M41A (from Aliens) under construction!

[Craftman]

Hi there!

Before I found this site, I had already found the M41A from the movie Aliens elsewhere. I really wanted it and it is the whole reason I actually got into papercrafting!
So now I want to share this ongoing build with you guys!
These are the pieces I had already finished when I stumbled upon this wonderful place;

 

[Craftman]

M41A construction

And this to, sorry missed it...

 

[Craftman]

M41A construction

When I came to making the counter I noticed it was placed in the wrong place compared to movie stills of the M41-A. Of course I did´nt notice that until after I had finished it and tried fitting it with the mag, so I just printed a new side with the hole moved a bit and cut out the counter part and fitted it into the new side I just glued over the old one and now hopefully it looks more accurate when put together.

You can see the original pattern built in the top part of the image, the alternate version with moved counter in the bottom part.

 

[Craftman]

M41A construction

Cutting with a pair of scissors takes time, but it´s ok, it´s fun to build it.
Anyone have a better idea on how to cut small parts?

 

[Craftman]

M41A construction

The top part slowly coming together. It starts to look like the "real" thing more and more!

 

[Craftman]

M41A construction

This detail on the inside of the top part was a little tricky, but it worked out just fine!
Anyone have any ideas on how NOT to get glue on my fingers??

 

[Craftman]

M41-A construction

This is what I have so far!
I have ben working every day on this build and I see progress!
It will still take some time, but I am on the right track, right!?!

 

[Revell-Fan]

Your nick says it all - craftmanship at its finest! :thumb:

 

[DanBKing]

You are doing a sterling job on this......:thumb:

Did I get you correctly that you are ONLY using scissors for this build ???????????

If you do that sort of quality work with only scissors, then I am holding my breath to see what you can do with the paper modellers standard tool; the Xacto knife/blade........

 

[spaceagent-9]

totally impressive!

 

[zathros]

Nice texture to it!

 

[Craftman]

Thank you for your comments!
I mean this is only my third build so I am very happy you all think it is ok!

To Revell-Fan;
Thanks a bunch!! Your very impressive V-blaster is on my list of builds to come, I can guarantee it! ;-)

To DanBKing;
Thank you!! And yes, I am only using an old pair of scissors for this!
I might actually get that Xacto later, then I also have to get a plastic underlay to cut on because right now I am just sitting at a table.
Great idea though, hadn´t thought about it!

To spaceagent-9;
Thank you so much, it is really appreciated!

To zathros;
I totally agree, I hope this might actually look like the "real" movie prop when it is finsihed! Fingers crossed!

 

[Craftman]

M41-A construction

So, on with the build!

I started with the top part of the front of the rifle and this was somewhat different to build because there where two sides that had to be glued together flat before being bent into the right shape.
And they both had holes that had to be cut out before being glued together. I would lie if I said it was easy! Just look at the picture!

 

[Craftman]

M41-A construction

I think that in the end this piece turned out fine!
It was a lot of work and took some hours, but hey, it´s fun to see this build grow a little bit every day!

 

[silveroxide]

This is one item that is in my hard drive collecting ion dust. One reason that I have not built it, is because it is an ink guzzling project. Someday i may get around to it but probably transfer the sheets to heavy styrene and sheet aluminum, so it will not be a paper craft. You will need a sharp blade when you get around to making those small holes later on in the build, or you can use cuticle round nose scissors. I use the round nose scissors for cutting circles, since they follow the contours better than straight scissors. Keep it up and see you around the forum

 

[Craftman]

To silveroxide;
I will try those nose scissors, might come in handy!
And thank you for incurraging me! Feels great when you are new at this like I am!

 

[Craftman]

M41-A construction

The middle front part finally completed!
So many holes! Well, it felt like a lot, but it was only 12 of them!
Now on with the bottom (and final) front parts...

 

[Craftman]

M41-A construction

Ok, more holes to build! I really thought there were no more holes needed, but there are!

 

[Craftman]

M41-A construction

Honestly, how many holes does a build need? Well, this build seems to need a lot of them!

 

[Craftman]

M41-A construction

Time to attach all the holes to the inside of what I assume is going to be a very important part!
Slightly different ones for the bottom because that part is curved.
It´s a good thing I like this and can´t wait to see the finished build, because I can imagine a lot of people giving up here!