Portal Gun Build by a 14 Year Old (Pic Heavy)

[Triple 8 Props]

After reading Harrison Krix's blog posts (that's posts plural) over and over again, I decided I needed to make one myself (I should mention my build will be almost exactly the same as his only I'm 14 years old). I started similar to the way he did by making blueprints, and printing them full size. Harrison (of Volpin Props) does sell his blueprints on his store but I decided I wanted to make them myself. I ended up making some super basic blueprints with no claws or extra stuff, just the shells and main body). I did this because I knew I would need the blueprints mostly for the shells and not so much the rest of the body (because it would be sized based on how big the shells end up being). So anyway, here are the blueprints I made that were printed at full size (or what I think is full size) and then cut out.






More updates may take a while. I need to get to Michaels for the florists foam and Home Depot for the PVC for the body. Here's my planned order of building:

1. Blueprints
2. Body (Painted but electronics will be later)
3. Shells (Fully Completed aside form decals)
4. Electronics in Body
5. Attach shells to body
6. Extra Decals (Claws, Wire, Decals, Blood)
7. Finishing stuff

 

[Unit357]

Re: Portal Gun Build

Aaaaannnnndddd I'm lurking...It's good to see other young people interested in making props!

 

[Triple 8 Props]

Re: Portal Gun Build

Been working a lot on the Portal Gun a lot lately without updating. First off I would like to say the blueprints seen above ended up being to small and I printed new, bigger ones, later on.

I started with the back piece. It was made out of two, 4 inch PVC couplers put together. I started with hot glue just to hold them together, then I put in super glue and later epoxy putty to further strengthen and fill the seam.





Here you can see the epoxy putty that was smeared into the seam then sanded smooth.



This piece will be revisited a little later. Now onto the middle section. I started with some 4" PVC and cut it down based on my blueprints.



A U shape was then cut out of the PVC with a Dremel and sanded relatively smooth.



And then test fitted



For the inner piece, I used 3" PVC. This was cut to a length so that it would come out of the front to form the barrel at the end.



The shape was then cut out like the other one and test fitted.





Now, back to the back piece. I gave it a coat of primer to see what the seam was like.



More epoxy putty was then put in the seam and sanded smooth.





At this point, I realized I forgot about the electronics that would be at the top, so I cut out a rectangle from the top. This shape will probably be modified later on but it's OK for now. I also discovered the horrible fumes that are made when dremeling thick PVC covered in primer.

 

[Triple 8 Props]

Re: DIY Portal Gun Build by a 14 Year Old

More Updates!

Now back to the middle piece, I mounted the 3" PVC inside the 4" PVC with a 1/4" thick piece of craft foam between the two to create the proper spacing.





Now I had to start filling the seam. I started by making the 4 cut-outs. I cut 8 small right triangles out of some styrene and glued them in place.





The proper gaps were then filled with more epoxy putty and sanded smooth.



I also added back pieces to the open slots with more styrene.



I preparation to fill the remaining opening, I glued strips of foam core inside to act as spacers. This will also give the putty something to sit on rather than being pushed inside. It's hard to see in the pictures but its there. You can also see the layer of hot glue. I'm doing this whole process to minimize the amount of putty I will need to cleanly fill the gap.



I just ordered some Apoxie Sculpt on Amazon, so I won't be able to work on this until it shows up on Wednesday. I will be using Apoxie Sculpt instead of plumbers epoxy because it has a longer working time and comes in large quantities. If you don't know what I'm talking about...here's a link: bit.ly/1nqGyuX

Let me know what you guys think so far and keep in mind I'm 14 years old!

 

[cld213]

Re: DIY Portal Gun Build by a 14 Year Old

Looking great so far but I have a question, does anyone ever get the photo "attachments" to work? they always say invalid link, on any post, across this site.

 

[Triple 8 Props]

Re: DIY Portal Gun Build by a 14 Year Old

Looking great so far but I have a question, does anyone ever get the photo "attachments" to work? they always say invalid link, on any post, across this site.

