Project: Resident Evil Kriss Vector

I do not often take commissions for reproductions of real guns. There are many reasons for this. To name a few, most guns you can easily pick up an airsoft version, when dealing with reproductions of real guns they could easily be mistaken for the real one, which in itself is a potential problem.

This one was a little different, I had already worked with the commissioner on many occasions. I knew it would simply be put up on display in their home. I also liked the unique design. So because of these various reasons I took the commission. They specifically wanted a "hard solid" model, so I decided to build the bulk of it digitally. 

Here's some shots from the movie
I started by finding a 3D model that was close. I always like to try to start with something close, it's a lot faster to modify or customize than to build from scratch. Once I had gotten the model pretty spot on to my reference I started cutting it up and printing. It took a bit too get all the pieces printed, but once most of them where done I started piecing then together.

Here's a shot of my digital model after quite a few hours of work on it. The primary difference it that butt cap on my model that was because the commissioner still wasn't quite sure if they wanted the movie version or the game version, ultimately they decided on the movie version

The finishing process for this one was a bit more involved than my usual. I had some laser etching to do for the name and markings on the gun. I had to get it close enough that I could proceed with the etching but the finish sanding and filing wouldn't remove the etchings.
 Here are some progress pics

I had a ton of small issues with the finishing on this one. Everything from the filler I was using not sticking, to believe it or not the super glue just popping off. I eventually figured out the whys and ways around it, but this delayed the process a lot. 

I had decided the "bolts" just didn't come out well enough for my liking, so I had found some locally that fit the look perfectly. When I had gotten close with the finish I drilled out the 3D printed screws and replaced them with the real ones. I was much happier with this look and knew those little details would come out much better in the mold than what I had.


Also had to make the 'grip texture' which I eventually settled on a rough texture with some creative bondo use.


With the final etching of the "Kriss vector" text that I had had to refill due to a strange double etch on the first attempt, it was finally ready to mold. 

The mold process for this one was pretty straight forward seeing as how the bulk of the gun was pretty solid so one large mold and then 2 smaller ones for the barrel piece and the cocking lever. The entire thing was intended to be simply a show piece so this one had no moving parts

Once the molds were all set up I decided I wanted to give it as real a look as I could so I decided to cold cast the piece with iron. It gave a very nice gun metal grey look to the entire thing which gave it the real look I was looking for. Here are a few pics of the raw cast fresh out of the mold.
 
With the flashing removed
 

Before you see the finished piece keep in mind I was going for the used well loved gun not the brand new 'fresh out of the box' so I decided to not polish it only buff it till the shine came out. So with that said here are some pictures of the finished Kriss Vector.
 


 

One thing I do not  do very often is make stands or displays for my pieces, not to say I don't but it's few and far between. For this one since it was a gift the commissioner had specifically asked for a stand for it to resemble the case which she first sees the Kriss vector as seen below.

 
So I made my own version and I think it turned out pretty awesome


 
Initially the imperfections in the umbrella logo were not intended, but after it happened I thought it added to it so I decided to keep it and yes that is Japanese, the commissioner was 'Mr. Japan'.
Here is the gun on the stand.
 

So there is the Kriss Vector from Resident Evil Retribution. Let me know what you think about it in comments or head over to my Facebook page for more updates and information on what I'm working on at: www.facebook.com/ProfessorCaTPardus/ 

This one is now actually up for sale if you're interested in purchasing one head over to my Etsy store and And pick yourself up one here at my Etsy store  professorcatpardus.etsy.com