Prop Laser Pistol - Fallout "AEP7"

[Immo1282]

I built a thing - 3D printed from models found here, it's a functional prop laser pistol from the Fallout Series, specifically "Fallout 3" and "Fallout: New Vegas".

It has a no-brand "200mw" red laser module purchased from Banggood a few months ago with a linear driver PCB (oddly marked Sanwu?). I don't own an LPM yet, but the listing was marked 200mw, and it's plausible given how bright it is. The driver is powered by 3 AA batteries - which are replaceable in the same way that the gun is reloaded in the games. I would power it from a single Li-Ion cell by choice - but keeping the same design of energy cell as the games felt right to me.

This is nothing new - i'm sure people have taken these models and stuffed a laser module in the end (there's no shortage of space inside) but I thought I might as well share it here before it clutters up my desk at work

 

[Pelagius]

Very cool Immo. I have wielded (virtually) one of those before!
It looks like the beam comes from the left side instead of the front end. Is that true? I

 

[Immo1282]

It looks like the beam comes from the left side instead of the front end. Is that true? I

Afraid that's not the beam you're seeing there - just a stray bit of lens-flare from my camera The beam comes out of the front end as it should. I should get some smoke for beam shots in the future...

 

[paul1598419]

Wow, that is a large gun for such a low power laser. It likely uses the Mits 660nm diode. I can't remember the number for it off the top of my head, but they are very inexpensive. I still have five in my stock that will sit there until I die as I bought ten of them years ago and have exhausted all my interest in them now. If this is a replica of some scifi gun I can see the appeal. Did the module you bought have enough heat sinking that the diode doesn't overheat, presuming you are actually getting 200 mW out? I would convert it to take a single Li-ion battery as you will be feeding it AAs if you continue to use it.

 

[Pelagius]

Afraid that's not the beam you're seeing there - just a stray bit of lens-flare from my camera The beam comes out of the front end as it should. I should get some smoke for beam shots in the future...

Ah! I see. That makes sense. I echo Paul's question on heatsinking. What is the replica made out of? I likely would have wanted to put a more visible 635 nm red in it.

 

[Durge]

Nice lookin gun, its huge haha. Even though its not the most efficient powersource, it is nice to see how the batteries mimick shells. Nice work Immo

 

[Immo1282]

Yep - it's definitely too big a shell for what's inside, but I wanted to keep costs low, and I already had the module. There's space inside for huge heat-sink if I wanted, but it's currently just sitting in a small aluminium sink designed for Aixiz modules. I don't really run it for long, but I'm aware of heat issues.

If I were to redo this project, I'd definitely scale it so it were smaller, but it took 37h total time on my 3D printer to make all the parts - so I won't be repeating that too soon Material is Black PLA (painted ofc) as it's what I had on hand. The full model uses about 6-700g of plastic.

I might print another "energy cell" with two dummy cells (wired through) and a 14500 in the middle, so it can run with 3 series AAs or just the 1 Li-ion cell. Ta for the idea!

 

[Pelagius]

Yep - it's definitely too big a shell for what's inside, but I wanted to keep costs low, and I already had the module. There's space inside for huge heat-sink if I wanted, but it's currently just sitting in a small aluminium sink designed for Aixiz modules. I don't really run it for long, but I'm aware of heat issues.

If I were to redo this project, I'd definitely scale it so it were smaller, but it took 37h total time on my 3D printer to make all the parts - so I won't be repeating that too soon Material is Black PLA (painted ofc) as it's what I had on hand. The full model uses about 6-700g of plastic.

I might print another "energy cell" with two dummy cells (wired through) and a 14500 in the middle, so it can run with 3 series AAs or just the 1 Li-ion cell. Ta for the idea!

I'd love to see this with a big heatsink and 1Watt 635 nm for better visibility. That would require LiION for sure.

 

[Spudinator]

How about using three 14500's in parallel? You could still maintain the look but increase your capacity.

Kudos on a job well done, that is a sweet piece! I love the Fallout series. I've got a good buddy that needs to see this, he has always loved the laser pistol.

 

[Immo1282]

I'd love to see this with a big heatsink and 1Watt 635 nm for better visibility. That would require LiION for sure.

When i've got some spare cash, I might try this