SerenityMovie.net

[pennausamike]

Here is a thread I have on a couple of Firefly/Serenity sites,
for those who haven't seen it.



It takes a lot of money to keep a Firefly in the sky!
And what kind of Firefly weapons collection wouldn't have a Mal pistol?!
A Phillipes casting with wooden grips and lots of work to go,
and an official QMX stunt pistol from Serenity.
Ship's papers, the logo and a nice line drawing.
The Firefly patch is actually for a locomotive, but I think even the font is close!
The PAL is a resin copy I hollowed out on a vertical mill and put a working red light in it.
Browncoats helmet, and a number of variations on the patches.
They were originally intended to denote rank and have the triangle point down and the star upright.
But in the rush of television production work,
a seamstress sewed the patch on "upside-down".
The little copper box is a Tracy message recorder.

[pennausamike]

Zoe's Mare's Leg pistol carbine, necklace and St. Lucy's hiest ID



New stuff...
Some, "how I made it", shots of the first Zoe carbine.



Then I got the Denix Mares leg and played parts mix and match...



So now I have a loopy lever Firefly version of Zoe's Mare's Leg and and a Serenity version with the little brass scope-y thing and the straight lever.
I don't like the Serenity version as well, but the brass scope thing and the mount I machined for it came out so well, I've come to like it.

[pennausamike]

Who's flying this thing?!



Wash carried a modified Mateba recoil operated, semi-auto revolver in Serenity.
(The unfinished resin pile-o-parts.)
The patches are also from Serenity, tho' the shirt and overalls were from "The Message".
St. Lucy's I.D. from "Ariel".
And lets not forget his star map from "Safe".
Haven't gotten around to painting the dinosaurs...yet...

This is my Wash Mateba WIP.
Lots to do and I'll update the whole Wash display when its done.



I bought this Mateba casting a while back.
It is a different model, so even with the mods it will never be exactly the same as the screen-used Wash pistol.
As an example, the swing out mechanism is under the cylinder instead of in front of it.

Something I incorporated that I don't see very often are the blue lens in the block in front of the trigger guard.
A LOT of work hand fitting them so that they press in.
A "friend" at work asked if I was going to make them light up!





I was really worried about how the grips were going to look.
My hand woodworking skills are awful and I don't know where to begin to checker the thing.
The basic shape is OK, but I still have to learn checkering.



As with all my projects, part of the satisfaction is doing the work to get an uncommon prop.
That, and I never display the replica with a good photo of the real thing
One other thing I made was a fake receipt for Wash's pistol which I had Alan Tudyck sign in character as Hoban Washburn.
So I'll have that to display with my Wash stuff, also.

Mike

[pennausamike]

The Hero of Canton, The Man They Call Jayne!
Binky, Boo, Fighting Elves and Gee, sure would be nice if
we had some grenades, Dontcha Think!
All metal Jayne LeMat, one of four, and
machined aluminum pop open Serenity grenades (not finished).



Four Firefly Jayne Cobb Lemats, nearly complete.
One for me, one for a fellow Browncoat, one for my son, one for eBay.



And what Jayne collection wouldn't have Jayne T-shirts?
This has to be one of the most fun pieces of Firefly swag out there,
and no official license holder is jumping on this!
There have been 9 Jayne shirts replicated by fans
(and maybe a couple more on Cafepress)
and a number of them were put out of production by the Universal C&D assault of a few years ago.



I have:
Top, Left to Right
1.__Yellow Troublemaker__ssdesigner
2.__Cartoon Cat and Bear__Kurtyboy (needs dyed to a light tan)
3.__TV Smoking Girl__Kurtyboy
4.__TV Blue Sun__Blue Moon
5.__Fighting Elves__Blue Sun Shirts
Bottom, Left to Right
6.__Soldier__Chewbaccadoll
7.__Talking Head__ssdesigner
8.__Pin Up Girl__Lilac Trading Station
9.__Perfect Cat__Kurtyboy

I'd like:
the orange Dead Fish from the BDM and
the TV Water (looks-like-beetle-on-the-shoulder) in olive drab.
As a note, Kurtyboy's shirts are available through Cafepress and are excellent.
Lilac Trading Station and Blue Sun Shirts were driven out of business
by the the C&D attack of a few years ago.
Blue Moon is still up, but at reduced inventory; but will sometimes do requests.
The licensed Blue Suns aren't screen accurate; they are the "corrected" lettering.
Ssdesigner produces shirts irregularly;
the yellow Troublemaker is beautiful, the Talking Head graphic is wearing off a bit on mine,
(but I wear them a LOT!)
The chewbaccadoll Soldier shirt is nice; they felt light when I got them
but "heavied-up" after I washed them (I don't know, that's what it seemed like to me...)

So, I hope the Dead Fish and Water shirts are next.
Any official license holders listening?
*cough*QMx*cough*
(I hope, I hope...)

[pennausamike]

A candy bar ad and a pilfered pistol.
In the hands of the right 90 lb. girl; a deadly combination.
The finished pistol on the right is a fan-made replica
The left, unfinished pistol is a metal non-firing replica from Japan.
Gonna take a lot more work to get the lines right.



Two shots of the pistol projects:

[pennausamike]

I remember some bad guys on Firefly...

Jubal Early's stylistic but functionally impossible pistol.
Resin with brass barrel and stainless steel hardware.
Although considered iconic Firefly by many fans, this pistol's lack of sights, magazine or any discernible operating system
keeps me from being able to get too excited about it as a display piece.
I would agree that it looked the part in the episode but, Jubal Early's pistol just doesn't stand up to studied observation.



The first one I made:



And in this picture, the completed first one, which had an aluminum barrel,
along with the second one that I replaced the aluminum with brass,
and kept for my collection.

[pennausamike]

updating thread, may take a few days

[pennausamike]

This prop is just a cheesy quickie; something to display with the Blue Gloves.
I originally bought the Arsenel Models/Coolmodels kit because I have so many projects,
I figured I'd just save myself the hassle of machining and buying things like acrylic rod.
WRONG!!
In the pic below:


The wavy, huge seamed, piece of cream colored crap is the "kit"
from Arsenal Models/Coolmodels, or as I've come to know him,
"The Hummelstown Recaster".

The silver ends looked like they came from a craft store and the "castings"
are so bad I came to the conclusion it would just be easier to make my own from scratch
than build the "kit".

I bought a bunch of 1/4" blue acrylic rods and cut the body out of 1/2" black plastic,
which I machined to 1/2"X 1 1/8 X 4 13/16"".
I machined one end and slotted it to accept a 1/8"X 1/2"X 9/16" aluminum tab
to make it look like a dummy button.
I drilled the ends to accept the 1/4" blue acrylic and turned the little end pieces in
a lathe to make them look like the show's.

[BrownCoat1]

Oh how I envy that collection.....

Thanks for sharing.
_________________
"May have been the losing side. Still not convinced it was the wrong one."

[laoshi]

Fantastic collection. I do think its impossible to get a Shinier gun than Zoe's shotgun thingy. Hogleg is it? No matter how many spikes or whatever you put on it.
_________________
Alliance, n. In international politics, the union of two thieves who have their hands so deeply inserted in each other's pockets that they cannot separately plunder a third.

[melensdad]

[pennausamike]

Zoe carried a cut-down Winchester Model 92 lever action rifle
in caliber 44-40.
It was known as a "Mare's Leg".
A "Hog leg" is a big pistol.
Because, even cut down, the carbine is longer than a pistol,
it was named after a horse leg rather than a pig leg.
Joss had a habit of refering to it as a "shotgun" in his scripts.
But that is because Joss is self-admittedly clueless when it comes to guns.
He also had a habit of refering to the magazine or clip as a "cartridge".
And in fact, Nathan repeats this faux pas
when the magazine falls out of his Mal pistol in the BDM blooper reel.

Zoe had two different types of Mare's Legs.
In Firefly, she carried a version with the large loop lever
like Josh Randell carried.
In the BDM Serenity, Zoe had switched to a straight lever and
some kind of brass (sight?).

Mne falls in between the two because of build considerations and
I think it is the most effective by using the best attributes of both versions.

Mike

[melensdad]

It appears to have a short barrel (under 16") so does it qualify as a handgun under your state laws? Under federal law it is illegal to have a rifle with a barrel shorter than 16" unless the weapon is registered as a Class III weapon, with appropriate taxes, background checks, etc. I've got a 12" barreled Thompson "Tommy Gun" that is considered by the ATF as a handgun and is transferable as such.
_________________
Firefly fan by way of the Serenity Movie, but I also play with Snowcats, guns, dogs, tractors and antique cars.
I hang out at www.forumsforums.com/3_9

Libertarian by nature, I fit into the political mold that is played out by Mal.

[Cosmoline]

To my knowledge, the real Mares Laigs are all Class III. Though I like the idea of getting them re-classed as handguns, you'd probably need to make some serious alterations to the design.

[melensdad]

[pennausamike]

If you build a Mare's Leg from new, that is to say manufacture your own receiver and build the gun ground up,
it is a legal pistol with no Class III issues whatsoever.

What is illegal is to convert a rifle to a Mare's Leg.

There is a manufacturer who occasionally advertises in Shotgun News who sells new-build Mares Legs.
Price is $1,000-1,500; can't remember exactly.
No transfer problems, just a straight sale involving FFL dealers.

Mike

[melensdad]

It seems that they can be produced legally.

http://www.wildwestguns.com

Specifically look at this page of their website: http://www.wildwestguns.com/Bushwacker/bushwacker.html

Those guys have a really nice selection, they are expensive. Several of their guns are very similar to the gun Zoe used (and similar guns are seen by other background characters through the Firefly series).

Apparently they sell mostly to bush pilots and mountain guides in some pretty remote areas where attacks by bear and moose are a serious risk. Their guns look awesome. I can't imagine the recoil of a seriously heavy load in one of those cut down guns, but I bet it is something close to being hit by a professional boxer.
_________________
Firefly fan by way of the Serenity Movie, but I also play with Snowcats, guns, dogs, tractors and antique cars.
I hang out at www.forumsforums.com/3_9

Libertarian by nature, I fit into the political mold that is played out by Mal.

[pennausamike]

The Wild West Guns are all converted from rifles so are NFA short barreled rifles, class III.



As you can see in the ad, these are new made, so considered pistols and not subject to class III regulation.

Mike

[pennausamike]

Everybody wants to be a Browncoat, but what about the Feds?
The hat is a modified Confederate sailor's hat, the helmet and armor are, of course,
Starship Troopers pieces waiting to be accented in purple
and the pin and patches are a little bit of mix and match between the series,
the BDM and my input.
The gun is a piece I made for another project,
but it will serve as a fill-in so I can have the costume ready for the
Can't-Stop-The-Serenity showing in Philly.




The hat is finished!
I'm no seamstress (esp. what with being a guy and all) but it'll hold together.
If you look at a pic of the two officers standing on the bridge (when they first hail Serenity) from "Bushwacked"
you can see the hat I was doing.
I can't get the little emblem pin so I painted my LEIASKY pin to the more subdued TV series look.
I think Geoff Mandel's designs were beautiful, but I interpret the Alliance as the ultimate nanny state.
So while things may be all shiny for the rich, I see the beauracracy and the life of the "commoners" as very gray.
The soldiers would tend to be rather cookie-cutter not individualistic or "independent".
"We're making a better world; all of them, better worlds."

[pennausamike]

Sales Fodder

Some items on their way out of the collection.



Mike

[Tammy]

Thanks for pointing me to your thread. Nice collection:) You should get some of the gold chinese cards like they played with in, was it Shindig? Though, they're much harder to find now than they were a year ago.

Glad you like the pins:)

[laoshi]

[pennausamike]

[pennausamike]

My latest project:



The Whitefall Serenity Valley Map matted and framed along with
the Whitefall Mal discharge papers which I modded,
the Zoe discharge papers (from the modded Mal),
dogtags for Mal and Zoe, two "candid" "wartime" pics,
four badly mangled bullet pieces, two patches,
two pins, one routing tag and a little booklet about Serenity Valley
The Discharge Display has pockets 3/8ths of an inch deep and
the patches and pins are about an 1/8 to give it a nice 3-D look.
I used balsa to make the walls of the pockets.

My homage to two fictional characters,
but I want to have the the discharge papers signed by the actors
to thank them for their part in creating such wonderful characters.

Mike

[Angel.the.Fang]

wow, that's a collection of some really shiny thingys
nice

[pennausamike]

Well, I got a little more work done.



Inara's pistol from the Firefly episode, "Trash".
A chrome plated airsoft Ruger with machined ?silencer/muzzlebrake? and ?auto-fire target acquisition? greablie.



The money is of my own design done in primitive old Microsoft Paint.
I used elements already out there; from the Firefly series, the Serenity BDM and
from pics of real money.
The Ariel bills are even serial numbered.

I then carried it in my pocket with a bunch of real bills to make it look real.

The Inara papers are a work in progress.
The main folded sheet is a contract summation that the Companion and customer would sign to consumate the deal.
I created a "Contracting Parties Duties And Obligations" section,
some of it meant to sound realistic, some rather tongue-in-cheek and
some an outright poke at the humor of the show.

For example, "All ceremonies to guild spec" and "All insight offered without claim upon any personal or material gain"
are meant to feel real.

I used "Emotional and marital entanglements unraveled at client expense"
to make fun of a real element of engaging a gorgeous Companion for sex.
(This was alluded to in the original "Trash" script as seen in the Official Companion Vol.II.)

And of course, "Use of whore is ill-advised" is a straight up poke at Mal
constantly using it with Inara!

The purple and green Waiver of Reproductive Rights sheet is based on someone's RPG nudist certificate.
The Certificate of Examination is based on the episode "Ariel" and
certifies that Inara has been examined by a team of doctors at St. Lucy's and
was found fit to serve as Companion another year.

Finally, the box is an updated version of the (suicide/rape bomb/eternal youth serum)syringe box seen in the true TV pilot.
Its a copy of one sold by The Propstore as set dressing from "Serenity".
The two trays "nest" in the box, with the money tray on top of the syringe, vial and whatever the cool-looking-other-gizmo-is tray.
(I haven't made the vial, yet.)

For such a short run series, Firefly offered so much texture!
It is incredibly fun to make props that logically build on what was shown or implied,
and I think is part of what makes the show interesting beyond the brief amount of screen time actually presented.

Mike

[pennausamike]

The next project underway!
The first of three Union of Allied Planets, Alliance panels.



The items inside the frame are arranged basically how I plan to place them.
I'll end up cropping the pictures because I believe blank space is almost as important as layout in the composition.
The Mal/Zoe display is a little on the busy side, but I felt it works.
I haven't decided on a definite background color, yet.
But I'm leaning towards black with gray relief panels.

I finally got around to making a more screen-accurate handle for the Operative sword.

The black bandanna was made for the Serenity production, but I don't know that it was ever on screen.

I have always loved the visual "look" of the scene when the Operative comes to Inara.

Mike

[pennausamike]

I just realized I forgot to post my finished Serenity Valley tribute.
I used a two step painting process to try to duplicate the look of the Independents' helmets.
Not perfect, but not bad. Looks better for real than in the photo.



In the close up below you can see where I put Mal's cross on one side of the routing tag pocket and a can opener on the other.
Food for the body and soul...
Dogtags, supply routing papers, area information pocket book, amnesty papers,
pins, patches, candid photos, four bullets deformed from use; mementos of a world that hasn't happened!

[pennausamike]

The newest project; Simon's Baton!

[pennausamike]

Wow! 3,975 views; I can't get over that!

I'm promising myself to post updated pictures, where ever applicable, when this thread goes over 4 thousand.

I direct folks here sometimes, and some of the stuff is rather out of date.

When it comes to painting various projects, I'm trapped inside for most of the winter.
But once the weather breaks, a lot of my "on-hold" projects should start rolling.

I've said it before, for such a short run series, Firefly offered so much texture!

Mike