AK-47

Quite possibly the most widely-known and widely used firearm in the world, the Avtomat Kalashnikova, or "AK" as it's most commonly referred to, acquired its "47" from the year it was accepted by the Soviet Army for use as their service rifle.  The AK-47 has been around for so long and has had so many different permutations over the years that it's hard to track down the exact real world model Captain Price uses in the Gulag mission, but, like the M16 and M4, it's all the same basic parts.

Here's a real AK-47, which is pretty close to what I'll be building:

Here's the in-game model, which is the one I'm modeling this entry's gun after:

So let's get started!

As usual, I get my model(as I said, the in-game screenshot seen above) into Photoshop and fit it to 1:1 scale, which, in this case was 34".  After that, I transferred the body of the rifle onto cardboard, saving the barrel, top...rod...thing, and stock rod for use with dowels, and leaving the stock for a separate piece altogether.  However, this time around, I opted to start with the stock, as it was easier, so I got that out of the way immediately.

Next, I figured out where all of the dowels needed to sit, built up several layers of cardboard by hot gluing them together, and carving grooves into the body for the dowels to sit.  Once fitted in properly, I hot glued the rods into place.

After that, I basically completed the body by doing the opposite, carving out grooves into the reverse side and gluing the top into place.  Then, the tedious process of carving the curves in(such as on the grip and top of the rifle), sealing all of the edges with hot glue, and smoothing everything out so it looks like one, uniform piece.  Here's the finished product before paint:

Now all that's left to do is hit it with paint.  Here's the base coat:

Since this was literally the morning before we left for the convention, I was tired as heck and neglected to take a final picture of the finished piece.  However, here's the gun in use by my friend Dale:

Photo © Ronald Ladao

M4A1 Carbine

If you've been following along, you know very well that I love Colt firearms, and I have yet another iteration to add to the archive.  This time, it's the M4A1 Carbine.  The term "carbine"(pronounced "kahr-been") refers to a shortened version of a rifle.  In this case, that longer version would be the M4.  I won't get into the difference between an M4 and an M4A1, but, briefly, the M4A1 is able to fire full-auto and the M4 is just a three-round burst.  The M4A1 is also used more in special operations, so it's almost always fitted with a SOPMOD kit, thus eliminating the carrying handle for a Picatinny rail system on the top, and fitted with all sorts of fun toys like reflex sights, scopes, and more.  That aside, the shortened barrel allows for a quicker ready time, making it ideal for close-quarters situations like clearing rooms and taking tight corners.  With all that said, this prop will be constructed for myself and my friend Nick for our Modern Warfare 2 costumes, Lieutenant Simon "Ghost" Riley, and Captain John "Soap" Mactavish.

Now you probably noticed that the variants the two of them carry are fitted with different attachments.  Ghost's M4A1 has a foregrip and nothing else, whereas Soap's has a red dot reflex sight and an M203 grenade launcher.  Be that as it may, it's the same rifle and just separate attachments.  I plan on building the attachments separate from the weapons, and just fitting them in place, just like a real firearm.

Alright, enough chatter.

Here's a "real" M4A1 Carbine: 

Here's the model from within Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2:

Previously, I had always skipped the first step and went right into a cut-out template, but this time around, I figured I'd show a little more progress.  After procuring the real-world dimensions(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M4_carbine(29.75" with the stock retracted)), I blew up the screenshot I'd taken from the game within Photoshop.  This way I can measure parts of the weapon with a ruler right on my screen and translate that directly onto cardboard for a template instead of just free-handing it and likely getting parts that don't mesh up correctly or winding up with a gun that's too small or too large at the end.  Once it's on cardboard, I take a sharp knife and carve out the template, then use that template to trace additional layers and cut them out.  Here's what I mean:

Take note of the fact that I've broken this weapon down into different sections, assuming you haven't noticed already.  Since the barrel is perfectly cylindrical, a dowel is what I plan on using and running through the length of the whole body for strength(yes, I learned since I built my XM16E1).  There's also a thinner dowel to reinforce the front sight and the rail, and thicker one for the retractable stock.  I've measured them out and have discovered that the barrel is 1/2" thick, the sight/rail dowel is 1/4" thick, and the retractable stock dowel is 1" thick(the muzzle looks to be about the same thickness).

