Props Thorssoli's Halo 4 Weapon Builds

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Thanks. I'm really liking this piece.

The magazine is very nearly done:
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I've been so focused on getting the details of the faces completed that I haven't noticed that the outside edge is still a bit wobbly. I'll be filling and smoothing that out today.

While I was priming those, my nephew decided to try on the rest of the gun for size:
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Then I primed those pieces too:
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The main body still needs a couple of small detail parts (about half a dozen little fastener heads) and then it'll be ready to mold.

These are exciting times.
 

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Nice I can't waite to see it molded and painted.

Sent from somewhere that is not home.
 
SAW UPDATE: A while back I painted the main body a nice lightish red:
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Here's a close-up showing some of the details:
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And a closer close-up:
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For those of you who've followed my builds before, you'll remember that the gloss paint coat is usually the last step before moldmaking.

Once the paint was dry, I began making the mold for the main body of the SAW. Here's how it started:
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I'm using 3/8" thick foamed PVC board for the mold box. My friend Greg ripped a few pieces down and put it together:
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Then we cut an outline out of a thinner sheet and made the beginnings of a parting wall:
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Then oil-based clay was used to seal up the edges as well as building up registration keys to keep the pieces of the mold properly aligned:
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Then it was time to pour on the silicone print coat:
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Once the print coat had set up, chunks of silicone were cut from old, dead molds and used to fill in the areas around the prototype. Then more rubber was poured in:
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The mold box was filled almost to the top:
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It wasn't filled all the way so that any chunks of dead rubber that might want to float won't end up sticking out above the top of the box. I still needed to pour one more batch in order to make it flat on top.

Once the first half of the mold was filled. Then I screwed a top onto the box, flipped the whole thing over, and removed the bottom of the box:
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Then the parting wall was removed:
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After spraying a lot of release agent to keep the silicone from bonding to the cured first half of the mold, it was time to start pouring the second half:
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The last thing to do on the main body was to pour a silicone plug so that the castings will have a cutout to fit the separately cast barrel piece:
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Once that was cured, the next thing to do was to disassemble the mold box. Here it is with the top and bottom removed:
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And with the sides removed:
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Then I just had to pull the two mold halves apart:
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And remove the prototype:
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Once the prototype is out of the mold, it's time to rebuild the mold box. I started by taking the wall parts and shaving about a quarter of an inch off of them with the table saw. Once that was done, I screwed them back onto the bottom piece of the mold. Then I fitted the top edge with hanger bolts so I could use wing nuts to hold down the top of the box.

With that done, it was time to pour the first casting. Since the finished casting is going to be huge, I decided to reduce the weight a bit by adding in a couple of foam blocks. To keep them in place, I started by pouring a small batch of resin into one half of the mold and setting the foam blocks on top of it while it was still not quite cured:
15121282976_915e89a7cd_c.jpg


Then I set the other half of the mold into place, screwed down the lid, and stood the whole thing up on end:
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Filling the mold took just under a gallon of resin, even with the foam blocks in place:
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Once the resin had cured, it was time to open up the mold again:
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And then goof around for a minute:
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So that's the first casting of the main body. I've still got molds to make for the small parts. Here's the finished prototype for the barrel:
15136276702_75bb68fef4_c.jpg


Here it is under the rubber for the first half of the mold:
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First half of the barrel mold is done. Here it is set up for pouring the second half:
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Here I am pouring the second half (after spraying on a copious amount of release agent):
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Once the second half had cured, it was time to pull the mold apart and remove the prototype:
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Once that was done, I used a sharp knife to cut pouring sprues and vents into the back end of the mold:
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Then I clamped the mold gently between a couple of scraps of wood and filled it with grey-tinted resin. While it was curing, I did some more goofing around with the prototype barrel:
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The first barrel cast came out great:
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Here it is installed on the first casting of the main body (next to the lightish red prototype):
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With that done, I've finally smoothed out the drum magazine enough to mold:
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I'll be making a two-part mold and then rotocasting it. Here it is set up with the clay parting wall:
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Pouring silicone:
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Print coat done:
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The next morning I layered on some thickened silicone to build up the rubber jacket a bit more. Here's what it looks like right now:
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I still need to add registration keys and a bit more thickness. Then I can build up a fiberglass mothermold, flip the whole thing over, remove the clay parting wall, and make up the mold for the other side.

