The Colossus SMG Project

[marauder]

Hey everyone, I've been really getting into Steampunk guns, old nerf and watergun paintjobs, and toy gun movie props lately.

I want to do some badass aesthetic mods to my Colossus when I get home. I have tentatively titled this, "The Colossus SMG Project" due to the paramilitary style I will be adopting. I want to use this thread to share my thoughts with everyone, and get thoughts in return. I have a few paintball parts laying around, some gun parts and accessories from Afghanistan, some pvc pipe, lots of paint, and a few other things. If we come up with something that I don't have parts for, I can always go out and get it.

Here is tentatively what I had in mind (picture courtesy of isoaker.com/ripped up with paint)


I want to put my skeleton butt stock on the Colossus. I made sure that the butt stock is to scale with the gun. I also want to put a PVC barrel on the longest shooting nozzle and add on my AK 74 front site post to that. I put the site post on backwards in the picture because I think it looks better that way, but I may end up switching it to face the other way. I also need input on how to attach the buttstock so that it is locked in secure to the gun.

Also, of great importance will be the paint job. I really need to decide how I'm going to paint this. One thing I love about the new Nerf Super Soakers is their designs are great for painting para-military/post apocalypse style. I love the Colossus' design and weight distribution, but we will be dealing with a lot more open areas on the gun, that is long areas of smooth plastic without detailing. Any input would be appreciated.

What color should I paint where?



Here are some paint jobs and aesthetic mods that I find really inspiring:






Microburst with toy gun front site post. A hair curler is being used for the grill detailing behind the front site post.

[SEAL]

Those paintjobs are breathtaking, but you'd have to be pretty good to make something like that, haha. Personally, I don't think the Colossus would look as good painted like that as Nerf blasters, but that's just my opinion. Maybe it'll turn out to be awesome. I'm eagerly awaiting the results.

[marauder]

It won't look as good just painted, but I think it'll look awesome with the addition of a butt stock, barrel, and front site post.

[Andrew]

I agree that the NERF blasters look better when painted than the Colossus would (just because they look more like real weapons to begin with. That said, done well it should still look pretty sweet.

As for colours, the majority of the blaster in black, grey, olive drab, or desert would look good, with differnt combinations for highlights. Green and black are obviously a good combo, but so are desert and black (thinking P99 desert tactical). Having black as the highlight would mean you don't need to paint the PC.

For the stock, the best way (aesthetically and structurally) would be to cut holes in the reservoir and mount it to the reservoir with bolts (from the inside). That would mean drilling and tapping the stock, and would need care to seal the reservoir.

My only concerns about the sight post are that it is too low (I know it's just for looks, but still), and will be at weird angles on other nozzle settings possibly interfering with the pump.

[marauder]

The gun fires out of the bottom nozzle, if I believe correctly. I will have to experiment with things to make sure it doesn't interfere with the pump. How would you bolt the butt stock in to the reservoir? The front of the butt stock isn't made to screw into a nut.

[Andrew]

It should be possible to drill a hole into the buttstock rods, and tap the threads into it (not sure how you'd get access to this stuff, you can buy thread tapping kits pretty cheap, but a drill press would be much better than a normal drill). The size of the hole you drill will completely depend on how thick the stock bars are, as well as how strong the metal they are made from is and of course what size bolts you can get. Some wedged shims between the bolt and inner surface of the reservoir will seat the bolts correctly. If you want, I'll make a pic of what I mean when I get home tomorrow. The reservoir neck opening should be wide enough to get a ratchet spanner in (for the bolt) but might need an extension bar on the ratchet to reach the bolt (given the awkward reservoir shape).

You're right, the Colossus does fire out of the bottom nozzle, so the sight's in the right place in that sense. It'll still look better than without, but it is more obvious that it serves no purpose if it's there. You could make a barrel anyway, and mount a sight to the area in front of the PC. You'd need to cut a notch into the blaster casing, and could mount it to one of the PC support pins (like when adding a strap loop).

A flash eliminator on the end of the barrel would also look quite good. A couple of picatinny or weaver rails might be nice additions (surefire torches for night battles?), maybe just behind the barrel/nozzle?

[marauder]

THIS is exactly why I made this post. I don't have a drill press, but I might be able to find someone who does, granted I won't be able to get to this for another 2 and a half months. The bottom of the front site post is actually a tactical rail, about 1.5" long. I was actually thinking about mounting a laser pointer on it, or somewhere else. I know that after about 25-28 feet it won't be accurate, but it will be a lot of fun, plus I think it would distract people and maybe even flip someone out for a second, allowing one of my teammates to rush in and hose them.