Since I'm making two of these, I can show a complete and assembly stage in the same photo.  The above one is the complete stock.  I took a 1" dowel, measured it long enough so that it would fit into the main body and would therefore be a core to stabilize the whole structure.  For the stock plate itself, I used a paper towel tube, traced the circumference onto cardboard, cut two out, and then(since one is for the front of the plate, and needs to fit onto the dowel to seal the plate) secured that whole tube section together with hot glue, making sure to be very liberal with it at the bottom(to create a tight bond between the dowel and cardboard at the base).  I traced the outline of the other piece onto paper straight off my screen, cut it out, and transferred that to cardboard.  The rest is pretty self explanatory.  Oh, and that line between my hand and the stock plate?  That's how far I'm going to sink the piece into the body of the rifle.

This is where I start getting really excited about the project; when I start to assemble the big pieces together.  Here, you can see what I mean when I said I cut and sink the stock into the body to keep it reinforced.  I took a knife and whittled away approximately a 1/2" diameter hole into the front of the 1" dowel.  I took the 1/2" dowel set aside for the barrel, whittled the end down a bit, and sunk that into the hole I created, sealing it all together with glue.  This will be the weakest part of the prop, so I'm a little worried about it holding together.  I might try to reinforce it with a few more dowels just to be safe, but the Picatinny rail that runs over the top of the whole thing should help to reinforce the structure even further.  Next up, building the forearm.

Yeah, I neglected to take any progress photos for the forearm.  However, all I did was trace out about six or so pieces of that shape and glue them together.  Then it was a matter of taking a knife to it to round it out.  I then bored out some room for the barrel and front sight support rod to fit through.  For the foregrip, I took a 3/4" dowel, figured out how long I needed to make it so it butted up against the barrel dowel inside the forearm, cut it to that length, and then bored a hole into the forearm and glued it into place.  I made sure to put more glue into the hole so that it would filter into the corrugations in the cardboard, creating layers of hot glue, and therefore creating added support.  That way, when holding the grip, there's less of a chance of the foregrip pulling out.

Bam!  Front sight created.  It's just a few layers of cardboard, cut to shape, at this point, but I'll finish that later.  I took a knife to the top of the gun, and shaved it into a rounded shape.  I also shaved down the grip to make it more rounded and less clunky.  The muzzle was created by taking a 1" dowel chunk, boring a 1/2" hole into it, and slipping it onto the barrel.  However, there's more to it than that...

That little peg thing I'm holding is going to be my removable orange tip.  Yeah, I know security's probably not going to like the fact that it's removable, but I hate that obnoxious bright orange blip when I see myself in photos.  I sunk a 1/2" diameter magnet into the muzzle, and glued another 1/2" magnet onto the base of the peg.  This way, I'll be able to pop the tip out for photos, and pop it back in for walking around.  Cool idea?  I think it is...

(after doing this the entire weekend, I can safely say that it was incredibly awesome and plan on doing this for the rest of my weapons in the future)

It's getting close to being structurally complete.  The Picatinny rail is made from one of those paint stirrers(I was rooting around the family toolbox and discovered one and that it was the exact diameter I needed.  I don't think anyone'll miss it...).  The front sight was hollowed out in the right areas, and given the proper curves.  The rear sight was essentially just a big rectangle with a channel cut into it for the washer I put into it(y'know...to line up with the hole in the front sight...).  The foregrip was beefed up with layers of paper tubing wrapped around in a spiral, smoothed out with sandpaper, and glued to keep everything tight.  I hope it looks good when it's painted.  All that's left, structurally, is to add the little doodads like the magazine release, forward assist, fire selector, and such.

Thar she blows!  All ready for painting.  I apologize for the crummy image quality.  It's a little hard to make out the details, but the forward assist, made from a 3/4" dowel that was cut on a bias(serious pain in the butt for not having the proper tools(I'm using a saw on a multi-tool to cut these dowels, and cutting on an angle is awful with it)), at roughly a 30° angle, and topped with the little nub thingy to complete the plunger.  The magazine release is there, as well as the cover for the hinge for the ejection port cover.  The reverse side has the fire selector(the dial that lets you switch the gun from safe, to semi, to auto) and the bolt catch.  Now, to paint it; my favorite part!

First, a base coat of flat black.

