My Zam blaster is 100% done!!

i got ANOTHER project in the works.... not much to show yet... except the early renders:



yeah!

stay tuned

Kimmy's dad is lathing her that section out of metal at work, based on the measurements provided by kimncris!

how long do you think the handle is?

Nice renders DCB!

zam i am wrote:
how long do you think the handle is?

My bad, i thought there wasn't a tip on the nozzle, but there is. Oh, and the bullet chamber isn't empty, it looks more like
_______________________
(_____________) )
(_____________) l
(_____________)/________/

If ya know what I mean.

Really sucks I cant dl stuff onto the company's computer.

sweetness!!

How are you going to do the front of the barrel? I could never get a really clear picture of what was going on at the business end.

Zam I Am is Right about the bolt detail. This is the best pic I have of how I did mine. The visual dictionary has a decent pic of the real one though I think.



-cris

kimncris wrote:
sweetness!!

How are you going to do the front of the barrel? I could never get a really clear picture of what was going on at the business end.

I've got some really good pix showing several angles - enough to get very close measurements. I also printed pix of the gun to actual size - based on pix I have of her holding the gun perpendicular to her gauntlets. I know some for-sure sizes (i.e. Leeanna is 5'6", her gauntlets are approx. 5" long and I know the size of the black hose connectors and hose itself ) and based my measurements on that. From this - i determined that the gun barrel is about 10.5" long.

The cardboard cutout (as well as the Zam cover on the SW insider) gives a good indication of what's going on in the business end. There are 6 large holes and 3 small ones going around the inside. I think the center piece may be an air nozzle -(from a bike tire¿) - but i have not confirmed this yet. There is also a small gear in the center (behind the 'air nozzle')

So where do we get copies of zam cardboard cut outs?

zam i am wrote:
So where do we get copies of zam cardboard cut outs?

they're on eBay all the time - and at paper supply places or where ever cardboard cut outs are sold (comic shops, spencers, etc...)

i think it's ready to be machined....



i'm having someone do that part (since i don't have access to a machinist... even though my step-father is one - but getting anything from him is like pullin teeth)... it will be machined in high grade aluminum...

i'm working on the handle myself... i'm almost done.. posting pix later... yeah!!!

All I can say is - WOW!!!!

I finished (most of the) handle this weekend...



Ugh - what a pain.. it's all made from hand cut styrene. All i have to work with is an exacto knife, a small worktable, lots of sheets of styrene, putty & sandpaper. It's a pain - but that's how I made all the pieces so far (gauntlets, broach, etc.)

I placed Kimncris' blaster handle next to mine for a size comparison. From my measurements - i get a much bigger gun than they did. That's OK though. I think i remember Cris saying that they scaled down their gun for some reason.

I also made the disk that goes in the "eye" looking detail on the side - but it's not pictured.

The trigger (sitting next to the handle) will be spring loaded - so it will actually work (well, it will move, at least)

I just need to make the long flat piece that the barrel rest on - but i may wait until i get the barrels back from the machinist. And find (or make) the greeblies that go on the front and back of the box that's right above the handle.

more soon....

wow that looks really good, Dallas!

Is the "disk" part of the eyeball looking detail metal? I could never decide just what "exactly" that thing was supposed to be...

we never had any idea how big to make it either. We didn't scale it down (or up for that matter ) intentionally. We just scaled it to fit kim's hands based on how it looked in Zam's hand on the cover of the insider. From there I scaled the large front view outer diameter of the barrel and used that to scale the side profile since the front and side dimensions of would be the same for that particular one. I also used the front shot to get a thickness on the handle, but only very roughly.

It looks liek you are going to make the trigger move too! That would be really cool! I was not able to spend enough time on Kim's for that. It litterally had to be painted and boxed for shipping to Indiana the very next day!

I predict you are going to be very popular soon

-cris

from my scaling - the round disk that goes under the arch is about the diameter of a standard Dritz™ metal snap. But a bit taller. I just made one from a snap - and bulked up the height of it. It's about 1/4" tall. It will be cast in black resin - like the rest of the handle

Good plan to just scale it to Kim... since there was not a lot of reference points or pix to go off of - especially back when you made yours.

Yup - my trigger will work. I think the screw on the side of the real one was there for that purpose... at least it will be for mine (as you can see by the elongated hole in my trigger). i will put a spring on the back of the trigger too...

how did you create the larger base - that the barrel rests on¿

Looks fabulous, DCB. I too, make "working" triggers on my pieces. I would only counsel that you either incorporate a slide stop that could be concealed within the receiver, or at least utilize the trigger guard to keep from having the trigger wobble or pop out. The screw that guides through the slot and grip will only provide one point of contact out of two necessary at the length that the hole appears to be. If the slot and corresponding slot in the grip were two or three times longer/deeper then there would be no problem. I hate not being able to whip out an old envelope or bar-napkin and sketch this stuff out. Sorry if I'm not too clear.

it's not going to be a terrible complicated process to get the trigger to move. I already made a little box inside the handle that it'll slide on.

