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DIY Weapon Effects


ultraman zoffy

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Feel bad posting so many images in the collection thread of these, so I figured I'd start a thread for the weapon effects projects that I'm working on currently. I'll update this with how to's soon, but if you're an action figure collector/customizer, you probably know all the techniques that I used already...

Update: DIY Weapon Effects Tools of the Trade -

  • Low Temp Hot Glue Gun
  • High Temp Hot Glue (multi-temp also works, but high temp will come out of the gun slower for slightly better control) EDIT: I forgot to mention earlier... but if you aren't into painting your glue sculptures, you can find colored hot glue to use. I usually order colored hot glue by bulk, but ran out before I decided to do my missile effects. I finally found another source, and I'll be redoing all my missile effects in white colored hot glue. Looks tons more legit... but, if you're doing gun effects, clear glue with clear paints is the way to go. However, I did do my VF-25G sniper rifle effect with colored glue coated with glow in the dark paint, and it is pretty sick. Pics of it when my 25G gets in. ;)
  • Bowl or Glass of Cold Water
  • Paper Clips or Thin Gauge Aluminum Wire (or any other bendable wire depending on what you're making an effect for)
  • Earthquake Putty! (Key ingredient that'll allow you to mount your effects on practically anything without damaging your toy's paint)
  • Aluminum Foil or Ziploc Bag type plastic (to protect and mold the contours of the surface of you are trying to make effects for)
  • Acrylic Paint (for gun effects, I use Tamiya Clear Acrylics; comes in blue, yellow, red, orange, and green; I've used simple Apple Barrel brand flats for missile effects, but I'll probably try Tamiya flats in the future to see if they stick better to the glue)
  • Utrecht Spray On White Primer (not necessary if you can find a paint that sticks well)
  • Another bowl or glass of water (to thin your flat acrylics with for an even and smooth application on your effect)
  • Wooden dowels, leftover toy sprue plastic, or just straight up unused Yamato missile pack ins (1/48 super pack missiles = win) for raw missile making material

There are numerous great effects tutorials out there, and rather than make a whole new one, I'd rather give credit to the folks whose sites I learned from by linking to them. These techniques can be applied to ANYTHING; I've been doing action figs for a long while before making things for my valks. I got sick of having everything just standing there in my display, and after creating my metal stands, I wanted to make my display "pop" even more. Yay for action figure effects... lol. Go nuts! Oh... I'd definitely recommend practicing how to handle your glue gun before trying anything particularly detailed. "Stringing" will be your biggest problem; you'll need to learn how long to hold your gun in place and how to "swirl" it away from your piece so that the strings melt back into the glue you just laid. You'll know what I mean when you get into it. =)

Okay, so best place to start is Jin Saotome's Custom Figure page. AMAZING site that'll get you going on just about anything you're interested in making for your collection:

http://www.angelfire...up/HotGlue.html

Joe Customs is another site with a lot of great tips and tricks:

http://wiki.joecusto...stomizing_Guide

Finally, good old fashioned Youtube. Here's a great vid that highlights flame effects, but covers the basic technique you're going for perfectly:

There you go! Have fun and get creative... looking forward to what everyone comes up with.

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Edited by ultraman zoffy
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Thanks for sharing ultraman! I think that's a cool idea and I love what you did with the glue! I wouldn't think of using that on a model, but this has exapnded my ideas for materials to use.

I use it on models, but my favorite effect on a completely finished model is to drill a shallow hole, put ground match head powder into it, then indirectly heat it so it flares up. EXTREMELY realisitc. To use this on your toys, just use a thin piece of shaped plastic and double sided tape it to your pride and joy. The same thing could be used for panels "shot out."

P.S. An old trick I used as a kid for "scars" was to drip white glue on a smooth surface, let it dry and color with crayons! The same thing with painted damage affect could be used on your model. Oh yeah, I just wet the back to make it stick, but I'd use tape on your toy. - MT

Edited by MechTech
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Great!!! if it have LED light that would be Super!!!! ^_______^

I did weapon effect with my vf-27 too. I use transparency sheet for overhead projector. It has 3 layer - 2 lighting effect by hand paint and glowing effect by airbrush

DSCN0015.JPGDSCN0122.JPG

How I'd love something like that for the SDF-1

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I'm making a set of 1/48 gun pod effects for Smut Peddler right now... it's amazing the amount of glue these require compared to the 1/60's.. lol. Also recently made a sniper rifle effect for my VF-25G, and currently working on missile bursts for my VF-25S and "exhaust flares" for my VT-1's fast packs. Pics of those later. :)

gallery_14163_548_1060139.jpg

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I like the vf25 effects alot more than the vf1s'

Yeah... I tried to emulate the Yamato GBP effects as much as possible, but for the VF-25's, I just did my own thing based off screenshots. Since Frontier was CG'd, I think it also shows the difference between old school hand drawn anime vs. modern techniques.

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I'm tempted to buy a glue gun and try this out myself. It seems like it would take a lot of practice.

For the white smoke trails, is that just painted white or did you use a type of glue that is white instead of clear?

Also, how strong are those thin strands? Would they break off easily if one accidentally bumps one of the pointy strands with a finger?

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I'm making a set of 1/48 gun pod effects for Smut Peddler right now... it's amazing the amount of glue these require compared to the 1/60's.. lol. Also recently made a sniper rifle effect for my VF-25G, and currently working on missile bursts for my VF-25S and "exhaust flares" for my VT-1's fast packs. Pics of those later. :)

gallery_14163_548_1060139.jpg

I'd like to point out that Wolverine's healing factor isn't what it used to be.

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