Baron Von Blog - I ARE NERD

I AM (almost) The Law...

2012-12-21T17:11:00.000+00:00

well it's Christmas and I'm going to drink and eat too much so all projects will be on hold til 2013.

Still got a lot of stuff to do on the Lawgiver, finish the screen mainly but some other little niggling bits too but in the meantime I'll leave you with a photo of how she will rest until then...

Happy Christmas and new year fellow geeks!

I ARE NERD

Pedro.

GRUD! Bringing law to the lawless is a hard job!

2012-12-07T20:04:00.001+00:00

It has been a veeeerrrrry long time since last posted on here...partly due to laziness and partly due to it being easier just to post projects on various forums instead..but hey, here's some more for anybody that's still bothered to read about my nerdy activities.

Since I first heard about it's existence I've been obsessing about the reboot for Judge Dredd, simply entitled "DREDD" and despite a lot of worrying and speculation it did NOT dissapoint. Hands down film of the year for 2012 and one that I've been dreaming about since I was about 8 years old. If you haven't seen it, do it immediately and if you don't like it, never speak to me again :D

so..as soon as the first images appeared online I've been exhaustively collecting any and all reference material I could get my clammy little hands on and decided I'd have a go at recreating the iconic Lawgiver handgun.

It's clearly based on a Glock pistol as can be seen from the grips in this leaked on-set photo

It just so happened that I had a cheap spring powered replica to begin making templates over..so it was straight to photoshop. Here's my first, rather simple, attempt at drawing them up in photoshop way back in early September.

But after discovering more images of the gun, particularly screencaps from some of the trailers and behind the scenes vids I refined the design quite considerably...

It was then time to get printing and cutting to see how the templates worked in the 3rd dimension...it wasn't a bad start and the original prop design is so well done that it's relatively easy to get things to work...relatively....

Happy with the basic dimensions being correct I then moved on to tackle the easiest part first..the magazine. I'm using sheets of styrene for 80% of this build as it's easy to cut and durable enough to handle as a completed prop once it's been reinforced internally.

It was then time to move on to the other parts, lots of little fiddly cut outs...then to start assembling the parts in an almost kit like form...

As I had designed it all in photoshop to realise it in 3D with tops, bottoms and back and front was quite a challenge and I had many failed attempts at heating and bending the styrene to give the squareish curvature of the top section...let alone the bottom shape..but more on that later...I finally, after hunting high and low for the correct length and width, settled on the spine of an old Illustators agency catalogue..haha! it was damn near perfect to bring the flat parts to glorious 3D life...and from there it went full throttle...I also decided to make it a firing prop an acquired another replica Glock but this time, for a few extra ££'s, got an automatic gas powered BB gun to replace the rapidly deteriorating through glue and scalpel cuts springer.

With some old steel tubing for the barrel and a little bit of milliput to sculpt the more difficult parts it's coming along nicely...the culmination of all this hard labour leaves me with the following..it's in 6 parts :- the main body, the front shroud/vent, the rear receiver (that will move when fired), the saddle at the back of the handgrip, the barrel and the magazine that fits together something like this....

There's still a loooong way to go, I'm having the serial number plate laser etched and am awaiting delivery of an LED screen to attempt a recreation of this...

but I'm happy so far with the 75% finished piece, after all the optional extras it's just a paintjob away from me taking law and order back to the streets of Mega City One.

Oh and while I had a lull in activity on this I acquired something nice from a friend in the US that I proceeded to prep and paint into something AWESOME!

I AM THE LAW! or will be when I finish this epic build!

Until the next update, keep it geeky...

I ARE NERD!

Pedro Von Blondle

This posting is respectfully dedicated to Michael VK - The Yoda to my Skywalker

Uh, everything's under control. Situation normal

2011-05-09T21:50:00.001+01:00

You wait 4 months for an update and two come along at once...typical...

So here it is....finished - at least til I get itchy or discover a new technique. I'm pretty happy with the result if you don't mind me saying so.

I'm slightly less happy with the photography but there you go, can't have everything....

I'm particularly happy with the misting/weathering on the muzzle flash suppressor and the wood finish, the muzzle looks nicely worn from heat of many blasts and the wood, well, looks like wood...

close up woodgrain detail..mmm woody

Muzzle/Flash suppresor weathering

I've tried my best to capture the lovely scope effect but my aforementioned lack of photography skills can't quite do it justice...you'll have to commision one from me to enjoy it's glory to the full in person ;)

still, here are some pics to give an idea of what the deal is...

