15 replies to this topic

[wilbyrum]

Ok, I am on a team of people who are making a small time production Science Fiction movie. It is a movie based of course in the future during a world war, when in a small city, a group of teenagers decide to fight against the enemy forces that have taken over there small town. Its sorta like a re-make of the movie "Red Dawn."

Well since you know a little bit about it, I was wondering what types of Nerf guns would make good props for the weapons used in this movie. Any ideas are welcome and will be greatly appreciated. I am looking to try to have all walks of weapons in this movie from pistols to shotguns and laser rifles, and of course a few different types battle rifles.

Thank You in advance.

Edit: oh, and I forgot to say that these props will be added to my personal nerf collection, so they will not just be torn up. I plan on useing them.

Edited by wilbyrum, 03 March 2008 - 11:42 AM.

[Captain]

Well, N-strike guns are supposed to be like firearms of the future, so longshots and recons are good, so are fireflies. Those are readily available, which is nice. If you really wanted to, you could try to get some cyber stryke weapons, but it's probably not worth it if you're just going to use them as props.

[CaptainSlug]

There are very few models of foam blasters that are usable as "realistic" props due to their proportions and styling. If you want a realistic look with no functionality you might want to look into buying cheap airsoft items.

Trying to make Nerf guns look realistic would involve too much work. And if it's the near future the same options for firearms are still going to be present and available.

Edited by CaptainSlug, 02 March 2008 - 07:35 PM.

[xNFx 37]

So this is in the future, with laser gun type things? If so, get a Photon burst from Toys r us.

Any Buzz bee gun looks futuristic. So hit up Walmart or TRU (Preferrably TRU)

[Spyder Snyper]

If you have ALOT of time and a decent amount of money, make some Lancers from GoW. Use Forsaken_Angel's mod. But beware, you better be expierenced with nerf to do that mod. I tried. It didn't end up so great...

[Thom]

Ok, I am on a team of people who are making a small time production Science Fiction movie. It is a movie based of course in the future during a world war, when in a small city, a group of teenagers decide to fight against the enemy forces that have taken over there small town. Its sorta like a re-make of the movie "Red Dawn."

Well since you know a little bit about it, I was wondering what types of Nerf guns would make good props for the weapons used in this movie. Any ideas are welcome and will be greatly appreciated. I am looking to try to have all walks of weapons in this movie from pistols to shotguns and loser rifles, and of course a few different types battle rifles.

Thank You in advance.

Edit: oh, and I forgot to say that these props will be added to my personal nerf collection, so they will not just be torn up. I plan on useing them.

It seems to me that having the kids using unrealistic, sci-fi–ish guns would lessen the emotional impact of the movie. Have you thought about going Firefly-style?

[Quilan Fett]

You could make some SCAR-N's of FAR's.

[CaptainSlug]

I still don't think you can make Nerf guns look very realistic. Closest you'll get is the Scout IX-3. The Longshot is borderline because it's positively gigantic compared to most real firearms.
Everything else is just too cartoony in proportions or too easily identifiable for you to just use the shell without ruining the functionality of it or spending a lot of money and time reworking them to look more real.

For airsoft you could buy one of these:
http://store.matrixb...ical-MP5/Detail
Or one of these:
http://store.matrixb...-MARUZEN/Detail
Or one of these:
http://store.matrixb.....'s-Toy/Detail

And then get one of these free with your order: http://store.matrixb...R-ORDER./Detail
And one of these for free too: http://store.matrixb...g-Pistol/Detail

You could make some SCAR-N's of FAR's.

Or save yourself ALOT of time and just buy some airsoft springers.

He wants PROPs, he doesn't need something that actually shoots darts. It just has to presumably make some kind of noise when you pull the trigger to make video editing easier.

Edited by CaptainSlug, 03 March 2008 - 01:29 AM.

[rockfordnerfer]

I reccommend the following guns for realistic apprearances:

Buzzbee Doubleshot $10 available at wal-mart
Buzzbee Rapid Fire Rifle $15 available at wal-mart
Nerf Maverick $8 Available everywhere

You will definately want to do some painting, but they look the most similar to real-life guns. you could also do a youtube search for steampunk nitefinder, as there is a short video that shows off a sweet aesthetics mod.

[OfAllTheNerf]

You could look into getting Direct Threat to paint some guns for you. Almost all of his guns look futuristic (Disk Shot, Firefly, Longshot, Maverick...) or atleast awsome. It could get pricey though.

[Ubermensch]

The ERTL Rapid Fire Shotgun is a great prop for sci-fi movies.

[Ambience 327]

I have to disagree with most of the people here. I think that, if your Sc-Fi setting is right, you could easily use Nerf guns as prop weapons. The key is getting a good paintjob on them to make them look more real and less "cartoony". Think dark and dirty, lots of dark metal colors, dark browns, blacks, greys, etc. (And file/sand off any "NERF" logos,etc).

Anything can look "realistic" enough with a good paint job and, more imporantly, good effects. Take the gun from The Fifth Element used/sold by Zorg. It is large and outlandish, and almost looks like a Nerf gun, but with a nice realistic paintjob and great special effects when it is firing, it looks great within the context and visual style of that film.



So I'd say if you are set on using Nerf guns, then a good paint job is the best place to start. Make sure you take the guns apart to paint them - it is easier to get good, clean results that way.

[Pineapple]

I side with Sluggy and with Ambience327.

I think that a lot of the suggestions put the prop budget above what most "small time" filmmakers would be willing to shell out... after all, the weaponry is only a portion of the total of props and costumage for a production (Spoon's input would be good here).

You want realistic, as in what is out there right now? Cheap airsoft or even some of the plastic toy weapons that don't shoot a thing are probably the ticket.... but you need someone with real-steel experience to help you select what is closest in terms of size to the real weapons. I found some toy clacker guns out there that are pretty close in size to a Beretta 92A, SIG P-226, and an AR-15 Shorty! Of course weight doesn't mean anything, so it should be a moot point.

PAINT. You can paint anything to look very real. You just need to practice yourself/ find the talent to do it for you. Even Nerf blasters with the right paint jobs, as Ambience said, can be "real" looking future weapons. Bad paintjobs will make things look even worse, however (like original colors bleeding through/ showing when working actions, etc.), so think about that.

Good luck!



-Piney-

[keef]

If your buying airsoft, don't buy from "MatrixBB". Thats Evike, and they suck. They don't care about anything, they just want your money. Try buying from "Shortyusa.com". They are a little overpriced on some things, but they have a bunch of crap guns that can look cool as props.

http://www.kapowwe.c...ed-airsoft-guns
Thats Kapowwe's bone yard. A bunch of guns that are broken. You could get some cheap props there, and paint them.

[hard rockr]

Just in case you don't find anything, you could always end up using painted airsoft guns... The frame of the guns are made as exact replicas of real guns...

[KyleDarklighter]

Well this being the bread & butter in my other hobby I'll comment.
Firstly what would be the level of tech? If you are still using primarily "slug throwers then a cheap G-36, SSG-551 and or P-90 will work great. These are used in large budget Sci-Fi shows and Movies all the time.
If you are going to have energy weapons of any type you have 2 good options. Take a page from the ILM book and use slightly obscure prop or airsoft guns as a base and mount "geeblies" on them. Greeblies are a term for any random part not originally part of the prop. Old model kits, surplus electronics equipment, construction supplies, parts of other toys. Think outside the box for everyday objects. Also weather your props accordingly. Good luck, hope it comes out good.

Garrett