i was back and forth over posting these wips in my all 2021 thred or stand alone. i'd like some specific feedback/suggestions on these, but also the comparison pics might help someone else. so here goes.
i bought several MGR mini guns 5 or more years ago. at the time i thought they were movie accurate and crazy good price. not until earlier this year did i take the time to research the predator team guns in depth. i soon realized the MGR were a bit too long, and then that they were more inline with terminator (possibly same movie prop) mini gun specs. i actually had the new sculpt "yoke" from that mini gun and gave it away/sold it. so i set about cutting up one of the MGR mini's trying to add more elements present in the predator.
blain's "old painless"
lots of cut, fit, cut some more to get here. i realize the barrels are larger than .30cal in our scale, but i couldn't resist the seemingly easy route to the accurate open ended barrels.
here are some pics along side other similar versions. the final faction and modern joe versions (left) ,and an unaltered MGR and fortnite (right).
my barrels are the fill straws from those (buncha?) water balloons. the metal elements are thick steel pins cut and bent to shape.
i have had it apart too many times. here is the almost finished build taken apart. after the first 5 or so times i had to wrangle the 6 barrels back under the rings i got smart and used the red straw as a slave pin to hold everything together as i made adjustment. it has over 20 parts.
macs m60 is a shortend version with a forward grip. marauder makes an exact version of it, but i wanted a larger version since my figure is pretty large. i actually made 3 shown here
l-r MGR, unknown with added sw p-grips, me joe w/frwd me joe grip, and unknown w/fwd sw grip
my favorite right now is the unknown one with 2 sw grips
billy's rifle is about as iconic as old painless. simply a full length ar with a shotgun mounted underneath. i think my base rifle is an older mgr version with detachable mag. i made the mag from another mgr mag cut down, but i'll probably cut another fortnite mag like dutch's bellow. i just have it wired together right now.
here with dutch's rifle and the fn gun i got his mag from
dutch carries a full length ar with a grenade launcher and unique metal forend. i have a joe? version but it seemed small in my figures hand. more on that in a second. here is the same mgr base rifle as billy's with a hulkbuster? m4 detachable launcher and fn mag. just wired together.
here it is next to the joe version. they seem awful close in size in the side by side pic. i might bash them together or modify the joe rifle to be a tad longer and go with it.
poncho carries an mp5 and unique grenade launcher. i couldn't find a good clear pic of the launcher from tip to tail. it was described as using a multi flare launcher and hk furniture. i think the fortnite hk-ish silenced subgun works pretty well as a base. i added a "drum" from the fn grenade launcher. still lots to figure out as this is just mocked up.
shown here between the 2 fn guns .
i read a really interesting article/blog by someone who wanted to create a repro launcher for cosplay/collection. he made a best offer on one of the multi flare launchers ( launchers from US airplanes in vietnam iirc). they accepted and he started researching. he soon noticed the launcher had been highly modified. then he matched it to a movie prop. his research of that movie showed the same launcher was the ONE from predator just modified for the 2nd movie project. he matched up the old welds and everything. nuts!
dillon and hawkins both carry mp5's. i don't have the correct model of mp5's so these are just place holders until i can modify or track down something closer.
i mostly want some feedback on old painless, and suggestions on the other guns that could be more accurate.
here is a line up of the figures so far. i'll add in parts as i go especially if i can get closer to movie accurate.
i was a gun nerd first so it's important to me to get as close as i can.