A Day in the life:

Of a propmaker.

By Richard A. Coyle

Order:

Studio to Propmaker.

Need new raygun for Terminator/Robocop movie. Must look big and bad and like something out of the future and fire 30 rounds a minute on camera. Must be foolproof as our talent has never fired so much as a cap gun in his life and, as we are forking over $30,000 per hour, the gun must work every time.

We must have it on the set within three days.

Signed: Movie Prop Master.

Now what do we do? Big order and only three days to do it??

Fakery. Rig a real gun, a gun already fixed to fire blanks and fancy it up to look like a futuristic raygun. This can be a big help with the dummys and stunt props if you also can get toy models of the same gun to rig up for the film. Saves time and money.

Think old Rick, your friendly propmaker, is pulling your leg?

Check out  these pictures:

Thats a toy Breata M 93 R air soft. Just like the real Breatera M 93 R Auto pistol.

And want a real laugh? This very same type and model of gun was used to make the Phaser used in the “Star Trek” movies 5 and 6. . . and it gets worse, it *was* a toy gun, the imported air-soft toy gun that fires little green pellets. Wait a minute. **Green pellets** Hey, I like it, seems kind of right, don’t it?

One more thing, you know what toupeed actor played a Los Angeles cop right? And what gun these cops now carry? And what gun was made into a new Phaser? Could it be. . . Hooker in Space!!???

 





There you have it Real Guns into real props…