Team Fortress 2 Level 2 Sentry Gun

[Viscount]

I am a recent graduate from university and as a part of my final year show I made a life sized steel sentry gun. It has been a long process and it is still in the work but I figured that I would post images of its progress.
I have plenty of experience with welding and forging so instead of doing this with MDF or plastics I decided to take more "fun" route of making this out of steel. I shall post WIP pictures and my process after.

 

[Contec]

Now THAT is COOOOL!!!

 

[zapwizard]

Very nice, I bet its pretty heavy too.
The swiveling foot pads look like they were a challenge.

 

[Duncanator]

Holy Crap! That's cool!
Making it out of steel is really impressive.

 

[PyroDenny]

WOOOOOOOOOWWWW that thing must weigh a metric ton! Well done!

 

[joshvanrad]

Not all heroes wear capes.

Some wear welding goggles, carry a shotgun, and wear an arm patch with a wrench on it!

 

[BC-FX]

awesome :thumbsup

 

[Viscount]

It is indeed very heavy, It was a smart decision to make it so that it can be dissembled into sections. The the swiveling feet were a bit of a challenge. I will do them since they were done a bit hastily. It was nice since I found some perfect sized ball bearing from a CAT at the local scrap yard. For me that was pretty exciting.

I am also planning on Cosplaying and I have been working on the Rescue Ranger out of steel and wood. I don't really need to do much for a clothing since I tend to dress like the Engineer anyways. I have also included an older imagine of part of the Rescue Ranger progress.

 

[Viscount]

The first part of this project started with creating a model. I did this using sketch up given how I was familiar with this program when I started creating a model. I recreated all of the parts trying to be as accurate to the original model as possible. Some changes were made to widths and mostly the bearing which connects the top to the base. Doing this was all of a bit interesting since the model was started while studying abroad in the Scotland. It was not until returning to Canada and hitting up all of the local steel yards and visiting my favourite place, the scrapyard did I finalize my design.

 

[nick daring]

In game appearance for those unfamiliar-

It's always a shame that these gorgeous all steel construction have to be painted in the end. They look so cool with the bare metal showing. Great work.

 

[Viscount]

Thanks, I also do enjoy the bare steel look. I may not paint all of it. For the ammo hopper I will probably paint it red though. Otherwise I like the look of it as is. I have a GIF of the sentry gun since it is fully articulated but I cannot seem to upload it?

 

[nick daring]

Maybe you could use the gun metal "bluing" process and retain some of the natural metallics finish while also darken it?