It's getting close. Stay tuned...
 

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Holy schnikes, Shawn! That's abso-freaking-lutely epic! You've made a lot more progress with this since the last time I checked it out. Well done, my friend :D

Question. What happened to the molding master? I can clearly see it broke in two, but how did that happen? In the pic before the one showing the broken back end, it looks fine with half the mold removed.

Are you going to try repairing it and put it back together? Or simply relegate it to the trash bin? Is the original master heavier than the resin casting? :confused
 
Question. What happened to the molding master? I can clearly see it broke in two, but how did that happen?

When I was pulling it out of the second half of the mold it snapped in the thin spot. There's really no reason to save the prototype. It's heavy and fragile and the cast copies are always a better version anyway. I'm sure whoever sorts through my trash is all kinds of confused by now.

UPDATE:
Finished the mothermold for the first side of the drum magazine:
15009693750_3005c87afb_c.jpg


Then I flipped the whole thing over and prepped the other side for molding:
15193322761_79144b077e_c.jpg


After spraying on a release agent to keep the silicone from bonding to the silicone from the first side of the mold, I went ahead and poured on a print coat:
15173330516_7939a6f7ce_c.jpg


When that had firmed up, I mixed up another batch with some thixotropic additive and layered some extra thickness over the raised parts:
15195982552_51912faeca_c.jpg


Hopefully I'll have at least one casting out of that mold in the next 24 hours or so.

Stay tuned...
 

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Mold is made:
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First drum mag is cast:
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Then I cast a few more magazines:
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Yesterday I finally knuckled down and made the last four pieces that I needed for this thing.

First, I bent a piece of aluminum rod to make the loop under the front end of the main body:
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Then I made the trigger:
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As well as the little notches for the back end of the magazine:
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Finally, I made the flap that will go on the front of the magazine:
15057160459_34674f2559_c.jpg

Then I mounted them to a board and gave them a quick coat of my lightish red prototype color:
15057159089_521f39353b_c.jpg

Once the paint is dry, I'll go ahead and make mold walls and pour some silicone on them.

With that done, I glued together the worst-looking set of castings I had and spent some quality time with the beast in the shop:
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It makes me happy:
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More to come. Stay tuned...
 

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No comments at all? Odd.

I molded and cast the little pieces, so here's a full set of parts laid out:
15078914887_9903def1c5_c.jpg

After a bit of cleanup, I glued them to the main body and spent some time enjoying it:
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And here it is in primer:
15101843628_061ef816f8_c.jpg

Paint work will resume Monday or thereabouts.
 

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When I was pulling it out of the second half of the mold it snapped in the thin spot. There's really no reason to save the prototype. It's heavy and fragile and the cast copies are always a better version anyway. I'm sure whoever sorts through my trash is all kinds of confused by now.

[...]

Oh, I don't doubt it, lol. Personally, I like to try and retain any of the mold masters I make, of course all of the props I've kitted out are nowhere near the size or complexity of yours, so I never have to worry about them breaking coming out of the mold :p

That's some mighty fine work you've done on getting the rest of the parts done up and ready for molding/casting. Looks like you've been having a lot of fun with your castings, lol. I only wish I had the disposable funds so I could afford one of these. Hell, I'd like to have the money to get any one of your offerings, lol.

Very well done, my friend! Looking forward to seeing one of these all painted up and ready for display :)
 
I only wish I had the disposable funds so I could afford one of these. Hell, I'd like to have the money to get any one of your offerings, lol.

Very well done, my friend! Looking forward to seeing one of these all painted up and ready for display :)

Thanks for the kind words. Though I will say that I've always though my prices were pretty low, all things considered...

Awesome work! Did you cast it solid/add fillers? How much does it weigh? It looks like a beast.

There's a block of foam cast into the forward end to reduce mass as well as another block in the thick part of the body above the grip. The resin has microballoons mixed in to keep the weight down. The end result, the full set of castings weighs somewhere between 11 and 13 pounds. So it's not bad.

