My River Song Blaster Build

J

juliegrrl

New Member
My first build thread - be gentle please :) I've finally decided to venture into Cosplay - and I've set a goal of portraying River Song from "The Pandorica Opens" for the fall con season. This means building all the props and doing some leatherwork. I'll report on my Blaster build herring my other props in another thread (Mods please let me know if that's not appropriate).
So far I did the initial modeling of the blaster based on the prop itself and on peter McKinstry's concept art for the blaster in "Gridlocked" which was where this weapon first appeared and his z-brush render of the changes for River Song. Here are a few pictures of my prototype print- I was trying filaments, finishes and general fit of the parts so it's very rough. The render of the remodeled version is also below - building that is what this thread will be about :)
Here's the test print:

and the muzzle detail adapted from the concept art

And the new remodeled - post test render:

I'll update this as parts start coming together!
 
Here's the redesigned pistol grip after printing, post-processing and priming. It's printed in ABS, rough filed, and acetone washed before the white primer goes on. In the redesign I added slotting for a spring loaded trigger and routing for wiring a switch activated by the trigger. The model of the grip handle was taken from Metaform3d's model on Thingiverse (Thanks Metaform!) as I have no 3d sculpting software like Z-Brush. The trigger housing was redone from scratch and mated to the grip.

I then added the trigger (still needs a little cleanup) gave the piece an ink wash then progressively dry-brushed from light gray to white to give the weathered and dirty appearance. The wires are from the momentary switch.
 
I started on that path I picked up a Scout IX and cut it down. To get it to look right where it meets the body I was putting in a lot of time with Acryl-Red. That's where I got most of the measurements for the trigger housing from. I also wanted to produce more than one eventually - the black version of the blaster from Gridlocked and the white River Song one, so I thought I'd just print it all :)
 
The River Song Blaster is moving along....

The tail piece was finished first. Each side under the "lens" has a 10mm RGB LED. On screen you only ever see them lit green, but I wired the green also in case I want that option. Under the sloped rear is the slide switch which turns the whole thing on and off. The dry brushing has left a slightly rough surface so the whole gun is going to get lightly sanded before a few coats of satin sealant are applied.
I also completed the body/battery compartment where my LiPo s are going to go. The little silver dots are neodymium magnets which will hold the top slide on but still give me easy access to the battery compartment.
 
Mainly lighting effects. The screen version has green lights in the rear and red lights in the front lower pod. I decided I wanted to go a little bit beyond that and so far I have the lights in the rear, a laser and switchable red and white lights in the front pod (I figured if my real tactical light can do that then my fictional 51st century unit should be able to). In addition it the blaster has a large "sight unit" on the top which is solid in the screen used prop, but I'm planning on adding a very small OLED screen on the back to show "targeting graphics". The whole thing will run from an arduino nano so if I want to add "full alpha meson charge" sound effects (apparently handy for killing Daleks) I have that option too. I'm building a duplicate circuit out on a protoboard as I go and writing the C code for it. Thanks for asking :)
 
Wow nice work there! :)
I am going to stick around for sure. ( I'll try to make River's gun myself later this year ;) )
Curious how the whole electronic stuff will turn out. Your plan sounds great so far!
 
Mclabop I'd be happy to pass along the STLs I'm putting a few tweaks on the "sight unit" but once I get that done I can zip them up and mail you a copy. Just usual GNU non-commercial, attribution license applies (hate to have to say it but....)
 
juliegrrl said:
Mclabop I'd be happy to pass along the STLs I'm putting a few tweaks on the "sight unit" but once I get that done I can zip them up and mail you a copy. Just usual GNU non-commercial, attribution license applies (hate to have to say it but....)
Click to expand...

Happy to do that. I have a friend who does River and would be over the moon to have a screen accurate prop instead of the six shooter she's using. I'll even make sure she credits you if anyone asks and I know she'd be happy to do that as well. Thanks much!
 
Nice Work! I'm having to start this project myself due to a family member asking me to slap one together for a local Comic Con this September. I've done all the usual google searches and came up with a bunch of images (mostly reproductions) and even done some screen shots myself. One thing I can't seem to find is any detail shots of the top of the blaster. Do you mind sharing any resources you have or at least pointing me in the right direction. I'll make sure to post images of my finished product. Thanks.
 
There are very few pictures that show what is going on clearly - I inferred a bunch from Peter McKinstry's concept art:
https://instagram.com/p/yNyrn0MoAY/
and from the photo in the new visual dictionary which can be found in this thread here:
http://www.therpf.com/showthread.php?t=100722
Best pictures are of the prop at the DW experience in Cardiff from another RPF member:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/ahremsee/sets/72157634453706218/.
Mine's not screen accurate - I'm adding some stuff to the "sight unit" but these resources should help towards an SA build! Enjoy!
 
Anakin, it's on my list! after all her stuff for the Pandorica Opens I'm starting a Silence in the Library collection - Love those helmets! and already have sourced the electronics for the Neural relay and a cheap copy of the Sparco Race Suit (you can get costume versions of the Stig's all white Sparco from Britain). So with that and a Squareness gun.... :)
I may actually start on that or a concept art version of her sonic soon. My 3D printers have been idle for two days which is unheard of!
 
juliegrrl, do you think it might be possible for me to have a copy of the stl files for the blaster as well? :$
I don't plan on printing them or to use it for anything else then my own build, but your stl file would be great as a reference.

btw: hope you'll document your progress on the Silence at the Library collection as well. Very curious how this will turn out :).
 
Sure I'd be happy to provide them - same GNU non-commercial & attribution license applies for usage of the files - obviously not for anything you make by reference alone ;)
PM me with where to send them and I'll zap them out.
 
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