Starship Modeler: Gallery (Prop)

Warhammer Bolt Gun

This is a 1:1 scale Bolt Gun that I built on commission for a friend who ran a game shop. It was to serve as a trophy for Warhammer tournaments.
After gathering a few references, I started by drawing the profile on a piece of 3/4" MDF and cutting it out on the bandsaw. Two ton epoxy was used to fix a piece of 1" blue insulation foam to either side, which was quickly sanded to shape. Over this was glued a base skin of 1/4" polycarbonate. A lot of work with Aves Apoxie, files, and sandpaper finished out the basic shape.

I thought about stealing the pistol grip off a squirt gun or something, but the prop was going to be handled, sometimes roughly, by lots of people I don't know. So construction had to be robust. Instead, the pistol grip was cut as an integral part of the basic frame, and covered in Aves. I used black Aves here, so that I would not have to paint the grip. A basic crosshatch texture was applied to the grip by laying a piece of plastic cling wrap over the Aves, and impressing plastic canvas into the putty while it dried. Like everything else about this build, it's a little bit ugly, but it works.

The rest of the gun was covered in .040 sheet styrene. Smaller features, such as the trigger, bayonette lug, selector switch, and so on, were fashioned from laminated sheet styrene. There appear to be two barrels on these guns, so the top was made from a 3/4" piece of PVC pipe, and the bottom I made from a chunk of 2.5" steel tube I had lying around. I thought the bottom barrel looked more like a flame thrower than anything else, so I added a flame emitter from little bits of plastic and wire. I labeled one of the buttons on the side above the trigger "incinerate" to tie in to this motif. Rivets were replicated using small button head cap screws, glued in place.

The whole thing was spray painted, first in chrome silver, then black, green, and whatever else seemed to look right. I only did a little bit of weathering, chipping away at the paint around the corners and bolt heads. I figured it would get weathered on its own, soon enough.

The bolter was delivered to the game shop in 2009, but not before making an appearance at the local anime convention, NDK. From what I could tell everybody seemed to like it. They spent a lot of time pointing it at each other. I made a display rack for it, using 1/4" polycarb and Aves. It was painted to look like welded steel plate. The front of the rack had a space from which to hang tournament ribbons.

A couple years later the game shop went out of business. All items were auctioned off, and I never saw the bolter again. I've considered building another one, but first I have to finish off several hundred other modeling projects.

In Progress Shots

Image: Skull Skulpt

Image: Bolts

Image: Cat Scan

Image: Foam Shape

Image: Free Foaming

Image: Forward Grip

Image: Magazine

Image: Metal Paint

Image: Plastic

Image: Selector Switch

Finished

Image: Barrel

Image: Grip

Image: Selector

Image: Left

Image: Rear

Image: Wall Mount

Image: Vaporising Cal

Image: Is This Loaded?

Image: Such A Tiny Thing

Image: Vern Gets Even

Image: Proud Owner

Starship Modeler Home | Site Map | Gallery Main Page | Feedback