Props Spartan Laser Metal & Fiberglass Airsoft Prop (Fully Functioning Electronic Replica)

[Harri51]

OMG!!!! I need to go change my pants.

 

[Redshirt]

holy cow man! 22lbs?! thats nuts, but man its worth it i think.
Everything is looking good red, very happy to see this baby pretty much in the home stretch

22 pounds is nuts. I'll reweigh it. It really needs to be under 20 to haul around the airsoft field for very long. Thank you.

three year's and your almost done, and the semi finished project looks like the real deal, save it won't blow a truck to pieces when it fires but close enough you're just awesome at this, I mean I could see you building a functioning scatter shot or briny rifle. but with this starting to come to a close I've got some questions for you.

if you could do it all over again would you?

when you started did you have a time frame set to finish this beast?

are you planning on making the helmet that goes with the laser?

and lastly are you going to plan a trip to 343 with said weapon and let frank play with it? lol I know I would.

Thanks Foxleader. Great questions!

Would I do it again? I think yes, but not without a milling machine and aluminum-capable MIG welder. In time and materials, I could have substantially offset the cost. I've learned so many skills, I don't regret that.

Am I planning on making the helmet? I have a costume already. That took only eight weeks compared to three years. As far as airsoft, no. I stick with airsoft-rated safety gear. I might add foam-based basic UNSC Marine plates to that, but that'd only be cosmetic.

Am I going to 343 to let Frank play with it? If invited, I absolutely would go! I'll need a new job soon anyway.

Absolutely awesome and inspiring man.

Thanks again. I'm planning to have painting done by the weekend.

OMG!!!! I need to go change my pants.

LOL! Thanks.



I finally got the shakedown videos! Here comes the backpedaling though. They are partial demos due to the BB feed partially failing and my battery going kaput. So, the shroud lift is a little slow and there's no amazing stream of BBs from all three gear boxes firing at once. Caveats aside, ENJOY!

Shroud lift demo: I still have some interference issues at the back that hinder retraction.



Redshirt

 

[Redshirt]

Sorry for the double post, but it looks like we can only show one video per post.

Here's the firing demo:

You can see just how big this beast is. My guest shooter is over six feet tall.

Thanks for the support.

Redshirt

 

[foxleader]

well at least if this group ever gets around with a 405th halo film and we want more blam we know who to call. oh an if you have a green lens to put on the front you can say it's a anti superman laser. lol speaking of which how hard would it be to replace the red LED's and just put clear one and a len slot. just throwing things out there.

 

[Redshirt]

well at least if this group ever gets around with a 405th halo film and we want more blam we know who to call. oh an if you have a green lens to put on the front you can say it's a anti superman laser. lol speaking of which how hard would it be to replace the red LED's and just put clear one and a len slot. just throwing things out there.

Thanks. Krypton beam LOL! Not hard to change the red LEDs to white, but adding a lens would stop the Airsoft BBs from getting by.

Sorry to be slow updating this week, but I've finished painting it! I'll show the workup today and I'll post the finished picks in a day or two. I took it to the local CON (Pensacon) this weekend and was amazed at the reception.

First, I went to upload my photos last night and Imageshack has suddenly become a pay site without so much as an e-mail telling me they're switching. Up theirs! So, back to Photobucket where they limit my traffic. We'll see . . . .

Anyway, here are the teasers!

This is the scene a couple of hours after the last posting. Fully disassembled!

Here are all of the metal parts on display. In the end, there are 50 different aluminum parts that I made.

Four molded fiberglass parts

All of the electronic components. Good fun.


Cerakote process for the metal parts follows:

http://www.cerakoteguncoatings.com/

Cerakote is a ultra-modern ceramic firearms coating that is reasonably affordable, easy to apply, and incredibly tough. This allowed me to add a level of realism to my prop that simply cannot come from a paint can. This is also an airsoft gun that needs to be tough enough to survive rough use.

Here's an M3 Greasegun airsoft replica that began as a rather gloss-black eyesore and ended up as this realistic replica using Cerakote.

The parts must first be completely degreased with acetone.
Areas not being coated had to be masked.

Every surface being coated was sandblasted to promote adhesion and a matte finish.

Every piece was then heated to bake out any remaining oils.

I used Graphite Black as my base color. I catalyzed it 24 parts color to 1 part hardener to get the most flat finish. Use a narrower ratio to get satin or semi-gloss finishes.

