The weapon is pretty much 100% done. It turned out amazing last year and other than some touchups, I'm not going to bother with it, which makes it a HUGE chunk of the cosplay I don't have to worry about this year.
Jaylah's weapon is probably my favorite part of her entire outfit and probably one of my favorite props ever. All I can describe it as is a zappy staff rifle...thing. In the movie, we see her toggling the interface on the box and using it to zap and shatter the solidified smoke trap Captain Kirk and Chekov are caught in. We see her using it with attachments and shooting it like a rifle. And the very first time we meet her, she saves Scotty by using it as a staff to smack away some enemies. I just love how it looks like an endlessly versatile tool she's cobbled together from the salvaged remains of other downed ships. Like the rest of her outfit, it's genius, but that also means it has a lot of components.
So.
Many.
COMPONENTS.
We're talking buttons, dials, wires, layers, switches, rivets, lights, and a few things I don't even know what to call. To date, it's the most complicated prop I've ever made. And I love it!
I've made it three times now, each better than the last as I've gained the experience and skills to more accurately replicate and fine-tune the details. Although they turned out ok, versions 1 and 2 ended up being kind of rushed and didn't quite come out the way I'd hoped. Version 1 was very basic, rough and crooked without any lights. Version 2 was a little more symmetrical, less bumpy, and had lights, but I somehow got the box part backwards, which really annoyed me, and I accidentally (but very stupidly) snipped the wires connecting the lights to the battery during the build and they never worked. For version 3, I knew what I had to do and I was determined to focus, do it right and do it justice. I wanted every accurate detail I could possibly include, I wanted all the pieces to fit together perfectly without gaps, I wanted smooth seams, straight edges, and I really, really, REALLY wanted those sweet lights.
 |
| Version 1 |
 |
Version 2 (I hadn't finished version 3 by the time I had to get my entry photos submitted for the contest last year, so I used what I had)
|
 |
| Version 3 |
Armed with better tools, better materials, more experience, and a better understanding of what not to do, I went all the way back to tehe beginning and made a pattern.
The box is the focal point of the whole prop, and the most detailed part. On version 1, I simply stacked a few layers of foam together and called it good. On version 2, I built the outline of the box and kept it hollow to so I could put in the battery and lights. The problem was that I needed a way to access them, so I made the top part of the box like a door that I could swing open and closed. It worked, but it looked terrible. On version 3, I built the same hollow box and I cut out a small door in the side where I could slide in the battery (very creatively secured by sticky Velcro so it won't slip around inside, haha) and have access to charge it.
 |
| Box details. |
 |
| Windows for the lights. |
 |
| Lights and charger cable secured inside. |
 |
| LET THERE BE LIGHT! |
Now, for the rest.
 |
| Applying foam clay to the gaps. |
 |
| Complete weapon, sanded and ready to be primed. |
 |
| Painting. |
 |
| Ready for touchups and details. Then done! |
While we're on the topic of weapons, I might as well add that Jaylah also has a small knife that she carries around in a sheath on her belt. It's hard to tell since we only see it briefly, but it looks like it's just a piece of sharpened metal with a wrapped handle. Easy enough.
 |
| Version 1 |
 |
| Version 2, slightly bigger so it won't fall out of the sheath when I move. |
The knife is a very small bit, but the outfit isn't complete without it.
And there you have it! Jaylah's awesome weapons.
No comments:
Post a Comment