More steampunk - my first gun mod
Oct. 15th, 2008 02:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
castaliaYay, it's finally finished! I've had a ton of fun the past week playing with this thing. If I get to do something for Dragon*Con I'll definitely have a nice sidearm to take with me :)
I was remiss in taking "before" pictures, sadly, but suffice it to say the original gun was bright blue plastic with a hole at the top to load little plastic balls which the gun supposedly shot (trying out the trigger, however, didn't produce anything much that could be classified as ballistic). The gun was, of course, only a dollar, and everything else either came from junk drawers in my house, the depths of the basement, Home Depot, or Michael's and Hobby Lobby (hurrah 50% off coupons!). I don't think I spent that much all told, and of course I have tons of paints left over for future use. The spray paint is the biggest expense, so those 50% off coupons really helped keep the budget down. I'm also pleased with the Krylon "Fusion" paint made specially to bond to plastics - it comes in black, so there was no need for primer.
After a coat of spray paint, some Rub'n Buff (which is fabulous), and acrylic paints to try and approximate wood grain, I had this:
Still needed more color, and I decided I needed accessories to get a more ray gun-ish feel, so I rummaged around until I found some old plastic bits then picked up a few odds and ends. A few bits of pipe from Home Depot, a plastic craft ball (sprayed with transparent spray paint) and some beads from Hobby Lobby, and metallic spray paint. I also glued strips of leather around the handle to give it a more comfortable grip.
The best bit that I was thrilled to find was a little LED flashlight type thing I picked up at Dollar General. By poking a hole in the plastic "copper pipe" I threaded the flexible arm up through it so the light itself is hidden in the pipe. The button to turn it on is in the main unit on top of the gun, so I can turn it on and make the blue ball glow. This pleases me greatly.
Off.
On.
I was originally going to add more to it but I'm quite happy with how it looks now, to be honest. The only thing I don't love is how flimsy the copper plastic tube is - it's hollow, so it's not going to withstand a lot of abuse. However, I've got plenty of tubing left and I think it'll be reasonably easy to replace if anything breaks. I had to go with lightweight pieces on top thanks to how flimsy the gun itself is - one dollar evidently doesn't get you very thick plastic anymore and I suspect one could break the gun just by gripping it too hard. But I don't care, because it lights up. *g*
Lights! Yay!
No idea how to make a holster that won't break this thing, so I may just have to cart it around instead. Now for the rest of the costume...
I was remiss in taking "before" pictures, sadly, but suffice it to say the original gun was bright blue plastic with a hole at the top to load little plastic balls which the gun supposedly shot (trying out the trigger, however, didn't produce anything much that could be classified as ballistic). The gun was, of course, only a dollar, and everything else either came from junk drawers in my house, the depths of the basement, Home Depot, or Michael's and Hobby Lobby (hurrah 50% off coupons!). I don't think I spent that much all told, and of course I have tons of paints left over for future use. The spray paint is the biggest expense, so those 50% off coupons really helped keep the budget down. I'm also pleased with the Krylon "Fusion" paint made specially to bond to plastics - it comes in black, so there was no need for primer.
After a coat of spray paint, some Rub'n Buff (which is fabulous), and acrylic paints to try and approximate wood grain, I had this:
Still needed more color, and I decided I needed accessories to get a more ray gun-ish feel, so I rummaged around until I found some old plastic bits then picked up a few odds and ends. A few bits of pipe from Home Depot, a plastic craft ball (sprayed with transparent spray paint) and some beads from Hobby Lobby, and metallic spray paint. I also glued strips of leather around the handle to give it a more comfortable grip.
The best bit that I was thrilled to find was a little LED flashlight type thing I picked up at Dollar General. By poking a hole in the plastic "copper pipe" I threaded the flexible arm up through it so the light itself is hidden in the pipe. The button to turn it on is in the main unit on top of the gun, so I can turn it on and make the blue ball glow. This pleases me greatly.
Off.
On.
I was originally going to add more to it but I'm quite happy with how it looks now, to be honest. The only thing I don't love is how flimsy the copper plastic tube is - it's hollow, so it's not going to withstand a lot of abuse. However, I've got plenty of tubing left and I think it'll be reasonably easy to replace if anything breaks. I had to go with lightweight pieces on top thanks to how flimsy the gun itself is - one dollar evidently doesn't get you very thick plastic anymore and I suspect one could break the gun just by gripping it too hard. But I don't care, because it lights up. *g*
Lights! Yay!
No idea how to make a holster that won't break this thing, so I may just have to cart it around instead. Now for the rest of the costume...
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Date: 2008-10-16 05:12 pm (UTC)Again very very cool.
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Date: 2008-10-16 05:51 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-10-17 04:35 am (UTC)We never did have fangirl knitting club time. I think I'm not doing anything next weekend if you want to do something.
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