The Seriously Ultimate Assault Rifle Build
- Thread starter TERRA Operative
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TERRA Operative
Jr Member
Moar progress...
Metalfr3q got his hands on some of that foam used for flower arrangements. It's really good stuff to sculpt with. It's firm and easy to shape with files and knives and it's fairly forgiving too, the dust is just REALLY gritty... Superglue and hot glue is suitable for joining pieces together too.
We've started on the top hood and the fore-grip. We had a few false starts and practice runs, but once you get the hang of it, it's pretty easy to use. We'll be sealing it up with some sort of sealant and smoothing it over with bog so we can cast molds from it (one of the down sides of this foam is that fiberglass resin eats it, so it needs to be totally sealed, dunno how it goes with silicone).
Once we get more foam, we'll finish the hood around the barrel area.
Metalfr3q got his hands on some of that foam used for flower arrangements. It's really good stuff to sculpt with. It's firm and easy to shape with files and knives and it's fairly forgiving too, the dust is just REALLY gritty... Superglue and hot glue is suitable for joining pieces together too.
We've started on the top hood and the fore-grip. We had a few false starts and practice runs, but once you get the hang of it, it's pretty easy to use. We'll be sealing it up with some sort of sealant and smoothing it over with bog so we can cast molds from it (one of the down sides of this foam is that fiberglass resin eats it, so it needs to be totally sealed, dunno how it goes with silicone).
Once we get more foam, we'll finish the hood around the barrel area.
Maverick 17
Member
Dude! what an idea. I don't know why i didn't think of using that flower foam stuff. My aunt buys that stuff a lot. I may have to try that out. A little off topic though, I saw where you mentioned using expanding foam on your car... Has it given you problems with rust? My uncles a body man and he learned the hard way that expanding foam and car body panels do NOT, I repeat, NOT get along. And now we may be saying goodbye to a 1950 pontiac. Sad face. Anyways, cant wait to see this thing finished. Its my favorite type of build. One that makes the gun just shy of real. Sound effects and recoil? I'm in love.
TERRA Operative said:
Best idea i had all week. Was paining on the thought i would have to make those sections out of laminated MDF like the rest of the gun. However a stroll through a art and craft store looking for polystyrene ended with a mild brain explosion and me buying 5 blocks of this dry foam to see if it would do the trick. And did it ever!! :lol
The foam itself is pretty cheap ( the blocks i bought cost AU$3.99 each) and there is definitely multiple shapes and sizes, and places to source it from. Primarily, Florists and arts & crafts stores some hardware stores might carry them if they stock indoor/outdoor gardening materials. As Terra said the dust that comes from working with this is really gritty, like course sandpaper - minus the paper. So to save yourself some discomfort long sleeves and pants are a plus. Also depending on what you are doing to the foam to sculpt it (cutting, filing, sanding, shaving, drilling etc) your going to get foam particles in the air, so as a safety measure a simple dust mask will suffice.
Thanks for all your interest and support. Hope you guys like everything so far.
Cheers.
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TERRA Operative
Jr Member
Yea, props go to Metalfr3q for thinking of the idea. I've used the foam before, but it didn't even occur to me for the assault rifle...
The expanding foam in my car is in the reinforcing struts in my boot lid, so it sees no moisture. I would never put it in doors or quarter panels (I think you Americans call them fenders?) as that's asking for trouble.
Sucks about the Pontiac. My house mate used to have a 1985 Trans Am Firebird with a worked 350 chev engine conversion. It sucked to work on (typical American cars...
) but when you put your foot down, boy did it move...
The expanding foam in my car is in the reinforcing struts in my boot lid, so it sees no moisture. I would never put it in doors or quarter panels (I think you Americans call them fenders?) as that's asking for trouble.
Sucks about the Pontiac. My house mate used to have a 1985 Trans Am Firebird with a worked 350 chev engine conversion. It sucked to work on (typical American cars...
) but when you put your foot down, boy did it move... ceramicist
Jr Member
thats a brilliant idea about the floral foam, I have boxes of that in my house, used to work at Joann's and saved lots of inventory from the dumpster when we were supposed to chuck it.
Maverick 17
Member
TERRA Operative said:My house mate used to have a 1985 Trans Am Firebird with a worked 350 chev engine conversion. It sucked to work on (typical American cars...
