Inspired by my favorite game of the moment (Overwatch) I decided to shoot for the stars and try to create Solider 76's gun out of foam. I have to admit that I haven't done a lot of these builds but I decided that since this is a pretty big project I'd probably learn along the way and boy did I. I had a lot of help using this post by Hopli so thanks for that!
The gun has a lot of different parts so it all began by getting a decent template from it, which luckily is easily available on Google.
The main shape then got translated onto a piece of MDF wood, approx 1cm in thickness. I also measured out the pieces I would need from a 32mm PVC pipe using tape.
I then made a copy of my template and started cutting out all the seperate parts I would need to have. At first I added additional thickness to the handle part and filled any imperfections with wood filler which I found really easy to use and it sands like a charm to create a smooth finish. Might not look like much in this picture yet though, but it has saved my life a lot during this build.
After the bulk for the handle part was added I started working on adding even more parts to it simply by stacking up layers of 2, 5 and 7mm foam. The yellow foam was bought during carnaval and its not that great to be honest. It is way too uncompressed to be any good so I would not recommend it. In the end I should've probably gone for the denser foam (as I did for almost all of the build).
To create the rocket launcher at the front I took a blue cycling bottle and covered it in foam. I cut a hole in the bottom which would become the barrel of the rocket launcher. I took a piece of my PVC pipe and cut out most of the sides where the LED would end up. Added a switch near the light and a battery holder at the very bottom and this piece slides in nicely through the top of the bottle when the cap is off. The cap is then put back on and attached to the gun itself. The PVC pipe is capped off at the front of the rocket launcher by a cheap aluminium door knob and the blue light coming through the barrel when the light is on looks awesome.
The main body of the gun looked something like this at that point in time:
The gun is currently much further and actually almost close to painting, but I will see if I can gather some more pictures of the rest of the progress. However, I've come to the part where I need to seal it all in. The process so far for some of the separate parts has been to put on a few layers of Mod Podge and then Plasti Dip them. However, as has happened on some of my previous projects (which is the reason they never saw the light of day) I cannot seem to master Plasti Dip. I always get loads of small bubbles but cannot figure out what I'm doing wrong. So I'm thinking of skipping the Plasti Dip step altogether and simply applying additional coats of Mod Podge.
Is this a viable solution? What are the downsides to only Mod Podging and not Plasti Dipping? Would paint not stick to it as good as it would with Plasti Dip? Or are there any other things about not Plasti Dipping that would mess up the end result if I were to decide to go the Mod Podge only route? I appreciate all the help I can get because I want to finish this as best as I can and Plasti Dip simply seems to be too unreliable for me.
The gun has a lot of different parts so it all began by getting a decent template from it, which luckily is easily available on Google.
The main shape then got translated onto a piece of MDF wood, approx 1cm in thickness. I also measured out the pieces I would need from a 32mm PVC pipe using tape.
I then made a copy of my template and started cutting out all the seperate parts I would need to have. At first I added additional thickness to the handle part and filled any imperfections with wood filler which I found really easy to use and it sands like a charm to create a smooth finish. Might not look like much in this picture yet though, but it has saved my life a lot during this build.
After the bulk for the handle part was added I started working on adding even more parts to it simply by stacking up layers of 2, 5 and 7mm foam. The yellow foam was bought during carnaval and its not that great to be honest. It is way too uncompressed to be any good so I would not recommend it. In the end I should've probably gone for the denser foam (as I did for almost all of the build).
To create the rocket launcher at the front I took a blue cycling bottle and covered it in foam. I cut a hole in the bottom which would become the barrel of the rocket launcher. I took a piece of my PVC pipe and cut out most of the sides where the LED would end up. Added a switch near the light and a battery holder at the very bottom and this piece slides in nicely through the top of the bottle when the cap is off. The cap is then put back on and attached to the gun itself. The PVC pipe is capped off at the front of the rocket launcher by a cheap aluminium door knob and the blue light coming through the barrel when the light is on looks awesome.
The main body of the gun looked something like this at that point in time:
The gun is currently much further and actually almost close to painting, but I will see if I can gather some more pictures of the rest of the progress. However, I've come to the part where I need to seal it all in. The process so far for some of the separate parts has been to put on a few layers of Mod Podge and then Plasti Dip them. However, as has happened on some of my previous projects (which is the reason they never saw the light of day) I cannot seem to master Plasti Dip. I always get loads of small bubbles but cannot figure out what I'm doing wrong. So I'm thinking of skipping the Plasti Dip step altogether and simply applying additional coats of Mod Podge.
Is this a viable solution? What are the downsides to only Mod Podging and not Plasti Dipping? Would paint not stick to it as good as it would with Plasti Dip? Or are there any other things about not Plasti Dipping that would mess up the end result if I were to decide to go the Mod Podge only route? I appreciate all the help I can get because I want to finish this as best as I can and Plasti Dip simply seems to be too unreliable for me.
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I'll see if I can take some pictures during the day next time 