Rear of the scope

front of the scope

Thanks for looking

I ARE NERD

Respect

Han Solo Greedo killer DL-44 Blaster

2011-05-09T16:43:00.002+01:00

I'm back! after a long hiatus involving many exciting but obviously top secret missions I can finally return to my armoury to wreak more havoc with toys, paints and a dremel.

On the bench this time is another Star Wars project, my refit of the popular blaster of Han Solo...

GREEDO KILLER!! or to be technically correct for full geek points the DL-44
The Original looks something like this...

the toy comes looking like like this...er...um...nice colours...

Despite the garish colour scheme it's actually another pretty decent looking mould and is full size so doesn't need any adjustments to make it look more grown up, unlike some of my previous conversions of Star Wars toys.

So straight out of the packaging the first order of the day is to fill the screw holes and add a few bits and bobs. I added screw heads to the two end "dials" and a rubber washer to beef up the middle one...

I then drilled a hole through the rear silver insert or "cocking handle" and added two tiny tap washers to add an extra detail making it a little bit more screen accurate..but just a little bit.

I've also drilled out the muzzle. There were already little dents in it so that made it a relatively easy task to handle...

Then I added my trademark Realistic Scope effect (tm) but failed to take pics before painting it so you'll have to wait a second for photos of that little beauty.

With all the prep and greeblies done it's time to move on and undercoat it. First primer (grey) and then a silver coat..I also forgot to take pics of that so you'll just have to trust me on that one. Here's the blaster primered though, it's already starting to look pretty funky (in a Jamiroquai way rather than a soiled underpants way)...

so onto the main topcoat - a simple matt black auto paint, which just raises the coolness factor by several decimals...

Whilst spraying the black topcoat I left the muzzle tip with just a misting to give it an already worn looking effect before later drybrushing/washing to give it a battle scarred feel...I also have taken some heavy duty sandpaper to the handgrips to prep for what will finally be (hopefully) a woodgrain effect...

Okay that's the extent of this projects progress so far, all that's left is to wash over with a gunmetal colour, weather the protruding greeblies with silver or scratch and dent and finally to paint the grips to simulate old wood.

In the meantime here's those snaps I promised of the Realistic Scope effect (tm) - Unfortunately the lens got a little bit dirty somewhere along the way which although not ideal, actually adds to the 'used' feel so I'm not too fussed about that...

Rear Scope detail

Front scope detail

Until next time, keep it geeky

I ARE NERD

Respect

Mini Boba Fett Intergalactic makeover - part 2

2011-02-01T14:20:00.003+00:00

Okay I actually did it, I cut out the visor!!!!
Now the problem I have is that the plastic is so thick the visor (black transparent plastic deodorant lid) sits waaaaaaay back and looks a bit silly....so...I've had to take my bravery to new levels and start cutting out chunks inside the helmet itself..not much room to maneuver and a sharp scalpel can easily slice a big chunk off if care isn't taken..

here's the visor cut from the lid....

and here it is glued in place....

now...after the glue has set it's noticable that the visor has become tarnished or clouded by the glue..so..it looks like it's back to the drawing board and to find another type of glue...

still the idea is sound and it still looks kinda cool...

Another glue and (yet) another visor has resulted in the following developments...much cleaner!

aaaaaaaaaahhhh...nice

I ARE NERD

Respect

Mini Boba Fett Intergalactic makeover

2011-01-26T19:54:00.004+00:00

Whilst doing my last mod project on the Hasbro Boba Fett Blaster I remembered my 1/6 Boba Fett that was languishing in a box under the stairs for 2 years...

First of all it was just to use up the paint I'd mixed on the mini Boba blaster

Then I got to thinking...why not finish the whole thing off?....So I kinda have.
The original idea was to put a Dragon models body, new hands, replace the feet etc...but I'd run into a dead end then and so decided now, to go with what I've got.

So it's a Dragon head (James) on the original Hasbro body and a repaint of some parts.

I had the vintage 70's 12" fett and scalped the pouches to fill the inexplicable gap in the later (1992) Hasbro ammo belt - superglued and repainted the whole belt

a repaint for the red and chromed chips on the helm and gauntlets...

painted in the LED chest display

and a touch of brass and thge red light deatil on the ear cap and rangefinder

and finally heres Boba (James) Fett without his helm - scarred by a red hot screwdriver :D

Some other details worth mentioning are the added pipes from the gauntlets to the sleeves and the neck/head cowl from Dragon's Zanis. But details schmetails, isn't he cool?

I ARE NERD

Respect
P.

I have you now.....

2011-01-20T16:50:00.001+00:00

I know it's a lot to take in on one day but...

