Retro Rocket

Just came across this in a file on my computer. I did this about four or five years ago as a set of decorations for a kid's room. Thought it appropriate, so here it is...

Now on deviant ART

I now have a gallery on deviant ART. If you're not familiar, this is a great online artistic community and you can spend a lot of time surfing the galleries. I will still post everything here as well, along with other steampunk/ray gun related stuff.

My gallery is at:

http://kenlaber.deviantart.com/

Keep zap'n!!!

New Batch

Here are the latest ray guns. Some of these ideas had been rolling around in my head for a while, and was able to finish them during my vacation last week. Also, got a chance to use the new light box my wife got me for Christmas; the quality of photo for these latest customs are undeniably better.

The barrel is put together with some plastic toy parts and a shaped wooden craft dowel. In case you didn't know, it can be very tough to make wood look like metal. Didn't seal the dowel first, which I should have to keep the paint from being absorbed by the grain; but, live and learn. Hit it with multiple coats and it eventually went in the right direction.

Also, tried a new method of adding fins. Instead of anchoring the fin halfway inside the gun base for stability, I created two 1/8 inch tabs at the bottom of the fin while cutting it from the plastic. I drilled two holes at the top of the gun and then glued them together. This worked great, and was a lot easier.

The tricky part here was that the top of the gun was rounded, so I had to keep going back to get the curve at the bottom of the fin right. Also, the tabs have to extend at an angle to compensate for the curve of the gun. I used goop to fill the holes and any gap between the gun and fin, then hit with some dry brushed paint. Came out great.

This gun is all handle. Not a lot to say here, though I was really happy with the result.

I keep coming back to this basic design; I just love the techo-elegence of it. I've added some a few new elements to it, including a movable setting dial (which is kind of hard to make out in this photo) and a cool tesla antennae thingy in the glass chamber (also difficult to make out). Sorry. I will try to get some better photos of this.

This gun is a testament to what you can find in those cardboard drawers at the hardware store, when you have the time to browse.

This is my first time using a cowboy gun base, which can be beautifully ornate and decorated. I fooled around with this one for a while, trying out a few different barrel ideas. It took a while, but the end result was pretty cool.

The biggest triumph here was getting away from gluing everything and using more screws and bolts. Some of the pieces are pretty small, so using hardware can be prohibitive. This one worked out good and is a lot more sturdy than some of the other ray guns.

Its sometimes important to show both sides. I love non-symmetrical design, so you really have to flip a gun around to see all of the features.

That is it for now. There is one more gun from this set that is nearly finished and I will post a pic when its done. Also, the rifle is coming! Hopefully soon.