Steel and Copper Light Rifle project

Naughty Zoot · Mar 30, 2015

Hey everyone,
I'm new to the 405th but I've seen so much of your work and its an amazing world of creativity. You guys are all awesome and I secretly wish I had more time and could build armor and so on.
This is the one and only halo project I've been able to do. An my OCD went WAY out of control.

This Light rifle is mad out of cold rolled steel. Most of the parts were laser cut but some were hand cut in my shop. I welded the whole thing together in my garage in Arizona (Which is insanely hot) and ground down all the welds, hand sanded and finished the whole thing. Some parts are 1/4" steel but most of the body is 14 guage. There are also parts which are made from 1/4" thick copper plate, including a working trigger. Its got cold cathode lighting and an internal battery. It weighs 28lbs and is about 40" long. Its a beast. It is not a strictly accurate replica, I know, but I can't resist having a little fun with the design. -Sorry to all of you hard core accuracy guys.

I'd like to sell it but I don't really know how to go about that. I'd appreciate any tips or comments or questions too.
Thanks guys!

RobTC · Mar 30, 2015

It may not be 100% accuracy, but that doesn't stop if from being one of the most beautiful objects in the costuming world! :O

Looks like it should be worth about $3k minimum, maybe more like $4-5k. If you'd gone for 98%+ accuracy, it'd probably be more like $9k. I'd try maybe the RPF junkyard and Etsy, and try to get some pop/geek/maker culture blog coverage (Kotaku, Make, maybe Boing Boing, I dunno, my mind's just blanked) to drum up a bit of audience for it. I'm not sure who you'd contact, but maybe make sure first that MS/343i don't want to buy it for a lobby/entrance display somewhere either.

Noble 10 · Mar 30, 2015

wow:eek looks great :thumbsup

foxleader · Mar 30, 2015

it weights more then redshirts laser and yet its so cool.

m00sem4n · Mar 30, 2015

Gaaah! This is some damn fine work :thumbsup
RobTC offered some great insight, and I really hope you end up well compensated for this piece. If you're comfortable answering, how many man-hours you figure went into this behemoth?

FoxtrotZero · Mar 30, 2015

That is literally, ridiculously amazing. I don't think I've ever seen anything that spectacular. And 28 pounds, my god! I'm with m00se, I'd like to know how much time you put into this thing. I'd also like to know what that vaguely crystal material you used for the particle beam and the lens is.

If I were you, I'd almost be unwilling to sell this, with the amount of time you put into it and the sheer quality of the final build. But Rob is right. That's incredible and you could make a good fistfull of cash if you were willing to part with it. If I was an eccentric millionaire, I'd offer to buy it in a heartbeat.

Naughty Zoot · Mar 30, 2015

m00sem4n said:
Gaaah! This is some damn fine work :thumbsup
RobTC offered some great insight, and I really hope you end up well compensated for this piece. If you're comfortable answering, how many man-hours you figure went into this behemoth?

Thanks Moose. I don't mind answering the question at all. In total I put around 500 hours into the project. It was a serious ball-buster.

Naughty Zoot · Mar 30, 2015

FoxtrotZero said:
That is literally, ridiculously amazing. I don't think I've ever seen anything that spectacular. And 28 pounds, my god! I'm with m00se, I'd like to know how much time you put into this thing. I'd also like to know what that vaguely crystal material you used for the particle beam and the lens is.

If I were you, I'd almost be unwilling to sell this, with the amount of time you put into it and the sheer quality of the final build. But Rob is right. That's incredible and you could make a good fistfull of cash if you were willing to part with it. If I was an eccentric millionaire, I'd offer to buy it in a heartbeat.

Thanks Foxtrot! I appreciate the compliments. Yeah, its crazy heavy. And it took 500 hours to build. It just about killed me. The truth is that I put about $2500 into the project including tools. So I can't make a lot of money on it. I just felt it NEEDED to be done. But now it NEEDS a new home. It's permanently in my brain and I love it/hate it passionately (cause it almost killed me). It will be hard to part with it but its hard to look at (cause it almost killed me). I've sold other projects that were huge deals like this before and it feels good when they find there way to someone who will adore it. -If you hit the lottery hit me up!

the "crystal" thing is cold cathode lighting wrapped in orange theater gel,inserted into a clear plastic tube,coated in clear epoxy and drizzled with broken glass. It took about a half dozen attempts to find the right solution. Earlier iterations involved a glass tube filled with honey and there was even a version with a glass tube filled with molten gummi bears! I kind of wished that version had worked out but the look wasn't right.

Thanks again for the compliments.
There is some more info at my blog:
http://naughtyzootdesign.blogspot.com/

m00sem4n · Mar 30, 2015

OooOOo, speedy response time and link to more goodies, I like the cut o' your jib!
Now i'm just annoyed with myself for not stumbling across your work sooner, I do hope to see much more from you :thumbsup

RobTC · Mar 30, 2015

Naughty Zoot said:
And it took 500 hours to build. It just about killed me. The truth is that I put about $2500 into the project including tools. So I can't make a lot of money on it.

Man, I understand them feels.

foxleader · Mar 30, 2015

sale it to 343i and tell them bungie has made an offer.

Naughty Zoot · Mar 30, 2015

Some more pics.

- - - Updated - - -

m00sem4n said:
OooOOo, speedy response time and link to more goodies, I like the cut o' your jib!
Now i'm just annoyed with myself for not stumbling across your work sooner, I do hope to see much more from you :thumbsup

Thanks man, I appreciate it.

StayGoldenTonyBoy · Mar 30, 2015

Holy toots-magoo! This is absolutely stunning, and that's not just because the light rifle is my favorite weapon. Seriously, amazing job with this.

squibs · Mar 30, 2015

WOW Amazing work, this is absolutely beautiful.

Naughty Zoot said:
The truth is that I put about $2500 into the project including tools. So I can't make a lot of money on it.

It is always a shame but it is a labor of love most of the time with these projects, but this is definitely one to be proud of.

Naughty Zoot · Mar 30, 2015

Thanks man, I appreciate it. It wasn't about the money and I feel good about it. Although money for a new car would also feel good...

transmut1 · Mar 31, 2015

My god that is beautiful!!!! if I had the money, I would totally buy it!!

Naughty Zoot · Mar 31, 2015

Thank you so much Transmut! I just looked at your cloth work for your armor. Very impressive! I wish I could do cloth work like that. I'm really eager to see how it turns out!
Thanks again!

tubachris85x · Apr 1, 2015

No buyers yet??? I was thinking about this the other day!

Merandil · Apr 6, 2015

WOW, this thing is amazing!

demonkiller77 · Apr 6, 2015

AHHH! Thats the coolest thing ive ever seen!

Steel and Copper Light Rifle project

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