NobleEight
Jr Member
You sir are a god, loven the work! Keep it up and keep those smoken pics acommin 
cheers
cheers
Props Finally Started This...
- Thread starter thorssoli
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In hindsight, I really should've come up with a better name for this thread. Now that I'm doing other stuffs, I should've called it "Thorssoli's CNC Weapons" but the forum won't let me change it. Maybe the mods can change the title. Even better, maybe they can merge it with my M6G Pistol Build thread as well as change the title.
Progress continues on the BR55HB. Saturday afternoon I went ahead and put a coat of black primer on it to see where I stand:
It still needs a bit of work before I get to the final texturing stage.
It's a great tool, but it's definitely not the end-all-be-all of propmaking. The machine gets me the basic shape cut out with a resolution down to about 1/16th of an inch. Anything smaller than that I've got to carve by hand, such as the small grooves and holes shown here:
I also have to sand down all of the edges that need smoothing. So basically the CNC does all of the things that a perfectly finished pep build would do. It just saves me all of those hours I would've spent cutting and folding.
Sooner or later I'll realize I need a higher-end machine, bite the bullet, and save up the tens of thousands of dollars I'll need to buy one.
It still needs a bit of work before I get to the final texturing stage.
It's a great tool, but it's definitely not the end-all-be-all of propmaking. The machine gets me the basic shape cut out with a resolution down to about 1/16th of an inch. Anything smaller than that I've got to carve by hand, such as the small grooves and holes shown here:
I also have to sand down all of the edges that need smoothing. So basically the CNC does all of the things that a perfectly finished pep build would do. It just saves me all of those hours I would've spent cutting and folding.
Sooner or later I'll realize I need a higher-end machine, bite the bullet, and save up the tens of thousands of dollars I'll need to buy one.
Possibly, but then I'd need to revamp my vacforming rig. It's a project I've been putting off for some time.
n1njqch1cken
Active Member
is vac forming sturdy? whenever i see somone doing it i think, now, if someone sits on it, wont it crumble?.... i just think it looks like those cheap plastic masks with no faces, that you stick feathers on and paint. or is it that the plastic is thicker or something like that :S
The masks you're talking about are vacuformed, yes. They're usually done in cheap styrene that's very thin. If I were to engineer the separate parts and make them out of a heavier ABS plastic, then I could make a lightweight version of this rifle. Still, if someone sits on it, it won't fare well.
I won't be vacforming these anytime soon though. I'm still planning on making the parts out of black urethane resin cast in a silicone mold. They'll be a bit heavy, but they'll look and feel sturdy.
In other news, I've got the barrel assembly 95% finished:
Now I've just got a tiny bit of fairing and sanding left to do on it. Then I'll be spraying some more texture onto the main body of the rifle and start building the scope.
That said, does anyone have any reference images of the scope? Please post them here if you do.
long time ago i saw my tripmine file being used hehe
Would you like one? I was thinking of making a quick mold and turning out a few. I just need to figure out if I want to install electronics.
Just finished the scope for the BR. I will post pics later today. I'll also be posting a pre-order thread in the classifieds to cover the cost of moldmaking materials, so keep an eye out for that.
As promised, here's a shot of me test-fitting the BR:
It's heavily photoshopped though, so here's another one without the fake background and all of the color correction:
And another one:
When we were taking those pics, I'd just stuck a cheap red-dot scope on top of the rails as a placeholder. Today I finished building the scope, so here's a crappy cellphone shot of the scope next to the only decent reference image I could find:
A detail pic of the scope with better resolution:
Here's the scope being held in place on the rifle:
A closeup of the composite texture I sprayed onto the lower half of the body:
I'm going to need some cash to pay for the moldmaking, so keep an eye out for my pre-order thread in the classified section.
