Retro / Steampunk Raygun project WIP

[Lupus Yonderboy]

CC, just a thought.
You may want to start another thread for your very impressive work and let this one remain on target - about Pat's project...

 

[CustomCreations]

Not a problem- I have pm'd him a few times over wanting to post with him,and not hijacking at the same time etc..[we are both working on very similar themes-I was worried he/people might think I was ripping his work off :-[ ]
apologies !

 

[DARTH SABER]

More updates.

Had a crapload of other stuff to do over the weekend, so my raygun time was very limited.

I managed to print out the correct face for the pressure guage, placed it into the housing, reattached the dial and closed her up.
I dremmeled off the lugs from the watch as well, and created a custom stem to support the guage.

I then moved on to the antenna. I was originally going to use a brass wire, but it was very bendy. I needed something with a bit more memory ( so it wouldn't alter it's shape if it was accidentally hit). I I decided to go with some steel wire and coiled it up and created a housing from plastic.
I also added a silver bead for the antenna tip.

Next, I need to get on the ball and make the housings for the metal uranium transfer tube.

More updates later -

DS

 

[DARTH SABER]

Hope you don't mind a question/opinion.
Are you planning on keeping the vial/test tube as is? I think it'd look even better with some sort of brass wire protective 'cage' around it.

Something along the lines of:

(Cheers Wackychimp)

Well, I was considering a wire type brace , similar to the one seen on Weta's Goliathon and Manmelter gun (Not quite cage like, but rather a type of reinforcement). I might add it on if it doesn't clutter up the design too much.

Speaking of clutter - I made a last minute alteration to my original design. I will not be including the wire tubing that comes out of the bolt on the side (or the one that leads to the barrel).
I attached it last night and , to me, it looked like it threw off the other elements of the gun. Basically too much crap cluttered all over the place. In the end I had to remove/unscrew the little metal wire/tube holders and fill in the left over holes with epoxy.



DS

 

[gnrlotto]

Speaking of clutter - I made a last minute alteration to my original design. I will not be including the wire tubing that comes out of the bolt on the side (or the one that leads to the barrel).
I attached it last night and , to me, it looked like it threw off the other elements of the gun. Basically too much crap cluttered all over the place.
DS

So what you're saying is that your gun will not suffer the same flaws as WETA's and will in fact be better...I like that idea.

 

[Knightjar]

Love your work!

Just wondering what you're going to do for the end of the barrel - will there be an opening or some kind of emitter-type thing?

 

[DARTH SABER]

Just wondering what you're going to do for the end of the barrel - will there be an opening or some kind of emitter-type thing?

Oh sorry, I thought I posted pics of the emitter. It's already finished (It's lamp finial , same as the one on the back, with a hole drilled into the tip)

Aso for the "cage" for the coolant containment unit (Test tube), this is kind of what I had in mind -

Anyhow, on to further progress report -
today I spent some time looking for places where I might be able to purchase a correct piece of wood for the grip section...Unfortunately I have a bad feeling that this is going to be harder to find than expected.

The first place I called (Wood Creations) I asked if they can cut me a piece of 7"X7"X1" durable wood..They flat out said no. Then I asked if they knew of any other places which might be able to help me and the guy flat out said "I have no idea" then he hung up.

What kind of place calls themeselves "Wood creations" if they can't cut a piece of wood?

DS

 

[DARTH SABER]

So what you're saying is that your gun will not suffer the same flaws as WETA's and will in fact be better...I like that idea.

Well, "flaws" and which is "better" is a matter of personal taste. I personally think Weta's guns are near perfect (That's why I had to order one).
The only reason I believe that Weta's guns can get away with more details, is because the body of the guns are bigger than mine, and have more room for eyecandy. I have a limited amount of space on my gun and I don't think I could fabricate smaller mechanisms out metal (Smaller mechanisms would , in turn, give me more room on the body to add more stuff.)


DS

 

[gnrlotto]

Well, "flaws" and which is "better" is a matter of personal taste. I personally think Weta's guns are near perfect (That's why I had to order one).
The only reason I believe that Weta's guns can get away with more details, is because the body of the guns are bigger than mine, and have more room for eyecandy. I have a limited amount of space on my gun and I don't think I could fabricate smaller mechanisms out metal (Smaller mechanisms would , in turn, give me more room on the body to add more stuff.)


