Building Alucard's Casull part 1

It's the fictional gun I've longed for. Hellsing Arm's .454 Casull. Alucard's gun from the Hellsing manga. We've been redoing the siding on the house using pink insulating foam. There's plenty of extra of foam laying around -- and how hard could it be? There is a company that makes the official prop model on line. I saved the diagram from their website and printed it life size. At 13.5 inches it needed to be printed on 2 sheets which I taped together. I don't feel bad about it because this reproduction prop is not sold in the US. I begin work on my costume prop. Alucard's casull from Hellsing.   

And I very quickly found out what not to do.

For more pictures on this build go to the  deviantart gallery. This project has it's own folder.

I taped the printed diagram to the pink foam and began to cut.

The pink foam blank. It's cut into the rough shape. I really screwed this up. 

I didn't realize how bad this was at the time. I made the body too narrow and the grip was shaped all wrong. Here, I glued a block of foam under the barrel to make up the width. Next time I need to pay more attention to the printed pattern.

The trigger assembly. I figured the tiny pieces of foam would crack so I coated them with clear tacky glue it dried flexible.  And then I glued the pieces ogether. I had to cut these out separably because there was no way to cut it out of one block. Well maybe someone with a real steady hand could do it -- but not me.

I tested some glues and decided on the tacky glue, 

Another mistake--  tacky glue can't be sanded. Next time I'll use wood glue or gorilla glue. I hear you can sand them both. 

 I made sure to have a sharp blade, any dullness at all and the foam "tore" instead of cut. I have since read that pink foam can be sanded and dremeled for detailing!

Grey primer spray paint test. I was pretty sure the spray paint wouldn't work. I already had the paint around, so I just had to try. And just what I expected to happen, happened. The foam melted. This means I'll have to go out and buy foam safe paint.

EDIT. The spray paint that says universal paint has been tested on a scrap and it too melts foam. I don't like the way acrylic covers

I tried to fix some of the problems by gluing bits and pieces in place, I think now it would have been simpler to redo the blank. I didn't realize how bad it was yet.

Here's were I realized the back of the grip was not even close to the right shape, the rear of the grip is completely wrong. I gouged out too much while I was trimming. I'm gluing in a piece of filler and trying again.

And here's the bit glued in to the back of the grip. I also started to glue on some of the detail pieces. I decided to glue them down before painting. The grip looks better but there's still more to do.

For loads more pictures go to   http://maglorius.deviantart.com/gallery/30569123

WOOT!

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Princess Tutu messed with my head

Just finished the 26 episodes of "Princess Tutu". It starts out like typical magical girl anime (lets collect the shards of the handsome princes heart using the power of love!) with a transformation scene and everything. BUT...



*SPOILER BELOW*

Things get serious and veer in to mindfuck territory when

the characters realize they're playing parts in a story... and that the author is planning on writing a TRAGEDY.

Latest manga: Monster

I did it! I finished "Monster" 162 chapters manga. About a  brilliant brain surgeon who saves the life of a child who has been shot in the head. The child grows up to be a serial killer, a living monster. When the doctor gets accused of the murders, he decides to hunt down and kill his former patient. "Look at me, look at me, the monster inside me has grown this large. Chomp chomp. Munch munch. Gobble gobble. Gulp" (written in blood at the crime scene) It's creepy stuff. 162 chapters later the doctor catches up to the killer and.... 

*Spoilers below*

The doctor can't shot. He's a PUSSY and can't bring himself to take a life. Even though killing this guy would save all the future victims! 

*even bigger spoiler below* 

And here's a headbanger!

Someone else shoots the killer-- in the head! As the only brilliant brain surgeon around.... the doctor operates on the killer and saves his life AGAIN! 

(screams loudly and holds head)

Pepita

My co worker tells me Pepita has calmed down somewhat and is beloved by her family. Lucky mouse could have been eaten by that snake, but now has a home, a wheel and all the bedding she could ever want to fluff. Ahh. She has no idea how lucky a mouse she truly is.
For footage of the snake eating go to  Feeding time at Fort Discovery

Pepita pictures!

Pepita the wonder mouse snuggles in her bedding, awwww...

Pepita has a wheel!

Pepita like snacks!

Dumb Cat

 Poor Scabby-pud is limping terrible this morning. He clamped his jaws on my wrist while I was half asleep in bed and wouldn't let go. I came awake confused and in pain. Steve came to my rescue and chucked the growling hissing enraged puss away from us. Spunkles must have landed on his bad leg when he flew across the room. I'm sitting here with holes in my inflamed wrist... feeling bad for the DUMB CAT.