Converting a Water Pistol Blade Runner PKD

or "Is it raining on that replicant or did my gun shoot water?"

I recently completed my painting "Memories Lost", a tribute to Ridley Scott's Blade Runner, and for this painting I recreated a number of props from the movie. Perhaps the most iconic and memorable is of course Deckard's Blaster. There are many excellent replicas of this gun available. All of them out of my price range, with one exception; the Fullcock Takagi water pistol. Read on below to see how I converted a water pistol into a stunning replica.

The Fullcock Takagi is a 1:1 replica with amazing detail and accuracy, especially given its $15 price tag. Mine cost me a little bit more than that as I had to import it to the UK from Japan but it was worth every penny. With just a touch of paint this thing can look great, and if you are prepared to go the extra distance and rebuild a couple of areas it can be an impressive addition to your collection.

I started by cutting away the grips using a very fine razor saw. My plan was to cast the grips in amber resin and see where I ended up. If things went bad I could always 3D print a new gun but acquiring nicely textured grips is a one off opportunity.

 

Once they were clear the gun was still in good shape, and with access to the internals I was able to remove the internal water pistol mechanism.

 
The pistol had received some minor cracks in shipping so I repaired those next, lightly sanded the surface and primed the gun so I could see the detail better.

The grip frame was built up in a way that although not 100% accurate I hoped would look close enough through the clear grips once they were attached. I also 3D printed a new front end for the gun as this area had been simplified for the injection moulding process. The areas that were meant to be LEDs were cut away and real (although non-functional) LEDs were installed.

I plugged the holes in the grips and laid them up in a mould box so I could cast them. This was my first time casting anything clear so I purchased new supplies. I knew that when resin casting thicker items, heat build up can be a problem so had followed the supplier guidelines and acquired a slower setting resin. This was a bit of an adjustment for me as I’m used to fast cast resins that set within an hour. This stuff took the best part of a week until it was completely solid. I think perhaps I’d been over cautious. Very happy with the outcome though.

 

The next step was to paint the gun. I mostly used Alclad paints for this as they are AMAZING when it comes to metal effects! There is a huge amount of reference material available online and I did my best to replicate all of the small details.

 

Everything worked out pretty well and I’m happy with how it looks for now… but I think when I get some spare time I will revisit this and see if I can make it even more accurate!