Black Rock Shooter Arm Cannon

So I gotta say I have not watched this anime yet but I really really want to because the characters in it look awesome and they have the most awesome guns and swords out there.  So I was commissioned to make the arm cannon for the title character in the series and this is what the character looks like.

As you can see this is an awesome project!!  So I guess the cannon is in different sizes for the anime because I was asked to make it around 3 feet and light as possible so it can be posed with as well as light up.  Now if you know me making things light up is something I love to do so I was excited.  I don't have too many pictures of the progress of this gun since my camera was stolen and the first version I had completed and painted and was 1 day away from shipping out was ruined by water damage at the new place when we had a deluge of water and the floor drain in the garage was plugged up.  I lost a kingdom hearts key blade and this arm cannon. So bear with me on this one.

So I went with a concrete support tube for the main barrel of the gun and I went ahead and glued cardboard and craft foam to make the raised section on the barrel.  Also you can't see it but there is a wood dowel in the handle part of the gun to hold onto and everything is made out of cardboard and craft foam.  This thing weighs in at a little over 6lbs but it is surprisingly strong and durable.  I was very please with the detail I had in it.  For the lighting effect and the nozzle part of the gun I went with 5 leds 2 blue, 2 purple, and a blinking blue for some extra effect.  I went ahead and diffused the lights with 2 layers of semi transparent plastic to give the opening a nice glow.  I didn't want to compromise the look of the outside of the gun so I have he lights running directly off of a 9volt battery that sits in the inside of the handle and is easy to access for plugging in and unplugging.  But I am getting ahead of myself.  here are a couple more pictures of the colorful black rock shooter arm cannon.

Next step was the paint job.  I of course put about 3 coats of grey primer on it.  and then went with 2 coats of flat black and then I had a nice hammered effect black paint which i finished it off with.  Then of course the 2 coats of sealer to help with chipping.  I ordered black plastic chain for it and was a little disappointed with the size of the links and will definitely order larger size chain the next time I make this, that is if someone asks me to make another one of course.  here are some pics and please notice the new digs in the background,

And now the lighting effect that I talked about earlier.  Unfortunately the camera doesn't capture the different colors like I want it to but you can see it with the naked eye.

So I thought it came out pretty sweet it looks badass is pretty darn light my 9 year old can pick it up and point it like a gun and the lighting effect looks pretty sweet.  I was very psyched about making this arm cannon and I can't wait to get cracking on the giant sword from a character in the same series.

SORRY!!!!

So to begin with sorry for everyone on the delay on posting and getting back to people.  The last 3 months have not been fun.  We moved, all my prop making equipment was stolen as well as a lot of other items, my son had his tonsils removed and 2 out of 3 of my kids have their birthdays right before Xmas.  Add in the fact that it took wonderful Verizon almost 4 weeks to get Internet available at the new house.  So after living at the same place for 15 years and moving it has not been a fun experience and I have realized I am a pack rat. 

So I finally have about 90% of my prop making equipment re bought and I am back in action as well as having a computer that does not have a gerbil powering it and is capable of actually being a computer and linking me to the wonderful Internet.

Again I apologize for the silence and hopefully you will be sick of me and my updates in the near future.

Thanks for your understanding
Jason

halo reach jorge helemt

So I've been commissioned me to make a Jorge helmet from halo reach.  Now I have done some research on the web especially looking at the 405th squadron that is dedicated to making halo armor.  All the credit goes to theses guys and if you are ever interested in making some halo armor check out their site.  they will walk you through the process and are a great bunch of people.  The process they use is called pepakura which is basically taking a 3d object modeling it in the computer to wire frame image and then what they call unfolding which makes you able to print it on paper and then with some cutting, folding, and gluing you get the 3d image.  then they fiberglass it and then bondo to smooth out the edges not to mention a lot of sanding and you can paint it and you have a very reasonably priced set of armor.  The thing is it takes a lot of time.  I am doing the most complicated piece of the armor the helmet. There are literally 1000's of tabs that need to be glued together.  Plus matching number to number to keep it aligned is insane.  It takes at least 1/2 hour to cut the pieces out of the card stock and then score and bend all the tabs  not to mention finding the numbers to align them and then glue them together.  If you have a lot of time on your hands this is the project for you.  It's definitely interesting and it's pretty cool to see your hard work start taking shape.  but damn is it tedious.

here are some pics of the helmet to be made and then some of the pepakura process.

Maka Albarn Soul Eater Scythe

So I was commissioned to make maka albarn Partner Soul in his scythe form.  Watch the series and you will understand.  here's a picture.

The Client asked to have the scythe come apart into 3 sections for easier transport.  No problem.  i started off with 1 inch PVC pipe and measured it to 5 feet and then I cut into 2 sections.  I went ahead and cut a 6 inch piece of 1 inch diameter wood dowel and glued it into one of the openings of the PVC pipe that I had just cut.  The best part apart the wood dowel is that it is just a slight hair bigger than the inside of the PVC pipe so a little sanding and you have a perfect fit.  So now the pole attaches to be 5 feet long. 

I then made the blade holder part.  The pipe screws onto this part so when you have the blade detached it makes for easier travel.  I went ahead and used a 3 inch diameter PVC pipe for this part and went ahead and routered out the slit for the blade to go through.  I tapered one end off that will attach to the pipe.  the other end i used 1/2 inch MDF board to cap it off and then routered the strip in the wood at the top.

The blade is made out of 1/4 MDF board and it is sanded drilled, primed,  taped off painted, taped off again, painted and then finally lacquered.  I taped off the blade holder and painted on the design at the base of it. 

Finally all put together

now in it's travel phase.

