I don't know as I could say I've *made* anything prop-ish this year (other than some very much in process firefly toys) -- but this is a long-term project I've been working with on and off for the last several months. In fact, it's what led me to discover your site here.
Anyhow, I've been trying to figure out a way to make a working copy of Mal's pistol from
Firefly -- not just a revolver in a brass shell, but a working magazine-fed semi-auto. I always liked the look of the old-timey Civil War era revolvers, and kinda wanted one that was up to date. When I saw Mal's, I thought "what the heck? why not try?"
Figuring out some parts of the design were a real pain in the neck, but once I tossed the idea of keeping the Smith trigger group, the rest came together pretty well. The design borrows heavily from Browning's 1892 rifle patent (which had a box magazine under the chamber) and the sliding bolt lock of the 1894. I'll need to put back the "loading lever" that was in place on the original concept piece in the
Visual Companion as a gas tube though, rather then try pulling it off so close to the breech.
The picture shows some old patent drawings, my sketches, some early prototyping efforts, Phil's wonderful cast of the original prop, and the '94 I borrowed inspiration from.
It's still gonna be some time before I have anything workable, but eventually it'll get there.
(If when I finally get a working model done someone would care to make an AutoCAD of it or whatnot, that'd be right shiny.
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