Captain Nemo's Rifle- and now for something completely different...

[Groot689]

Let me preface this post by readily admitting that this topic might not exactly fall under the "r/c submarine" project genre but I thought I would interject something completely different into the forum line up. I will completely understand if this violates the forum guidelines or member sensibilities and is removed or redirected to another corner of the forum.

During one of the last garage sales at Nautilus Drydocks, I purchased Scott Brodeen's Kit featuring Captain Nemo's Pneumatic Rifle. The price was was good and the quality of the kit appeared to be quite good so I purchased the kit in anticipation of my need for a quarantine project. Assembly seemed very straightforward although a set of instructions was included nonetheless. I could see that a fair amount of cleanup was needed prior to painting and some minor mods were needed to add more detail etc.

I decided to start the project by working on the base.

[Groot689]

I focused my attention on the rifle stock as well as the main cylinder by replacing many of the resin screws with real ones. The muzzle brake was next on my list and I quickly learned that painting each part before assembly saved major headaches down the road. Evercoat was used to fill in the seams and imperfections followed by Vallejo silver, brass and magnesium.

[Groot689]

The pneumatic cylinder was next. Test fitting the aluminum barrel quickly uncovered the need to enlarge the mounting brackets. I mounted a 1/2 threaded bolt to the end of the barrel and drilled out the receiver since a lot of the rifle stock's weight would be focused at this particular point. The rifle stock required very little prep work with the exception of replacing some of the screw heads.

[Groot689]

Finally the trigger guard, trigger, sights and pneumatic hose were painted and then added to the cylinder. Once each component had been secured using two part epoxy, I finished the final paint using flat black, copper, brass and aluminum.

[Groot689]

The finished rifle prior to mounting on the wall of my office. While there were a number of missed opportunities to fill in more imperfections and smooth a few more rough surfaces, I am generally pleased with the outcome.

[coryhenry]

That came out great, what size is it?

[Groot689]

Thanks Coryhenry, I believe that it is 30 inches long.

[a1965l]

Definetly something different.. give any thought to making it operational?

[trout]

That is a great piece for a Nautilus wall and you made it look super! Well done!