| Dark Trooper Mega-Gun This hand cannon was created for my Dark
Trooper character. It is loosely patterned after the various super weapons carried by the
robots in the LucasArts "Dark Forces" game. The main barrel is an expandable
plastic mailing tube such as used to carry blueprints, or posters. The muzzle is made from
a cast brass lamp base that I found at a recycle center. Five strobe flash tubes are
mounted around the edge of the barrel where the brass meets the black plastic tube.
The black and gold side tubes are made of clear plexiglas tubing painted black on the
inside. The "gold" rim around each is aluminum tape colored yellow with
permanent markers. Green glass filters were hot glued in the end of each tube, with a
single strobe mounted behind each. Plastic conduit and hot tub hose connects the tubes to
the main body.
On the right side of the cannon, a clear plexiglas tube holds a red neon tube. A bright
orange LED is mounted in the end of the barrel to provide a bright flash at the same time
the neon tube glows. This simulates a bright red-orange laser. A large speaker was placed
at the bottom of the main barrel, and a very deep resonant sound is generated when the
"laser" is fired.
The gun has three seperate triggers. The standard finger trigger on the rear grip fires
the "laser", a side mounted button triggers the green strobes, and a push button
on the front grip fires the five-strobe cluster in the barrel.
Other effects include Red/Green indicator LEDs above the power switches. (from right to
left, the switches are: main power, 5-strobe cluster, neon tube "laser" power,
sound, and green 4-strobe cluster.) The electronic side-mounted target sight is a
back-light assembly with a color display. The white square to the right of the target is a
group of yellow LEDs that "randomly" flash using a sequencer circuit. |