The other day I gave the bulk of the SAW a coat of Rustoleum Matte Nickel Metallic paint. Then I masked off all of the areas that would end up keeping that color:
15135895367_9395609848_c.jpg

Then I sprayed on a much darker gray metallic:
15322439245_4e0aa13767_c.jpg

Once it was dry, I peeled off the masking tape:
15135894917_a3be249758_c.jpg

It came out pretty sexy:
15135842528_148f057987_c.jpg

Hopefully I'll have one or three of these things painted up pretty soon. I've got to make the showroom version with the good paintjob, the decent version to give to one of the guys who's been helping me with the project, and the walkaround version with the bright orange tip. So there's much to be done yet.

Stay tuned...
 

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Thanks for the kind words. Though I will say that I've always though my prices were pretty low, all things considered...

[...]

Oh, don't get me wrong, Shawn. I think your kits are reasonably priced, it's just given my current job situation my prop budget's extremely limited so I'm simply not able to afford anything awesome like this.

Love the colour scheme you chose, buddy. Looks just like it does in the game, imho. That amount of masking must've taken a while, lol.

Thanks for sharing the colours you used, btw. Will be helpful for anyone who puts one of these beasts together. What's the Dupli-color paint you used for the darker grey?
 
What's the Dupli-color paint you used for the darker grey?

I keep forgetting to write it down. I think it was called "Galaxy Grey Metallic" or something. In any case, the blackwashing will make it much much darker so the exact color isn't quite as important.

UPDATE:

Lettering:
15326016321_152efdc5a8_c.jpg

Lettered:
15328870562_da66392863_c.jpg

Happy Easter egg:
15142595228_57d96edcb5_c.jpg

Beginning blackwash:
15142421619_4c0d65b913_c.jpg

Wiping down blackwash:
15142421409_d6f0e0eff0_c.jpg

Nearing completion:
15142606588_68d3a289f9_c.jpg

Inverted close-up:
15329173675_88de258fe2_c.jpg

Closer close-up to show off the drybrushing:
15306132656_fee8d2f635_c.jpg

Just a few more details to take care of on the paintjob, but this beast will be done today.

Stay tuned...
 

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That's abso-freaking-lutely awesome, buddy! :eek Might I ask what your process was for giving some edges that worn-and-torn appearance, and also what you did for the blackwash?

I've only ever built up finished props that looked like they came straight off the production line, new and pristine. I've been wanting to try the field-used appearance for a while, though.
 
That's abso-freaking-lutely awesome, buddy! :eek Might I ask what your process was for giving some edges that worn-and-torn appearance, and also what you did for the blackwash?

The blackwash starts as an undiluted black acrylic paint that you can get at any craft store. I start by squeezing out a dollop onto the piece to be weathered, then I take a brush with some water and a splash of isopropyl alcohol (or a drop of dish soap, to break the surface tension and keep it from beading up) and I spread it around. This also serves to dilute the paint in the process. I use the brush to work the paint into all of the recesses and once everything's slathered in as much wet, black, drippyness as I can get on it, I take a rag or paper towel and daub most of it back off. The leaves the diluted black paint in the hard-to-reach spots and leaves the original color visible on the high areas.

Once that's dry, if I need worn metal edges I just drybrush on some silver paint. In this case, I used Rustoleum "aluminum" colored paint. I dip an old brush into the paint, wipe most of it off on a rag, and then just drag the nearly dry bristles of the brush across the piece to be weathered. This leaves just a tiny bit of paint on the raised edges and makes the finished piece look worn and used. If the base color is really light to start with, I'll often start by drybrushing some black onto any edges where I want the paint to look chipped. Then I'll drybrush over that with a silver color. This leaves a black outline that helps to make the chipped paint a bit more noticeable. Otherwise, without the black for contrast, the scratches and chips might hardly be visible at all.

I find it's always a good idea to weather props. Even if you're looking for a showroom or brand-new piece, a little weathering makes it look believable. FX artists refer to it as "taking the curse off." If you don't add at least a bit of dust or wear, your finished work will tend to look like a fake piece of plastic.
 
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