Collektor
Well-Known Member
Going through my scraps box, I found the remains of a revolver and decided it would be fun to convert it into a blaster. After doing a bit of research I decided to make it into a pistol sized version of Fett's ESB EE-3 mostly because I didn't have any long enough scraps of tubing to do a full size carbine and was looking to not spend any money on this build.
The build itself was a pretty simple conversion. First a section of plastic sink tube was cut with a slot so it could be slipped over the the cylinder and frame of the base gun, then it was epoxied into place. From there I needed to fabricate the rear section of the flare gun which has a distinctive shape. I bent a piece of card stock around the sink tube and marked off where the cuts needed to be made. I then transferred it to a scrap of 1/8th inch sintra and made the cuts. With that done I just heated up the sintra and bent it around into the correct shape. In order to give it more stability and strength the part was screwed into the top of the sink tube and pistol frame. I used apoxie sculpt to fill in the areas and finish out the shape.
The scope was made out of an old pen tube and two super glue tubes cut into shape. The scope brackets were made out of two strips of sintra heat formed around the scope tube and the barrel tube. Once they were formed, the brackets were screwed together and then the scope assembly was slid down onto the barrel and the screws tightened up to hold it in place.
The barrel was just a section of chromed sink tube with a few holes drilled into it and inserted into the other tube. With the assembly done, the plastic parts were given a light sanding to create a worn texture then painted flat black. While that was drying I went to work on the grips which started out as untextured smooth black plastic. I took a small craft saw blade and scored lines into the surface of the grips to simulate wood grain. I then took dark brown acrylic paint and a tooth brush and drybrushed the paint over the grips to further add a wood texture. Another couple of passes and washes with some lighter brown and the grips were done. I coated the grips with several coats of future floor wax and set them aside to dry.
The weathering on the blaster was done using a tooth pick dipped in silver metallic paint and then dragged across the high spots and areas where wear and tear would occur. When the silver dried, I took burnt sienna and a small flat brush and very lightly stippled the surface of the blaster to create discoloration and light rust build up. After that I got out the airbrush and gave the silver part of the barrel a dusting of black to simulate scorching and soot. All in all a fun project to take on for an afternoon.
Thanks for looking.
