Chad Brune Posted April 30, 2009 Report Share Posted April 30, 2009 Hello everyone! I am new to this forum, but I am at my wits end... Ever since the movie Aliens came out, I have wanted to build a "Smart Gun" harness and arm (model 3A) for the local comic shows in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. I am not a professional, and definitely not wealthy, which pretty much guaranteed me never to own an actual steadicam harness and arm. I did manage to locate a 3A vest (from ebay, from India), which sell's for over $700 CAN, but it would take me a couple of years to save up for. The arm itself, I just wanted to build from wood, just so it "looks" like the real thing. I have tried everything, and looked everywhere I could think of to find measurements or even simple detailed photo's of the arm so I can make one myself, but there has been absolutely nothing, and nobody seems to want to help a feller out. As I stated above, I am NOT a professional photographer, I'm just a simple truck driver who likes to geek out with my wife and go in costume to local comic conventions as our favorite characters. All I am looking for is some simple basic measurements of the arm parts (not every single piece), but just the basic shape and size so it can look screen accurate, then I can try and build the rest from reference photos. If anyone could help me out I will pay what I can, for their hard work. I realize and appreciate the cost and the amount of engineering and designing that goes into making these rigs, so I understand how a lot of people would be very guarded about giving out this information. But I'm not sure what else to do. Does anyone sell blue prints or plans for these arms? I have included some photo's of what I am talking about. Thank you for your time and for reading this. Have a great day! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Erwin Landau Posted April 30, 2009 Premium Members Report Share Posted April 30, 2009 Hi Chad, You are not the first to ask that question and you will not be the last. It was discussed in the past a couple of times... It's a very popular "costume" for Halloween... http://www.steadicamforum.com/index.php?sh...9&hl=aliens You can either go the more accurate route and buy decommissioned steadicam parts, that is the more expensive route but you will get the genuine article. Try: Derrick Whitehouse and let him know that you are looking for "junk" and not for working parts as your gun might be five to then pounds (make it light, as you have to walk around with it and it will be tiring very quickly)... and does not need to support 50 to 60 lbs as the original full functioning arm would do... so you don't need Titanium springs... that's why you are paying the top dollars. http://www.whitehousesteadisales.com/index.html Or you can build it yourself. These guys build there own... you need a machine shop and skill and a lot of time: http://homebuiltstabilizers.com/ Or a combination of all of the above... Depends of how much money and time you want to spend on that... Here a picture of Colin Hudson at Halloween a couple of years ago... That is an expensive costume as he is using his original model 1 Vest and a brandnew PRO arm... and a homebuild gun... Good Luck and let us know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Vanderspek Posted April 30, 2009 Report Share Posted April 30, 2009 (edited) Ahh Erwin what would we do without your picture library? You might also want to try the US Patent Office for 3a schematics if you go the home brewed route, might have what you want. Edited April 30, 2009 by Stephen Vanderspek Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Members Erwin Landau Posted April 30, 2009 Premium Members Report Share Posted April 30, 2009 I knew we had a very detailed thread in the past... but I just can't find it... oh well. http://avp.ugo.com/?cur=m56-smart-gun-aliens http://www.yourprops.com/view_item.php?movie_prop=10812 http://www.arniesairsoft.co.uk/projects/aliens/m41.htm http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2009/02...-mounted-rifle/ http://www.bookrags.com/wiki/M41A_pulse_rifle http://www.harryharris.com/atoz.htm It is current again as there are rumors that Ridley Scott has shown interested to do another Alien Movie...: http://screenrant.com/ridley-scott-looking...lien-ross-7015/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chad Brune Posted April 30, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 30, 2009 Thank you for the replies... It looks like I'll have to find a different costume idea... sigh It's my fault for picking a particularly difficult costume to make. When I mentioned I was not rich, I wasn't exaggerating. I don't even clear $2000 a month, so.. anyway. I just bought a PDF patent image copy for $3, so I'll see what I can do with that. "jdegraff" is a name I recognized from the Aliens forums, but he has seemed to disappear from the forums. Again, thanks to all for the information. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chad Brune Posted April 30, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 30, 2009 Well, I received my patent images. Lucky it only cost $3... Useless to me, but otherwise good reference material I guess. Thank you Stephen for the patent idea! Cheers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Janice Arthur Posted May 1, 2009 Moderators Report Share Posted May 1, 2009 Hi all; Why don't you go to www.homebuiltstabilizers.com as Erwin suggested? They are all dying to help someone built an arm from easily available parts and the key word for them is cheaply too. They are smart guys too. Some of Erwin's links are great, BTW. Who knew they existed? JA Some even sells plans and directions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chad Brune Posted May 1, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 1, 2009 Thank you for the information Janice. I will check it out! CB Hi all; Why don't you go to www.homebuiltstabilizers.com as Erwin suggested? They are all dying to help someone built an arm from easily available parts and the key word for them is cheaply too. They are smart guys too. Some of Erwin's links are great, BTW. Who knew they existed? JA Some even sells plans and directions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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