The discussion of the Alien series of films and the props used in them is the aim, but if it's got Big Bugs and Big Guns, then they are welcome too!





Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 25 posts ] 
Author Message
 Post subject: Vasquez cosplay - budget props build
PostPosted: Wed May 30, 2018 8:43 pm 
User avatar

Location: Northampton, UK
Country: United Kingdom
Greetings all!

I've been reading lots of posts here regarding exactly accurate builds of the M-56 Smart Gun, arm, suit, box, and headset. I'm on a tight budget and so decided to build a "close enough" prop for my partner to cosplay Vasquez. I found this video which has been quite inspiring:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfD8Z965LoY

I have mashed up some of the ideas there with some motorcycle parts and homemade bits and bobs. I am using 32mm plumbing pipe for the main barrel body and the left handle, foam card boxes for the stock and barrel, drainpipe for the ammo can, a foam card construct for the chest box, an old call centre headset with a webcam attached for the comms and phone cable for the connections.
I'll pop in a few pics of what I have so far.
I wanted to show you guys and get your opinions on how acceptable a lightweight budget build would be. There won't be a steadycam arm or much in the way of armour, but we will have the camo pants, paraboots and of course, the red bandana :)
Let me know what you think.
My target ready line date is October 5th, for the SFW in the City in Sheffield (I won a bunch of weekend passes!).

Sam

_________________
Jones, goddamit... ___,,,^._.^,,,___


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
 Post subject:
PostPosted: Wed May 30, 2018 9:22 pm 
Mobile Mayhem
User avatar

Location: Rapid View, Saskatchewan
Service Number: A10/TQ1.O.32157E1
Country: Canada
Welcome to active status, Sam!

I'm excited to see your progress! In case you don't know how to post images yet, here's a tutorial I made awhile ago for new members (or those who aren't new, and just don't know the steps :delta:)

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=17342

_________________
Lt. Melissa L. Klassen, ALG
AL Colonial Admin. - Executive Officer (XO) -- 2021-2022
RCCM | Royal Canadian Colonial Marines - Commanding Officer (CO) -- 2021-2022

Read the AL Charter Rules & Regulations: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1i3gd9QUyIqI_6rfk8kpxspbKU-JT4MBAjLPxfCkvGJ8


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
 Post subject:
PostPosted: Wed May 30, 2018 10:06 pm 
User avatar

Location: devon, uk
Service Number: A11/TQ2.0.92142G1
Country: United Kingdom
I'm also currently building a smartgunner outfit. It's for my 10 year old son for a colonial marine cosplay group im in. Ive scratched built the headset and harness so far and im about to start on a eva and pipe smartgun an then the arm.
I'm very interested to see what you have made!
Attachment:
rsz_20180512_190113.jpg
rsz_20180512_190113.jpg [ 214.2 KiB | Viewed 6422 times ]

Attachment:
rsz_20180527_192851.jpg
rsz_20180527_192851.jpg [ 256.55 KiB | Viewed 6422 times ]
2

_________________
Happy Happy, Joy Joy


Last edited by stimpy on Wed May 30, 2018 10:15 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
 Post subject: Re: Vasquez cosplay - budget props build
PostPosted: Wed May 30, 2018 10:08 pm 
User avatar

Location: Northampton, UK
Country: United Kingdom
Here are some attached images.

It looks a bit ugly now but it will improve. Promise.

Sam

M-56 gun in parts
IMG_0091.JPG
IMG_0091.JPG [ 164.25 KiB | Viewed 6422 times ]

M-56 gun in parts
IMG_0090.JPG
IMG_0090.JPG [ 185.46 KiB | Viewed 6422 times ]

Headset and control box
IMG_0089.JPG
IMG_0089.JPG [ 222.75 KiB | Viewed 6422 times ]

Headset and control box
IMG_0088.JPG
IMG_0088.JPG [ 183.3 KiB | Viewed 6422 times ]

Headset and control box
IMG_0087.JPG
IMG_0087.JPG [ 192.71 KiB | Viewed 6422 times ]


_________________
Jones, goddamit... ___,,,^._.^,,,___
Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
 Post subject: Re: Vasquez cosplay - budget props build
PostPosted: Wed May 30, 2018 10:11 pm 
User avatar

Location: Northampton, UK
Country: United Kingdom
A few more pics.

I am also making a cattle prod for my own cosplay of Ripley from Alien.

Sam

Cattle prod
IMG_0096.JPG
IMG_0096.JPG [ 198.71 KiB | Viewed 6421 times ]

Cattle prod
IMG_0095.JPG
IMG_0095.JPG [ 215.14 KiB | Viewed 6421 times ]

M-56 gun in parts
IMG_0094.JPG
IMG_0094.JPG [ 59.59 KiB | Viewed 6421 times ]

M-56 gun in parts
IMG_0093.JPG
IMG_0093.JPG [ 188.15 KiB | Viewed 6421 times ]

M-56 gun in parts
IMG_0092.JPG
IMG_0092.JPG [ 127.14 KiB | Viewed 6421 times ]


_________________
Jones, goddamit... ___,,,^._.^,,,___
Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
 Post subject: Re:
PostPosted: Wed May 30, 2018 10:17 pm 
User avatar

Location: Northampton, UK
Country: United Kingdom
stimpy wrote:
I'm also currently building a smartgunner outfit. It's for my 10 year old son for a colonial marine cosplay group im in. Ive scratched built the headset and harness so far and im about to start on a eva and pipe smartgun an then the arm.
I'm very interested to see what you have made!