It's heavily photoshopped though, so here's another one without the fake background and all of the color correction:
And another one:
When we were taking those pics, I'd just stuck a cheap red-dot scope on top of the rails as a placeholder. Today I finished building the scope, so here's a crappy cellphone shot of the scope next to the only decent reference image I could find:
A detail pic of the scope with better resolution:
Here's the scope being held in place on the rifle:
A closeup of the composite texture I sprayed onto the lower half of the body:
I'm going to need some cash to pay for the moldmaking, so keep an eye out for my pre-order thread in the classified section.
AI Blue Fox
Sr Member
this...is...(sparta) AMAZING! only thing i see wrong with it is the scope. if you look carefully at the picture or if you go ingame you will see that the eye end of the scope curvs with your head of a nice snug fit. other than that curve and the amount of space between the scope anf rifle (seems a little too much for me) its perfect!
p.s. if you intend on casting this br for a price around $125 Ill buy (ya I know, but a boy can dream right?)
p.s. if you intend on casting this br for a price around $125 Ill buy
(ya I know, but a boy can dream right?)Actually, I did match that curve. I just didn't take a single picture that shows it from the top. Here's a shot from the right side:
It's not massively longer than the left side (only about half an inch) but it does have the curve you mentioned.
UPDATE: I've started making the mold. So if you haven't sent me a deposit already, I'm no longer offering free shipping.
Here's some progress pics:
First half of the mold with mothermold:
Second half of the jacket mold poured (as it stands right now):
The first few castings of the big attachments:
I don't have pics of the bolt, trigger, or safety catch yet. Stand by for those.
In other news, my moldmaker has finally pulled his first cast of the sniper rifle:
He had an issue with a large void which you can see near the buttstock on the other side:
So he's adding in a new vent that will solve the problem. I should have the molds in hand soon and then I'll start making a few copies in a hurry.
Stay tuned for more on that...
Here's some progress pics:
First half of the mold with mothermold:
Second half of the jacket mold poured (as it stands right now):
The first few castings of the big attachments:
I don't have pics of the bolt, trigger, or safety catch yet. Stand by for those.
In other news, my moldmaker has finally pulled his first cast of the sniper rifle:
He had an issue with a large void which you can see near the buttstock on the other side:
So he's adding in a new vent that will solve the problem. I should have the molds in hand soon and then I'll start making a few copies in a hurry.
Stay tuned for more on that...
Jester1014
Well-Known Member
Mark that little spot with some silver and make it a plasma burn!
You guys pepped all these first and got them to look the way you wanted before you molded them didn't you?
Just curious really, I've molded add-on parts for my Gundam kits but nothing of this size.
You guys pepped all these first and got them to look the way you wanted before you molded them didn't you?
Just curious really, I've molded add-on parts for my Gundam kits but nothing of this size.
Go back a couple of pages and you can read all about the build process. No pep on these. Instead, I had Lopez the Robot Whittler carve them out of a few hunks of wood for me.
UPDATE The mold is made!
Last night I made the second half of the mother mold:
The mothermold was made using urethane casting resin and reinforcing it with fiberglass mat. I've spent enough time cutting my hands on the countless little spikes that always seem to pop out when I do this that I've finally learned to smooth the surface using some wax paper.
I dyed the resin red because I just happened to have some red pigment handy and I couldn't resist. Besides, everyone knows that red cars go faster, so maybe red resin will cure faster...
One of the minor challenges for molding this piece was the pair of rails at the forward end of the rifle. Since there's a gap between them, I had to make the mold with a clay plug to keep them separate. Here's the gap in the top of the mold left behind when I'd cleaned the clay out:
It's not too pretty, but there was a reason for making the edges so bumpy and uneven. I poured more silicone into the gap and all of those bumps will serve to make sure the parts fit together correctly when it's time to pour castings:
That little box of silicone at the bottom of the frame is the mold for all of the little parts (safety catches, mode selector switch, bolt handle, and trigger). I've still neglected to take pictures of those bits.
