Freya Willia
Well-Known Member
I'm documenting this build here on the off chance that anyone else has read the books. Please, citizen, stay for tea if you have!
(If you haven't, here's the review by NPR )
I've built some armor and cosplay projects here on the RPF, but this will be my first time designing an original weapon and costume. The author of the Ancillary series - Ann Leckie - is very connected to fans of her books. This has made me even more excited and motivated to get all the details right.
I started with character sketches. This is Breq, in her Fleet Captain's uniform, whose costume I will be making to go with this prop.
Next, I pinned a trillion concept art images of "space guns" to my Pinterest board.
Then I went out to find a smallish Nerf gun to build off of. This is actually the first time in my life I think I have purchased a nerf dart-gun. I was allowed to have the water guns as a kid, but not the dart ones, because my parents knew I'd probably walk into my brother's room while he was still asleep and shoot him point-blank in the face if we were having one of our disputes. I was a cruel older sister (he had ADHD and was annoying as f, my tolerance for his impulsive bs was pretty low). I had all the affection and patience of a scorpion. I'm talking in the past tense because I'm nicer to him now. Sort of.
Anyway, the sketches I was making of the gun were falling short.
Once I had the nerf to work off of, I pasted scraps of plastic and foam on it, rearranging them as needed, until I arrived at the basic shape I wanted. I kept spraying black paint on the gun to make sure everything flowed together. This gun should be more sleek than clunky.
Next I will peel off the scraps and cut out nicer planes, and sand with apoxie clay.
(If you haven't, here's the review by NPR )
I've built some armor and cosplay projects here on the RPF, but this will be my first time designing an original weapon and costume. The author of the Ancillary series - Ann Leckie - is very connected to fans of her books. This has made me even more excited and motivated to get all the details right.
I started with character sketches. This is Breq, in her Fleet Captain's uniform, whose costume I will be making to go with this prop.
Next, I pinned a trillion concept art images of "space guns" to my Pinterest board.
Then I went out to find a smallish Nerf gun to build off of. This is actually the first time in my life I think I have purchased a nerf dart-gun. I was allowed to have the water guns as a kid, but not the dart ones, because my parents knew I'd probably walk into my brother's room while he was still asleep and shoot him point-blank in the face if we were having one of our disputes. I was a cruel older sister (he had ADHD and was annoying as f, my tolerance for his impulsive bs was pretty low). I had all the affection and patience of a scorpion. I'm talking in the past tense because I'm nicer to him now. Sort of.
Anyway, the sketches I was making of the gun were falling short.
Once I had the nerf to work off of, I pasted scraps of plastic and foam on it, rearranging them as needed, until I arrived at the basic shape I wanted. I kept spraying black paint on the gun to make sure everything flowed together. This gun should be more sleek than clunky.
Next I will peel off the scraps and cut out nicer planes, and sand with apoxie clay.