The screw through the handle will prevent it from sliding all teh way out.

here's a ****** illustration showing how i'm doing it:

By golly, the illustration is perfect.

that seems like a very good solution!

To make the U shaped thing, I sketched it out on a piece of renshape (but you could use MDF or Delrin probably) and then Paul very kindly dremel'ed out the channel for the barrel with a sanding drum. After that, I sanded the rest of the edges to the final rounded shape with a drum sander and alot of elbow grease.

-cirs

Actually, dallas, you're pic is making my eyeballs go haywire--it's an optical illusion! By jove! He blinded me with science! Just gotta say, working triggers are AWESOME! That's just way too cool.

Dallas,

Great work. It was fun sitting up until 2 am discussing helmet parts. It's been more fun watching your progress.

And for Mookiecon3 reasons, you better be right about her size.

Mookie

The talent in this little group neveer ceases to amaze me. Great work guys.
Scriptie

bad news clawdites... i got a quote from the machinist i was working with for the barrel...

price doesn't look good...

he quoted me at $300/ea. per barrel.... add on the handle (which I'm making) and assmebly and painting and all that - and it's looking like $375-400 per gun. And i don't think ANYONE here is willing to pay that much.

I'm looking at other options... perhaps if i order more than 5 barrels the price will come down... or maybe (just maybe) i can convince my step-father to make them... whatever it takes - i'll get these made - and they'll be the best, most accurate blasters and at a reasonable price

stay tuned...

Whoa, didn't he say that it comes with sound effects and real lazers? hehehe just kiddin. I ran across the same prob trying to get a barrel made with kimncris's specs. No machinist around here wants to do it cheap even if you wanna use aluminum.

Ok, dumb question to follow; ........With the first set of "masters", wouldn't you now cast them in a cheaper medium? Seems like you do a bang-up job of casting all the other pieces that this should work as well. If you modified the mold, you could place a length of aluminum tubing right down the center length of the barrel assembly for every pour to provide rigidity and strength to the finished pieces. At least that's what I'd try.

but then it would be a RESIN barrel.... and who wants that¿ Sure - you can use special paints or whatever - but nothing beats the real look of aluminum

At least I got one for my daughter's costume at a good price! It even has a trigger with lights and sounds! Sure it's made of plastic but it's pretty cool! I might need to borrow it!

well... i decided to take the plunge and get 10 barrels made up. It's a bit cheaper each to get 10 than it would to get 5. So, i'm selling my cereal box collection to raise the money needed up front:
DCB eBay link

Dustin Crops Boy wrote:
well... i decided to take the plunge and get 10 barrels made up. It's a bit cheaper each to get 10 than it would to get 5. So, i'm selling my cereal box collection to raise the money needed up front:
DCB eBay link

Did I miss something? Last I read it was going to be near $300 per barrel and now you are ordering 10!? Is confused.

yes. that is correct... The price would be less if i ordered 10. (about $70 ea. less)...

Ah, gotcha.

Erm... so how much are we talking about here?

For the barrels only? Or for the finished piece?

barrels only. I'm shooting for $375 for a completed gun. I know it's a lot of $... but that's a cheap as i can do them.

From your orig pic, It's obvious, the handle is custom, and not found, i mean, just look, there is no weathering on your pic, and on the visual dictionary pic, there is wood-like weathering. Right?

Seeing howw good it looks so far... I WANT ONE, I WANT ONE!!!!

Dallas, I am so very impressed - that looks wonderful! Just out of curiosity, how much did the machinist charge you to make the barrel? (forgive me if this is already posted somewhere)

LadyZam wrote:
Just out of curiosity, how much did the machinist charge you to make the barrel?

$300 Initially it was going to be $300 for this one (the prototype)... then $240 for each one after that - but after they finished it and found out what a bear it was to actually do (lots of intricate cuts)... they said they could not do it for less than $500 ea! So - i'm looking at other options...

Did you get my pm regarding other options?

yes. let me think about it some more.

ok (bats eyelashes)

Wow! That looks awesome. Too bad they gouged you for that much more from the estimated cost!

purty

Are those inner nozzle parts machined too? or are they found parts?

(Here comes the drooling after the naugahyde skinning...)

That is awesome! And I want one...but I'm hoping another option works itself out 'cause $500 is a lot for just the barrel.

So pretty though...so pretty....

machined... I'm sure the originals were found parts.... but what, i don't know!