Wow. You made that? What from? What tools do you use? I feel like I'm Blue Petering this.... and not very well. You guys are all so talented!

Sam

_________________
Jones, goddamit... ___,,,^._.^,,,___


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
 Post subject: Re: Vasquez cosplay - budget props build
PostPosted: Wed May 30, 2018 10:43 pm 

Service Number: A05/TQ2.0.32141E1
Country: United States
please keep us updated your work so far looks awesome. I go for a not so budget friendly tilt on my stuff, but that is because I prefer off the shelf stuff with minimal hacking.

_________________
The impossible takes a while longer and goes over budget too...


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
 Post subject:
PostPosted: Wed May 30, 2018 10:44 pm 
User avatar

Location: devon, uk
Service Number: A11/TQ2.0.92142G1
Country: United Kingdom
Yes i made that. Its took many hours now already. The headset started as some headphones and then i built off of them with styrene sheet in different thicknesses and sovent glued it all together. The round eyepiece part is milliput modeling putty. The harness is mainly tin with foam padding an webbing.The armour parts are made from eva foam.

Attachment:
rsz_120180507_130331.jpg
rsz_120180507_130331.jpg [ 139.54 KiB | Viewed 6413 times ]

Attachment:
rsz_20180521_172546.jpg
rsz_20180521_172546.jpg [ 226.74 KiB | Viewed 6413 times ]

_________________
Happy Happy, Joy Joy


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
 Post subject:
PostPosted: Wed May 30, 2018 11:18 pm 
User avatar

Location: glasgow uk
Service Number: A12/TQ0.0.52149E1
Country: United Kingdom
impressive work everyone

_________________
Reformed Pacifist


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
 Post subject:
PostPosted: Thu May 31, 2018 2:15 am 
Marine Raider
User avatar

Location: Bosnia
Service Number: A05/TQ2.0.92155E1
Country: United States
Awesome work guys!


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
 Post subject:
PostPosted: Thu May 31, 2018 10:10 pm 
Officers - Making simple s**t hard since 1775
User avatar

Location: Boston, Lincolnshire, UK.
Service Number: A07/TQ1.0.52135E1
Country: United Kingdom
Awesome work. If you've got the money, you could always build yourself one of these...

:D

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MM3i8UqDgfQ


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
 Post subject:
PostPosted: Fri Jun 01, 2018 8:28 am 
User avatar

Location: devon, uk
Service Number: A11/TQ2.0.92142G1
Country: United Kingdom
The lights and sound would be awesome! Any ideas where to get that from? Probably to much money though i would habe thought.

_________________
Happy Happy, Joy Joy


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
 Post subject: Re:
PostPosted: Fri Jun 01, 2018 8:28 pm 
Officers - Making simple s**t hard since 1775
User avatar

Location: Boston, Lincolnshire, UK.
Service Number: A07/TQ1.0.52135E1
Country: United Kingdom
stimpy wrote:
The lights and sound would be awesome! Any ideas where to get that from? Probably to much money though i would habe thought.


Chef (Rob) and Caramac (James) built that smartgun and Chef sells electronic kits that you can wire up for full size versions, but not sure of the price.

It makes the same sound as a Pulse Rifle, so maybe get a Pulse Rifle board from Trooper Amp (TRamp) and just attach the main firing trigger.


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
 Post subject:
PostPosted: Sat Jun 02, 2018 9:59 pm 

Location: Hollywood CA / NYC
Service Number: A07/TQ2.0.02136G1
Country: United States
Wow. That’s awesome.


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
 Post subject:
PostPosted: Mon Jun 11, 2018 12:30 am 
Miscreant and Foukérre
User avatar

Location: Glasgow, Scotland
Service Number: A05/TQ1.0.32151E1
Country: United Kingdom
Excellent work!

_________________
MSgt, UKCM 42nd Reg., 1st Batt. : Hadrian's Wall. UKCM
Image
Wasteland Workshop
Props, cosplay pieces, upcycled ornamentation, and miscellanea;
For the discerning survivor of the apocalypse.
Steve Fletcher : Maker, Scavenger, and Junksmith.
linktr.ee/wastelandworkshop


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
 Post subject: So here's the Alien Flame unit
PostPosted: Sat Sep 29, 2018 12:17 am 
User avatar

Location: Northampton, UK
Country: United Kingdom
Credit to Phantomween for an excellent tutorial on how to build this prop.

