go into an open hole and slide down to lock it into place on your hip. That way it won't get knocked off in a busy con like magnets. Great work, I may have to get one from you in the future.

Thanks again! That might work better for busy cons, though I'd hate to drill into it, LOL. Keep your eye on the thread, as soon as I have casts going we might be able to get you one!

 

[Ahura]

After recouping from Otakon, I made some progress today.

Mold setup, with clay to seal up the edges and foam core as a border:




First brush coat of Mold Max 30:



6 hours and too many coats later:



With all of the detail lines, this was not fun/easy. It's making me WORK for these casts. This mold is looking to be pretty big for a pistol.

 

[Grey]

Do want...

 

[Ahura]

Do want...

If this mold comes out good, you'll have that chance, lol.

 

[Panzer]

Nice to see this progressing, I better start saving up my pennies. One of these days I'll be Commander Shepherd.

 

[Yodajammies]

Vamos fella! You've got a month to finish this!

 

[KMosher]

Awesome looking! How heavy do you estimate it to be when you pull it from the mold? What about with paint/maybe a counterweight embedded somewhere to help the balance in the hand?

 

[Ahura]

Nice to see this progressing, I better start saving up my pennies. One of these days I'll be Commander Shepherd.

Yeah buddy! Sooner than you think, too.

Vamos fella! You've got a month to finish this!

LOL, you know it. I'll have a handful with me at D*C for sale, if all goes well.

Awesome looking! How heavy do you estimate it to be when you pull it from the mold? What about with paint/maybe a counterweight embedded somewhere to help the balance in the hand?

The MDF master is a bit heavy for a pistol, but I imagine it to be a bit lighter once cast in resin. It's only unwieldy if you hold it one-handed. If you support it with the little grip on the bottom with a second hand, the pistol makes much more sense. I'll be sure to post the weight of the first full cast once it's done.

 

[Finnlock]

That is an awesome looking piece you have going on there. Nice work!

 

[Ahura]

Alright, after finishing the first side of rubber last night, I made some great progress today. I got the mold jacket completed, as well as de-molded the whole thing. The de-molding was by far the most stressful prop-related process I've ever had to endure. Luckily, there's no bubbles, but I did loose some depth on 4 of my panel lines. The definition is still there, but they're shallower in some areas than in others. Nothing a little dremel work later can't fix.

This whole molding process was recommended to me by TheEngineerGuy here in Atlanta, so kudos to them for the great advice.

The barrel shroud was a simple box mold with a little clay pour spout. I'm very surprised the mold worked out, and time will tell how long it'll last all the stress it takes to de-mold from it:



The silicone was covered in aluminum foil, making sure I caught all the registration keys:



Coated with spray adhesive, one layer of Fiberglass cloth squares, and one layer of Smooth-cast 300:



The mold jacket outside finished up:



And the inside of the mold jacket:



This method worked out REALLY well; it's sturdy and SUPER lightweight. I wasted a good bit of resin with overflow, and had to CAREFULLY dremel wheel the edges to get this thing off.



The mold only had 4 of the aforementioned trouble spots, all fixable with some dremel work and possible recasting if it looks like butt in the end. The edges you see in the picture are the clay-rimmed edges; they won't end up in the final casts. This gap will be filled when I throw on the other side of rubber.

You can see the trouble spots here:



For the second half, I'll be using Vasaline as a mold release (I've had great results with it in the past). I'll be putting some on the master this time on the same trouble spots to try and avoid the possible heart-attacks. I've got some ugly primer dust on the inside of the mold now, and I'm not sure what I can get it out with. Hopefully it'll jump out with the first pull, but if anyone has any ideas, feel free. Thanks for reading!

 

[BikerScout]

If you were still selling these, I would be interested in one

 

[Ahura]

If you were still selling these, I would be interested in one

Once they're done, yes. I put on the second side of silicone on the big mold last night. Two brush coats and then some thickened coats. Once I get home from work, I'll be able to throw on the mold jacket and pull some casts! I'll have pictures up hopefully sooner rather than later tonight.

The top rail part is being molded separately, making a total of 3 molds for this pistol. That mold has only one half of it's silicone done, and I'll be making the mold jacket for that side tonight. If all goes well, FULL kits will be ready on Friday!

 

[Ahura]

Got some more progress done tonight, but not as far as I'd like; I ran out of resin. The main mold is done, and half of the small top rail mold is done:



















I was able to get halfway through the main mold with resin. I'll be picking up some more tomorrow morning, so I'll have a cast to show off tomorrow. The first half of the rail mold came out flawless. We'll see how the main gun comes out, :confused. The mold with the jacket on it for casting is pretty heavy, and not very ideal for holding while casting. Anyone got any ideas on how to mount this thing vertically while casting?

 

[popsprops]

great step by step...looking forward to more

 

[Ahura]

Pulled the first cast today! Turned out great, considering! The mold didn't register correctly on the barrels, but I've corrected the issue already. It's a nice solid piece; heavier than the MDF master, weighing in at 2lb 11 ounces. As soon as the forum lets me post the thread in the Junkyard, I'll start taking orders!







Note that in these pictures, I don't have the top barrel shroud or top rail attached. The shroud is done, and the rail's last coat of silicone is curing at the time of this post. I'll have some better pictures up here within the hour.

Edit: Here's a better picture of the cast next to the master, though I forgot the trigger for some reason? Not to worry, it's one piece cast together with the main gun. Also edited the weight of the gun. It's actually 2lb+. Almost 1lb more than the master!