How to build a Prototype Laser Gun

Ok…. firstly “NO!” this is not a real gun… come on people. If I could build laser guns I would be kidnapped by some secret overseas agency and forced to make super soldiers….

This idea came about after making the sniper rifle for the Star Wars party. I thought it would be cool to have a pistol that looked like someone had been trying to knock together a functioning hand held laser weapon in their lab. So it should look all bitsy rather than looking like a mass produced weapon.

Anyhow…. the first stop, once again, was the Warehouse to grab another knackerd cheap toy gun. Now this is not as easy as it sounds – the style of toy guns has changed a lot in recent years with most of them looking like they were designed to be underwater survey equipment. All curves and wavy bits. Not the angular more realistic look that we need. I did find this funky number though…

The next step was stripping out all the guff inside. It made noises when I first bought it but that lasted all of half a day before it broke. So no bad feelings about giving it the bash. All the stickers were removed and the text was sanded down.

Now the fun stuff. I started the process of adding all manner of crap to the thing. Super glue is my prefered adhesive because it’s quick and strong and I love toying with the danger of gluing myself to my bench – I live an exciting life I can tell you!

The “fuel cell containment cannister” mounted to the side of the gun is a plastic pipe fitting from a plumbing shop that I had knocking about. I capped one end with an RCA adapter from DSE and the other is a standard tap collar from a garden hose set. The whole lot is wound in wire and mounted using a the cord holder that come with a bamboo blind and some securing rings. The black box is a standard AA battery holder from DSE.

Other stuff is added. You can see a green USB adapter along with parts from a long necked safety lighter (dark red bits). Another RCA adapter was added to the end of the gun. Vinyl bits were added to simulate lead or other soft metal plating. This will help give the “held together with scrap” look I’m going for.

Now we are starting to really cook. More details bit added and imitation solder is added to the edges of the vinyl. Bits that have found their way onto the gun include: drink bottle top, curtain hangers, screw covers, spay bottle collar, pen spring, cupboard door latch thingy, automotive cigarette lighter adapter,LED, basic power switch, automotive fuse and other small bits of tatt…

At this point I like took the time to slap on a first coat of paint. A quick coat of what ever base colour you will be using helps to let you critique the overall form rather than the parts. Then you can decide better where to add more doo-dads.

Notice that I swapped the barrel around to give it that “focused beam” technology look. The lime green parts were laser cut from acrylic by Ponoko. Martian was getting some cards holders and key tags cut out so I tossed a bunch of random shapes on some spare acrylic for just this sort of eventuality.

I’m pretty happy with all the guff that has been added – so time for that nice thick coat of base paint over everything!

Now the fun stuff starts – the painting!! I just love painting things to look like naffed old metal. I don’t know why I have this affinity for old metal – it must be all those time my parents locked me in the car boot when I was a kid. hehe. Anyhoo, there will be lots of brassy, coppery and leadish looking stuff on this gun.

And here we go – the first coat of detail paint featuring lots of sooty metals.  Note the first coat of “solder” holding some of the metal parts together.  This will be darkened with a coat of black later.  Check out the good leady finish on the vinyl.  It looks nice and heavy even though it really weighs nothing at all.