Tune in next time for...
CASTING!
Last night I made the second half of the mother mold:
The mothermold was made using urethane casting resin and reinforcing it with fiberglass mat. I've spent enough time cutting my hands on the countless little spikes that always seem to pop out when I do this that I've finally learned to smooth the surface using some wax paper.
I dyed the resin red because I just happened to have some red pigment handy and I couldn't resist. Besides, everyone knows that red cars go faster, so maybe red resin will cure faster...
One of the minor challenges for molding this piece was the pair of rails at the forward end of the rifle. Since there's a gap between them, I had to make the mold with a clay plug to keep them separate. Here's the gap in the top of the mold left behind when I'd cleaned the clay out:
It's not too pretty, but there was a reason for making the edges so bumpy and uneven. I poured more silicone into the gap and all of those bumps will serve to make sure the parts fit together correctly when it's time to pour castings:
That little box of silicone at the bottom of the frame is the mold for all of the little parts (safety catches, mode selector switch, bolt handle, and trigger). I've still neglected to take pictures of those bits.
Tune in next time for...
CASTING!
Casting happened today. Much of it. But first, here's a pic of the various mold chunks that go into making the Battle Rifle parts:
In the background you can see the molds for (from left to right) the scope, the small detail bits, and the barrel assembly. That chunk of rubber sitting between the rifle mold halves on the far end is the plug that separates the rails.
I failed to mention it before, but I decided I wanted the trigger guard to be a bit more sturdy than a thin piece of casting resin. So for each casting I'm inserting an aluminum triggerguard which gets cast into the final piece:
Here's a shot of the second casting coming out of the mold:
Here's some sort of maniac holding the first two castings:
The one on the right is the first casting. I made it with some cheaper resin intending it to be a throwaway cast (to get the last bits of clay and whatnot out of the mold) but it came out good enough that I'll go ahead and finish it.
Here's a closeup of the aluminum trigger guard:
Here's the prototype with the first set of detail bits added on:
The castings have very few bubbles. Here you can see a few of them near the magazine release:
With so few bubbles, cleanup and filling should be minimal.
The molds aren't quite as tight as I'd like, so there's a lot of mold flashing. The worst of it is around the butt end and grip:
Still, it will only take a few minutes with a file to cleanup the whole thing.
So at the end of the day, here's the prototype and the first two sets of castings:
Stay tuned for the next step...
PAINTING!
Meanwhile, please feel free to leave a comment. This thread gets no love.
In the background you can see the molds for (from left to right) the scope, the small detail bits, and the barrel assembly. That chunk of rubber sitting between the rifle mold halves on the far end is the plug that separates the rails.
I failed to mention it before, but I decided I wanted the trigger guard to be a bit more sturdy than a thin piece of casting resin. So for each casting I'm inserting an aluminum triggerguard which gets cast into the final piece:
Here's a shot of the second casting coming out of the mold:
Here's some sort of maniac holding the first two castings:
The one on the right is the first casting. I made it with some cheaper resin intending it to be a throwaway cast (to get the last bits of clay and whatnot out of the mold) but it came out good enough that I'll go ahead and finish it.
Here's a closeup of the aluminum trigger guard:
Here's the prototype with the first set of detail bits added on:
The castings have very few bubbles. Here you can see a few of them near the magazine release:
With so few bubbles, cleanup and filling should be minimal.
The molds aren't quite as tight as I'd like, so there's a lot of mold flashing. The worst of it is around the butt end and grip:
Still, it will only take a few minutes with a file to cleanup the whole thing.
So at the end of the day, here's the prototype and the first two sets of castings:
Stay tuned for the next step...
PAINTING!
Meanwhile, please feel free to leave a comment. This thread gets no love.
S1l3nt V1p3r
Sr Member
This thread gets it's love from me. <3
LOVE IT, Thor. LOVE IT!
LOVE IT, Thor. LOVE IT!
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