... Typical American cars...
Yeah, I might be heading to walmart today, if I see any of that floral foam, I'm gonna stock up. Thanks for doing the brain work, MetalFr3q. I'll make sure to have a vacuum and some duck tape on hand for clean up. I think this will come in handy for my sniper. (it got crushed,
) but I may have a floral sniper soon, lol. I can stick flowers in it and call it camo. Keep up the great work on the build. I used to not like the assault rifle when I first started playing halo... Now i want to go put it in just to try it out again. Not that thats a bad thing.
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Starkiller13666
New Member
Wow That looks like its gonna be one awesome build. I've never seen such an intricate assault rifle before. keep it up mate.
Hey guys, thought i might just say a few words so you know we're still alive
The last week and a bit have been a bit full on for myself and TERRA to get any major progress done on the rifles. TERRA's been flat strap with work and i have been in and out of hospital, not because im injured or anything, 2 cousins and my sister decided to give birth all in the same week :eek (that's gonna make things expensive come birthday time :lol ) so a few additions to the family, including my 1st nephew has everyone running about every which way. But all is well.
Sometime this week I should be able to find the time to assemble the main bodies for the rifles we have parts built for and start sculpting grips for them. i made a 1st attempt at sculpting the muzzle section for our 1st rifle that we have pictures for. Came out a little too small and narrow, so need work on that, hopefully next time will be better.
Well thats it from me for now, TERRA mentioned he should be getting started on the sound chips soon so stay tuned 405th
Cheers.
The last week and a bit have been a bit full on for myself and TERRA to get any major progress done on the rifles. TERRA's been flat strap with work and i have been in and out of hospital, not because im injured or anything, 2 cousins and my sister decided to give birth all in the same week :eek (that's gonna make things expensive come birthday time :lol ) so a few additions to the family, including my 1st nephew
has everyone running about every which way. But all is well.Sometime this week I should be able to find the time to assemble the main bodies for the rifles we have parts built for and start sculpting grips for them. i made a 1st attempt at sculpting the muzzle section for our 1st rifle that we have pictures for. Came out a little too small and narrow, so need work on that, hopefully next time will be better.
Well thats it from me for now, TERRA mentioned he should be getting started on the sound chips soon so stay tuned 405th
Cheers.
thatdecade
Well-Known Member
Congrats on the new family members~!
Nintendude
Well-Known Member
Maverick-17 said:... Typical American cars...
Yeah, I might be heading to walmart today, if I see any of that floral foam, I'm gonna stock up. Thanks for doing the brain work, MetalFr3q. I'll make sure to have a vacuum and some duck tape on hand for clean up. I think this will come in handy for my sniper. (it got crushed,
For the floral foam I would'nt suggest Wal-Mart but go to Hobby Lobby there in Conway which is where I get my materials from Maverick, the floral foam they have there is bigger and cheaper than Wallyworld.
Now back on topic I could never do something this extreme with electronics my brain almost went boom just from reading the first page and the diagram of the board was almost too much. I wish you good luck on the build.
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Gday all.
Man, its been ages since ive given an update on my and TERRA's build, so here's a construction report.
Since the general shape and body of the rifle has been achieved using our laminated MDF and sculpted floral foam, I thought I'd share my process of building up the extra detail of the side panel.
For the front section it was simply cut 2 pieces of 3mm MDF to size based off our blueprint then file and sand to fit with the foam handguard. The rear section was done in much the same way except for the addition of a extra 12mm piece of MDF cut slightly narrower that the 3mm pieces. As you can see from the pics the 12mm piece was cut down ( i used a jigsaw set at 45* angle and then used a belt sander to get the angle that i marked out for the sides and sanded down both ends of the block till i got the shape i wanted) then glued the whole piece down to the gun with PVA glue and clamped it. Easy
For those wondering, no i didnt spend an entire month making a little block of wood, but instead got to work on a second rifle (which i think turned out a bit better than the 1st). With the second rifle i made the foam handguard and to piece a little bigger to better suit the extra MDF on the sides of the gun, which i think came out quite well, but then ran out of foam for the muzzle.. AGAIN!*sobs* ah well, ill get the muzzle done eventually, and hopefully right this time, as i have made up a few templates out of MDF that i can cut from and shape with.
