For a long time my focus was only on gear for my costume (generic 'standard issue' items), but lately I've gotten antsy and branched out into the character specific stuff for display purposes.


Next I will be tackling Hicks' shotgun. It will be pieced together from a literal 'junk pile' of airsoft weapons and some real Ithaca parts.


-First up, a broken airsoft shotgun. I got this pile of broken mossburg 500 parts for $7.50 shipped. I figured most everything missing was stuff I would have had to replace anyways, right? It will need some work to accurize the 500 into an Ithaca 37, but with some clever hiding, cutting, and bondo it should work out nicely.





-Next up, I needed the grip so time to find an MP40. Just nabbed a cheapo 'spring' powered airsoft gun (this one was called the "M40" on the box) and got to chopping.





And the accurate grip is a 'go'.

-One real part is the magazine cap. I got it pretty cheap too and its a fairly unique part so I thought 'why not throw a real one on their instead of scratch building it?'



-Last up is the forend. The accurate checkered pattern on the wood slide/grip/forend is not too easy to find. Ebay has them for $90-$110. That aint happening. I kept digging and I did find an online gun parts dealer "Numrich" that sells them for only $27 and their customer service claimed to have near 100 in stock!


BUT...they already screwed up my order and sent the wrong one. I have returned it and they assure me they do have the correct one, but the verdict is still out. I will update when/if they do actually have the correct forends in stock. If they come through, I will be sure to let everyone know that they are a good relatively cheap source for the accurate part.

Interesting project, looking forward to your progress on this.

Hmmm, I have some of those M(P)40's lying around from a WWII film I made. Interesting!!

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My entry-level prop and costume tutorials: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=12751

Well, I got the replacement forend and it is still not quite right. It is closer so I will run with it. I think part of the blame lies with me as my hand drawing of the pattern was not clear that it was supposed to be a continuous wrap-around, so I feel like a jerk pushing the issue for a 3rd item when I was not clear. They gave me one that had the pattern seperated into halves.





Anyways, for now just a small update.

-I cut down and trimmed up the barrel (too long)
-I replaced the stock magazine tube (too thin) with a more accurate 1" aluminum tube.
-I bondo'd over the side ejection port (Ithaca 37s are bottom ejecting)
-Cut the MP40 grip and receiver so they mate up fairly snug, but did not epoxy in place yet.



So it is starting to move. I am expecting a couple more real parts in the mail today and tomorrow then the project will really start to take shape.

I got the bright idea to get the real slide assembly to pair with the real forend.
I got the even brighter idea to buy a beat up one to save money.

WOWZA. I didn't expect it to be this bad! The nut on the front is rusted solid so I can't get the ribbed forend off to even get to grind/scrub/clean it. Going to have to put in some elbow grease on this one...






The plan is to make it so it has a racking action, but I doubt it will be very 'satisfying'. There will be few, if any, metal parts inside the receiver. At minimum I will have something inside there that keeps the tension on the arm so it doesn't slide around on its own, but still gives so it can be racked.

Anyways, almost there. Waiting for one more 'real' part (a 'yoke' that keeps the barrel aligned with the mag tube) before I slap it all together.

wow good luck with that.

good looking build so far by the way

Unfortunately I had no choice but to cut this in order to clean it.

In order to try and preserve it as much as I could and lessen the damage, I decided to cut it from the middle. I stuck the pencil grip extension on my dremel so I could fit it in the center a cut it in half from the inside out. It worked, mostly. With the wood removed I attacked the steel.



With dremels, grinders, hand files, CLR, and PB blaster I am getting to something usable. Unfortunately, the rust was bad enough to have permanently pitted most of it, so re-bluing it isn't really an option. However, I think I can still use this. In order to match the plastic parts to the real parts I was going to have to get creative with the paint job anyways, so it is just as well that I have to paint the forend slide/assly. It will work out.


Also unfortunate, even though I cleaned out the inside pretty good, it would not fit over the 1" aluminum tube I am using as my 'magazine tube'. At first I thought the slide assly was still too dirty on the inside, but then I tried to attach the 'yoke' to the aluminum tube and it wouldn't fit either. 1" tube is too big! Dangit.

