"Retro" Laser Rifle (TOS Inspired)

So I've got a convention this weekend and wanted to put together a WNMHGB laser rifle to go with my new WNMHGB uniform...

Except I don't have a few hundred bucks for a Rodd.com Laser/Phaser Rifle. :lol


However one day walking though my usual thrift store haunts I came across some wood items and had a brainstorm!

It wouldn't be an exact replica (far from it), but would be in the same vein as a TOS/Cage inspired rifle.


So onto the pics!




So here are all the parts laid out. Starting at the top left---

-Horizontal Paper tower holder
-The coolest vertical paper towel holder EVAR (and the inspriration for this build!)
-The large rectangular wood piece with the four circle holes was some kind of shelf piece (I think it would go in your bathroom as it had a metal rod towel hanger attached and a vertical back piece that I already removed before the pic).
-Ribbed 1 1/4" tubing
-The clamshell box from the remastered TOS dvd boxset
-Snow shovel handle





So I've taken the shelf piece and cut a section out of the rectangular hole. This will become the frame of the rifle. The left side will be the muzzle end (and is also the foregrip). The section right in front of the first circle will be the pistol grip. The right side is the butt end.





I've cut the tubing into 6 pieces for the power pack section. They will be placed inside the horizontal paper towel holder.





So now it's starting to come together- I've painted the rifle body a metallic light blue. The power pack section is gunmetal (actually the colour is called metallic spruce green). At this point I've screwed the power pack frame to the rifle body. The tubing/power cells has been sprayed metallic copper.





The vertical paper towel holder base has now been screwed to the power pack (I think you can now see why I picked this awesome paper towel holder :lol).





The clamshell (now the control box) has been painted primer gray.


And now the (nearly) finished rifle---





The emitter/barrel has been painted bright silver. There is a ruby jewel in the center of the emitter. Some other multi coloured jewels have been added to the control box. I still have to add a trigger and some dials to the control box before I consider this done, but I just had to show this off right now. :cool















This thing is BIG! :eek





And here is how you hold it.

So I'm going to add some more jewels to the top of the control box in a typical TOS computer fashion. Here's an idea of what I'm going for-





The white dial willl be painted black with a silver face to look like one of those old-school radio knobs. The jewels are supposed to look like those random lighted blinking computer panels in the TOS.


I'll be honest that this is the first time building something and presenting it in the main forum in a couple of years for me! Money and time have been holding me back. :$

It feels great to have built something once again!


Hope you like it!


Kevin

So very Sci Fi and So Very Trek!
Great job SSGT Borton!

This is what I really enjoy about this forum. Some people can nit pic a build to death. but when someone is inspired to be creative and make ther own stuff, to me that is what it's really all about.

Certainly wouldn't look out of place in Kirk's hands! It's cool how something pretty simple can look just the part when you get creative. :thumbsup

Wow, that's totally cool! Very good variation on the original, but similar enough to really sell it :thumbsup

I love the vertical towel holder. It would be great as a display stand, a weird alien spaceship, some other prop weapon. Heck I'd even use it to hold paper towels :lol

Wow I thought my little girl could be dazzle LoL Looks cool this is why I love this site even if we are not rolling in cash we can still play. Nicely Done
Jerry

Many thanks for the compliments guys; I really appreciate it!

Oh I forgot to add that this build cost less than $40 in materials... Probably why I was able to afford to do it. :lol :thumbsup


Kevin

Amazing what a little silver and copper paint can do to wood and plastic. Just like the original props,wood,paint and artistic talent.

sweet!

amazing what one can do with a few bucks, a lotta imagination, and a little elbow grease.

bravo! thanks for sharing pics.

Outstanding! Adding my love for that vertical paper-towel holder, I can see why you were inspired.
I love how this is so in keeping with what a props guy in the 60's might have actually done. Aside from the DVD case (which could easily have been substituted with a box they had lying around and a spare badge) everything has that "The network gave us zero budget, but dammit we're gonna make this look cool!" vibe.

If I had a suggestion, it would only be that the riffle stock looks a little thin compared to the power-cells, but your 'action-pose' sells the prop so well it doesn't matter. :thumbsup

Now... who's going to 'shop him a decent background? :lol

Angelus Lupus said:

If I had a suggestion, it would only be that the riffle stock looks a little thin compared to the power-cells, but your 'action-pose' sells the prop so well it doesn't matter. :thumbsup

Click to expand...

Yeah I see what you mean there. I might add some wedge shaped "support" thingies underneath the powercell to give it a sturdier look.


Well I got the control box finished today. I decided to trim down what I had envisioned and went for a simplier look:





All that is left is a trigger, but I'm out of time for my convention. As for some photoshopped pics, I'm sure I'll have some pics of me in my uniform to play with when I get back home. :thumbsup


Thanks again guys!


Kevin

Awesome!

The Shat would be proud to rock that!!

Super creative!

Nice work Kev! So how long did it take you to make this?

Once I had all the parts collected it took about three days to saw, sand, paint and put them all together. Fortunately I'm on vactation right now so I had plenty of spare time.

Hardest part was deciding how many/what size of jewels to put on the control box; it drove me nuts! :lol

Thanks DSB, Apollo and Tiberius! :thumbsup


Kevin

I think the "less is more" works better for the jewels on the control box.

awesome work!!

I haunt my group of thrift stores here often for prop building parts.

With some imagination and the right eye, the possibilities are endless.

Fantastic work love it

I absolutely love it. It's incredibly creative, and at the same time respects TOS's esthetic perfectly. Congratulations, good sir.

Thanks a lot guys!


Well the retro laser was a big hit at the convention! Best part was being able to say I made it myself, and describe the build process to various people!


I hate carrying my camera, but took a couple of shots in my room with my new WNMHGB uniform:





And here's a better "action pose."




Above all else, a god needs compassion! Mitchell!!!



Kevin