Questions about a scratch build

[MadManMoe64]

After having re-watched Blade Runner several times whilst researching my dissertation I decided I have to have that blaster.

I'm a student so have no cash, therefore this will be a scratch build, using scrap wherever I can.

I've been working up a set of drawings by looking at reference pictures and I'm pretty happy with the overall shape, but I think the gun may be too small. I scaled my drawings off of the World Con pics where there was a small 30mm scale, but it just seems too small.

Can someone give me a dimension of (for example) the end of the barrel to the end of the receiver so I can properly scale my drawings before I start to make it.

Thanks
- Tom

[joberg]

Eager to see a scratch-built gun...what kind of materials are you going to use?

[MadManMoe64]

At the risk of being laughed at, I'm going to do it mainly in wood and cardboard.

Parts like the grip frame and the main revolver body, should be easily cut out of sheets of plywood.

The receiver I was going to try and make by laminating bits of card over a former to get the right shape.

Seeing as I'm unlikely to find a card tube with the correct inner and outer dimensions I will probably end up scratch building the barrel by laminating card around a wooden dowel.


The reason for all this is that, whilst I'm able to work metal, It takes a while, is expensive for raw materials and I only have access to the workshop during the day.
(also I'm in the U.K so absolutely no gun parts, it is all scratch built)

If the pieces come out looking all right I'm hoping to cast then up in resin.

And small parts will probably be filed out of metal and if I can get some time with the laser cutter I may get some neatly cut out.

[racprops]

Well you might like reading my articles on building this out of the real gun parts, that will have show your the shapes.

www.racprops.com

OR you might scrape up enought for one of my plastic stunt model kits..$125.00..

Check out the threads in the propshop.

http://www.propsummit.com/viewtopic.php?t=2550

It is not a cheap as free, but in real life, you going to have to buy some supplies and spend a lot of blood , sweet and tears hand making it out of wood and paper.

Rich
_________________
I never have enough time to do all I want to do!

[Charlie]

Something similar was done by a member over at the RPF with wood and PVC... Might be of some interest to you:

http://www.therpf.com/f9/pvc-pkd-scrap-scratch-build-100122/

[MadManMoe64]

@ racprops - I did consider a kit, as they look really nice. But I really like making stuff from scratch.

Hopefully I won't have to buy too much, I do this sort of thing a lot, and have various bits and pieces lying around.

@ Charlie - That's pretty cool, I hadn't thought of using PVC pipe before, again the main issue is gonna be getting the exact diameter.

I'm hoping to get it looking pretty polished. But don't expect to see too much progress before Christmas. I'll probably just spend the time finishing up my drawings.

[propsjonnyb]

You can buy cold roll steel tubing with the exact diameter from most steel suppliers , however most require a minimum order , however most B&Q's and Wilkes hold copper and brass stock 38mm to 50mm at reasonable prices

[joberg]

What they said: too much work spent trying to put card over a tube when you'll find plastic tube (PVC) to help you realize your project.
Wood or MDF is a very good medium to use (MDF can be shaped much better and is less expensive than balsa wood for example).
Good luck with the project and no, there's no stupid question...so don't be shy to ask for imput on this board.

[andy]

Welcome Tom,

I have some measurements somewhere, but I can't seem to find them. Rich should be able to give you accurate measurements of the original gun parts to work off of though.

Andy

[MadManMoe64]

Any way, back to the original question. I re-scaled my drawings after reading that the barrel was 4.5" . Turns out my drawings had been about 2/3rds undersized.



These are the dimensions I have at the moment and just wanted to check that they are right, if anyone spots that they might be off let me know.








Other than that I've just been trying to figure out the mechanism. The Tomenosuke drawings are really difficult to see fine detail. So I found a diagram of the original Bulldog and have been figuring out the mechanism from that.

I always thought revolvers were meant to be simple...

I made a quick video, mostly to check that all the parts fit well (they don't quite mesh well enough yet)


If you are interested you can have a look (it's very rough so don't judge too harshly)


http://img201.imageshack.us/img201/1534/ia3.mp4


In case it's not clear the orange part is supposed to represent the ejector (also the part that makes it spin) and the peach part is the cylinder (not animated).
- Tom

[Bwood]

I found your animation to be an excellent representation of the mechanism, no apologies needed …..

[racprops]

Yes you have gotten the trigger, hammer and cylinder turning paw right, even the cylinder stop...a little history here, that stop was a mail part of the Walfer/Colt patten...

Very nice animation...

Now you did understand the 4.5 starts at the very end of the barrel , the part that is just a .120 of a inch in front of the cylinder, not 4.5 from the front of the pistol frame?

I have the sizes, long 7 1/8th Inch high 6 1/8 inch and writh of steyr receiver at the front 1.187 inch.

Rich
_________________
I never have enough time to do all I want to do!

[joberg]

Good animation for sure...very commendable effort here!

[propsjonnyb]

It's difficult to replicate the drum / hammer / trigger / mechanism easily with cast pieces so most don't try , the tollerances are exact and you can't just scratchbuild a set . You'd have to build almost exactly the CA system, which means you're back to breaking the law on Replica Guns , and that's a big NO-NO. The only course of action you can take is to replace the entire gun frame, drum, trigger and hammer assembly and replace it with (legal) replica parts , unfortunately the only replica parts you can legally buy at present are .38 cal versions no manufacturer is offering any .44 cal anywhere in the world .