Quake II (1997) Blaster Design Planning

Quake II blaster replica prop series

This is part two of the series.  See the other parts below:

Part 1 – Quake II (1997) Blaster Research & Dimensions

Part 2 – Quake II (1997) Blaster Design Planning (this one)

Introduction

From the last post, now I’ve got the blaster proportions about right I need to think about how I’m going to build it.  I was planning on 3D printing this at first, but since then I’ve seen a laser cutter in action and now I’m thinking of cutting the parts out of 3mm plywood or something similar.  Because the design is boxy and almost entirely straight lines I think making it out of flat panels will achieve a cleaner finish than dealing with layer lines on a 3D print.

I also want to make it hollow to add some minor functionality.  Here is my functionality wish list in order of priority:

1. The 4 panels near the barrel need to light up
2. The blaster makes the firing sound from the game when the trigger is pulled
3. The magazine is removable
4. The blaster has some sort of actuator that gives it some recoil
5. Smoke effects from the ‘exhaust ports’ near the player’s thumb

So lets think about how to best model this.

Model break-up

I’m going to want the model to come apart to so I can put things inside it.  I’ve decided to break it into three main parts, as shown below.  This will allow me to add things inside easily.  The only tricky part (famous last words!) I can see will be the magazine as it spans both main pieces and there’s no detail for it.

Converting the solid model to flat pieces

Looking for tools

I’ve seen several good examples of laser-cut props;

Fallout 4 (2015) laser pistol

Moon (2009) GERTY 3000 ¾ scale replica

Foolishly, I thought there was a plug-in or tool that converted models to flat files for cutting.  After a lot of searching, I haven’t come across anything that straightforward.

Slicer for Fusion 360

Autodesk’s Slicer for Fusion 360 comes pretty close but fails where there’s a hole in the model, and doesn’t work well on intricate parts.  It does seem to do a good job of adding tabs and slots though.

I also sent a DXF file from Slicer to a fabricator for quote and the parts were too small for them to bother with – I would need to use a smaller laser cutter than they had.

As is visible in the above two images, parts 47 & 48 are actually the one panel with four holes, however the slicer cannot seem to handle putting holes in things so instead splits the panel into two.  This isn’t ideal as it just adds unnecessary joins.  Also the four holes aren’t handled well as the distance between each is too close to the thickness of the material to allow decent slots and tabs.  This would have to be adjusted manually in the DXF file before actually cutting.

I did consider fixing up the DXF file, but decided it would be too much work as so many panels had been broken in half.

Pepakura Designer

Pepakura Designer can flatten patterns but doesn’t take material thickness into account, as it’s designed for use with paper.

Without a tool or plug-in I’ll have to do it by hand.  This shouldn’t take too long (oh silly me).

Sketching the pieces

My plan is to create each piece as a separate component in position using the solid model as reference.  Each component will form part of an assembly as per the three main sections noted above.  Then I can lay all the components flat to create the laser cutting file.  Will this work?  Hopefully.

There are Fusion 360 plug-ins to help layout the components, so I’ll probably give those a go.  The one I know of is MapBoards.

Smaller details

Some of the smaller components may be better 3D printed than laser cut.  This should be easy enough to do given the solid model is already done.

Adding features

Light up barrel

I imagine the four cut-outs on each side of the barrel can be lit internally with some LEDs.  Either with an on-off function when you pull the trigger, or maybe something more fancy (such as a fade out) using a small microcontroller.

Sounds

I was originally thinking of using a BigDawg sound module, however I now have a few JQ8900-16P modules on hand so I will experiment with them.  They are smaller and more versatile than the BigDawg boards.

Recoil

I’d like to have the pistol recoil when fired.  I’ve seen this done with a solenoid, but I’d also like to try using a flywheel, I think that’d give the blaster a really interesting feel once it was spinning.

Smoke effects

I’ve never played with smoke effects before, so this will be new.  People have made little smoke machines from e-cigarettes and vape machines, but also from scratch with nichrome wire, a wicking material and a small fan.

What’s missing?

I’m sure I’ve missed some things.  I have an idea of how to achieve some features, but no detail.  I’ll have to design the remaining bits once the shell is complete.

Next steps

There’s plenty of room inside the shell for lights, batteries, perhaps an actuator for recoil or even a small smoke machine.

I think the next steps are:

• Model the bulk of the blaster as 2D shapes
• Add some small details as they are required
• Flatten the model for laser cutting
• Get some quotes for cutting
• Assemble the model as it is
• Start working on lights, etc