Mass Effect gun kits WIP

[GeneralFROSTY]

I am currently working on a set of replica guns from the video game "Mass Effect 2" for a client.
I have come to call these the "Mass Defect" guns because of the slopiness of the castings - a lot of work is going to be needed to repair all the holes, bubbles and gunked up resin and correct mishaped seams.

As not to overwhelm myself - the way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time, so I will be starting on the M3 Predator Pistol first and save the M9 Tempest Submachine Gun for my next round.

Here are some photos of the raw kit I will be working with:

 

[zanderwitaz]

*****. I hope that was a trial pull that you got for free/near free.

 

[Weaselhammer]

Holy Moly - good luck !

 

[joeyiswhammo]

would it be possible to sell the kit for someone to work on? if so i would be very interested in what looks like the m8 avenger rifle mold you have there, thanks.

 

[GeneralFROSTY]

would it be possible to sell the kit for someone to work on? if so i would be very interested in what looks like the m8 avenger rifle mold you have there, thanks.

Im doing these for a client they are not for sale.

 

[darkchylde80]

Yikes that looks awful! But I am pleased its you doing these, they will both look awesome! Can't wait to see your progress

No, unfortunately these were paid for! But hey they are in the right hands now.

 

[AxiomUltra]

It's unfortunate that the kits require so much work. I wonder how the master was made? Judging by the lettering on the sides it looks like it may have been machined.

 

[cosmic_x]

I fel you man, i was also very dissapointed with that when I received, i thought it was my bad luck getting such sloppy casting.
Dont want to spoil the fun, but be carefull with sanding, my copy has numerous airbubbles below the surface, it looks like a sponge undeneath.

*****. I hope that was a trial pull that you got for free/near free.

Unfortunately my casting looks exactly like this, so its not a trial pull! As a matter of fact you can still purchase them in the JY.

 

[NormanF]

Practically solid resin. Plenty of material to work with anyway.

 

[darkchylde80]

I fel you man, i was also very dissapointed with that when I received, i thought it was my bad luck getting such sloppy casting.
Dont want to spoil the fun, but be carefull with sanding, my copy has numerous airbubbles below the surface, it looks like a sponge undeneath.




Unfortunately my casting looks exactly like this, so its not a trial pull! As a matter of fact you can still purchase them in the JY.

I sent both the M3 and M9 tempest to GF so didn't actually see them, seeing these pics makes me realise how poor they really are! Though some were posting to say that the cast was great and clean, so I have no idea what went wrong. Bad last pulls from a dying mould maybe?

 

[cosmic_x]

Dont know mate, i bought mine last November, its exactly like this

 

[Wes R]

Most of the guns I've gotten out of the JY look like that sadly. Hopefully it's not as bad to fix as it looks.

 

[zanderwitaz]

I fel you man, i was also very dissapointed with that when I received, i thought it was my bad luck getting such sloppy casting.
Dont want to spoil the fun, but be carefull with sanding, my copy has numerous airbubbles below the surface, it looks like a sponge undeneath.




Unfortunately my casting looks exactly like this, so its not a trial pull! As a matter of fact you can still purchase them in the JY.

yikes. Yes, I'm concerned because I ordered one a few days ago....

if its this bad, I'll probably just use it as reference and scratch build my own.

 

[GeneralFROSTY]

I fel you man, i was also very dissapointed with that when I received, i thought it was my bad luck getting such sloppy casting.
Dont want to spoil the fun, but be carefull with sanding, my copy has numerous airbubbles below the surface, it looks like a sponge undeneath.




Unfortunately my casting looks exactly like this, so its not a trial pull! As a matter of fact you can still purchase them in the JY.

Yes, I've already discovered hidden air pockets in this thing - they are everywhere! I would venture to guess the person casting these may be working with a shot mold and is not taking the extra time to ensure a quality casting. In any case - this is getting a TON of TLC to get it ready for primer.

Most of the guns I've gotten out of the JY look like that sadly. Hopefully it's not as bad to fix as it looks.

Fortunately, the resin is easy to cut through so it just a matter of taking the time with my Dremel cutting tools, files, sanding sticks and some hand sanding to get this as close to "up to snuff" as possible.
Unfortunately, there are SO many defects with this kit, getting it to be virtually perfect is not going to happen - at least not without a better casting.

 

[cosmic_x]

Yes, I've already discovered hidden air pockets in this thing - they are everywhere! I would venture to guess the person casting these may be working with a shot mold and is not taking the extra time to ensure a quality casting. In any case - this is getting a TON of TLC to get it ready for primer
Unfortunately, there are SO many defects with this kit, getting it to be virtually perfect is not going to happen - at least not without a better casting.

I hope your thread will encourage me to continue with mine. I was so disapointed when I saw my gun but not intimidated. Though after i started working on this i lost the interest.
Such a shame the design looks to be spot on.

Is the Tempest like this, or better?

 

[GeneralFROSTY]

I hope your thread will encourage me to continue with mine. I was so disapointed when I saw my gun but not intimidated. Though after i started working on this i lost the interest.
Such a shame the design looks to be spot on.

Is the Tempest like this, or better?

The Tempest is pretty bad too. I havent taken pics of that one yet - I want to focus only on this as having both of them in front of me would overwhelm me visually.

All I can suggest at this point is to have a really good set of files to cut down a lot of those defects and have some bondo handy - you're going to need it!
It's really an excecise in patience and working carefully. It won't come out perfect thanks to the massive defects in the casting, but you can work it so it will look presentable.

 

[Skyler101]

Looks like the castings have glass spheres added to the resin to save on costs. I worked with this method a few years back, but gave it up, cause all the casting were very brittle and if handled, would break...

The draw back to the spheres is that there are a lot of air holes in the casting, cause the resin doesn't flow as well if its just liquid...

Going to be some work... Good Luck...

-Skyler101

 

[GeneralFROSTY]

Fortunately, the castings don't feel brittle, just poorly cast. The pictures speak for themselves. I'm no mirracle worker, but I will give these an honest effort to clean up for my client.
Thank you all for the encouraging words - I need it!

 

[Kommissar]

if you buy a raw cast, you should kind of expect this to be honest..
if i buy a raw cast i estimate 1-2 hours to get everything ship shape,
fill some bubbles, trim seams, and the like.
a raw cast is a raw cast, its just a kit that you fix up imo.

i've bought kits off the junkyard, ebay, and legitimate storefront sites too, and i've gotten far worse casts to look spotless with a little work,

a few airbubbles and some seams to deal with are nothing when it comes to a kit,
at least when i've had ones that are so over pulled and warped that a gun barrel is clearly slanting to one side.

seems like a very decent price for the fact its hollowed out for electronics, and retaining a lot of it's detail.
some bondo or apoxie sculpt and it'll look picture perfect i'm sure.

 

[zanderwitaz]

Kommissar, I respect your work greatly. Ever since you got in contact with me on cosplay. com. But I dont think this is the norm of resin kits in the junkard. Still , with all of the bondo, sculpt, etc in the world wont fix the wonky barrel insert in the first picture, for example...I just hope the kits I provide dont end up like this.