So those black pieces are painted machined aluminum? They look like rubber o ring and a some sorta rubber starlike something or other.

the gear is machined.. i dunno if it's dyed or what - but it's not painted. the small washer ring is plastic.

blaster Do you think they inserted a hard black rubber gear or that it's some machined really hard plastic?

who¿ LFL¿ Yes- there is a small gear in the real prop. I doubt it's rubber.. probably metal - like this one.

I didn't know you could "dye" metal to be black. That's why I thought it would be some kind of hard rubber or plastic gear in yours.

there is some sort of dye stuff.. i remember using it when i use to work in a machine shop - oh so many years ago.. but the name of it escapes me now.

I thought metal doesn't dye, you can paint it, you can put chemicals on it to make it look tarnished etc, but dye it? Confused **

well - it's not a dye - persay.. like it doesn't soak into it... but it's a liquid that almost stains it... i dunno... like what all the kids do to the black section of their luke ROTJ lightsabers...

Ok, that makes more sense. I thought it was weird for your machinist to go through the trouble of finding and boiling metal at such a high temp to just get it black with some dye. Cause machinists don't do that... Unless it's pre treated black looking metal that was used. I was just thinking if there are black gear parts readily available. That way we wouldn't have to pay a machinist to do it. The nozzle tip is too unique it seems not to be machined. And hey, just need more syringes and rubber o rings Is that back end of the blaster also have a rubber o ring too?

It could be anodized or maybe it's alumablack?

it looks great!!!

Dallas, did they make the "bolt" thing as a separate piece or did they CNC it put of the solid barrel? It might make it a little less expensive if it was separate since it would just be another round shape...?

The front is such an interesting configuration. I wonder what it could have been in a former life if it was a found item...

-cris

Oh- another thing I just noticed! There's no center pin?! (inside the smallest ring of the muzzle) Man I really misinterpreted those pics!

-cris

anodized - that's the word i was thinking of Thanks Cris.

Oh - here's how it was broken down:


what do you mean by center pin¿

whoa! nice. that's pretty much how I did mine. Drats

I would show you about the pin, but my server is down I guess.

Kimmy do you have the pic I emailed you handy?

In the very center of the front of the barrel, I thought I saw a shiny silver dot, which I thought was a small pin. It could very well be the reflection from the bottom of the concave section though.

-cris

Same thought crossed my mind cris... but From dallas' pic I thought, mebbe a black sorta reflection?

Then... I thought, a mini black speaker in the nozzle to make blaster sound effects... !

Oh, Knc, do you mean this center pin pic? (Kimmy, I thought I'd help ya guys out from all de searchin)

Here's the stand up shot:

yeah I think that's it, Thanks for posting it!! I might have taken one from the 3/4 view too. I forgot who I sent that to! Sorry for the confusion :o



-cris

kimncris wrote:
In the very center of the front of the barrel, I thought I saw a shiny silver dot, which I thought was a small pin. It could very well be the reflection from the bottom of the concave section though.

yeah - i'm not 100% which it is... pin or reflection. Some pix i have it looks like one - some it looks like the other.

Looks nice.

so- those shiney metal bits wouldn't be falling into any buckets would they?

-cris

i just bought this bucket of white goo - and a small jar of blue goo -- i hope they don't get together and accidentally pour all over my blaster parts (that happen to all be strategically placed in small boxes)....


also bought some black resin and some lab metal!

wouldn't you know it... my blaster fell into the boxes of blue goo....



of all the luck...

**** I hate when that happens


~Bobby

what a mess....now you'll just have to wait for them to harden so you done make an even bigger mess taking them out of the goo

-cris

Whew.... after a nightmarish couple of weeks w/ the sticky resin problem and having to strip each of the pieces down for repainting... i have FINALLY finished my blaster (and a couple spares )...

UGH!!!! I'm just now waiting on the "igniter pins" that a friend of mine promised he would make for me. (I LOVE waiting on other people )


and in case I drop it... i have a back up or seven


oh.. and i scratched the sprayed lab metal idea... because - well because it didn't work! The idea was good... but the execution of it was disastrous. The problem was that the lab metal came out of my sprayer too uneven... giving the barrel a "texture". then when i tried buffing it - it would only buff the outer most layer of the texture.. giving only some of it a shine - while the rest was still the dull lab metal gray color.

so instead... i bought me some Alclad II that all the kids are talkin' about.. and lemme tell ya- it's GREAT! Wonderful stuff... looks so much like shiny chrome

I'm not that much of a Zam fan, but I must say that the blasters look NICE. good job.

I said it before, I'll say it again. Nice blaster.