[Andrew]

Glad to be of help.

I can see the rail now. Having a couple more can't hurt though. For looks if nothing else. Those little rectangle details behind the nozzle and directly above the pump would be good places if you chose to add more. What the heck, why not have a pressure switch for the laser and/or surefire light, mounted somewhere on the hand grip/guard, or just behind the pump?

If I find time, between now and starting Uni in October, I might make up some paintjob suggestion pics. Can't guarantee anything like that at the minute (I'll end up getting caught up with all the little details ) but I think I'll at least be able to manage some pics of ways to attach the stock if that helps. I've got a week before I go away again, and I've got some images to upload for another thread. Not to mention finishing my school project (the homemade blaster which I was supposed to present last year ), finishing the work on the wiki, or finishing the 1500 overhaul.

EDIT: Now I think about it, I've got a hell of a lot to do after this holiday.

EDIT 2:

This is kinda what I was trying to get across. The wedged spacers allow the bolts to sit correctly. Washers or sealant may be needed between the spacers and the reservoir.

[DX]

by marauder » Sat Aug 11, 2012 12:02 pm

THIS is exactly why I made this post. I don't have a drill press, but I might be able to find someone who does

^ ---->

Of course, you'd have to wait 3 and a half months though. If it's really too cold during the war, we can have a "mod party".

[Andrew]

Some quick paint job ideas (I know the barrel is way too small, but you get the idea). You'll probably add other details on top of it to make it look less water gun-like:

Simple tactical design (Don't know what to do with the res. cap or trigger yet. You might want to drill the trigger.) which doesn't need much work to do:



Desert tactical:



Not sure what to call this, but it looks strangely good:



I've got a .png file to easily change the colours in paint. If you (or anyone) have any other colour scheme ideas I could just put them in.

[marauder]

I opted not to use the paintball parts and went with a more futuristic paintjob. My goal was to make the gun look like an old reliable beaten up sci fi/post apocalyptic rifle. Tried to make it look metallic and rusty... though you'd think guns would be unrustable in the future







While still under construction:



Anybody want it? I may or may not keep it. It was just a lot of fun to do. I documented the whole process by video, explaining how to make plastic look like metal. Just have to put the video clips together.

[the oncoming storm]

You are an expert on painting, the rust is not my taste but otherwise very cool.

[Fishfan]

Holy cow, that is one awesome paintjob. I love it. If I go in march, I wanna see it.

[SEAL]

Wow, very well done. What kind of paint do you use when painting guns? I thought I remember you saying that you used model paint (for model cars and such).

[marauder]

Paints used
Krylon Primer
Krylon Satin Black
Krylon Metallic Silver
Krylon Metallic Gold
Krylon Hammered Carbon
Generic Copper Acrylic
Testors Gloss Black Acrylic
Testors Yellow Acrylic
Testors Stop Sign Red Acrylic
Testors Metallic Blue Acrylic


I dissembled the whole gun before beginning. Then I put it back together without the nozzle selector, trigger, reservoir cap, pump, or any internals. Sanded the whole thing down with heavy grit sandpaper. Did extra sanding on all edges to give a nice worn finish. Coated the entire thing with primer. Then did several coats of satin black spray paint.

I made a wash and painted the entire gun with the wash to make it look like beaten up metal. To make the wash I pour water into a paper bowl and sprayed silver, gold, and hammer carbon into the water. I applied this unevenly over the gun, with the exception of all the edges which I painted.

To make the rust I made several different washes. The basic was mostly copper acrylic and gold spray with a little bit of silver, hammered carbon, yellow acrylic, and blue acrylic. I then rubbed most of the wash off of my paintbrush onto a paper towel and did kind of a dry rub where very little paint was actually on the brush. It seems counter intuitive to do a dry rub with a wash but I think it worked out well. Rust is uneven in color, so I made a few other washes. One was darker with more hammered carbon. The other was rather orange which was basically just red and yellow Testors acrylic with a little copper acrylic and gold spraypaint in water.

The pump is just satin black spraypaint over primer. I used black acrylic by Testors to paint the grooves in the front of the gun. This helps make the gun look like it's made from multiple metal sections rather than one giant plastic shell.

[atvan]

Nice paint job. I like the idea you had in mind with the yellow stripe, but I think that the colour doesn't quite work. I think mabe a dark blue might have been better to add some variety.