Steampunk Reconned Ray gun

[TheBon]

I'm going to a steampunk vs. cyberpunk themed Halloween party and decided that I needed a ray gun to go with my steampunk getup. So I re-conned a Meet the Robinson's toy into this [photo taken with flash]:



Here's what it looked like before:



Without the flash:


And a detail on the gears and bits:


It was surprisingly easy to work up.

Step 1: Use painter's tape or masking tape to block out any parts you don't want painted [in my case, the entire end bit, around the transparent green end.]

Step 2: Prime with spray paint made for plastic. I sprayed one side, let dry for 90 minutes [it's damp here lately] then flipped and sprayed the other side. I used black, but any color would work since I was going to cover it up.

Step 3: Mask anything you don't want sprayed the second color. In my case, this was all of what is now silver. Note: I did not unmask the green bit at this stage. That stayed covered until I was done spraying.

Step 4: Spray again with main color. I used a hammered bronze textured spray paint. Go slowly with this, I am impatient and ended up with too much paint in some places. This time around I sprayed the whole thing at once and then hung it from the masked off portion. Let sit until good and dry.

Step 5: Remove masking.

Step 6: Use a brush to paint in any details. It was at this point that I painted in all of the silver. I think it took 5-6 coats of regular metallic silver craft paint here. Be patient and let the paint dry in between coats. Let dry.

Step 7: I had been told that Future no-wax floor polish was great for the weathering step. I couldn't find it at my grocery store [it's made by SC Johnson and I'm sure it's probably not too hard to find but I didn't want to drive all over the place.] Instead I bought a can of Old English furniture polish. This seemed to make the paint a little sticky, and help the weathering to stick. I sprayed one side of the gun at a time and then wiped it off. It also made the surface shinier. You just want to make sure it's dry or else your paint will thin too much.

Step 8: I used a mixture of black and forest green craft acrylic paint for the weathering step. Working in small patches I would paint one a lot of the paint and then use a rag to wipe it back off. Repeat until you've got at much weathering as you want. In some places I couldn't get enough paint to stick, so I would take a dry brush with a very small amount of paint on it and paint in the crevices.

Step 9: Add bits. I had some watch and clock bits from my husband's grandmother's house. I used regular ol' epoxy to glue them to the handle of the gun for extra steampunk-y goodness.

My gun lights up and makes sound which pleases me to no end. However, that doesn't stop me from running around making ray gun noises of my own.

[ArmyOfMe]

Neato! Gimme! >< Clock parts are a real nice touch

[TheBon]

Haha. Mine! My husband is a little envious of my ray gun, because he doesn't have one. He decided to go with the cyberpunk part of the theme so no ray gun for him!

[gothfoxdesigns]

Great job! i have a friend who used a similar gun the same way as you did!
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b351/damionsmith/thedauntless_after.jpg 

[Czarinakatie]

Love it! Reminds me of the webcomic Girl Genius!

[TheBon]

Great job! i have a friend who used a similar gun the same way as you did!
http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b351/damionsmith/thedauntless_after.jpg 

Very cool! They went a little more hardcore with the copper than I did. I don't have the means to do things like that, so I make do with paint.

Love it! Reminds me of the webcomic Girl Genius!

Thanks!

[the head vampire]

Wow to;

a) The gun! Great job changing something boring into something AWESOME. What fantastical evil does it shoot upon its victims?

b) The party! What a kick ass theme. I can has your friends?

[Schnoogles]

I SO want one of these! Too cool! What are you wearing with it?

[TheBon]

Wow to;

a) The gun! Great job changing something boring into something AWESOME. What fantastical evil does it shoot upon its victims?

b) The party! What a kick ass theme. I can has your friends?

I figure it'll protect me from the Evil Shy, which is what I'll be feeling when I gear up to go to this giant party where I only know a few people.

They're pretty fun people. I inherited them through my husband, and it's funny because they're kind of a cross between he and I personality wise.

[TheBon]

I SO want one of these! Too cool! What are you wearing with it?

I got the base gun on amazon.com. It's the meet the robinson's sound phaser or something like that.

I am not going as neo-victorian as I'd like. I really wanted to deal with a bustle but had to face the fact that time and my sewing skills were against me. I'm in the process of finishing a black circle skirt, with a skull and crossbones lace overlay, striped tights, boots, a really awesome buckled corset over a black v-neck tshirt [the victorian's high necked collars flatter me not at all.] Lace-up knit fingerless gloves [if I finish them], and a variety of neo-victorian looking jewelry and big brass keys. Oh, and vintage motorcycle goggles on top of my red and brown hair.



I just have to finish things and figure out hair and makeup.