Snow Wolf Pulse Rifle Accurizing and Repaint

[PAULH]

So around 18 months ago I decided I wanted a pulse rifle in my collection. Obviously there are a number of price points for these ranging from the Nerf version up to the HCG version and beyond. I settled on the Snow Wolf version as it seemed to me a good starting point for a project to make it more screen accurate and/or more representative of the props as they are today. By far the best reference images I could find were those on alienscollection.com. My project would involve stripping it down to aid painting and there is a great YouTube video from Shadow-Floodlight on the disassembly process although I needed to go a bit further then he did. Taking one of these things is straightforward but care is needed.

My aim with this post is to document my project and share with others who may be contemplating a similar thing.

Here’s the starting point:

 

[PAULH]

I decided to start with the grip and get it to an aged wood appearance as would be appropriate for a vintage Thompson. Overall, my process was:
- high build primer all over
- a thick layer on both sides with course emery paper dragged through it before it dried. This was to give the sense of wood grain
- painting it with acrylics (browns with black dry brushing on edges
- using masking fluid to preserve what I wanted to remain brown so I could shoot it with matt black to get a worn black painted finish
- applying some diluted acrylics to dull it down a little more
- a final coat of Tamiya semi-gloss

And here’s that process represented from start to finish:

 

[PAULH]

Next I turned my attention to the small riveted plate on the SPAS pump grip. So I cut a piece of 1mm aluminium (yes I’m in the UK), drilled it and added two rivets, drilled two holes in the grip in the right place and superglued it on. Then some Matt black paint and it was done. To make the grip look more used, I sanded off the few mould seems and “polished” the whole thing with some very fine sanding sticks (7000 grit).

 

[PAULH]

My next task was to make the part of the grenade launcher bolt look more realistic. The Snow Wolf part is an aluminium tube with a lightly textured finish. I sanded it flat, drilled a hole, and added a small aluminium piece so it all look more representative of a Remington 870. I then applied Bare-Metal self adhesive foil to better represent a steel part. I’m happy with the result but it’ll look better once I’ve added weathering later in this project. Before and after below. I’ll probably paint the inside black although not much will be visible once there is a dummy round added.

 

[PAULH]

Next up was the barrel shroud. In every reference I could find, the round hole is not punched all the way through. That was easily remedied with a couple of squares of 1mm aluminium bonded on the inside. A little Dremel action action may be needed to ensure they don’t interfere with the barrel when it’s time to reassemble.

 

[PAULH]

Next was a bit of work on the stock. There are some visible joints and some screws that don’t exist on the real prop. So all of that went away courtesy of my Dremel, some filler, and high build primer. I’ve got it to the stage where it’s almost ready for paint.

 

[joberg]

Love the transformation + tuto on each of those. Looking very good so far

 

[PAULH]

Love the transformation + tuto on each of those. Looking very good so far

Thanks. Much appreciated !!

 

[SATELLITE74]

Looking good so far, following with interest.

 

[yaris]

Great work on the pistol grip...!!

I went the Nerf route as the Snow Wolf was $850 in my land

 

[prev]

Awesome progress bud.
I look forward to seeing how you tackle the sling mounts.

 

[PAULH]

Looking good so far, following with interest.

Thanks very much !

 

[PAULH]

Awesome progress bud.
I look forward to seeing how you tackle the sling mounts.

Thank you. At the moment I'm in two minds about sling points. I have a sling but I'm not sure I'll attach it. Still pondering...

 

[PAULH]

Great work on the pistol grip...!!

I went the Nerf route as the Snow Wolf was $850 in my land

View attachment 1936842

Beautifully done !!

 

[PAULH]

It’s been a little since I posted, so apologies for that. My Pulse Rifle is now finished but I’ll continue on the path to share how I got there. So, onto the Spas cage.

- Around 6 coats of silver which would allow burnishing through subsequent layers of paint (without cutting through to the plastic)
- liquid mask to preserve what I wanted to remain silver
- Matt black
- more liquid mask to preserve what I wanted to remain Matt black
- gloss black
- remove liquid mask
- weather with various grade sanding sticks and with my fingernail around the vent slots …

And you might notice a grenade launcher trigger. That was made from the tip of a plastic car trim remover tool.

 

[PAULH]

Then onto the shells…

- 6 coats of silver
- liquid mask
- Archive X brown bess
- stove polish to dull down the paint and give a dirty look
- sanding sticks to remove most of the stove polish and weather

 

[PAULH]

Then utilising the same process, here’s the magazine base and grenade launcher end cap…

 

[PAULH]

Attention then returned to the stock. I stripped most of the factory finish off it, and then splattered on some slightly thinned Abteilung Burnt Sienna / Dark Rust. After that took at least two weeks to dry, I used liquid mask to preserve what I wanted to keep as rust patches and then hit the whole thing with satin black. Then more sanding sticks to knock back the paint for a more aged finish.

 

[PAULH]

Then reassembly commenced, starting with the Spas cage. As anticipated I had to notch out space (both ends) for the receiver detail I’d previously added…

 

[PAULH]

Oops, slightly out of sequence … the Thompson part was gloss black over silver with a dash of liquid mask in between. Then some weather with whatever came to hand …