I baked the parts on the grill (DO NOT USE YOUR KITCHEN OVEN) at around 250 degrees for two hours. Plastic and resin parts can also be Cerkoted. Those cure for three hours at 180 degrees. The beauty of that setup is Cerkote can make mixed-media construction look like all-metal construction. On that M3 I showed earlier, there are several plastic details. You can't tell. Resin parts should be test baked to find and fill any air bubbles near the surface prior to coating.

Here's the outer barrel in Graphite Black, Sniper Grey, polished aluminum, and ordinary copper paint. Very lightsaber-like hmm?

Here's the lower receiver after coming out of the curing process.

Here it is after lightly dry-brushing it with aluminum paint to bring out the details. This was just the start of an almost all-nighter to get it showable for the CON.

My neighbor offered up the services of her Cricut machine to make stencils in vinyl. She did a beautiful job too!

I airbrushed on the red stripe and hot glued the black mesh inside the venting before gluing in the vent assemblies and bolting on external details. Notice the decals below the forward vents. I printed them on white decal film and sealed them with Eastwood Diamond Clear--about the finest-quality uncatalyzed clearcoat available.

To finish the weathering and detail, I gave all the green parts a dark brown wash, airbrushed sand-colored mottling, and drybrushed sand color onto all of the raised edges. I followed this by spraying the whole thing with a two-part automotive clear flat finish to get a much tougher coating than a standard rattle can. After that cured, I misted the fiberglass parts with Testors Brass Metalizer to make the whole thing slightly iridescent.

There's the teaser. I'll put up the finished pics in a few days.

Redshirt

 

[foxleader]

i'll be back with something once I've located my brain and jaw from the room... and here's an idea that I had with my Spartan laser that didn't quite go right putting the 'I'm a firin my laser' quote as a built in sound chip piece, and just enter the room like the joker did and just fire it at the roof. oh and if you take that bad boy to a rave just have that bad boy empty and just add on to the laser show.

 

[elusch99]

...
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...
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ERROR: cannot locate brain and fingers... RUNNING DIAGNOSTIC: cannot locate jaw or eyeballs.
CONCLUSION: Brain and fingers have vanished, jaw is on the floor and eyeball are embedded in the computer screen.
Loading pre-saved response file.

Wow, I simply have no words to describe the awesomeness of that thing. I cannot wait to see finished pictures... Assuming I can with my eyeballs stuck in the screen.

 

[Lerris Galiron]

Simply amazing work.

 

[Mstruvmgc]

holy cow Red!! way to go man, you are amazing!
The first thought that came to mind when i saw it all in pieces was "no disassemble johnny 5!" lol
Great work buddy.

 

[Harri51]

Wow. Just wow Red. I am trying to plan out something later on down the road for a working rocket launcher. you have really inspired me to give it a shot.

 

[Redshirt]

i'll be back with something once I've located my brain and jaw from the room... and here's an idea that I had with my Spartan laser that didn't quite go right putting the 'I'm a firin my laser' quote as a built in sound chip piece, and just enter the room like the joker did and just fire it at the roof. oh and if you take that bad boy to a rave just have that bad boy empty and just add on to the laser show.

Thanks!

...
...
...
...
ERROR: cannot locate brain and fingers... RUNNING DIAGNOSTIC: cannot locate jaw or eyeballs.
CONCLUSION: Brain and fingers have vanished, jaw is on the floor and eyeball are embedded in the computer screen.
Loading pre-saved response file.

Wow, I simply have no words to describe the awesomeness of that thing. I cannot wait to see finished pictures... Assuming I can with my eyeballs stuck in the screen.

Wait no longer! Thanks!

Simply amazing work.

Thank you for following!

holy cow Red!! way to go man, you are amazing!
The first thought that came to mind when i saw it all in pieces was "no disassemble johnny 5!" lol
Great work buddy.

Great with the Short Circuit quote! Me not wanting to take it apart again is why you are still waiting for the tracer firing video. Next update!?

Wow. Just wow Red. I am trying to plan out something later on down the road for a working rocket launcher. you have really inspired me to give it a shot.

Thanks! There is a working launcher on YouTube. Nothing particularly safe about it though.


Here's getting close to the end of a four-year project from inception to CON. I confess to not starting my WIP until I was sure I could finish it. This is just the cosmetic work. Some work remains on the airsoft components.


Long time followers know I'm never short for words. I'll just leave you with the results. I've tried to make as few compromises as possible to make the best Spartan Laser prop available and a functioning airsoft gun.

Here are the in-game reference shots I used to build it posed against the same shots of my replica.

