Determining what material to use for prop

ERen89 · Jan 20, 2018

I am about to make an M8 Avenger rifle from Mass Effect, as I have always wanted to. I want to stay away from EVA foam, although I know you can get wonderful results, I just personally am not a foam fan. Which is why I keep putting off making N7 armor all together.

Anyways I want to start with this new project, and wondering what you prop makers would consider for material? I might slush cast in the end eventually for a final resin product, but in the mean time I am trying to determine my options. I found a few threads of people using MDF, though I am curious of the weight at the end.

Darth Lars · Jan 20, 2018

Is this for a one-off or a small production run?

I see that there are papercraft models available for the M8 Avenger rifle. I have long thought that it should be possible to use a papercraft model for a sci-fi gun but instead of building from paper, use styrene.
Of course, you would have to adjust for the thickness of the styrene in places. Use toy gun parts for difficult parts such as pistol grip, and PVC pipes and fittings for barrel end, scope and such. Use solvent-based glue for plastics ("poly cement") to weld the parts together. Maybe some blocks of wood for structural rigidity in places.
The end result could be both light and sturdy, similar to if there was a life-size plastic toy version of the gun but only a bit heavier.

ERen89 · Jan 20, 2018

This is just for fun, no intention for production. But maybe I will in future depending on how it turns out. I do have plenty of MDF at the moment. I havent made anything to this scale tho with it. Of course I will use other materials in the mix but for a nice core base material, I am getting more curious about using MDF for this particular prop

renaissance_man · Jan 21, 2018

Styrene every time - it's fairly inexpensive, very easy to cut and shape and it wont be too heavy when you've finished the rifle.

cavx · Jan 21, 2018

What are you comfortable working with? For some, foam is a material of choice because it is easy to work, for others paper. Personally, I like hard plastics like Perspex. Less forgiving if you make a mistake, but when you make a good part, you have a quality finished part.

MDF is also great, but dusty. Can be heavy if making a huge weapon.

renaissance_man · Jan 22, 2018

cavx said:
What are you comfortable working with? For some, foam is a material of choice because it is easy to work, for others paper. Personally, I like hard plastics like Perspex. Less forgiving if you make a mistake, but when you make a good part, you have a quality finished part.

MDF is also great, but dusty. Can be heavy if making a huge weapon.

Perspex/acrylic is tough to cut with anything but a saw, unless you have access to a laser cutter.

cavx · Jan 22, 2018

renaissance_man said:
Perspex/acrylic is tough to cut with anything but a saw, unless you have access to a laser cutter.

I do now. But even so, I'll use tools ranging from a 5" grinder to a small stone in a rotary tool to work the plastic.

itsgreg · Jan 22, 2018

Personally, I make pretty much everything from acrylic & abs but I've the tools to make working with it easy.
I'd suggest foamex, it's a pvc sheet material thats cheap, comes in a variety of colours, cuts easily with a scalpel & can be solvent welded with tetrahydrofuran.
I only avoid it as the glued edges tend to stay too soft for sanding for about a couple of hours or so after gluing & I'm too impatient for that! Lol

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ERen89 · Jan 23, 2018

Okay so in the end I finally made my decision and went with MDF, inspired by Volpin's build. I have been getting more and more into wood working, so it is a good opportunity to continue to dive deeper. At least for the initial build. I then will likely make resin casts of it later on.

I do have a question though. What is the best way to keep your edges clean and even? I have a number of tools I am jumping between;

Band saw, scroll saw, belt sander, dremel, and jigsaw

Some edges I was able to easily get down to the template line evenly, it is more so in those corners and hard to reach places. I try my dremel, but it proves difficult to keep the sides square with the face. Should I keep cutting little by little with the band and scroll saw?

View attachment 789469

Sluis Van Shipyards · Jan 23, 2018

Personally I'd use metal tubing for the gun barrel just so it feels like a gun. I try to use as much metal as my skills allow so it feels real.

knullzero · Jan 24, 2018

Sluis Van Shipyards said:
Personally I'd use metal tubing for the gun barrel just so it feels like a gun. I try to use as much metal as my skills allow so it feels real.

I too suffer from the "feel real" replica prop disorder. Some people just don't understand.

Determining what material to use for prop

ERen89

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Darth Lars

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ERen89

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renaissance_man

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cavx

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renaissance_man

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cavx

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itsgreg

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ERen89

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Sluis Van Shipyards

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knullzero

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