Next, hitting the stock, lower receiver, and grip with a couple coats of a mustard-y tan acrylic.  The heat shields are also tan, but I want to detail the forearm before I put those on, so those will be the last additions to the carbine.

BOOM!  All finished.  Looks preeetty sweet.  Here's a picture of the removable tip:

And in use:

Photo © Ronald Ladao

Next up, MacTavish's M4A1 with an M203 and a reflex sight.

As you can see, the M203's built out of a PVC pipe(roughly 1"(it's whatever I had lying around)), some corrugated tubing(I actually "borrowed" a little of this from the drainage tubing in my garage > .>), which I screwed into the PVC, and then built the mounting unit and trigger assembly out of cardboard and hot glue.

Let there be PAINT!  FWOOSH!(Apparently that's the sound of paint now)

In use:

Photo © Ronald Ladao

Photo © LJinto

This same build can be applied to pretty much anything in the M4/M16 family, since the body is the same throughout(which is why I always keep a template in my folder.  Here's Dale with Captain Price's 'Black Kit' from the 'F.N.G.' and 'Crew Expendable' missions of Call of Duty(4): Modern Warfare holding an M4A1 I built for him for his birthday in 2012:

Photo © AS Photography

Chinese Type 17

Often confused with the German Mauser C96, better known as the "Broomhandle", the Chinese Type 17 is a knock-off of the C96.  China has a history of copying preexisting firearms.  Some examples include the Type 56, copied from the Soviet Izhmash AK-47, the Type 81 MGS, resembling the Soviet RPK, right down to the angled drum magazine, the Type 86, which strongly resembles the French Nexter FAMAS, and the M311, obviously modeled after the Colt M16A1, just to name a few.  With all of that established, how am I sure I need to make a Type 17 and not a Mauser C96?

So with that out of the way, it's time to get started on building our Chinese Type 17 as seen here:

As per usual, I started by tossing the highest-resolution photo of a profile of the Type 17 I could get my grubby, digital hands on into Photoshop, and enlarged it to 1:1 scale.  After that, I measured key points on the gun off my computer monitor and copied them down onto a slab of cardboard.  I then cut that out and traced it four more times, cut those out, trimmed down the trigger guard, hammer, and the sight on the outside two layers.  Then, I cut a 1/2" groove down the center so I could thread a dowel into the cardboard for the barrel.  As a bonus, it'll reinforce the prop when it's completed.

Next, I grabbed my knife and whittled down the grip to give it that classic "Broomhandle" namesake.  After that, I hotglued a frontal sight onto the barrel and the handle for the slide on the back, just above the hammer.  I also took a phillips head screwdriver(I don't own a drill press) and bored a hole into the front of the barrel to make it seem like a gun barrel. With all the components in place and the shape established, I filled in all of the corrugations with hot glue and smoothed them out time and again for a nice finish.

Next up, I hit it with a coat of black.  'nuff said.

Finally, the fun, meticulous part...detailing!

Thar she blows, complete with Chinese lettering between the grip and the sight on that little rectangle.  I believe it literally translates to, "Type 17".

I gave this to my girlfriend Jenn for her 22nd birthday, considering she's my EVA, I figured she needed a Type 17, as she has the custom holster for it and everything.  Plus, she can stop stealing my M1911A1 now.  :P

Here's a shot of her in her gear with the Type 17 from ACen 2011:

And from C2E2 in 2012:

image © David Ngo

H&K USP .45

The Heckler and Koch USP, short for Universal Self-loading Pistol("Universale Selbstladepistole" in German, H&K's country of origin), is used in a surprising amount of games nowadays.  Metal Gear Solid had Snake using the SOCOM, which is a USP mk23 fitted with a suppressor and LAM unit, Resident Evil 4 had Leon using a USP Tactical, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 1 and 2 featured the USP .45, Tom Clancey's Rainbow Six Vegas 2 has the USP .40, and plenty of other game titles include this popular handgun.

That being said, it should come as no surprise that I'd choose to build such a staple firearm.  Though there are a number of different USPs, I'm opting to build the good ol' USP .45 as you can see here:

I started this build off by printing out a 1:1 scale image of the USP, cutting it out, tracing it onto cardboard, and cutting that out.