This was a fun little project though I did put a hell of a lot more paint on it then I thought I would.  Run off from the taping.  

Final Fantasy Lightning Shoulder Armor

So I was commissioned to make the shoulder armor for lightning from Final fantasy 13.  Here is a picture.

So I talked the person into having the two yellow strips light up.  Turns out that would be the biggest problem I had making this prop.  After receiving all the measurements I needed to make this I went ahead and started the basic shell out of cardboard.  I flattened it out and made sure it was bendable.  After doing the layout and the cutting I went ahead and glued it to it's approximate shape.

It's kind of hard to see but I went ahead and cut the two strip slots into the cardboard itself.  I was going to use some yellow stained clear hose back light by some yellow leds for the lighting.  That didn't work I couldn't get a uniform glow from it so i went ahead and diffused the light with some thin flexible Styrofoam packing and hoping that the yellow from the led's would spread out and the glow would like better.  Still no luck.  So I went ahead and thought maybe use white led's and that would hep.  nope no luck there as well. 
So I went ahead and got some el wire and that was that works like a charm.

Here is a pic of the underside of the armor.  I just wanted to show the goldfish sign from the cardboard.

next I had to make the little flap part that extends down the arm of the shoulder armor.  Here is a picture of the two pieces side by side.

Next step cover it in craft foam to hide the ridges.  I wrapped the edges under the armor since I will have to cover the inside once it's done.

next add the raised edges around the sides and then the raised part where the yellow strips go.

You can't see it but i did glue the seam on the top part of the shoulder armor it's just clear.  but I wasn't happy with how smooth it came out so i went ahead and threw some Spackle on it and three coats later and a lot of sanding and it looked good as can be.  I forgot to take a picture before I put a coat of primer on it.

 Next was the little design on the flap part of the armor.  i went ahead and googled lightning from final fantasy and got some good reference pictures and went ahead and drew it out.  I went ahead and drew it on a thing piece of card stock and then broke out Mr. xacto knife and this is what I got.

Next was a coat of primer on it and tomorrow after I get the correct color of paint i will have a finish paint on it. 

So next it's painting time.  I went ahead and spray painted the whole piece and then put a coat of a lighter color green on the raised parts.  After that I just added the el wire and fixed a battery holder to the inside of the shoulder pad.  



I think it came out pretty nice.  Fun little project even though my original idea of using leds to light it did not work.  Gotta love el wire.

Gurren Lagann Yoko Sniper Rifle

So I have always wanted to make this sniper rifle.  Something about making large impossible props is certainly cool.  For those of you that don't know about this gun and the person who wields it, here is a reference picture.

Pay attention to the gun people not the girl.  Now this prop has been made by countless people out there and there are some amazing props out on the web.  My goal was to make it close to a prop maker called Blind Squirrel Props as I could on a limited time frame.  SO I went ahead and made this gun out of PVC and MDF board with various screws dowels and a little craft foam for certain parts.  I didn't take too many in progress pics because I was recharging the battery in my camera and every time I was down in the dungeon making noise and sawdust I had left the camera upstairs.  but here are some pics I took last night. 

Don't mind the failed fusion sword project behind the barrel of the gun.  Nothing to look at people.

I have the scope pretty much done as well.  I have some coats of Gesso on it right now to help smooth out the slanted parts.  I have the clamps all made to lock it in to place and have the plans done for the bi pod which will open and close.  So that is my goal today finish it up and get it ready for painting.  Oh yeah i have to shape the muzzle for the gun as well.  Hopefully I'll have pictures of it primed tonight.  Also I have the side mount clips and the pink strap for it as well.

Oh yeah was also asked If I could make her bracelets as well.  So I looked around for some cheap bangles and didn't like anything I found so I went ahead and made them out of 1/2 MDF board I took 2 pieces for each bracelet and glued them together.  I then went ahead and sanded them and measured out where to put the outside 1/2 ball things.  I then went ahead and drilled a recess for each 1/2 ball to fit into and fashioned the balls out of sanded dowels.  Here are some pics of the painted bracelets and the 1/2 balls.  The are gluing in place right now and will have a finished project later today.

Finished Bracelet/Bangle

So the scope is made out of a 1 inch wood dowel and then 1 inch, 1 1/2 inch, and 2 inch PVC pipe.  I then used craft foam and then gesso to smooth out the edges.  I also cut the knobs out of  a 1 1/4 inch wood dowel and then bought some plastic spacers to hide the screw when I attached them to the scope.  The ends are covered with 1/.4 MDF board and sanded down.  The view finder and the distance finder will be attached to the front of the scope after I have painted it.  here it is with the 3rd coat of gesso on it.  I do believe this will be the last coat of gesso and the final sanding will be done once it's dry.  Then primer and finish painting.  woo-hoo!

Here is the gun  disassembled and with the 3rd coat of primer on it.  I have to say I have graduated to 440 grit sand paper between coats and you get a fantastically smooth finish with the pain on that.  This should be the last coat of primer and then it's the final coats of black, yellow and pink.  I made the side mount clips from .80 styrene and some 1/2 moon clips I had laying around.  I pre drilled the holes in the styrene so I could attach it to the PVC tube of the gun.  I used a heat gun to mold the styrene so it would work be flush with the gun.

So The bi pod attaches to the bottom of the barrel with a 1/4 inch diameter 3/4 inch Long nut and bolt.  So to have the barrel fit into the gun I had to build up the end of it which I did.  I purposely left the end unpainted so it would be easier to line it up with the main part of the gun for insertion.  It's a really snug fit

Ta-Da!  All done  I think it turned out pretty damn cool.  It comes apart in 2 pieces the scope will detach as well.  I hope the customer will be happy.

Yes the bi pod works as well.