While I thought I was done with that prop I slowly grew the idea of trying to make a 3d model with all the reference material I've gathered within the last months.
Greg Jein's collection auctions had very interesting material to work with: 3 stunt props with good side view pictures.
I used that picture as a base to work on, keeping the dimensions given on the auction page:
I really did my best to follow all the curves as precisely as possible. I've made a few changes though: I've centered the emitter sloth and modeled the trigger to match the slightly hero version.
My 3d model wasn't made to be the finished object but a base to work on. There are dents, bumps and curves I can't reproduce via Solidworks. I've also decided to put the side ribs later on as it looked weird on the software. I think these weren't glued perfectly straight on the original props.
So here was my 3d base
I had to split the parts to ease the 3d printing process
working with the top view was all about reinterpretation unfortunately. I have no good picture showing precisely how the prop looks when viewed from the top with no angle or distorsion so I had to guess how the thing is supposed to look like. Here are a few usefull pictures though
There's an asymetry especially on the emitter end, the left side looks curvier than the righ side but, anyway, I choosed to go for symetry on my model so this is what I got.
While I was not unhappy with the emitter end I reshaped it after the 3d printing process, It didn't look right:
The handle part is a bit tricky to model as it tappers in every possible ways: from the back to the front, from the bottom to the upper part. It looks thin on my model but I really think it does on the original props
The model was hollow to put electronics in it. The top was left opened to install the control pad later on. Anyway, I've printed to whole stuff in mutliple parts out of PLA, sanded and filled those, resculpted the missing details on the handle, etc etc
The control pad was made to insert two clear bars. I've done it by modeling and printing the bars, sanded these smooth to pour silicone on it and, then, cast them out of clear epoxy resin
It turned out pretty badly , air bubbles and all, It did'nt fit as snuggly as I wanted but, to be fairly honest, I love flaws when I build props so I didn't care that much.
more sanding, adding the details, making sure everything was right in place
I'm such a noob when it comes to electronics, asking Mr GPT how to build such simple circuitry. That was a complété mess and it took me almost a day to make it work properly:
the whole stuff was painted with Tamiya TS-66, said to be the closest match to the screen used props.
It's been debating recently on the thread. Surprisingly, TS-66 is kind of a dark grey, darker than what you see on pictures/screen captures. It even looks slightly darker when clearcoated.
TS 32 can be a good alternative if you're looking for a more idealized color, for something closer to how the prop seems to look like but, definitely, TS-66 is really a good match.
Anyway, here is what I ended up with.
Unfortunately one light broke up during the final assembly
NO CLEAN JOB HERE. I've kept so misalignments/flaws/sloppy stuffs on purpose to get something close to a production used movie prop.
To be fairly honest, I'm not unhappy with it. It's not as clean and accurate as I would have loved it to be, it's not perfect but I think I can't get closer so far. Thanks to Master Dunsel, I've been able to find the right copper pins
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