Predator - Ol' Painless

AT-AT Luvah

Sr Member
I was watching 'Predator' on Blu-Ray last night and I got totally pumped. I love this movie. I love Dutch's strike team, the high testosterone levels, the jungle, and the deliberate build-up to the awesome reveal of the Predator.

Got me thinking if anybody here has ever tried to replicate "Ol' Painless", Jesse Ventura's (Blain) mini-gun used to devestating effect in the film.

Anybody have insight on how it was built? Was it based on a real mini-gun? Or cobbled together by the art department?

Hoping this thread can be used to collect all known info.

Hector

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Its a General Electric XM214 Minigun usually mounted on the cobra helicopter
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The gun ran off several truck batteries. the cables ran down Jesse Ventura's pants leg and was converted to take blanks

The firing rate was slowed down to approximately 1/3rd the normal rate of fire, both to reduce consumption of blanks, and to make the spinning of the barrels visible on film. It is rumored that Ventura had to wear a bulletproof vest because of the forceful ejection of spent cartridges, but this is false. Unmodified miniguns eject out of the bottom, with the cases essentially falling out due to the force of gravity. Close examination of the film (especially the scene in which Mac fires the minigun at the fleeing predator, along with the other commandos) show that the ejection of the minigun was not changed.

from wikipedia -

The XM214 was a prototype 5.56mm rotary barreled machine gun designed to be man-portable. It was designed and built by General Electric, but it never reached mass production. Also known as the Microgun, the XM214 was a scaled-down version of the M134 "minigun", firing M193 5.56 x 45 mm ammunition.

The XM214 was first developed for aircraft applications. Later General Electric developed it into a man-portable weapon system, known as the GE Six-Pak. The complete Six-Pak system weighed 85 pounds (38.5 kg) with 1,000 rounds of ammunition, comparable in weight to some heavy machine guns. The basic gun in the Six-Pak weighed 27 pounds, or 12.2 kg. The system could be carried by a team of two soldiers and mounted either to an M122 tripod or a vehicle's pintle mount. Length overall is 104.1 cm , gun only is 68.6 cm long. Width (including ammunition case) is 44.4 cm. Sighting was usually by optical telescope.

The Six-Pak consisted of the XM214, the ammunition package, and the power module, and the ammunition module consisted of two 500 round, factory packed, and disposable cassettes mounted to a holding rack. Linked ammunition was fed through a flexible chute to the gun; when the first cassette was empty, ammunition would then feed from the second cassette, tripping a visible signal that a new cassette needed to be added to the rack. The power module contained a 24 volt nickel-cadmium battery, a 0.8 horsepower (0.60 kW) motor, and solid state electronic controls. Unless the battery were plugged into a vehicle's power supply, the battery's charge would be depleted after 3,000 rounds. The system could be broken down quickly into two portable loads of roughly 42 pounds apiece. This was accomplished by means of a quick-release fitting at that end of the belt chute fastened to the gun.

An 88 by 10 inch (224 x 25 cm.) 5.56mm Microgun Pod was also developed for external use on light aircraft and helicopters. The unit had an ammunition capacity of from 1,500 to 3,500 rounds and loaded weight of 186 to 300 pounds. The feed system was linkless, via a helical drum, with a nominal rate of fire of 6,000 rpm. However, adjustments to 1,000 or 10,000 rpm were possible, if desired. Power could be provided by a built-in battery pack, or from the aircraft itself.

Using the electronic controls, the weapon's rate of fire could be adjusted from 400 rpm all the way up to 4,000 rpm. Later editions of Jane's Infantry Weapons claimed a theoretical cyclic rate of up to 6,000 rpm. George Chinn, author of The Machine Gun Volume V, contended that the XM214 prototype had a rate of fire of up to 10,000 rpm, but the man-portable Six-Pak was limited to 4,000 rpm.

General Dynamics claimed a top ROF of 12,000 RPM and offered the weapon in their catalog as late as 2005..[1]

The electronic controls also contained a burst limiter and handled the automatic clearing of the gun after bursts.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XM214_Microgun

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I believe this is the actual gun used in Predator - http://www.motionpicturearmourer.com/minigun.htm



There is an airsoft version available for an extraordinary amount of money (about $5k ish). -

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http://echo1usa.com/English/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=79&products_id=358
 
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Awesome information, Raffles! thanks for sharing.

