Okay, so I have this silly fantasy of attending an actual large convention sometime next year, and maybe wandering around in some steampunkish hall costumes. I’ve been on the lookout for weapons props I can repurpose.
I recently found two candidates at my local Goodwill thrift store, both for under $1 each.
This toy dueling pistol appears to have been sold around the time the ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ movies made it big. The metal parts are boring but solid, and the wood only needs a little work to make it lovely. I’ll probably resurface all metal except the blackened steel barrel, and trick out the whole gun with bronze stamped straps and rivets. If I want to go really crazy, I’ll add some structural components.
Skip centuries and universes, and here’s a ToyQuest laser gun. Awful colors, but the underlying plastic shape is good, with a lot of molded detail. It takes 2 AA batteries, and the red plastic parts light up with an internal LED. It makes a fun zapping noise, too.
Both of these can be steampunked out relatively easily, with sanding, added surface detail, and matte black and metallic paint finishes. Then I have to consider holsters, which is another project entirely…
Yup, just what I need, another couple of props projects.