Finished, weathered, rusted, chipped, knackered, been through a lot....I present to you...

El Barone's Hasbro Boba Fett EE-3 Blaster Mod - Complete.....

Pretty cool the things you can acheive with a toy, some putty and some immature enthusiasm right?

I ARE NERD!
Respect

Almost there, stay on target, stay on target....

2011-01-20T14:22:00.001+00:00

This Project is now in it's closing stages, also the most critical one, so I'm gonna take a day or two to research the proper techiques for weathering to give it a dirty, scuffed up, rusty, battered old weapon of intergalactic death type finish.

The bugbear, the stock - is DONE!! (applause please) thankyou, thankyou.

After the genius that was plasticard, I filled and sanded the last niggly bits and proceeded to the undercoat stage...

It then occured to me that the stock greeblies were now looking too 'buried' so again, turning to my old friend plasticard, I cut out two frames to sit on top of and around the rear greeblies and bring them back into play, with a more raised feel...

When the undercoat and topcoat have been applied it looks way better than previously...

so now, here's how she looks as of now, this is pre-weathering so it's new and shiny looking. But that's soon to change muwhahahaha (evil bounty hunter style laugh). The grey is actually much much darker than it appears in the photographs. But that's mobile phone photography for you.

It may not be perfect for those of you out there that can only live with the exact replica of the movie version (which incidentally looked pretty cheap shit under scrutiny) but it certainly is keeping my inner bounty hunter happy. once the weathering is done it's gonna be pride of place in the Baronial sci-fi movie museum.

In the meantime, here's how it looks to a bounty hunter when he sights his prey. In this case Aitor the scourge of the spaceways (and food bowls everywhere)

I ARE NERD!

Respect

Desperate times sparks genius....EE-3 Fett Blaster...moving again!

2011-01-19T19:29:00.000+00:00

okay so todays progress is as follows...

primered and undercoated (metallic auto-paint) the front half, I'm leaving the stock as is for now..you'll see why in a minute
the add-ons and fill-ins are nicely vanished with a lick of paint...

Whilst I was painting and despairing about the stock, it hit me, why not make a template out of plasticard to cover AND strengthen the stock? So I scanned the blaster and photoshopped up a rough template to cut out...

Then using trusty superglue attached the cut out plasticard cover...it's a little rough but I'm thinking with some sanding and a bit of filler it could potentially work nicely...

So, glued, sanded and primed...priming has highlighted some areas for a little filler/attention but overall it works!! hooray for desperate measures!

Next steps...fill the little 'niggits' sand, primer again, lightly, undercoat then it's time to start the prep for the final paint job touches.

I ARE NERD

Respect

Proud of yourself, little man?

2011-01-12T19:53:00.000+00:00

Whilst awaiting inspiration and materials to continue building the hand grips I've not been lazy...much...

With help from some great folks over at propsummit I've tentatively drafted the frame for the grip. It's potentially a goer in some 1/2" wood but until I've decided on material for the actual grips themselves I'm holding fire on cutting it.

So in the meantime, to not lose momentum/excitement I've been busy with some minor beautification.

The double trigger is an iconic part of the design so I got that sorted fairly easily.

They won't function as such but are pretty sturdy against the attack of curious fingers..
My mini pipe cutter arrived today too so I set about cutting down the barrel insert I've already started on..

The issue here is that the pipe is barely 1mm thick so needs to be fattened up somehow to look more badass..two options present themselves now the first is my trusty rubber washers...

or this cheeky little leftover from a mini scope..it has a lens so looks quite cool, if not screen accurate (so what?) not sure which to go for yet though....

With the backup blasters sitting in thier packaging still it struck me that I could cut out the half laser sight on it and also on my hero I'm working on and by carefully sanding and cutting could put the two halves together to create a more 'standout' rod...

and lastly for now, the two halves after a few coats of primer...much better...

more to come...so much more...

I ARE NERD

Respect

Space, guns, space, guns, robots, brooolooooo....

2011-01-08T12:59:00.003+00:00

You know how it is you wait ages for one science fiction weapon conversion project then two come at the same time...here's how it stands so far with the two projects on my intergalactical robobench. First the continuation of the latest Blade Runner blaster project.

I've got brave...having 2 backups helps but I ot brave nonetheless. After trying out some other grips from different plastic shooters I took my trusty, thumbslicing scalpel and hacked the entire bugger off.

half Beretta idea...mmm...nope

Hogue style grip overlay....mmmm, well, mmmm...naaah

off she comes..

so now the idea is to fabricate an inner frame and somehow, mould, carve or hand sculpt a more accurate set of grips..the inner frame will be based on something like this....

