So how do you make a prop gun without using any powertools? With gratuitous amounts of foam!
In seriousness though, I greatly admire prop makers who can sculp and cast and build lifelike replica weapons. I think I admire them so much because I am currently not capable of creating something like that. As a cosplayer that lives in a small apartment its pretty much impossible to use power tools and work on large prop projects. I’m sure there are a lot of other cosplayers that share in my situation. We have to get a little creative sometimes to create the props to go with our costumes and this is a method of making prop guns that requires 0 power tools (and is very cheap).
This method works best for guns that are geometric shapes and without a lot of curved angles. I’ve used this method to make Mami’s riffle, Backlace and Kiyone’s Pistol. For the purpose of this tutorial I will be using Backlace as the example. Before we start here are some examples of guns that are good for this method and guns that are not so good.
As you can see, the guns on the left are made up of simple geometric shapes. Aside from the barrel most of the surfaces are flat. The guns on the right however have many complex curved surfaces.
Once you know what you are making you will need to gather your supplies.
What you Will Need
- Craft Foam
- Filler (this will be explained in the process)
- Paper Clay
- Wood Glue
- Paint Brush (that you can get glue covered)
- Paper
- Paints
- Clear coat
- Scissors
- Xacto Blade
Got everything? Let’s begin!
Step 1:
Make your pattern! It is important to figure out exactly how you will be creating your gun. Some guns are made up of multiple shapes and others are more basic. For Backlace I patterned out the side, the hammer and the raised portion. Since the rest of the gun was simply joining the two sides I knew that simply measuring the length and width and cutting strips would be enough and that it was not necessary to pattern those parts.
Step 2:
Cut out your craft foam and fill it. This step can vary depending on what you are using to fill your gun. An easy way to explain this is that you are essentially going to be making a box out of craft foam. So that it is sturdy you need to fill it with something. For backlace I used pink insulation foam as the center filler and green dense upholstery foam on either side to create the raised areas. I used these materials because I already had them. You could also use things like foam core bord, 5mm craft foam, cardboard, ect. Anything that will give you strength without adding excess weight. If your shape is more complex you can create your craft foam “box” and fill it with model magic or expanding foam. For backlace I cut my 3 pieces of filler out and glued them together with hot glue. I then cut out my craft foam and began covering the shape with pieces of the foam. You can use multiple layers of foam to add design work or create raised areas. On Mami’s rifle both sides are double layered with the floral motif cut out of the top layer. For Backlace I used 2 layers on the sides to create the small square indent and 2 layers on the front to create the illusion of a barrel.
Step 3:
Cover your gun is a whole lot of glue. Yep, that’s correct, you are going to cover the crap out of that gun with wood glue. You don’t have to water it down, just apply several coats of glue. I usually do anywhere between 5-10. The wood glue is going to seal your craft foam as well as add strength.
Step 4:
Sand it. Once you have finished your coats of glue you want to sand the whole gun and make sure you smooth the surface out. This is the first pass at sanding but you will be doing it again a bit later. It is still best to try and get everything as smooth as possible.
Step 5:
Gesso time! Gesso is an acrylic based primer. I use gesso so that in our next step the clay we will use the fill in gaps sticks better to the surface. Give it 3-4 coats.
Step 6:
Fill in any gaps. Use paper clay (an air dry clay that you can purchase at hobby stores) to fill in any gaps or imperfections. Sometimes you might have an area that isn’t perfectly level or a small gap created by the craft foam coming together at an edge. Use the clay to fill in and smooth out these imperfections. Let your clay dry. Once everything is dry you will want to do another round of sanding to smooth out both the clay and the gesso.
Step 8:
Prime and paint! Before I painted I gave the gun 2 coats of a spray primer. Then I used 2-3 coats of a glossy white krylon and then hand painted the blue details with craft acrylic. Make sure if your prop has detail work to pattern out your design and use small brushes and thin coats! You do not want to free hand anything because if something gets messed up you have to reprime and repaint.
Step 9:
It’s almost done, your last step is to give your prop 2-3 coats of a clear coat. I prefer a spray acrylic, and for backlass I used a high gloss. The clear coat will help protect your prop and give it a uniform finish.
Step 10:
Be a badass!
