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Staar Community Member
Joined: 04 Feb 2008 Posts: 757 Location: AUSTRALIA
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Posted: Mon Feb 04, 2008 10:06 am Post subject: Pflager Katsumata Series D - UPDATED 30th April (Pic Heavy) |
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I stumbled across an old (edit) Pflager Katsumata Series D - II 2018 Model blaster that had been built and modified by the original owner.
Although it was in a very poor condition, I thought it presented a unique opportunity to experiment and so I acquired it with the intention of completely stripping and rebuilding it from scratch.
Unfortunately, the previous owner had decided on some quite serious alterations to the original 6-year old kit and on further inspection, I also noted that the frame was slightly warped. Abandoning my original idea to revamp, I decided that it would be far more fun to modify the frame slightly, ignore some of the other modifications and concentrate on doing a proper paint-job to reflect the blaster as it might have been at the end of a long, wet shoot.
Last edited by Staar on Sun Sep 13, 2009 3:38 am; edited 5 times in total |
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KarlBud420 Community Member
Joined: 19 Apr 2006 Posts: 125 Location: Ashburn, VA
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Posted: Mon Feb 04, 2008 12:03 pm Post subject: |
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Wow!
I'm not sure if it's your work, the photography, or a little of both, but that looks spectacular!
Kudos!
Bruce |
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amish Community Guide
Joined: 11 Apr 2006 Posts: 1433 Location: Outside Philadelphia
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Posted: Mon Feb 04, 2008 12:30 pm Post subject: |
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KarlBud420 wrote: | Wow!
I'm not sure if it's your work, the photography, or a little of both, but that looks spectacular!
Kudos!
Bruce |
Agree 100%! Plus welcome to the community!
Also, I believe the EDC was actually a Doppleganger PKD I. Rick Ross who is a member here is I think selling reissues of these. EDC in the past, acquired the mold for this gun from Rick Ross to make these. However, I think you will have a heck of a lot better transaction and kit if you contact Rick Ross (doppelganger01).
Here is one of his sale threads:
http://www.propsummit.com/viewtopic.php?t=627 _________________ www.propsummit.com
www.bladerunnerprops.com |
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ChrisNightingale Community Member
Joined: 02 Jan 2008 Posts: 33 Location: Luton, UK
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Posted: Mon Feb 04, 2008 2:11 pm Post subject: |
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Wow that looks amazing - the colours are spot on - I love what looks like the WorldCon corrosion on the Steyr parts!!! Lovely colour on the grips as well.
________
30 rock forums
Last edited by ChrisNightingale on Fri Mar 11, 2011 10:43 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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phase pistol Community Member
Joined: 04 Nov 2006 Posts: 1147
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Posted: Mon Feb 04, 2008 3:18 pm Post subject: |
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Blastastic!
I am personally proud BTW to see how many blasters these days are saved from a plain jane "black and silver" paint job, thanks to the subtleties revealed in the Worldcon pix. Good work all.
- k |
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Noeland Community Guide
Joined: 24 Oct 2006 Posts: 1328
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Posted: Mon Feb 04, 2008 3:50 pm Post subject: |
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Hey, that looks cool. Post up some detail closer shots of the work you did! Love to hear about the method used too.
PS- yes, you should avoid EDC and Chip (charles wallce studios on ebay) at all costs. _________________ I don't have enough blasters! |
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docatomic Community Member
Joined: 19 Jan 2008 Posts: 37 Location: NYC
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Posted: Mon Feb 04, 2008 4:08 pm Post subject: |
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Really cool. Looks like it's ready for business... |
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Mr_Creepy Community Member
Joined: 24 Nov 2006 Posts: 201 Location: Kansas
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Posted: Mon Feb 04, 2008 8:39 pm Post subject: |
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That's quite an intro--welcome aboard!
Amazing work, I agree with Noeland, I'd like to hear about your techniques as well. _________________ - Brian (formerly ToothTech)
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Staar Community Member
Joined: 04 Feb 2008 Posts: 757 Location: AUSTRALIA
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Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2008 7:49 am Post subject: |
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phase pistol wrote: | Blastastic!
I am personally proud BTW to see how many blasters these days are saved from a plain jane "black and silver" paint job, thanks to the subtleties revealed in the Worldcon pix. Good work all.
- k |
Firstly, allow me to express my grateful thanks to everyone for the warm welcome to this forum. I was delighted when I discovered you about a month ago and I visit regularly to see what marvels are being created.
A close second, is my profound thanks to you Karl T. for making the images of the Worldcon blaster available to us all. It has arguably raised the bar for all of us seeking the perfect solution to blaster emulation.
As someone privileged to have been involved in the movie industry for a good number of years, there are few things I enjoy more than spending time at Stan Winston's studio or at Industrial Light + Magic. In these factories of excellence, I simply relish the beauty of the Terminator or Jurassic Park animatronics or the perfect models of Star Wars, ET or Indiana Jones. Looking at Karl's fabulous photographs gives me a similar thrill because there is nothing I like more than viewing an item that looks 100% authentic - irrespective of if it actually works or not.
As requested I have included some close-up shots of the EDC blaster.
Firstly let me stress that this model is really intended for display only. The process used to finish the piece is reasonably robust, but it is not designed for day-to-day use. The biggest challenge of making any weapon, is to successfully emulate a metal finish. The greatest problem with normal paints and other finishes is that the scale of the metal particles are usually wrong - so its possible that your finish can end up looking a little contrived.
In the case of this blaster I wanted to strike a middle point between a new, pristine weapon and the very used prop featured in Karl's beautiful reference pix. As any of you who are familiar with weapons know, a piece owned by a professional individual is rarely rusted or neglected because your life depends on the weapon working at all times. In the case of Deckard I would have assumed that his weapon would only feature the wear and rust of a single day because he would typically clean the firearm when he finished his duty. I figured that since he worked in such a wet environment his blaster would sport rust typical of drops of rain as opposed to general rusted areas.
1) After scrubbing the entire frame down with soap and water and after restoring the blaster to a level that was acceptable to me, I masked off the base of the butt and used a heavy-duty aluminium paint and allowed it to dry.
2) I then reverse masked the silver butt and painted the rest of the frame in a flat black paint.
3) Using a technique used by the Allied forces in WW2 to confuse their Nazi captors (they manufactured dummy weapons out of everything from wood to soap and more), I used a box cutter to shave the 'lead' from a large 6B pencil. Using my finger and at other times, a soft cloth, I rubbed the graphite into the body.
I purposefully chose a flat black finish for the rest of the blaster simply because I prefer a flat black to a satin or gloss finish. If you prefer the gloss finish, then you would need to apply the gloss coat after you have applied the graphite because it is possible that the graphite will not adhere to the shiny surface.
4) Rust is a color that can range from almost black through deep red/brown to the usual red rust color we are used to. It is a good idea to build up the rust patches from dark to light - working lightly with a small paintbrush and using a combination of Black, Cadmium Yellow and Napthol Crimson acrylic paint. The secret is to use visual reference and to keep your work small and fine. Don't rush this process because it will ruin the entire effect.
5) Finally, its NOT advised that you varnish or "fix" the graphite, because as soon as you apply a coating the iridescent characteristics of the 'metal' finish will be compromised.
This is the reason this item is designed to be displayed and not handled excessively.
Thank you all for allowing me to indulge. I must stress that this approach is my chosen technique and I am NOT suggesting that it is perfect, but perhaps it will give others some fresh ideas with which to approach their projects.
best wishes
M |
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phase pistol Community Member
Joined: 04 Nov 2006 Posts: 1147
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Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2008 1:58 pm Post subject: |
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Thanks for sharing your secrets, Staar!
It really is a very fine piece, the "look" is just perfect. Excellent work.
And thanks for the kudos!
- k |
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hirohawa Community Member
Joined: 18 May 2006 Posts: 1067
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Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2008 2:15 pm Post subject: |
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Incredible work! |
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docatomic Community Member
Joined: 19 Jan 2008 Posts: 37 Location: NYC
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Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2008 3:11 pm Post subject: |
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Graphite! Brilliant...!
However, I'm a bit confused... When you say you painted the body flat black and then rubbed in the graphite, do you mean just the black parts of the gun, or the barrel and receiver as well? If the latter, does the graphite really give it that much of a metal color? That's amazing -- I'd never have guessed!
(If you only meant the black parts... How did you achieve the metal effect on the "bare" sections?)
I also appreciate the note about why metallic paints don't ever look exactly right -- that bit about the metal particles would never have occurred to me.
I'm currently modding an Off World, and a priority for me is getting the non-black parts to look like real steel. I've spoken to a number of different people and have gotten a number of different suggestions... I suppose I'll do a lot of test runs on scraps of metal and ABS to see what works best.
I'd like to have a finished product that I can handle. From what you've described, the graphite isn't the best way to go in this case. Too bad, because it looks gorgeous! |
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Nexus6 Community Member
Joined: 15 May 2006 Posts: 473 Location: Off-World Colonies
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Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2008 3:25 pm Post subject: |
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docatomic wrote: | Graphite! Brilliant...!
However, I'm a bit confused... When you say you painted the body flat black and then rubbed in the graphite, do you mean just the black parts of the gun, or the barrel and receiver as well? If the latter, does the graphite really give it that much of a metal color? That's amazing -- I'd never have guessed!
(If you only meant the black parts... How did you achieve the metal effect on the "bare" sections?) |
Thanks for asking that, cuz I had the same question. That being: is the receiver/bolt/barrel painted flat black (just like the mag, the cylinder covers, etc), with the addition of the rubbed in graphite? If so, the effect is quite impressive... |
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ChrisNightingale Community Member
Joined: 02 Jan 2008 Posts: 33 Location: Luton, UK
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Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2008 3:35 pm Post subject: |
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Nexus6 wrote: | docatomic wrote: | Graphite! Brilliant...!
However, I'm a bit confused... When you say you painted the body flat black and then rubbed in the graphite, do you mean just the black parts of the gun, or the barrel and receiver as well? If the latter, does the graphite really give it that much of a metal color? That's amazing -- I'd never have guessed!
(If you only meant the black parts... How did you achieve the metal effect on the "bare" sections?) |
Thanks for asking that, cuz I had the same question. That being: is the receiver/bolt/barrel painted flat black (just like the mag, the cylinder covers, etc), with the addition of the rubbed in graphite? If so, the effect is quite impressive... |
Absolute ditto - same question from me!!! - the receiver part looks amazing but I can't believe that was matt black with pencil graphic - if it is - I'm gonna revisit my attempt!!!
________
SUZUKI MIGHTYBOY HISTORY
Last edited by ChrisNightingale on Thu Feb 17, 2011 12:59 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Staar Community Member
Joined: 04 Feb 2008 Posts: 757 Location: AUSTRALIA
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Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2008 7:29 pm Post subject: |
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ChrisNightingale wrote: | Nexus6 wrote: | docatomic wrote: | Graphite! Brilliant...!
However, I'm a bit confused... When you say you painted the body flat black and then rubbed in the graphite, do you mean just the black parts of the gun, or the barrel and receiver as well? If the latter, does the graphite really give it that much of a metal color? That's amazing -- I'd never have guessed!
(If you only meant the black parts... How did you achieve the metal effect on the "bare" sections?) |
Thanks for asking that, cuz I had the same question. That being: is the receiver/bolt/barrel painted flat black (just like the mag, the cylinder covers, etc), with the addition of the rubbed in graphite? If so, the effect is quite impressive... |
Absolute ditto - same question from me!!! - the receiver part looks amazing but I can't believe that was matt black with pencil graphic - if it is - I'm gonna revisit my attempt!!! |
Hi all, sorry if I did not explain myself properly.
With the exception of the sliver butt plate, you need to spray the entire frame a flat black. You ONLY apply graphite to the bare steel areas - the rest remains black. I choose to leave the black body areas a 'flat' color because I prefer it that way even though Karl's photographs seem to indicate a satin or semi-gloss finish.
The application of the graphite gives the selected body parts a bare metal finish and yes to docatomic's question, the soft 6B pencil graphite simulates metal perfectly.
BTW its those metal areas you apply your rust patterns to.
I used tiny applications of grey and silver paint to show scratches on the black body parts...
Hope this is more helpful |
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andy Community Guide
Joined: 01 Nov 2006 Posts: 6237 Location: Rochester, NY
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Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2008 8:09 pm Post subject: |
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Truly photogenic and a great tutorial. I have used graphite in the past too. Looks better than mine had come out as well. Thank you very much.
As far as the PKD-2, Rick has yet to make a new edition of it, but may if the interest level is good enough. I know he also needs to get orders for a few more PKD-1 10th anniversary kits too, for him to make too much more of anything. I will also reiterate that buying from EDC studios and Charles Wallice is only okay if you are into throwing away money. Many here have had bad experinces with him, and his reputaion is to send you only excuses, if even that for your orders. The PKD-1 is a much cooler looking gun anyway. I would love to see one done up like this. |
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Staar Community Member
Joined: 04 Feb 2008 Posts: 757 Location: AUSTRALIA
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Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2008 9:04 pm Post subject: |
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andy wrote: | Truly photogenic and a great tutorial. I have used graphite in the past too. Looks better than mine had come out as well. Thank you very much.
As far as the PKD-2, Rick has yet to make a new edition of it, but may if the interest level is good enough. I know he also needs to get orders for a few more PKD-1 10th anniversary kits too, for him to make too much more of anything. I will also reiterate that buying from EDC studios and Charles Wallice is only okay if you are into throwing away money. Many here have had bad experinces with him, and his reputaion is to send you only excuses, if even that for your orders. The PKD-1 is a much cooler looking gun anyway. I would love to see one done up like this. |
Cheers Andy!!
Fortunately it seems I missed the issue of dealing with Charles since this was rescued from a bored collector who had tried his own hand at some form of customisation.
I had not intended to do another, but since there is such a following here, I might see about acquiring one of Rick's brilliant pieces - and yes, I do agree his PKD-1 is simply sensational.
best to you mate |
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airhead Community Member
Joined: 31 Oct 2006 Posts: 43 Location: Indiana, USA
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Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2008 9:56 pm Post subject: |
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Graphite was the first thing that came to my mind when I read about and then used the Testor's Metalizer paints. The mfr data sheet describes obtaining a more realisitic metal appearance by lightly buffing the dried paint. It works remarkably well. I imagined it bending all of those graphite crystals over flat. Testor sells a sealant for the metalizer paints that does provide a more wear resistant covering without greatly deminishing the metal effect. At least you don't come away with what looks like graphite on your fingers when you touch a piece so painted.
Now down to the important complimentary section - very nice work, indeed! As has been said before, Karl's (with Rich's assistance) pictures from WorldCon have reset everyone's expectations of what the blaster should look like. The level of detail on your PKD-1 really shows what can be done with what is really basically a nicely formed lump of plastic. I hope to see more of your work.
David |
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ChrisNightingale Community Member
Joined: 02 Jan 2008 Posts: 33 Location: Luton, UK
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Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2008 2:51 am Post subject: |
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Right time to seek out a 6B pencil and quick - I've gotta try that technique out!!!
________
MARIJUANA TEST
Last edited by ChrisNightingale on Thu Feb 17, 2011 1:00 am; edited 1 time in total |
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IGNITERS Community Member
Joined: 14 Feb 2007 Posts: 251 Location: EDMONTON
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Posted: Wed Feb 06, 2008 1:26 pm Post subject: caution... |
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I hope that nobody has an urge to visit Charles ( ...but I sent it out last week) Wallace He is a borderline scam artist who has caused many people grief!
Oh and yes the work on YOUR blaster is SUPERB! _________________ I've seen things ....you people appear to be intrested in ... |
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You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum
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