Nope, they've never worked for me either. I also have no idea how to make them come up as pictures like the other ones. Thanks for the feedback though.

 

[sycor]

Re: DIY Portal Gun Build by a 14 Year Old

Looking good so far. Keep it up.

 

[Unit357]

Re: DIY Portal Gun Build by a 14 Year Old

I usually just save the images to my comp and re-upload them on whatever thread I'm posting on

 

[nomuse]

Re: DIY Portal Gun Build by a 14 Year Old

Love that Apoxie Sculpt. Watching this thread and looking forward to when the pics problem gets solved.

 

[Triple 8 Props]

Re: DIY Portal Gun Build by a 14 Year Old

Looking good so far. Keep it up.

Thanks so much

I usually just save the images to my comp and re-upload them on whatever thread I'm posting on

Thanks for the advice, I will try it out.

Love that Apoxie Sculpt. Watching this thread and looking forward to when the pics problem gets solved.

Yeah, its great stuff. The pics will hopefully be fixed soon.

 

[JPH]

Re: DIY Portal Gun Build by a 14 Year Old

this is a triumph...
I'm making a note here, HUGE SUCCESS

Keep going!

 

[Triple 8 Props]

Re: DIY Portal Gun Build by a 14 Year Old

Just letting you all know I think I fixed the messed up picture. LMK If they're OK.

 

[Bilbo Baggins]

Re: DIY Portal Gun Build by a 14 Year Old

so far so good !

no cake until its done.

 

[BrundelFly]

Re: DIY Portal Gun Build by a 14 Year Old

Kid...

Ya GOTS TALENT.

 

[ekimgibbigmike]

Re: DIY Portal Gun Build by a 14 Year Old

Very impressive, kid! I've been watching your stuff on youtube for a little while now. And I've gotta say, for such a young age, you're doing amazing work. Keep it up!

 

[Triple 8 Props]

Re: DIY Portal Gun Build by a 14 Year Old

More Updates!

So my Apoxie Sculpt came! I got it in white because it was the cheapest online but I've heard other colors are better.



And I started to work it into the large gap between the 2 pieces of PVC. In the photos, you can see the progression from very rough to smooth. Water works wonders with this stuff.







When it dried, I gave it a light sand to get it nice and smooth.



And then I did another test fit for good measure.





I would also like to thank all of those who have commented so far. I love all the feedback I have been getting and it's the reason I am continuously working and posting. If anybody has any questions on what I am doing, feel free to post it!

 

[MrDynamite]

Re: DIY Portal Gun Build by a 14 Year Old

This is amazing.
I saw a portal gun recently at Comicon.. this looks pretty much spot on.
Well done.

 

[Lexikitty]

Re: DIY Portal Gun Build by a 14 Year Old

This looks really awesome. I have some of the NECA Portal guns (P-Body, Atlas, and HL2 Gravity), but I I'd been toying with the idea of making my own. And this thread's fanning that desire.

As a random question, what setup will you be using for your lights/sound?

~LK

 

[Triple 8 Props]

Re: DIY Portal Gun Build by a 14 Year Old

This looks really awesome. I have some of the NECA Portal guns (P-Body, Atlas, and HL2 Gravity), but I I'd been toying with the idea of making my own. And this thread's fanning that desire.

As a random question, what setup will you be using for your lights/sound?

~LK

Thanks for the feedback. Considering I know nothing about electronics, the ones in the portal gun will be extremely basic and there won't be any sounds. It will simply light up blue and orange. I am building this mostly as a display piece so only lighting up is OK with me. If I planned on unsing this for as part of a costume, I would pend time learning the techniques needed to have sounds.

 

[Lexikitty]

Re: DIY Portal Gun Build by a 14 Year Old

Thanks for the feedback. Considering I know nothing about electronics, the ones in the portal gun will be extremely basic and there won't be any sounds. It will simply light up blue and orange. I am building this mostly as a display piece so only lighting up is OK with me. If I planned on unsing this for as part of a costume, I would pend time learning the techniques needed to have sounds.

Gotcha. Sounds cool, and I can't wait to see how it turns out!

~LK