Star Lord Build from scratch-ish...

So, I got to thinking about whether or not to order the Shapeway 3D print of the Element Gun's barrel corrections and as long as I have a steady supply of two part plumber's putty, I'll just keep plodding along...

I knew that the barrels were a little more rectangular than what Nerf offers sooo...
.


Before it hardened all the way, I took a razor blade and VERY carefully laid it flat against both barrels and sliced the excess putty off. After it hardened, I hit it with a coarse 100 grit nail file. Accidentally did a bevel on the end, but it'll barely be seen.

Here, we see the lower cowl and where I filled some holes. because this is a two piece part, I did a little sealing on the inside and where the seam meets outside. Sloppy, but smooth for paint. What's your favorite plastic filler for this kind of an application?



...Here I am sanding this piece...


I'd like to point out that while the Nerf gun has two barrels on the top and one the bottom, in the movie, the lower condenser is just one fatter unit. (heh...I sat 'fat' and 'unit' huh huh huh...)...anyway, to achieve this look, I plan to just paint the lower segment on the bottom barrels of the Nerf gun black so the eye will be tricked into thinking there is only one barrel there...I might bring that color down half way on that bottom barrel, come to think of it..

So far as that oval vent on the top cowl, I'm still trying to figure out how to make this look like a recess without making a hole. If I do make a hole, I'm considering taking some screen door patch, stiffening it with some glue and then using a little of that plumber's putty to glue it behind the hole to look like a purposeful heat vent...and stuff....

So, this morning I decided to make this image, but in the process, I accidentally mis-clicked on 'Save' rather than 'Save as' and lost the image over which I placed my close up shots.

If the image of the hero prop depicted in the to half of this image (and more specifically, the angle), looks familiar to you, please post a link or email me the image itself.

It's so rare to find an image which displays on my computer screen in ACTUAL SIZE.

I could kick myself, but in the name of helping you all out, please reference this photo instructional for your Quad Blaster cut template ..The shaded areas are where I intend to cut away the plastic to achieve the correct shape before attaching more 'bits' sourced from the item in the second image

[EDIT] - I found a copy of it on my phone - WHEW....



...the right shape for the top 'tip'...and minty fresh.



and here's that image I thought I lost;

Hey everyone, if I were to caption these it would be "Clean Desk" and "Sick Mind"


I've had to hold off on filling the rest of the holes in the handle of the Element Guns because I needed to find the right lead fishing weights. Like an idiot, I forgot to take a picture of the oblong weights I used for each of the barrels, but here's a shot of how they looked after I pounded the snot out of them to make them fit;


Next, I hammered the spherical ones into submission so they'd fit inside the chambers in the interior of the quad blasters. If you do this, pay particular attention to placement with the rear half of the cowls inserted in the last two images in this series...



You may notice the size of the weights for the air chambers were just a little bit bigger than for the body of the weapon.


I then used construction adhesive to keep them from rattling.



The triggers needed the same treatment. I'm not concerned with lights and such, just the weight so that when a kid holds it, well...'heavy' means 'real' which, I hope, will instill some grandeur as they handle it.


And finally, a sneak peek at how I'm handling the ends of each barrel...


Thank you Starbucks... :lol

Looking good Mann! Now that Halloween is over I am going to return to the various Starlord equipment to give them a more screen closeness look! I like what you've been doing with your Quad.............I mean Element Blasters............Guns................doohickie thingies!!!

For those of you looking for more images for your reference library on this build, pay particular attention to the SLING BAG and TRENCH in this video! Whoo Hoo!!! CANDY!!!

For those of you doing the Grieves for Star Lord....they are not rivets, they're snaps. Makes sense from the 'getting dressed' angle...

Great discovery on the snaps.

Love how your Element Guns are now loaded with lead ball.

Staar Lord Maan said:

For those of you doing the Grieves for Star Lord....they are not rivets, they're snaps. Makes sense from the 'getting dressed' angle...

View attachment 414340

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Is it just me or are the rocket controls a printed image there instead of actual prop? which would make sense for action scenes.

M Constantine said:

Is it just me or are the rocket controls a printed image there instead of actual prop? which would make sense for action scenes.

Click to expand...

It's a prop. What you're seeing is the mesh creasing.

With the RED zippers finally joining the BLACK ones, I will be working to get these things packaged up and shot off in the mail this week, at the latest, by Saturday. Those whom I am shipping international, I'll do my best to get you an ETA in your respective countries.

Stay tuned to your mailboxes!

Zippers are all packed up and ready to get into the mail tomorrow... :cool

Staar Lord Maan, I had noticed that too. Good thing I didn't attache mine yet. But I still may use the rivets as I can still get my foot into the boot. Thanks for posting wow you got a lot of zippers. I was thinking I might need another one.

