How to Build a Steampunk Vostroyan Raygun

OK, we put together a pair of Steampunk goggles last time we blogged, so today we'll show you how to build a Steampunk Raygun. This is the finished product. Lot's of copper, brass and bronze is the key. Oh, and gears if you got'em.

Now, how to build it. We started with a great old water pistol some brass candlesticks, capacitors, brass bits, foam and pieces from an old braided leather belt. This particular squirt-gun used a pump action and we liked the look of the pump forward rather than back

We started by placing foam spacers in the blank area where the retracted pump would be. This should hold in place and cover the holes and slot from the extended pump.

Next we cut the brass candlestick, drilled a hole large enough for the "stick" and slid it in place. Using a hot glue gun will hold most of your pieces together. We also would recommend finding candlesticks that unscrew instead of needing a hacksaw to cut the one we found.

We used another part from a different candlestick for the front of the raygun and glued the capacitors to the right side.

Rustoleum makes some very nice paints in metallic, textured and also a hammered finish. You'll see how it adds a nice touch to the finished look of the gun.

Here is the base painted in the Rustoleum Hammered Metal and the ray painted with the Brass Hammered Metal.

Next we masked off different inserts on the gun and sprayed with a metallic bronze.

Masking off the handle and the insert on the pump they were sprayed with a textured brown to simulate our wood handles. You can go hog wild and add the wood grain with a brush but we have other plans.

This is the water supply for this particular squirt gun. We'll be using it once we make a few modifications.

You can use actual copper strap to wrap around anything you want to "Steampunk" but to keep the cost down we cut two straps out of cardstock.

We wrapped them around the tank and painted them with a bronze acrylic. Adding various spots in copper completed the "power Supply" for our raygun. The final touches will be added once it is in place.

Here the power supply is in place and we painted two of the embossed areas to simulate gauge readings

Small capacitors were placed in the recessed areas from the screw holes in the pump and painted copper. Brass bits were added into the upper holes.

The leather straps were wrapped around the handle to form a nice grip.

For our final touch we printed a picture of gears and placed it under the clear plastic insert on both sides of the gun and painted around the edge to create a bronze ring.

There you have it. Your very own Steampunk ray-gun ready for action.

So grab your goggles for eye protection from the high intensity beams of your raygun! Any Vostroyan would be proud to wield such a fine weapon.

Have a Great Battle!
The Old Crow