Awesome blasters baby! Mmmmm blasters...
Hmm, I am wondering if I should scratch using the lab metal for other pieces too. Was it that difficult to work with? Did you get thinner and use some? Just want to know if I should just return it since we haven't opened it up yet. That stuff is expensive. Oh,and what color did you use? Do you think the same color alclad should be used for the toegaurds etc?

like i told ya before.. the lab metal MAY work better for the larger armor pieces... i still might try using it I just have to find a way to get it to spray smoother. The alclad is like $6 a bottle or something - and I used 3 bottles for the 7 barrels, 8 triggers and the small "needle" pieces... So - it doesn't go very far.. and I bet the armor would take about that much if not more - per set... that could get spendy. The lab metal goes a lot farther (IMO).

The Alclad II i used for the barrels was chrome... but that may be too shiny for her armor. Perhaps their aluminum would be better - if you were to go that route.

Also - i heard a lot of the Jango-heads are using a products called "rub n' buff" for their armor. I don't know anything about it.

DCB they look FANTASTIC. GREAT JOB!!!

Okie.. then I will probably use it, and just make sure to thin it out enuff.

BTW - you have seven minus one for me! Muhahahha!

They turned out great! Good job.

HOLY ****, they turned out fantastic!!! I bow to superior talent displayed here!!
I gotta tell ya, they look identical to me. Which is metal?? Who cares!! Great job!!

mine is alumnum... the rest are chrome alclad II painted resin... (that stuff is GREAT! it's by far the best "faux-metal" paint i have ever seen)...

i opted out of making all the barrels machined aluminum - because my machinest couldn't do em for less than $500 each!!!!!!!!

Yeah I think that was a good idea!!! $500 each eh?? HHmmmm, I don't think I'll get one

Where did you get that Alclad II?

can't remember.... maybe here: http://www.internationalhobby.com/ih...p?Category=500

i don't know... go <a href=http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=alclad+hobby>here</a> - there are plenty of places that sell it online... about &#36;7 a bottle...

Did the maker of your blaster make all of those? (Got to meet the maker and hold Jango's blaster he made. hee hee hee! )

It's really coming along!

no. he machined ONE barrel.... i cast THAT barrel (with is permission)- and I also sculpted the handle and all it's bits - which i cast as well... and painted each piece and assembled em all....

LOL Dallas, your work is so nice they can't tell the difference between resin cast and machined metal!!!

actually, come to think of it, if you switched em around on me, without handling em, I prolly couldn't tell the difference either...

ooh.. ok - let me do that... i'll send you my ALMINUM one... and i'll keep a resin one

Those are amazing! Would you consider a trade for one? I have some green paper stamped with numbers that I need to get rid of :p

-Austin

DCB, you playing shuffle roulet with your blasters? You'll shoot your eye out!

:o

Well don't I just feel silly.

Either way, both of you did a fabulous job.

DCB,

Are you planning to offer these to people that want them, and if so how much will they be? PM me if you like. I'm very interested.

Ryan

these are all spoken for - and w/ all the problems i had - it may be a while before i do another batch... but i wouldn't say i'll never do another batch.

Awww....

Can I be second on the list then for the next batch... if you do them.... Please!!!!

Dallas,

your blasters came out fantastic!!

One of these day's I'll have to get some allclad. We have an airbrush finally, but still no compressor so it's still brand new in the box...

Great work on the handle sculpts and the paint jobs. Did you paint the handle black too? After the Vis Dictionary came out, it looked a little more blue than I painted mine, but all of the pre-production photos made it look black so that's what I went with.

-cris

Cris- her handle IS definitely black. All those "blue" pix are from one particular photo shoot of the gun by itself - that was weirdly lit or something - causing the "blue" look of it... But look at any pic of her holding it - and you can clearly see it's black

I did end up painting my handles- just 'cause the tinting of the resin was so random and they weren't all a pure black.... i wanted them all to be a consistent color.

But if they get scratched - there won't be the glaring white underneath.

I'm tried desperately to find Krylon Fusion to paint them - with no luck But i did find a black paint at the auto store that's for vinyl and carpet (huh ?)... it's holding quite well

Wow, DCB!Amazing work (as always..... )
What item will you work on next?
~ZW

ZamWessel~ wrote:
What item will you work on next?

i dunno... i 'spose i should get busy on casting these parts i already have sculpted up (gauntlets, helmet, broach, ankle guard, toe guard & spike, hand guard)

cool. that means I get tosee a Zam blaster soon

Good Job Dallas

Oooohhhhh ahhhhh ooooo poppin fresh blasters mmmmm straight outta the oven.

Koooool!!!! Great job, them is some spankin fine blasters. I wish I had some metal gear I could make stuff with.
Cheers,
ST

Outstanding work Dallas!! The blasters look superb!