DS

You could have taken it as a compliment too...

The only Weta gun I care for is the new Victorious Mongoose.

 

[CustomCreations]

With regards to the wood:
Id be careful of getting anything too 'tight' in the grain. I have a feeling that if you use a wood with a tight grain in it- by the time you do your business to the grip: sand it, weather it etc, you may loose the 'look' of real wood, if that makes sense.
As you have such cool junk houses near by to you that can give you such amazing things to work with- maybe pick up an old wooden table top/ ornament/chopping board you can cut into?
Dan.

 

[DARTH SABER]

You could have taken it as a compliment too...

The only Weta gun I care for is the new Victorious Mongoose.

Sorry gnrlotto, I didnt' mean to come off like a snot. I just got wrapped up in my theory about the details on the guns. Thanks for the kudos!

With regards to the wood:
Id be careful of getting anything too 'tight' in the grain. I have a feeling that if you use a wood with a tight grain in it- by the time you do your business to the grip: sand it, weather it etc, you may loose the 'look' of real wood, if that makes sense.
As you have such cool junk houses near by to you that can give you such amazing things to work with- maybe pick up an old wooden table top/ ornament/chopping board you can cut into?

Actually, I'm trying to to accomplish quite the opposite. I want the grip to look like metal rather than wood. So technically, the tighter the grain, the better for me.

Fortunately Dropshipbob has offered to help out in the grip wood dilemma...THanks Dropshipbob!


DS

 

[Lupus Yonderboy]

... Aso for the "cage" for the coolant containment unit (Test tube), this is kind of what I had in mind -

Very nice! /P

 

[dropshipbob]

Fortunately Dropshipbob has offered to help out in the grip wood dilemma...THanks Dropshipbob!


DS

Don't thank me yet,:lol still have to get it done and see if it fits your needs. I didn't want to see your project stall out over that one part.

 

[Ramiel]

Outstanding gun!

 

[DARTH SABER]

Outstanding gun!

Thanks Ramiel.

Just tightening up some little rough elements (epoxying the nuts on the inside of the body, fily some rough edges etc.)
I mahaged to add the 14 rivets the encircle the area in front of the CO2 cartridge. I also drilled the 14 rivet holes for the back...THe rivets wont be added until after I have attached the handle (I need to be able to access the inside of the gun during the handle attachment process)
At first I was going to use small screws, but it would have been a pain to fill in the philips head slots with epoxy and then file it down. I opted for styrene rods instead...Very easy to file the tips in a rivet like fashion.

Sorry, no pics until Wed...My wife went out of town and I lent her the camera.


DS

 

[the DOCTOR]

Thanks Ramiel.

Just tightening up some little rough elements (epoxying the nuts on the inside of the body, fily some rough edges etc.)
I mahaged to add the 14 rivets the encircle the area in front of the CO2 cartridge. I also drilled the 14 rivet holes for the back...THe rivets wont be added until after I have attached the handle (I need to be able to access the inside of the gun during the handle attachment process)
At first I was going to use small screws, but it would have been a pain to fill in the philips head slots with epoxy and then file it down. I opted for styrene rods instead...Very easy to file the tips in a rivet like fashion.

Sorry, no pics until Wed...My wife went out of town and I lent her the camera.


DS

For brass rivets I've been using small flat-head brass nails, snipped of near the head, and glued in place.

 

[DARTH SABER]

For brass rivets I've been using small flat-head brass nails, snipped of near the head, and glued in place.

Thanks for the tip Doc....BTW, how small are the heads on these brass nails?

If I were to use them, I would need them to be very small (Im talking about 1 1/2mm. Anything bigger than that would look too clunky. I already tried it with some small screws and it was just too much)


DS

 

[the DOCTOR]

Well, the nails I used have 3mm heads, but I reckon you could find some brass panel pins that are less than 1.5mm across, like these.

By the way, this is my blaster:

the nails are holding on the makers plate, and make a good job of being rivets!

I'll look for more updates here, and over at Brassgoggles!

 

[DARTH SABER]

Doc, I must say that's an astounding job on that blaster. I particularly like the little touch with the front of the trigger guard (the wedge shaped bit with the little holes), very steampunkish!

Ill definitely look into the brass nails.


thanks again!

DS

 

[Rabittooth]

ok...more!!!

:rolleyes

-Rabittooth