Custom made weapons
 

Hey everyone, I have a short coming up and we're currently trying to gather the props that we need like weapons and stuff. There are only 2 more items that we need, a scythe and something that's kinda hard to describe but I'll try. It's like a hybrid between a kama and a tonfa with a blade at the edge, we need a pair of those.

I'm wondering if anyone know of a place or someone who does custom made weapons? I told my lead actor that we could always a real scythe at the risk of getting his limb/s chopped off :P But yeah, any help is greatly appreciated.

We frequently use "Weapons of Choice" for our operas. They sell and rent all kinds of interesting things...

http://www.weaponsofchoicetheatrical.com/

You can buy cheep dollar store guns and paint over the orange parts. They look real. Or airsoft guns but they can be expensive. Boyd's suggestion is a much better choice though.

...and paint over the orange parts.

This idea does work but it's worth mentioning that it is a federal offence in many countries to do this. Believe it or not.

On airsoft and painting off the orange, I believe that the police departments, not to mention your insurance agents would much rather have you, in a controlled situation on a film or video hot set with painted airsoft weapons than out there with real weapons. I used 2 airsoft (real cheap ones) in my short Cat Fight at OK and Corral. I painted the tips for the shoot but don't take them anywhere other than sets and then, they are controlled (locked in the trunk or otherwise well out of sight).

These are Really popular to use on sets, especially if you go so far as to get the units that have Gas Blow Back. They cock and fire like regular weapons using compressed gasses. For lots of info on GBB Airsoft weapons, buy the short film "Broken" from http://www.Whatisbroken.com. They have almost 3 hours of footage on how they made their short that they are working on as a feature production. If you buy the DVD, let Alex and the gang know Sean McHenry sent you there.

You can google airsoft to see how realistic they can be. The shotgun and hand gun I used ran a total of $70. The second largest expense in my short.

You can see Cat Fight on my web site. We didn't make full use of them there but will in the sequel.

Sean

I talked to the local police iin my area for our feature, and they referred me to the local regulations. So I took the firing mechanism out of the guns and plugged the barrels so they couldn't fire. I also made sure to call them before and after we were filming.

Talk to the local police and let them know what you want to do. depending on where you live, if you present your self professionally, you will get all kinds of support from them and what they are willing to let fly.

I always start with "My name is Cole McDonald, I'm a local independant filmmaker. I was wondering..." I've always gotten a positive response from being professional when dealing with others on the phone to ask for bizarre things...we had a real camel arranged for use in the last 48 hour film project if necessary.

We painted our airsoft guns with ultra flat black paint. It gives a good look.

You may want to use plastic primer first to get the paint to take on them.

Don´t forget the heft!
 

A major point to remember, any ´realistic´firearm depiction requires these elements:

Believable chassis
Muzzle Flash
Cartridge Ejection
´Action´ (the bolt or whatever)
Recoil
Heft

Too many times have I seen actors brandishing plastic weapons, forgetting that REAL firearms are made of metal and reasonably heavy.

Of course, even Hollywood movies fail in some of these categories... Having shot the SPAS-12 with full loads (blanks), I had difficulty selling the recoil... (blanks don´t kick as there is no projectile)...

www.detonationfilms.com

They´ve got spent brass, muzzle flashes, the works... Their gallery includes some rather innovative shorts, too... (and no, I don´t get kickbacks... heheheh)