From here, I traced several more and did something I've yet to do with a cardboard weapon; place a dowel in it:

Yes, I'm aware the barrel doesn't extend past the slide.  This technically makes it a USP Tactical, but that can still use .45 ammo, so it's all good.  I might make a suppressor for it down the road, so I figured I'd keep the option open.  After realizing all this, I decided to switch the final model over to the Tactical instead of the standard .45.

I need to add a few more details before painting, like adding the safety, the slide release, magazine release, etc, as well as drilling a hole for the muzzle.

I had a surprising amount of smoothing issues when I painted it, so I worked and re-worked it until I was happy with it.  Then I hit it with a coat of black.

All that remains are the little details, which I love doing.

And there you have it.  A USP Tactical(albeit with the removed "USP" on the bottom of the grip, so it wouldn't clash with the Umbrella logo, as per the buyer's request) with the detailing.

Evidently my mom has decided these are dangerous because I could be shot.  It's not like I'm running around pointing these at people like a moron.  I make these for the intention of them being used at conventions for photography and the like only, which is one reason I don't bother including triggers(the other being that it's less work > .>).  Now I need to make a second one just like this.

Yay.

RPG-7

Due to Anime Central IRT(ACen's personal volunteer-driven security team) telling me my XM16E1 wasn't con-legal about a week before ACen, I scrambled like mad to throw together a mock rocket-propelled grenade, or simply RPG, as apparently a freaking rocket launcher often seen in use by terrorists is A-OK.  I didn't find out until at the convention that they deemed all cardboard weapons con-friendly.  *fist shake*

Anyway, this is what I'm building:

Just a simple series of tubes, right?  Well, yes and no.  This project gave me more grief than it should have, mostly regarding that accursed wooden...thing.

I started this out by building the rocket itself.  This was done with 1" diameter PVC and topped with two of those foam cones you find at hobby/craft stores(I think Wal-Mart even has them somewhere), and mounting them end-to-end(after shaving off the bottom to get it to proper length, of course.  I then secured the cone onto the PVC pipe by ramming it in and using hot glue.  The end was topped off with a water bottle cap.  Cardboard fins were cut out and glued around the pipe.  Afterwards, I used a spoon, I believe, to scrape in the four channels on the top cone.  The whole shebang was then painted olive drab:

For kicks and giggles, I even painted the base of the rocket a different color, even though it'd spend its life in the tube.  It made it all purdy like:

On to the launcher.  One tube wasn't long enough, so I needed two 1.25"(or possibly 1.5", I can't remember) PVC and used PVC cement to seal them together with a connector.  Over one end, I cut out a 20-oz bottle and did the same to the other end to form the base of the wooden shoulder rest.  This was covered with more plastic and melted slightly with a hair dryer to make sure it was tight.  I ran duct tape over this, made a makeshift gasket out of layers of duct tape on the inside of the front of the tube to hold the rocket in place if the launcher tipped down, and used a chunk of leftover foam for the blast cone.  This was is result:

That cursed duct tape presented me with quite the dilemma.  While it was great for forming the shape of the wooden piece, it was about the worst possible medium for holding paint.  I got around this by breaking down a cardboard wrapping paper tube and gluing three different sections(so as to retain the modular shape) of it to the tape.  When that dried, I sanded down the finish on the PVC pipe, and painted away:

Lastly, I cut rectangular holes into the bottom of the tube for the grips, which consisted of layers of cardboard sealed with paper.  I really didn't like the way the cone looked, and by complete happenstance, I was drinking out of a cup that I looked at and realized was the same diameter on the base as the PVC tube.  The result was me papier-mâchéing the cup, attaching a cardboard ring, and gluing that onto the end of the pipe.  Then, literally last minute, I built a crude scope and front sight, painted 'em up, and hopped in the car to get to the convention.  Here's the finished product:

At the convention, I had a little mishap when(I blame the lack of depth perception(eye patch), I was holding it on my shoulder, and Nick stopped in front of me.  I essentially poked him with the rocket, and the foam cone snapped.  What you see in the following pictures is actually a quick patch job with packaging tape(thank you, noble booth strangers), which I later upgraded to hot glue when I had the proper amenities in the hotel room.


With my Snake stuff:

That's my lovely girlfriend Jenn as Eva next to me.

image © Alan Hufana

It looks better with her than me. :P

I also loaned it to my friend Nick for his Chris Redfield costume from Resident Evil 5 while I lurked about as Wesker, something relevant to one of the later fights in the game: