Force of Nature Shotgun

Force-a-Nature Gun

Here's a very inexpensive and easy project to make using only a few supplies.

Cardboard
Woodglue
Duct tape
Brown spray paint
Hobby knife
Scissors
Bondo
Sandpaper
Black marker
Black and gray acrylic paint.
Small detail paint brush.
4 toilet paper rolls or 2 paper towel rolls.

Start by finding some reference pictures of the gun. I searched Team Fortress 2 Force of Nature on google to get a good measurement of the gun. I also used this guys flickr pictures when he made a professional copy of the gun. Voplin Props
http://www.flickr.com/photos/14455307@N07/sets/72157623024519808/

the gun ends up being a bit longer than the real version of the gun but it still a great hit at any party

When cutting the frame out make sure to leave a lip on the front where the piece that holds the barrels goes. I estimated all the angles and cuts. I wasn’t going for a perfect replica. I layered around 5 pieces of cardboard together with one smaller piece on each side to get the overall shape of the gun. I used wood glue to hook all the pieces together and put lots of weight on it  and left it to sit over night.

I used 4 toilet rolls wrapped in paper to get the form of gun barrels. Wrapped them in tape. The base they go in was just a rough estimate of the real thing because mine doesn’t open, I had to wing the design. My design was a flat top and curved bottom that was even with the bottom of the gun. See the images

The base that the barrels are attached to was just a rough estimate of the real thing because mine doesn’t open, I had to wing most of the design. My design was a flat top and curved bottom that was even with the bottom of the gun. See the images

The round part on the end of the barrel is made with strips of paper hooked to the rolls one at a time. Its not that smooth or perfect but it’s the right outline of the barrels.

Lots and lots of duct tape to hold everything together and to smooth out the edges.

I filled the barrels with plastic bags to make them a little stronger and so they couldn't be smashed if someone grabbed it too hard.

As this is a prop, I didn’t want it to be a too realistic or mistaken as a real weapon. So made a trigger guard but no trigger. Its just a couple pieces of paper taped together in a half circle.

Since I duct taped the whole gun together I wasn't able to just use Bondo or paint on it. So I used primer house paint so I would have a good foundation for adding paint layers and Bondo.

The layer of Bondo I put on was pretty fast and not very smooth but it strengthened and smoothed the corners and that’s really all I was looking for on this.

Check out this guys tutorial on Bondo if you don't know how to use the stuff. http://youtu.be/sZwshoQQ5-o

The brown spray paint had primer and paint in one can. I layered on about 4 coats of brown to fill all the cracks

Once it drys its time for detail paint, I used the grey to outline the barrels and trigger area. And the black is for outlining the gun barrel holes and the screws. I used the reference photos to find where to put the screws on the gun.

After that, its all set to use it.

Here's the gun in action at a halloween party on October 15th, 2011. The whole outfit is listed here on Instrustables if you want to check out how to make the Girl Boba Fett Costume to go with the gun. https://www.instructables.com/id/Girl-Boba-Fett-Costume/