*Note: First Rifle is the bottom and Second Rifle is the top in that image.
As far as i know the strobe circuit for our simulated muzzle flash has everything it needs and just has to be tested, and the remaining electronics for the sound effects, ammo counter and reloading system are still in the works. TERRA is being very slack, im gonna have to give him a boot up the arse sooner or later :lol .
Thats it from me, for now. Hope everyone still likes what they see, and thanks for cheering on this little project of ours.
Cheers.
Man, its been ages since ive given an update on my and TERRA's build, so here's a construction report.
Since the general shape and body of the rifle has been achieved using our laminated MDF and sculpted floral foam, I thought I'd share my process of building up the extra detail of the side panel.
For the front section it was simply cut 2 pieces of 3mm MDF to size based off our blueprint then file and sand to fit with the foam handguard. The rear section was done in much the same way except for the addition of a extra 12mm piece of MDF cut slightly narrower that the 3mm pieces. As you can see from the pics the 12mm piece was cut down ( i used a jigsaw set at 45* angle and then used a belt sander to get the angle that i marked out for the sides and sanded down both ends of the block till i got the shape i wanted) then glued the whole piece down to the gun with PVA glue and clamped it. Easy
For those wondering, no i didnt spend an entire month making a little block of wood
, but instead got to work on a second rifle (which i think turned out a bit better than the 1st). With the second rifle i made the foam handguard and to piece a little bigger to better suit the extra MDF on the sides of the gun, which i think came out quite well, but then ran out of foam for the muzzle.. AGAIN!*sobs* ah well, ill get the muzzle done eventually, and hopefully right this time, as i have made up a few templates out of MDF that i can cut from and shape with. *Note: First Rifle is the bottom and Second Rifle is the top in that image.
As far as i know the strobe circuit for our simulated muzzle flash has everything it needs and just has to be tested, and the remaining electronics for the sound effects, ammo counter and reloading system are still in the works. TERRA is being very slack, im gonna have to give him a boot up the arse sooner or later :lol .
Thats it from me, for now. Hope everyone still likes what they see, and thanks for cheering on this little project of ours.
Cheers.
thatdecade
Well-Known Member
Have you done any test painting that foam? There is a chance it will melt from spray paint.
TERRA Operative
Jr Member
It'll be fully sealed with a water based paint first. This foam is often used in shaping custom parts for cars (body kits, intake plenums, etc) and a coat of water based paint to seal it up is all it needs.
I really should get onto the electronics. Work has been flat out lately, but I hope to do some more work soon...
I really should get onto the electronics. Work has been flat out lately, but I hope to do some more work soon...
TERRA Operative, Metal Fr3q, I'm sorry I haven't checked in here sooner. I can't believe that you're doing this awesome work in the same town as me and it's taken me this long to notice it!
Love the work fellas. TERRA the electronic kits you intend to put in has completly changed my thoughts on building a Reach AR based off of my blueprints. I'd definately like to be one of the first to grab a kit off of you- if not the first seeing as I'd just be able to drive over and pick it up!
Mwwhahahahahaaa! Now you begin to understand, he who dies with the most clamps... WINS!!!
I can't wait to see more fellas, and if I can be of any help please let me know.
EDIT: Woohoo! I'm post 117 in this thread, that's a sign I tells ya!
Love the work fellas. TERRA the electronic kits you intend to put in has completly changed my thoughts on building a Reach AR based off of my blueprints. I'd definately like to be one of the first to grab a kit off of you- if not the first seeing as I'd just be able to drive over and pick it up!
MetalFr3q said:And i have currently broken everyone of those clamps pictured above
Mwwhahahahahaaa! Now you begin to understand, he who dies with the most clamps... WINS!!!
I can't wait to see more fellas, and if I can be of any help please let me know.
EDIT: Woohoo! I'm post 117 in this thread, that's a sign I tells ya!
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samuel murray
Member
I was just wondering, is it possible to omit the sound recorder? I mean, the real assault rife doesn't make *Pchew* sounds every time it goes off, it is more of a metal on metal repetitive clanging sound. Anyways, so I was thinking, could you set up the recoil to be as loud as possible to simulate the sound exactly in time with the recoil and to simulate a much better sound?
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