HOWTO make a steampunk prop rifle
Instructables user Gmjhowe created this "Steampunk Dystopian Sniper Rifle " prop, which "fires a compressed sliver of frozen mercury at ultrahigh velocity" (this last part is imaginary). The process of building it is well-documented, and the result is fab.
Steampunk Dystopian Sniper Rifle (Mercury Bow)
I decided to make it recognizably steampunk, while staying true to my own style.Ive used a lot of metal, and a lot of card. and a lot of other stuff, so much inf act that there is no point me creating a list of items. The main barrel is made from metal, and the handle and stock is mostly card, dense card with a layer of corrugated.
Ok, this is about 5 weeks of work, off and on, i will try my best to explain, but its pretty length, so im gonna try and keep it short and sweet.
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Public service announcement:
Don't go waving this around in public.
That stock looks *really* painful.
Hey! Mercury freezes @ around -38C...where're the evap coils? The compressor? Agh! Ergh!
And some other technologically anal noises.
@3 IWOOD:
Pip, Pip! This man speaks true!
(Actually, the ammo is probably a single frozen mercury sliver; you'd need the compresserator setup to hold the ammo, but not necessarily to fire it.)
I think I like it; however I think its coloration is a bit sedate.
I'm sorry - as much as enjoy steampunkery and gun-nuttery, this effort just leaves me cold. Firearms tech was pretty well developed in the 1860's - optics less so. More wood, color case-hardening, brass scope - this might be a thought to start with. The piece above is like someone trying to design a steampunk steam engine (they had those too) and ending up with a V6 with a velocity stack in the shape of doric column...
I'm safe as long as I wear my goggles, and my Tesla-coil-inspired anti-mercury codpiece.
Beautiful. If asked to critique it, I would point out that the stock seems to have hex bolts that seem pretty modern to me. Also I would use a trigger cover of curved shape instead of angular. Despite these details, I generally congratulate the maker for the good job done.
Carry it to Comicon all you want... but, if you walk around the streets of San Franciso with this thing some cop is going to unload a clip on you.
Coco's Variety sells awesome cast-iron prop guns (a pistol and some kind of machine gun).
There's a little sign next to them that says "Ask to wield."
'm gttng sck f stmpnk crp.
There's some interesting stuff in there, but part of me kept saying, "Dude, why are you making a bunch of extra steps when you could just go and buy/mod some actual gun parts?" (Stock, grips, trigger/guard, etx).
I think the definition of steampunk is getting stretched rather thin lately, thin beyond breaking.
I think that for actual steampunk looking guns you don't really need to look any further than wheellock guns. "Excuse me, I have to wind up the clockwork mechanism before I can shoot you. Would you mind not moving around so much for a bit?"
A steampunk rifle scope would definitely be a long, leather bound number that telescoped out with lots of brass to boot.
And definitely some kind of pressure gauge sticking out of it.
Nthng sys stmpnk lk qrtr nch hx-nts.
you back again?
The mercury bow was totally my favourite weapon in Oni. Even though it only had two rounds.
"Hey! Mercury freezes @ around -38C...where're the evap coils? The compressor?"
Probably trapsing about with your missing imagination.
@12 I think the problem is the desire to put a strict definition on completely made up concepts like steampunk, cyberpunk, sailpunk, sandalpunk, zombiepunk, elfpunk, punkpunk, punky brewster, and the great pumpkin.
If people want to strap a tea kettle to their head and call it steampunk, it's fine with me.
Holtt, does this count?
http://www.teapotworld.co.uk/images/pots/331t.jpg
Wow, that's a real tossup...
Somebody steampunk a skateboard already
Really I think that Steampunk art is greatly untapped for skilled makers. There's a certain fascination with it, but in general there's a lot of "average stuff" unless you get into the Von Slatt stuff, the WETA rayguns or the vampire slaying kits.
It's good though that people make stuff. Good to see people cranking out interesting stuff.
Where did this idea of frozen mercury come from, the game Oni or was it once suggested as ammunition for real rifles by some military/company?
Verne maybe? Wells?
@19 http://www.flickr.com/photos/drhaggis/501692638/
Teapot on head, FTW.
@24, as far as I can tell the idea came from Oni.
It's a pretty far-fetched idea for a real weapon, as a regular gun would work just as well if not better, and be much cheaper and easier to make and use.
In the game, it only has two shots and fires very slowly, but kills most enemies in one or two shots. It's a good sniping gun.
The game was released in 2001; it had a really excellent fighting system (combining hand-to-hand and guns), and very smooth action, but rather boring level designs and not enough save points in some of the harder levels. (It took me dozens of tries to get through some of the later ones.) It was badly delayed and the graphics weren't as good as they should have been. It was also trying way too hard to be Ghost in the Shell. Still, it's one of my favourites.
that's a ceramic teapot! It should be brass. Also. where is the leather chin strap?
Hi, thank you all for your comments, all of them will help me in making items more steampunk in future,
To answer a few questions, although steampunk, it still retains alot of my own style.
And also, gun parts are hard to get hold of in the uk because of the new laws. so the methods i use do best for me.
Thanks again boing boing for posting one of my projects!