How feasible would it even be to put a replica together?

At 85 pounds, the shipping would be killer.
 
I think it'd be pretty simple. Just a larger rc car motor, a large battery pack or other in a fiberglass shell. Looks like an alice frame backpack. Some ammo links, maybe from a surplus store. Handle from an old joystick. Mostly looks like tubular construction too.
 
The Echo1 retails for $3500 but you can find them for less online. I've fired one and it's just a ridiculous amount of fun. It weighs 32 pounds unloaded and goes through the 1700 round magazine in about 6 seconds. Believe me, there isn't a day that goes by that I don't think about buying one ever since I tested that baby out. Right now there are a few Airsoft retailers that are having 10-20% sales plus free shipping. I keep going back to their websites every hour.
 
I cant remember the original manufacturer, Its definitely an either china or Hong-Kong, but echo 1 buys the minigun from them and rebrands it. You could probably get the same thing cheaper direct.
 
You want to talk to Eltee.

A while back there was a thread on the minigun used in Predator. I posted alot of pictures and background information on the development of the gun for both Predator and T2. My friend was one of the gun prop makers who worked on the film and he wrote a lengthy article on how the gun was created and used, it was published in a trade magazine called, "The Big Show" or something like that. Look for that thread and you'll find alot of pics and info.

We rent out trigger time on a working (tripod mounted) minigun at our range in Nevada. People are amazed at the ROF even though we have it reduced down to about 1/2 capacity. It still rips through a belt of ammo, and sometimes the shooter's friends will miss the photo op because it goes by so quickly. The ROF on the minigun in Predator and T2 was reduced to about 1/4 of max by using 12 volt instead of 24-28 volt batteries, a little rheostat resistance, etc. so that it could be manageable while held. Try to find that orig. thread for more details or PM me with questions. I'll answer if I can.

Pic of Ventura in action:

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Couple shots of my prop:

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Tripod mounted version, used to keep gophers and zombies out of my yard.

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Right after the movie came out Steve Dymzo and I researched the weapon as we HAD to have one!!!

I optained the M60 forearm stock and photo reference and Steve applied his propmaker skills to produce what was, I’m sure, the first replica made of “Ole’ Painless”

The prop made of plastic and PVS is contained within an aluminum frame mount. The barrels and barrel bands are metal and YES…they do revolve.

This is one HEAVY prop. I can only imagine what the real thing weighs !!!
Ed
TheSpyBoys.com

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Take one Toytec minigun, one Alice frame, 150rnd 7.62mm, one M60 foregrip, 6' of ammo chute, some ally sheet and bar of various size, foamboard and mix thoroughly. (Oh and some help from eltee w/regards the original prop M134 add ons).

SAS
 
Sidewinder, need some new pics of your awesome mini!! Now that you have the SA Flexchute some updated photos would be great.

Ed (ED-209) contributed to my build. He's a wealth of high tech prop info...spies are like that!

If anyone is interested, I have one NIB metal minigun replica plus the add-ons (metal cradle with M60 grip, metal top handle, etc.) needed to turn it into a Predator version. The shipping alone will be high, so if you have something exciting to trade, etc. LMK by PM. All metal, barrels rotate, genuine USGI M60 forend, real minigun ball detent retaining pins, and I have flex chute and the USGI screen accurate ammo can. Weighs a ton. Looking for an R2D2.

Here is an earlier RPF thread on 'ole Painless. There is a picture in this thread of a pretty woman modeling my M134, plus alot of others and info from some of the members who built them.

http://www.therpf.com/showthread.php?t=8188&highlight=minigun

FYI, according to guys on the set, Arnie, Bill Duke and Ventura ALL enjoyed shooting the beast. They used light load blanks, etc. and amped down the ROF. If I can find some behind the scenes pics I'll post them.

There was a rubber stunt gun for the running and jumping scenes (see my pic of Ventura in my earlier post, notice the rubber minigun flexing) but the maker's molds are shot :cry and he and I never came to terms on casting mine as he wasn't sure there was enough demand.
 
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