Meks Corner - Scratch Building a Big Gun "Zzap Gun"

Scratch building the Zzap Gun is really easy. The listed materials and tools are listed below.

Materials

• 1/4" Square Plastic Tubing
• 1/8" Angle Iron Plastic Stripping - Optional
• 1/8" x .040" Plastic Stripping
• 1/4" Plastic Tubing
• 3/16" Plastic Tubing
• .040" Plastic Sheeting
• .080" Plastic Sheeting

Tools

• Xacto Knife
• Micro Miter and Saw
• Sand Paper and Files
• Glue
• Drill with 1/8" Drill Bit
• Die Set with 3/16" and 3/4" Punch - If you do not have a Die Set a circle cutter will do.

Now that we have the materials and tools, lets get to cutting.

Step 1 - Basic's of the Tire Build

First we are going to use our die to make (4) 3/4" round circle bits out of the .080" or 2mm plastic sheeting. You will glue two of them together to make your tires. While we have the die out, make (2) 3/16" round circle bits out of the .040" or 1mm plastic sheeting. These are for the hubs. Glue them to the center of your tires.

Tires

Hub Cap

Step 2 - Making the Tread

Now that you have your tires done, take your .040" x .125 "1/8" Strip and cut it into a lot of little 6mm long pieces. Make sure you have enough for the tires, it will take a lot of them. Placing them on the tires centered and making sure there is a small gap between them will make them look good. Now you could cut the tips of the corners off to rough them up some, it takes a long time to do, but its worth it in the end.

Tire Tread

Step 3 - Axles and Frame

Also cut some 3/16" Round tubing into 1/2" lengths you will need 2 of them for the axles, you will glue these to the center of the tire. DO NOT GLUE THE TIRES TO THE FRAME Now take your 1/4" Square tubing and make several cuts. You will need (1) 3/4" long cut, (1) 1/2" long cut, (1) 1/4" cut, and (1) 1" cut. Take the 1" and the 1/4" cut and glue them together, with the 1/4" piece in the center of the 1" cut. You now have the frame. Not bad so far yet huh?

Tires with Axles attached

Axle Frame

Step 4 - Cutting the Gun Floor and Mounts

You will need to cut a 1" long by 3/4" piece of .040" plastic sheeting. You can taper the ends if you want on one side. Now cut (2) 3/4" long by 1/2" wide piece of .040" plastic sheeting. This is your gun mount, just like the floor you can taper the ends if you like to make it look more orky. Also cut your 3/16" H - Column strip into a 1 5/8" long strip, taper the end to about 45 degrees. Take your 1/4" strip of .040" plastic stripping and cut a 1/2" piece and drill a 1/8" hole in it. Now make sure you rough up the Gun Floor, Gun Mounts, and Trailer Hitch to make them look used and orky.

Floor Mount

Gun Mount

H - Column

Trailer Hitch

Putting it all together

Step 5 - Making the Gun

You will take your 2" cut of 3/16" tubing and your 3/4" and 1/2" long piece of square tubing. Take the 3/4" piece sq tubing and glue the gun mounts onto it, make sure you straighten it up by laying on the table and adjusting before the glue sets. This is optional if you don't include any details on the Gun Mounts you can attach it to the gun floor using 1/8" Angle Stripping. Take the 2" barrel and feed it threw the sq tubing, make sure to leave a 1/4" or so sticking out so you can attach the other piece of sq tubing later. Glue the barrel into place. Then take the 1/4' tubing that you cut up in small sections and cleaned and slide them onto the barrel and space them. Make sure you leave 1/4" or so so you can slide on the taper of the muzzle you will make using the Miter saw. Clean and attach the taper to the muzzle.

Barrel

Gun Mounts with Taper and Finished Barrel

Power Supply

Step 6 - Rivets and Gubbin's

To make the rivets I used a punch from Fiskars that is 1/16". The cushioned handle makes it tolerable for long use. Also don't forget to ORK it up some with gubbins and insignia's. I normally cut out a lot of triangles or teeth like bits of varying sizes to place everywhere.

Made ya sel' a Zzap 'un, not bad 'or a snotling beginner hur hur! - Skrapteef