I just assumed since the 870's mag tube was 1" that all 12 gauge mag tubes would be close to that. Unfortunately that is not true of the Ithaca 37 and I do need something just a tiny bit thinner. So having come this far, and not wanting to guess wrong, I just went and ordered a real mag tube... ugh. Wish me luck. When it arrives I will have it all slapped together. This project is nickel and diming me to death!

OK, now I'm cooking! I have all my parts and finally got a couple hours to crank out some work.


My "scrap" parts (all plastic from cheap airsoft)





My "REAL" parts (all actual parts from real Ithaca 37).
This got out of hand quickly...





I used a bit of 'steel stick', bits of PVC pipe to fill large gaps and basic 'contour putty' to fill in screw holes and buttoned up the receiver.


The Trigger has spring tension, but isn't connected to anything beyond the spring.


I fabbed up the sights from more PVC pipe and plastruct sheet. The barrels lower retaining...'thing' is also PVC. The screws are mostly decorative, but are fun details. I'm not too worried about some of the handle gaps as the duct tape will cover everything behind the rear sight.



Still need to do some more 'decorative screws' but I am nearly ready to paint and weather! Hopefully all done this time tomorrow.

Great progress on a great project. Keep going, I for one follow with great interest. The chances for me obtaining real Ithaca parts to copy what you are achieving are zero, though.

This really looks cool! Great job dude.

Of course now you need something to keep it in. Maybe something leather...

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My entry-level prop and costume tutorials: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=12751

Thanks guys.



Ha! Na, I need to draw the line somewhere and I think that is it! This fella is pegboard bound as a wall-hanger.

Of course it is easy to say that now. Things do tend to snowball the instant you think you 'caught up' with your projects...

Leg holster!!!

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AKA: Simon

And that is that, all done!

In later images of the prop as it exists today, it appears ALL the blue has been stripped off revealing the bright metal underneath. However, in the prop photo below which came from filming, it looks to still have a 'blued' finish that is simply beat up a bit. The paint job I was going for is of the prop photo during filming.




The 'final':









And then with his 'buddies' slapped up on the wall

Nailed it again mate!

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AKA: Simon

Awesome!!

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My entry-level prop and costume tutorials: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=12751

Well done indeed Sir excellent work.A Great Kollektion you have there by the Way

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Cpl N.Storey A12/TQ2.0.02132E1
MARINE RAIDER

So very cool, man.

Great job!
The weathering gives it a really nice "been there" touch.
Are you planning to add some weathering to the front grip too?

Cheers,
Stefan

Thanks everybody. That wasn't exactly the budget build I had in mind but it was a fun one.




You know I actually did give that forend a black wash, but I guess it does need a bit more. In fact, if I wanted to get brave it could probably use a little sanding to round off some of the sharper details. Def could use more of the shine taken off it though.

I finally found the 'correct' slide. It was pretty beat up...which made it perfect!!! No extra weathering required.

So after a quick slide swap, NOW this is 100% done for real.

Epic!!

Next project -


[image used without premission]

???

Still, looks like you're gonna need a bigger pegboard too.

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Cpl Aron "septic" Williams
A10/TQ0.0.82146E1

100% awesome.
Great build project.

And yes I would love to see a M42A from you.

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Sgt. Frank Peters 'reload' Smartgun Operator
A03/TQ3.0.12136E1 "It will be no picknick!"
AL Colonial Admin. - Sergeant at Arms (SgtA) -- 2020-2022
GERCM - Executive Officer (XO)
UKCM Foreign Legion: The Deviant Dragoons

Thanks guys, and yes I def am interested in a M42A some day. I am not sure where I would start. I know airsoft versions of the wa-2000 base gun are usually $500+, right? That is far too much for a wall hanger, but one day I may try a scratch build.

The M42A's on my make list too, and yes, if you can find an airsoft WA2000, it's gonna be $$$
I was thinking of using something else for a base, given most of it is gonna be covered by a shroud ... there's been 1 or 2 bullpup bolt action sniper rifles that have caught my eye [I'd like to make something functional for airsofting], but nothing quite right / cheap enough yet.

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Cpl Aron "septic" Williams
A10/TQ0.0.82146E1