I'll most likely do a run pretty soon, so stay tuned....

StarLordGoG said:

Staar Lord Maan, I had noticed that too. Good thing I didn't attache mine yet. But I still may use the rivets as I can still get my foot into the boot. Thanks for posting wow you got a lot of zippers. I was thinking I might need another one.

Click to expand...

Soooo...It's been a while and I have been slacking with posting here on the RPF, so here's a quickie for those who were curious about the front of your Nerf Quad Blasters...there needs to be some cuts on the upper cowl.


The Shaded areas depicted in this, and the next image denote the material which need to be removed to approach a more accurate look for the top cowl.


I used that pink template but realized I probably would have people asking me questions about measurements sooo.....

Sooooo.....

Here's a Photo Essay on how I'm converting my Nerf Quad Blasters into proper Star Lord Element Guns. I'm using Plumber's Epoxy and working pretty quickly with it because once it's mixed, it cures in five minutes. Five. As in; "ONE...TWO...FIVE! [three, sir] *THREE!*" Once this stuff gets super-warm, I have less than 20 seconds to manipulate it into place, usually, with a lot of force. #owmyfingers





The lower cowl was moved back, glued down, gap filled and sanded smoother than an android's bottom. (ask Data). The tip had a small flange trimmed off and the empty space filled with construction glue, (which is kinda like Elmer's but in a calking gun tube). On top of that was the Plumber's Epoxy...because that stuff's not cheap. I also added a Krazy-Glue sleeve for the barrel. Lastly, (and you can barely see it), just inside of it there is a black Nerf Dart....you know...so retains a shred of it's original foam Rubber Soul?

And yes...the block of sanded Plumber's Epoxy is a little bulky. I know, I know...but I had to split for dinner out with the wife and mother-in-law shortly after I took this...



NOM.....urrp.

Currently, This one weighs in at THREE pounds and TWO ounces, the gun, not the Burrito, but it's a close second). I still need to add another two or so ounces to the top cowl tip.

I can hear you all now "Whaaa...???" Yes. Heavy, but for a reason. When I was growing up, my dad used to take me shooting with black powder Civil War reproductions. The Walker Colt shooting iron is just plain *heavy* and it lent a degree of 'holy cow, this stuff's real' to my impressionable young mind. Now pardon me for this quote from a certain Jurassic Park character otherwise known as the 'Pora-Potty Lawyer T-Rex Chow-Guy':

"Are they heavy? [yeah.] Then they're expensive, put 'em back."

This is important to me because when I visit kids in the hospital and they ask about them, they'll get to handle them...and the weight speak volumes. If asked, I've determined that my story about their weight will be "well, in space, everything is light...I've never noticed how heavy these things were before I came to this planet, Wow!"

Happy Holidays, all

-Staar Lord, maan.....

So, I made mention of the Nerf dart helping to retain a shred of the gun's original foam Rubber Soul? So yeah...here's the process...

First, eyeball that Krazy Glue container and have wicked-evil thoughts...


Next, decapitate a perfectly good Nerf dart. NARF!! (slice) gurgle gurgle gurgle....nArF?


...and then eviscerate it. It had it coming.


Try to blame it on your sharpie.

Let it be...sorta.


Next, strip naked. NO...the Krazy Glue sleeve you dirty minded...GAH...


Oh...okay, so you can be just a little dirty minded. (tab 'A' Slot 'B' etc...)


[Imagine an image of a correctly-trimmed Krazy Glue Sleeve here. Don't ask. Why are you looking at me like that....The dog ate my homework, leave me alone!]

Take a gander at the real thing...


Then see how well you did.
...but if you'll remember from above, I forgot to trim off that flange on the tip, there, so that very cool looking bevel on the end of the Krazy Glue sleeve went bye bye....sadface. I may actually replace it, entirely, with a bit of aluminium tubing after a very carefully executed drilling of that plastic bit....maybe.

Stay tuned for more mind numbing pablum...

FLASHBACK!

Scroll up to #83 or....just click that number and after you read that, have a look at THIS video


Got it? good...now, more of a flashback with how I did the fishing weights...


Pardon my fragmented mind, this evening, but also, as a follow up to that Weight Jacking video, above...here's the follow up to THAT. Whee!!!

Had enough videos yet?

Tough.

Flashing back, (yet again)...we show the work for the "Element Gun Emitter Corrections"

This is my 100th post and it's got a lot of dremel-ing in it. Truth be told, I might have just used some other tool to remove material from the cowls but this took far less time...unlike the amount of time you'll spend watching this 8+ minute video. Sue me, I was tired last night when I made this one, heh....