Here I am with my armor at Pensacon last weekend

I was lucky enough to meet up with fellow 405th member Toymakerkarl and have him model the new Spartan Laser!

This shot with the LED backlight and sighting laser on turned out awesome!

OK, I owe the full videos still, but I have to take the whole thing down to replace the burned-out winder servo and the lift servo before I have full capability. I will get the full-spectrum vids done soon!

Thanks again for following.

Redshirt

 

[methadome666]

one word amazing!!!!!!!

 

[colbs]

The front top price nerds to be taller?

 

[Redshirt]

The front top price nerds to be taller?

Agreed. I have an interference issue with the lift that I'll fix when I replace the servo. Thank you.

Redshirt

 

[foxleader]

looks a little small on toy maker... please tell me I'm wrong. oh god I'm not it's smaller...

I mean on a marine or odst its a lot bigger then that. like over the helmet bigger.

 

[Redshirt]

one word amazing!!!!!!!

Thank You! Thanks for weighing in.

looks a little small on toy maker... please tell me I'm wrong. oh god I'm not it's smaller...

I mean on a marine or odst its a lot bigger then that. like over the helmet bigger.

It is big. Exactly 38.9 inches long per the Bungie specs below.

http://halo.bungie.net/news/content.aspx?type=topnews&link=BAGSpartanLaser


Weapon/Anti-Vehicle Model 6 Grindell/Galileian Nonlinear Rifle (W/AV M6 G/GNR)


Official designation: M6 G/GNR
Length (o/a): 98.8 cm (38.9 in.)
Length (barrel):
Weight (empty): 19.07 kg (42 lbs)
Weight (loaded): 20.4 kg (45 lbs)
Cartridge:
Max. effective range:
Muzzle velocity: 299792458 m/s (983 571 056 f/s)
Magazine capacity:
Rate of fire: semi-automatic only
Unit Replacement cost: cR. 218000.00

It is big and unwieldy to handle, but shoulders very well--nice and stable. Toymaker is a pretty big guy. A better perspective is my last firing video. My guest shooter is exactly 6 feet tall. If you think back to the Sgt Johnson cinematics from the battle with Guilty Spark, it's right-sized. Trust me, you wouldn't want it any bigger!

Redshirt

 

[NoMaybeYes]

What I wouldn't do to even hold it. That is truly amazing, if this doesnt get elite just for having the effort of four years to completion then im amazed. Great work! Are you in the works for your next project or are you taking a well deserved break?

 

[foxleader]

yeah but I'm talking height... it's just looks small. even Dutch was a big guy and the gun still was taller then. plus in the halo the essential visual guide it's 47.7 in (121.1cm) long. height I'd have to check to other book and I'd have to dig it out of the locker.

 

[AGENTREGENT]

This is so… Beautiful! if I saw you on the streets with that, I'd definitely run for cover when i saw the laser! Fantastic work! Words can't even describe...

 

[Redshirt]

What I wouldn't do to even hold it. That is truly amazing, if this doesnt get elite just for having the effort of four years to completion then im amazed. Great work! Are you in the works for your next project or are you taking a well deserved break?

Thank you! Everyone got to hold it at Pensacon. I couldn't possibly come up with a caption for this:

I'll be down for a couple of months finishing the engine rebuild on my XKE (page 30). I have a Tactonyx M6 SOCOM I'm looking to finish and convert to airsoft. I also have the Evike.com CB-88 on order. http://www.evike.com/products/45458/ This is a good starting point for an airsoft assault rifle, but will need a MAJOR refit to meet my standards.

yeah but I'm talking height... it's just looks small. even Dutch was a big guy and the gun still was taller then. plus in the halo the essential visual guide it's 47.7 in (121.1cm) long. height I'd have to check to other book and I'd have to dig it out of the locker.

My model is from Martyn Lee Ball/Hunter's 3D model and the Nugget model unfolded by Ral Partha--all off of the Bungie specs and the Halo Encyclopedia. The Visual Guide published with Halo 4 in late 2012 and upped it to 47.7 inches for the H4 version. Just one more thing to add to the list of Halo canon that 343 trod upon in their zest to cash in.

Here was my state of progress on the day the Visual Guide published. That ship . . . . had . . . . sailed

It will be taller once the shroud can lift higher.

This is so… Beautiful! if I saw you on the streets with that, I'd definitely run for cover when i saw the laser! Fantastic work! Words can't even describe...

Thank you. I appreciate the kind words.

I had one more good shot of Toymakerkarl with my Splaser I thought I'd share.

Thanks everyone,
Redshirt