My Dumb Projects
Thursday, December 18, 2008
  Outlaw Star Caster Gun
I was commissioned to make a replica of the Caster gun from the series "Outlaw Star". As an additional challenge, he wanted it to be able to load the shells into the breach.



I started working from the inside-out by making a master for the shell from Bass wood. The shell is about 3" long.



I masked off the design and then sprayed several coats of primer to build up some thickness. When the tape was removed, I had inset markings!



I made a mold of the master and cast five copies in resin. There was some cleanup to do but they came out pretty clean.



I used a PVC pipe for the receiver and drilled a hole for the pivot arm section.



Luckily, a PVC connector was exactly the right size for the pivot...no trimming needed!



I cut off the end cap and plugged it with MDF.



I cut the grip halves from 3/4" MDF.



I planned to use a wood screw combined with epoxy to attach the grip to the receiver.



I carved the recessed areas to the grip.



The slide was made from a section of PVC. I lathed an interior to the cap from MDF.



I cut a slot in the pivot PVC to allow the slide to move through.



The closed slide.



The trigger assembly was made from an acrylic rod with a sliding aluminum tube inserted. The trigger was made from laminated styrene sheets.



I screwed and epoxied the grip to the receiver and capped the pivot with 1/4" MDF.



The trigger guard was made from 1/8" styrene with an aluminum rod connecting them. There is a compression spring glued behind the trigger so that it moves forward.



I turned the barrel out of Bass wood on the lathe.



The pivot arms are made from stacked styrene sheets on a steel base.



The brackets that hold the other end of the trigger piston are made from 1/8" styrene. I made a small chisel to carve out the slots in the barrel.



I glued on half-round styrene piping to the gun. The tight curves were heated first.



The piping completed and primered.



The sights were made from 1/8" acrylic rods glued to styrene blocks.



I heat formed styrene rods for the tubes on either side.



The only gold color I could find that matched my screen caps was a Krylon Farm Equipment paint. It has a great industrial texture that makes it look like cast iron.



I back painted green acrylic and inserted it into the barrel.



The vents holes were cut from a thin sheet of styrene. It was glued over reflector tape....



...so that it would glow under a camera flash!



Here is the final assembled gun.



The individual shells painted to show accurate specs. FYI, there are 20 different shells on the show.



Detail of the barrel.



Detail of the receiver.



The arm swivels down and the breach opens.



Detail of the open breach.



A shell inserted.



The shell seated.



I shot a short video of the gun loading in action

Caster Shell Loading
 
Comments:
I don't know if your projects are dumb, but they are EPIC.

Please keep on posting your stuff, I will read it again and again.
 
Beautiful job. The details looked amazing.
 
That's awesome! =D
 
I've been admiring your work for some time and am in awe of your skill. The detail level on this piece is real nice. I'm tempted to try and make one myself now. :)
 
Thanks, everyone. The interior working parts were hard to figure out and do but the gun itself was actually pretty easy.
 
How does one commission you for a custom prop?
 
Easy. Just contact me through the email link on the profile page.

I am usually booked up 6-8 months in advance and it will take about one month to produce.

I ask for a deposit of 1/3 the final build cost up front to cover materials and to reserve the build slot. After I receive the deposit, I'll send some full size plans for your approval. No actual construction will start until you're happy with the plans.

Once your scheduled build time arrives, the second 1/3 payment is due. During the build I'll be taking pictures for my blog that I'll share with you to 1) make sure you know what's happening with your prop, 2) allow you to ask questions or make changes before it's too late and 3) for me to show off!! ;)

After the prop is done, I'll box it up and weigh it for a postage estimate. The build cost balance + actual shipping costs are due before the item ships. I usually price out USPS, Fedex, and UPS. If any are close, I'll let you decide which one to use but generally I find that USPS is the most economical. Once they've shipped, I'll send you tracking information.

Please feel free to contact me any time if you have any questions about price, materials or process.
 
I'm interested in buying one of your casters and shells
 
Wow....just...simply WOW!!! 8D
I'd like to commissson you sometime soon{after I finish the 2nd semester of school ^^;;}

I especially LOVED how you created the Ragnell Blade <33 It's very VERY gorgous @3@
Keep up with the amazing work that you do with your projects <33
 
WOW! i most definitly want one of these
 
next time you make one of these caster gun prop make sure you get the barrel sizing right. it is a tad to big. not lengthwise but widthwise. just something to think about. Good job by the way very nicely done.
 
I am in the process of making a new version of this. There are quite a few changes to proportion, detail and design to make it more accurate.
 
my name is chris i want one if u want to make some cash ill pay you. please you did a great job.how can i reach you!!!!! I NEED ONE HOW MUCH DID IT COST!? please i need to know
 
Please make more, i will pay for this because i have no talent for things like this. please put it on like ebay or something. keep up the quality.
 
Currently, I am building a new version of the caster in my spare time. My hope is to make some molds to standardize the building process and hopefully lowering the cost. What that might be, probably wont be known until I build a prototype later this fall.

I would say that the first one I built was about 70% accurate. After finding and studying new reference, I was able to improve the plans to where I am confident that they are 95% accurate.

I'll be posting the progress on Twitter ( http://twitpic.com/photos/BlindSquirrelly ) and then when I'm done, post a synopsis on the blog.
 
SO COOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OMG YOU ARE THE MAN!!!
 
You did an excellent job on this.
 
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These are all the dumb things I find myself obsessed with building when I SHOULD be doing something more productive.

As a kid I built lots of plastic model kits, never knowing that one day those skills would actually be of use.

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