The next bold move inspired by stong black coffee and too many cigarettes was to cut out the moulded plastic barrel and replace it with some metal tubing...
First..out comes the offending section..hack..hack...

Then after a quick visit to the local garden centre and with the aid of my eagle eyed wife we found a corrct sized metal tube and after cutting of a workable length...in she goes...

I'm just waiting on a pipe cutter to be delivered to trim it to the correct length. As you can see from the above photograph whilst removing the barrel I had to also remove the bottom support detail, but with the help of an old plastic filter from an E-cigarette and some patience, that was quickly replaced.

Humble E-cig filter gives it's life for a higher purpose...

From simple earthly filter to super hi-tech blaster barrel support

So that's where things stand with that at the moment. The other project - Boba Fett's ROTJ EE-3 Blaster - has been gathering dust over the holiday period, partly due to alcohol and poultry intake and partly due to my dissatisfaction with how the work is going on the buttstock. I'm hunting for a decent sized 'real' wooden stock to replace the tiny flimsy plastic one with due to it's general poor quality. BUT...the postman came today bearing gifts...

and with a bit of fiddling around my EE-3 is now fully scoped out.

How cool is this?....

Until the next time...

I ARE NERD

Respect

Blade Runner - phase 2....

2011-01-05T17:01:00.001+00:00

Whilst spending the holidays with my family in Spain and due to my previous triumphs in the little chinese junk shops, I thought I'd see what's on offer this time...last shop, as everything is closing up ...all hope gone of uncovering any gems and lo and behold what do I find.....not the now famous and fairly easily found rip off that I previously modded here Blade Runner Toy Gun Mod

but this fabulously authentic(ish) knock off....except the obvious hand grips and the triggers/trigger guard, to my nieve eyes it's got to have been a cast from one or another of the previous "authentic(ish)" styled PKD's?

not a bad little find I reckon. This one should, in theory present a lot less trouble to mod, it's made of nice soft, easily cuttable plastic and apart from the handgrip and trigger guard I think is almost complete...or is it...

First job was to sand the rough edges cut the upper barrel out and build the wierd greeblie that's on the real deal. Using my trusty tap washer kit and the tip of a paintbrush the results are thusly..

sorry for crappy mobile phone pics..but better ones will come as the build progresses. Next job was to replace the plastic 'weaver' screw effort and add the other screw that aligns with the barrel. for the latter I used the head of a pocket led torch..it has the elements of the screw from the side and as an added bonus has a cool little lens in the tip...I also cut open the ejection port on the upper reciever ready to be filled with a real metal, or metal effect inner...

finally, for this episode I added the two screws to the mag housing and again, using the tiniest tap washers to effect the allen heads on the revolver case...

more to come....as and when...

I ARE NERD!!
Respect
P.

Happy Christmas to me! Hasbro Boba Fett EE-3 Blaster Modification

2010-12-23T18:37:00.002+00:00

It's been a while since I spent any time in my 'workshop of dreams', partly due to indecision but mainly due to the fact I've been acting the rock and roller and recording a new album with End Of Level Boss it's gonna be a corker... some very wierd grooves and heavy riffery will be up soon for your delectation either here... www.myspace.com/endoflevelboss or here... http://www.facebook.com/endoflevelbossmusic

Meanwhile a fairly straightforward modification project has landed on my interalactic workbench. The conversion of the Hasbro Boba Fett blaster from a kids scale to MAN scale (please use husky voice here).

Seriously though...it doesn't get much cooler than this dude, and concidentally he's handling the weapon in question as well as just oozing general shit the bed badassness...

The 'off the shelf' toy is actually pretty good considering it's meant for kids..but well..we all know that Star Wars kids are usually in thier mid 30's. Not exactly screen accurate but I'm not gonna cry myself to sleep over two inches of plastic that's missing from the 'proper' version...boohooooo.....

Introducing...The Toy

Below is the comparison pic of the toy and the actual prop (originally adapted from a WW1 British army Webley Flare gun)

As you can see the Toy comes up a little bit short-scale, To better fit into 8 year old bounty hunter's mitts no doubt. But I'm no 8 year old (at least not physically..although that's also debatable) so it's onto the bench and under the knife for this baby.

So in this adult child's mind I reasoned firstly that the least sculpture heavy way to progress would be to add some inchage to the shoulder stock and secondly that the handgrip could be more comfortable for my hamfisted farmers digits.

First and easiest by far (bar almost slicing the end of my thumb off with the scalpel) was removing the handgrip from a waterpistol from my box of 'bits'

as you can see from the test fitting photo below it adds the necassary inch or so required for a comfortable grip.