Image
Image
Image
Image

_________________
Jones, goddamit... ___,,,^._.^,,,___


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
 Post subject: Re: Vasquez cosplay - budget props build
PostPosted: Sat Sep 29, 2018 12:31 am 
User avatar

Location: Northampton, UK
Country: United Kingdom
And here's the building of the M-56 prop. Last we saw it was an ugly white pipe...well now it's finished and ready for SFW in the City at the Sheffield O2 Arena, October 6th.

Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image

I realise this isn't a genuine hero build from original M-42 and AR-125 parts but it's the best I could do, and I'm happy with how it's turned out.
Thanks for reading!

_________________
Jones, goddamit... ___,,,^._.^,,,___


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
 Post subject:
PostPosted: Sat Sep 29, 2018 3:00 am 
Marine Raider
User avatar

Location: Bosnia
Service Number: A05/TQ2.0.92155E1
Country: United States
Very nice!!


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
 Post subject:
PostPosted: Sat Sep 29, 2018 12:13 pm 
Miscreant and Foukérre
User avatar

Location: Glasgow, Scotland
Service Number: A05/TQ1.0.32151E1
Country: United Kingdom
Looks excellent, dude!
... And that's coming from someone with a genuine MG42 in his build! :)

_________________
MSgt, UKCM 42nd Reg., 1st Batt. : Hadrian's Wall. UKCM
Image
Wasteland Workshop
Props, cosplay pieces, upcycled ornamentation, and miscellanea;
For the discerning survivor of the apocalypse.
Steve Fletcher : Maker, Scavenger, and Junksmith.
linktr.ee/wastelandworkshop


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
 Post subject:
PostPosted: Sat Sep 29, 2018 5:30 pm 
Site Admin
User avatar

Location: Wasteland Minnesota, USA
Service Number: A06/TQ2.0.65181E6
Country: United States
I still like seeing when people scratch build something that looks the part. Well done! I bet it's lighter than a real MG42 too. :)

_________________
"A writer needs a pen, a painter a brush, and a filmmaker an army." - Orson Wells.

http://www.rookscastle.com
http://www.alchemyarms.com


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
 Post subject: Re: Vasquez cosplay - budget props build
PostPosted: Sun Sep 30, 2018 9:16 am 
User avatar

Country: Netherlands
cool ! that paint job really brings it to life. The ventholes on the sides look very convincing. Any future plans for an arm to attach it to the vest?
Have fun at the con! :delta:


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
 Post subject: Re: Vasquez cosplay - budget props build
PostPosted: Mon Oct 01, 2018 8:16 am 
User avatar

Location: Northampton, UK
Country: United Kingdom
Russ Krook III wrote:
I still like seeing when people scratch build something that looks the part. Well done! I bet it's lighter than a real MG42 too. :)


It weighs about 2kg in total, being made of plastic, foam card and a few metal bits (handles mainly). I'm gratified that it looks so well compared to the real thing. As always with props, I can only see the components, the overall effect is for you guys to see :)

Epsilon wrote:
cool ! that paint job really brings it to life. The ventholes on the sides look very convincing. Any future plans for an arm to attach it to the vest?
Have fun at the con! :delta:


The logos are a tribute to The Dark Room http://www.thejohnrobertson.com/thedarkroom/, of which we are both big fans! At the moment it's on a supporting strap and I think a proper articulated arm might be beyond my budget. The entire build cost maybe £50 in parts, glue, and paints and took about 20 hours of work, so I'm not sure £500 or so on a Steadicam arm can be justified :D
Thanks for all the compliments guys and gals. We're gonna rock the SFW!

_________________
Jones, goddamit... ___,,,^._.^,,,___


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
 Post subject:
PostPosted: Mon Oct 01, 2018 4:41 pm 
User avatar

Location: devon, uk
Service Number: A11/TQ2.0.92142G1
Country: United Kingdom
I built the arm for my sons smartgun. Its mainly tin channel sections and metal c brackets bolted together with cut down stretchy straps inside to take the weight.
It certainly makes the difference going the extra mile to make the arm in my opinion.

Attachment:
received_1928331873870409.jpeg
received_1928331873870409.jpeg [ 410.56 KiB | Viewed 5248 times ]

_________________
Happy Happy, Joy Joy


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
 Post subject:
PostPosted: Wed Oct 03, 2018 12:50 pm 

Location: Melboune
Service Number: A06/TQ1.0.52133E1
Country: Australia
I love these builds and the ingenuity of people when building props, Excellent work :)


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
 Post subject: Re:
PostPosted: Sat Jun 01, 2019 3:10 pm 
GarageGeek
User avatar

Country: United States
stimpy wrote:
I built the arm for my sons smartgun. Its mainly tin channel sections and metal c brackets bolted together with cut down stretchy straps inside to take the weight.
It certainly makes the difference going the extra mile to make the arm in my opinion.

Attachment:
received_1928331873870409.jpeg


Stimpy thats incredible, do you have any pictures of the build process or parts needed?


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 25 posts ] 



You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot post attachments in this forum

Search for:
Jump to: