This is a project I started a while ago and due to a prodigious lack of time had to put down for a month or two. This is a modified Buzz Bee Rapid Fire Rifle. When I started this project it was with the goal of making something a little more detailed then my previous pieces. Though at the same time I wanted to avoid the super over-complicated look that so many steampunk props have and I wanted to make sure that everything at least looked like it could have a purpose. So this is what I came up with to satisfy both of those ideas.

The logic behind the gun is that the vial of blue liquid is the power source and it runs up the hose directly behind where the round is loaded into the barrel. The gear motif had a little less thought put into it. Mostly I just put it there because it looks cool however I figured that since it was near all the actual moving parts of the gun I could fake some purpose for it.

That brings me to how I made the damned thing. I started by chopping off the front of the gun and painting the barrel. First with a coat of black and then with a coat of gold rub n' buff applied sparingly. After that was plenty dry I glued on a lamp finial to act as something like a really steamy bayonet. Then I painted the pho-wood finish on the handle of the gun (it looks better in person.) I started with a base coat of brown, then I dry brushed on a very pale yellow, and finished it off with many many thin coats of red, brown, and black, with a significant amount of sanding between coats. I was going for an aged lacquered wood type of look, you guys will have to tell me if I succeeded. After letting the wood finish dry completely (several days) and gouging up the gun, I masked it all off and gave the rest of the gun a base coat using black hammered paint. Next I started on the hole and tube of blue water. The tube is made from a lightbulb that I very carefully broke, filled with blue water and then closed off with hot glue. Then I cut the hole in the stock with a dremel, cut some pieces of acrylic to size to close off the gap, drilled holes in the acrylic for for the blue tube thing and the screw, and lastly glued in all together with 4 glue sticks and about 1/4 tube of super glue. I cleaned up the seam where the pieces of plastic meet with a chisel and some wood putty and I touched up the black paint. After that was dry I gave the black part of the gun a coat of "Spanish Copper" rub n' buff and then a coat of gold to give it a warm brass look. Finally I finished it off by gluing on the gear pieces with super glue and the tube (made from plumbing tube, pvc pipe and more blue water) with epoxy. A coat of clear coat and that was it.

If you like this, make sure to pay a visit to my Steampunk Forum TheMonocleChronicle.com