Before...

After...

Just needs a bit more filler to attach seamlessly and we're good to go.
Next, the shoulder stock...

So after deciding with the help of a photoshop mockup where to cut...I cut the child sized stock into three parts.

Then using a supremely dodgy corrugated cardboard filler and some jiggery pokery (advanced technical term) I attached it all together to extend the stock by approximately 3 inches or so

aaah..much better...

lastly, at least for this update, I began to fill out the gaps with Fimo airdry sculpting clay. Leaving me with the below state of affairs. Should be ready to sand flush in 24 hours.

I've also filled in all the screw holes that reveal it as a toy and will now await the drying of the filler clay before moving to stage 2...sanding and primer undercoat! (ooh 'citin')

until the next time...which could be a while due to Christmas alcoholism...

I ARE NERD

Respect

Well that didn't take long....E11 Blaster - DONE!

2010-11-11T19:28:00.001+00:00

For the amount of time this mod took the results are, as always in my humble opinion, rather spacetastic.
All the parts pained, weathered and glued in place, the scope set and active, front and back, even the super cool curly wires added to the counter and rangefinder for that extra '77 vibe. AND the sound and lights still work!!!

It's almost a shame I've got to part with it soon....but such is commerce.

have a butchers hook at the finished jobbie, here it is (bottom) compared with my Sterling cast screen accurate resin E11 (top)

Curly wires...

Rear of the scope

Front of the scope

Weathering detail on front cooling fins

LOOK LASERS!!!

looks anything but a toy now, That's gonna make some happy trooper even more deadly looking! And now for something completely different..well, not much but..

THE CLONE TROOPER HELMET PROJECT - PHASE 1 COMPLETE

The other side of the visor add-ins is complete, it's taken a long time to accomplish this as I've been glueing it on literally inch by inch so the plasticard doesn't buckle or warp. There's a little bit of "roughness" to it but that's fine by me as it's going to be painted and weathered to look used and battle scarred .

below you can see just how much bigger the original visor was...visibility is severely reduced from the weaers point of view but hey, this is not supposed to be useful, its supposed to look COOOOOOL!

and here she is hastily put together with the rest of the helmet elements...

Much, much, much more work to be done yet...updates as soon as..

I ARE NERD

Respect

Star Wars overload....E-11 Blaster build and Clone Trooper Helmet

2010-11-10T18:54:00.000+00:00

While I biuld up the confidence, not to mention the designs for my promised comic style version of the Judge Dredd Lawgiver (based on) I've not been lazy...It has fallen to me to convert two Hasbro Star Wars toy items to be more screen accurate and realistic the first and by far the easiest is the toy Stormtrooper Blaster that's been around since the 70's, It gave me much joy as a junior trooper and obviously still does...here's how it looks off the shelf....

pretty much the same nowadays as it did back in good old '77 except now with a funky paint job...there's worse ones out there believe me! (see below)
Now the beast way to make the best out of these less than screen accurate renderings is to get yourself a resin kit that modifies the worst elements to make them more passable...the below pic is of one such kit (not my pic or horrible blaster, but you get the idea)

I've started prepping the toy and kit parts with an undercoat of primer and a second coat of chrome/silver and it just remains to overcoat with a black, either metallic or matte (your choice) and glue it all together and then proceed to weather/age it with nice knocks and scratches.

All too easy you think? well, frankly it is fairly trouble free and needs minimal prep...but...BUT...for this baby I'm going to recreate my patented Baronial Starwarsian wonder - The realistic looking scope! HOORAY i hear you cry...

With my scope graphic painstakingly designed in Photoshop including real Aurek Besh characters (go nerds!!)...

I print it onto a sticky back transparency and sandwich it with a layer of reflective material, in this instance some Hi Spec Eroski aluminium foil, no expense spared. Then glue it to a pre-prepared mount that sits nicely inside the hacked up toy scope...

Giving it the proper distance from the little cannibalised toy telescope lens that sits on top of it, thus creating the illusion of depth... please see example B and C.

Example B.

Example C.

Cool huh? I think so too. But now I have to wait for all the paint to dry on the prepped parts before I can proceed. So what can I do in the meantime? Watch X-Factor? um..no thanks..watch Battlestar Galactica again from the beginning?..maybe...or..I could begin with project number 2..concurrent Star Wars modificationalizing...

THE CLONE TROOPER HELMET PROJECT - PHASE 1

There's a lot of Clone Trooper Helmet variants out there, costing from £30 to £300. I dunno about you but I'm not insane enough to spend the equivalent of a flight to Sweden on a dust catching relic, no matter how obsessed I am with all things Star Wars so I went for the do-it-yourself option. Again a Hasbro toy but a pretty well designed and very durable one at that. Here's the original clone bucket as seen in the movies...

Here's a very expensive prop replica...

and here is the toy version that I picked up on ebay for about £15...

as you can see, there's not a lot in it. However, the Hasbro toy version has loads of vents, spaces and a MASSIVE oversized visor so it needs the gaps to filled, the buttons for the voice features to be sanded and glued and probably after all that a decent paint job so it doesn't look so shiny whity virgin and new.

So that's how it looks off the shelf, this is how it looks after screwdriver attack!!!!...

LOTS of bits do be modified...The first and most exciting one is the visor. I cut an overlay using a paper template onto my trusty friend plasticard...here is the first side glued so you can see the difference from the original...

Simply superglued on and trimmed with a nice razor sharp scalpel for uniformity. It makes a massive difference already!

This is just the beginning for both projects and there's a fair few man hours to go and fumes to inhale from toxic chemicals..here's to paranoid hallucinations and vomiting in the name of NERD.

stay tuned for more updates...

I ARE NERD

Respect

GRUD! Almost done!

2010-10-29T13:16:00.001+01:00

Happy days are here..all the cosmetics are done...I've sanded off the corners of the foregrip boxes to make them look less like plasticard abominations and more like the rubbery molded effect the real prop has. I also sanded the top edges of the templates glued onto the sides as they also looked far to conspicuous. Everything has been painted - the top half in a metallic gloss black, the lower half and handgrip in a soft matte black and the chrome parts..well..chrome. A couple of little detail screws have gone in and DROKK! it's all looking pretty good if I do say so myself.

For geekmatic comparisons here's the orignal Playstation light gun....

and here's the original prop from the movie...

and after 50 years hard labour on Aspen penal colony, here's my effort...

Now the final stages are yet to be completed - It needs two LED's installed at the rear for the power up lights (red and blue) and the battery pack is under construction so the ammo selector lights at the front of the weapon light up when the trigger is pulled..as soon as that's done I'm out on my Lawmaster dispensing Hi-Ex justice to all the local perps

Next project - Comic version Lawgiver...stay tuned!

I ARE NERD

Respect

Lawgiver progress...detail and undercoat

2010-10-27T16:13:00.002+01:00

I'm 90% done with the physical mods of this project. All templates except the final vents on the foregrip are affixed. The vents are proving to be quite tricky with eleven very small and very precise cut outs. I've ruined 2 so far trying various techniques and so I'm am finally gonna go for the thinner plasticard (0.5mm) to enable easier and more precise cuts.

here's progress pics thus far....

Justice Department Eagle detail for the right side

left side - undercoated with primer

Right side showing eagle detail - also undercoated with primer

I've also made progress on the badge templates...everything is there...In theory, all thats left is to isolate each layer, print and cut!

And finally, whilst strolling nonchalently around a large and overwhelmingly evil supermarket chain looking for trouble, I found the NERF Nightfinder dart shooting toy gun and it immediately leapt into my basket for the next project...Here's a very hurried Photoshop mock up of what could come to pass should I get my act together....a REAL Lawgiver no less!!

Until next time....keep it geeky!

I ARE NERD

Respect

I AM THE LAW...or I WILL BE THE LAW...SOON...Dredd Lawgiver update

2010-10-25T18:07:00.001+01:00

I'm kinda getting into this plastic cutting lark, it's fun, fairly quick to get results and pretty sturdy for construction. Thats right I said construction..I put aside my weak excuses and made the leap from 2D to 3D

First and foremost is the foregrip box...

I've just superglued the edges, sealed with some electrical tape and cut a rubber washer into 4 pieces to act as little support braces on each corner...it's surprisingly strong.

Next up is the front box structure - the Playstation gun has a small one already moulded but I really wanna bulk out the front lower part like the movie version so more box making...

With the front on it doesn't look half bad..and again is surprisingly strong construction. I've had to cut a bit out though so it fits snugly with the larger box created above

Submitting to my inability to work out the complex templates for the rear box atop the handgrip I fell back on my trusty friend FIMO Airdry and sculpted, dried and sanded the offendingly awkward spot....

lastly with the application of a little nugget of plasticard to tie in the detail and some careful sanding to make indentation to carry round from left to right, this section is almost in the bag

Another application for the FIMO was the shoe plate of the handgrip. Again on the movie version its quite bulky so I've layered 3 steps of 1.5mm plasticard and sculpted a more bulky front end...It may need a bit more bulk but that remains to be seen.

lastly for todays update...As with the PKD Blade Runner project I've been inspired to think of other items to display with the finished prop so here's the side thread that's going on when I get time....

I ARE NERD

Respect

next on the chopping block...Judge Dredd Lawgiver (Movie Style)

2010-10-19T14:14:00.001+01:00

Okay so we all know that the Hollywood blockbuster, Stallone starring "adaptation" of the legend that is 2000ad's Judge Dredd was awful. Not just awful, terrible. Not just awful and terrible but an insulting, disgusting rape of an icon, like someone telling you they made you a delicious sandwich but forgot to tell you, just before you tuck into it, that it's a shit and bogey with moldy catterpillar infested lettuce and rancid catfood sandwich.

Okay I din't enjoy the film.

However it did throw up a few nice ideas, the costumes looked pretty good, the Lawmaster bikes were pretty faithful if a bit wussy looking and the Lawgiver gun looked pretty cool too. Even though I'd rather construct a comic strip version of the Lawgiver gun I don't feel my skills are up to this task yet..maybe soon. SO...in the meantime I've come across this baby...

It's a playstation Logic III Predator light gun for zapping your telly with..but doesn't it have a striking resemblance to the Lawgiver mkII as wielded by Judge Spudd, Sylvester Stallone from the excellent movie adaptation..ahem..

There have been several attempts before to change this toy gun into the version seen above so I at least have some technical pointers (thanks Gav Jupp and Kevin Goldsmith) It has the capability to house the lights as long as I don't do anything silly during the build phase.

So I have begun..finding a Predator gun on fleabay for a fiver I have set about removing any excess lumps of plastic moulding to facilitate the first stages of conversion...

It's made of quite durable plastic so it took a fair amount of time and elbow grease to remove the extra pieces. I've also removed all the internal electronics and movable parts to avoid damage during the carnage that usually occurs during the prep.

The next stage was to measure out templates for overlays that will eventually be cut from 1.5mm styrene plasticard and glued onto the base gun. I did this first of all with a ruler and eye but after much frustration decided that it would be better to scan the gun and create the templates using Photoshop...far more accurate. I hope.

then to print the templates onto paper and test fit on the gun to see if or where I need to make adjustments

The templates will be layered up from the bottom. So base layer to hide gaping holes, detail overlay etc...etc...

This part was fairly straightforward BUT on some of the templates I will need to make side walls to make it 'box' around the gun..I forget sometimes that it's a 3D object and get a bit carried away.

so far so good....lets see what the following days/weeks/months/years/decades unveil in the process..

stay tuned for more updates as they happen...

I ARE NERD

Respect

In the meantime - Stormtrooper Blaster Build archive

2010-10-15T13:58:00.000+01:00

While I await delivery of the items for my next prop conversion/build, In true Blue Peter style - here's one I made earlier....An E11 Blastech Blaster as used by the minions of Darth Vader and his evil galactic empire

It initially arrived at my front door like this, naked and virgin white..

after running around the house 'blasting' the cats, missus and windows out I finally sat down to work.
the first nerve wracking excercise was to drill out all the holes along the barrell and the muzzle itself
(where i snapped the delicate end detail off..ho-hum)

then after sanding and shaving down the excess parts from the mould, I test attached all the parts with little wooden rods, then attached the curly wires as seen in A New Hope (or episode IV) on some of the blasters.

I also made my own scope rail from some length of steel as the resin one was rather flimsy.
the photos make a jump here as I got so involved I forgot to take them as I progressed...but I added screws where there were just resin impressions, carved some aurek besh characters into the end of the magazine housing.

Then I proceeded to undercoat/silver overcoat and finally metallic black topcoat and then set about weathering the whole thing with dings and scratches that it would have being dropped onto very firm space station floors.
Then lastly sprayed it with a dull finish clearcoat to protect my hard work.

Now the final part (build pics sadly lacking also) was to make the scope appear to have a functionality.
I used a small telescope from a toy store and cut off the end of the resin scope to attach the end of said telescope.
I also put inside the scope a targetting reticule effect printed onto the back of a CDR to give it a shine/colour depth

For the front of the scope I used a domed crystal sticker and another piece off a little telescope I had found in the drawer at home.

and viola! Here I am in action with the finished piece...

I ARE NERD

Respect
P.

Yet more Vintage Star Wars Goodness...

2010-10-13T12:59:00.001+01:00

Time to say a sad farewell to some more old friends...fly, fly, be free and spread spacelove....

Luke Bespin and Yoda in training backpack

Luke Jedi and Jabba's Palace entourage

Emperor Palpatine & Royal Guard

also this old classic is looking for a new home...come on you geeks!

Back To The Future Sticker Album 100% Complete

If you want them go get 'em!!!

THE BARON'S STAR WARS EBAY AUCTIONS

I ARE NERD

Respect

Finito - The End - Completion..well..maybe..Barons Blade Runner Blaster Project

2010-10-11T13:34:00.001+01:00

Okay, it's time to put this baby to bed..or rather on the display shelf.
There's a few little niggly bits that need attention but nothing that's gonna keep me awake at night and there's always room for improvement on some bits that turned out looking a bit too hand-made but hey, it's my first stab at it and truthfully I'm pretty pleased with it as it stands, warts and all.

I present to you the Barons MK1 PKD DETECTIVE SPECIAL....

from this...

to this....

Now go and make your own one and tell me where I went wrong.

I ARE NERD

Respect.

Blade Runner Blaster final steps, lights are in!!!....oh joy of joys!!!

2010-10-10T00:41:00.000+01:00

So after spending the afternoon in Maplins perusing thier sumptuous displays of circuit boards, resistors and micro switches myself and my electronics consultant rushed back home to build the guts of the beast.
Well, I drank tea and wondered how...

the components used were 5 LED's 3 red and 2 green, some wiring and the old toy's original circuit board as a base for the circuit of lights, a micro switch secreted, quite clumsily (needs repairing and glueing), some solder and a hell of a lot of cursing and sweating.

However finally the last 10% is coming about, I've improved the barrel tip (needs painting), found a foresight (also needs painting and attaching) and added rolls of coins to give the weapon some realistic weight (about 2kg I think)

so on with the pics...

Sincerest gracias to the Spanishdemoness for her electricalised genius.

I ARE NERD

Respect

this one keeps running...Blade Runner Blaster a' continuacion

2010-10-08T18:20:00.001+01:00

Things are grinding along slowly at this stage, I've been considering options for the final stages and am waiting on my electronics genius to help me make up the LED's that will be in the final piece.

One of the gaping errors (literally) that I have been pondering is the massive hole left at the back of the upper receiver after I cut off the excess plastic....

ugly huh? not to mention low grade and uncraftsmenlike..tut, tut. However thanks to my dear old friend and yours FIMO I managed to sculpt a piece that slots (quite nicely) into the Undeckardlike gape. It has the added bonus of looking a bit..I did say a bit..not much, like the receiver on the real prop.

real prop

My fimo bodge job

and in place....

Now..the problem I have with this, is that it tends to lend to much length to the whole pistol. The charm for me is that the PKD Blaster is stubby and ugly...so that's still a ponderer. I've made a flatter piece to cover the gap but I'll decide which one wins when th electronics are in place and it's ready to be assembled finally.

The other dilemma I've had has been the handgrips. On the movie version the handgrips are a lovely semi transparent amber coloured plastic. I don't have that option obviously but I also don't really want just a regular brown wood style handgrip. So after much experimenting and about a thousand coats of different browns, tans, oranges etc..I finally stumbled on this cool rubbery effect by mixing rust coloured pigment powder into the still damp paints.

I may still experiment further with a coating of laquer or some sort of varnish..but again that can wait for now.
In other news..this dropped on my doorstep yesterday...

It's a cheapo kids toy replica of an AR15 or M4 assault carbine used by troops today in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as, I'm sure many other delightful locations.

with a quick bit of attention from my screwdriver, some masking tape, spraypaint and some more pigment it took me less than 24 hours to turn it into a nice realistic looking piece of kit

with all the nasty flashing lights yanked out and replaced with rolls of coins to add weight, and all the transparent plastic parts well and truly sprayed over the final result is this...

Should be handy when the zombie apocalypse happens..well as soon as I can figure out how to turn plastic into metal and magic up the working innards of a real gun.

Still, useless as it is it's a nice addition to the Baronial prop armoury....

as ever, more to come....

I ARE NERD

Respect

Vintage Star Wars Goodness...

2010-10-03T23:01:00.000+01:00

More goodies from the garage! A whole box full of classic vintage Star Wars figures!!..I love 'em but after 11 years without them and taking into consideration my house is FULL of Star Wars toys not to mention other toys I've decided to let some go via ebay to let somebody who has space give 'em some loving...

Here's what's up there right now....

if you want them, go get 'em!!!

Pedro's bargain cyberbasement of nerdy goodness

There'll be more coming over the next few days and weeks so keep your eyes peeled.

I ARE NERD
Respect