Lock and Load, Mandos!
Having fallen under the curse of Photobucket, I decided to redo my weapons page instead of trying to update my clunky attempt at it the first time around. I've done a fairly sizable amount of work on my weapons as it was the easier thing to do than my armor. For a while I was very limited in the time and space I had to work on my kit, so the smaller pieces were the best bet. I have to thank my Father for being so brilliant and knowledgeable, willing to work with me although he barely understood anything about the culture. Many a nights spent in his basement were well worth the effort. I now have more space, and a much closer vod whose also working on his own kit alongside me.
Background
As I stated in my armor progress thread, my Mandalorian is a former Corsec Agent, and Royal Guard. Thus his weapons reflect his life in that capacity and his adoption into the vode. His weapons will include dual pistols, a Mandalorian dagger, and a modified Force Pike.
Dagger
I started off with a few designs, and through some voting on my last page, I settled on the one below. One of the things I like most about it is how it reminds me of my favorite fictional dagger; the sword of Omens from Thundercats. The face of it and the guard is going to be comprised out of rougher material (like bone) and then the hilt and blade will be more modern.
Cut out of some spare wood in my Father's shop, and using woodglue to clamp all the layers together, I then used a dremel to carve out a decent dimension to the dagger. I used a wood burning kit to burn in the Mythosaur design onto each side. After that it was left without much definition until I got to my friend's shop and he really helped me hone in the blade.
I shellacked the dagger after getting the blade refined, and then I cut off the knob at the top. It was a little too short for my grip, so afterwards I have a piece of PVC slid over the handle to make it more round, bondo'd the seam of it to smooth it out, and now I'm onto the painting phase. No real good pictures of that progress, but more to come soon.
Pistols
These dual pistols are based off of the Nerf Firestrike. When I was doing my research for starting this kit, I read and heard a lot about how difficult it is to make Nerf weapons passable, as they are so very distinctive. However I like challenge, so I picked up two of these and started to rough out a design for them.
I started off with this design, adding things to the overall concept to make a more streamlined weapon of choice. The main barrel came from the guts of the toy, while the bottom barrel is a piece of black PVC. The knob on the side is half of a cut up vacuum tube. Inside the PVC is the other part of the vaccum tube that looks very
swarzy if I do say so myself. From there I started putting the pieces together, cutting out holes in the blaster barrel and using the spring that was inside as a nice addition in crimson red. Painted the barrels and the spring already, and I am working on a paint scheme for the rest, but it was a bit of a do-over as my first attempt was not as accurate as I would have liked.
Force Pike
My search for a screen accurate Force Pike took me down many different avenues. I talked to people in Spain, Europe, and on the RPF looking for someone that was making them. Eventually I stumbled upon an amazing creator in Florida. He is very easy to work with, has a very decent price, and makes all variations of the Force Pike. If you would like to reach out to him - here is the link to his
Facebook Page.
It is very light weight, screws apart into two pieces, and measures 40 inches in length. I will be modifying this and weathering it to look battle hardened and retrofitted into a Mandalorian arsenal. Thus far I haven't figured a way to carry it on my kit, other than in my hand, so that'll be some engineering for later on.
That's about it for now though vode. I'll be sure to update this thread as I go. I hope you enjoy the progress, and I certainly look forward to showing you more as the months progress. Oya!
