Nightcrawler
Member
I was watching the TV series Firefly and the accompanying movie Serenity on one of my days off recently. The guns in Firefly were a mish-mash of everything, from single actions to modern weapons gussied up to look futuristic. Serenity tried a lot harder to make the guns look different and futuristic, if still recognizable. The handguns seen in closeups were a 1911 with some kind of cover over the slide to change the look, as well as a J-Frame S&W in some kind of shell. Captain Reynolds of course has his trademark sidearm (which, admittedly, seems to have decidedly higher capacity than the stubby magazine would indicate), and the rustic look of old guns with futuristic bolt-ons remained.
Other shows have gone different routes. The new Battlestar Galactica (I don't watch it, but I've seen screenshots) pretty much used regular guns, many of which were chosen because of their high-tech look. One downside to this is that the Beretta CX4 ended up as an infantry arm, a role to which it is rather unsuited. Of course, it's not supposed to be a 9mm carbine, it's supposed to be some kind of advanced rifle, chosen because it looks swoopy.
Anyway, I got to thinking. If I were a prop and weapons guy on a sci-fi show, and had to pick and/or decorate weapons to make them fit in with the setting, what would I pick and how would I alter them?
Unlike a lot of shows and movies, I'd do my best to make the modifications at least seem functional in some way, in addition to changing the look enough for the weapons to seem at home with the rest of the props in the movie.
Fortunately, there's a lot of high-tech lookin' stuff out there now.
For instance, if I needed a big, mean-looking pistol that looked futuristic, a 1911 clone with the Urban Advantage Rail mounted on it would look good on camera. A Beretta 92 similarly equipped would suffice as well. It'd work especially well with a double stack 1911, though.
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= Sci Fi on-screen goodness!
Smith & Wesson makes a few revolvers that would fit in nicely as well, especially in a retro-rustic-futuristic setting like Firefly. The obvious example is the 327 M&P R8:
But this Performance Center 629 would work too:
Personally, I think the ultimate space gun revolver would be a 629, 5", but with a barrel profile similar to the above, but without the weights. Also, put on a picatinny rail instead of the weaver rail, and an unfluted cylinder. Do the thing up in some kind of dark gray or matte black finish, and it'd be great on-screen. (Hell, probably make a nice shooter too. )
The Steyr MA-1 looks pretty science-fiction, too:
As does this little Kel-Tec with the laser:
Shotguns are a little harder. If you could get your hands on a NeoStead, that'd be great, but they were never imported. Otherwise, that new one from SRM Arms I saw at shot, with the four magazine tubes, would work great. (No picture available.)
I do think that the Tromix Saiga would be a decent "space ship gun". Cramped quarters is where the shotgun comes into its own, and you rather want limited penetration on your ship. (As an aside, don't take cover behind a pipe marked "Liquid Sodium" or some such.)
For submachine guns, the FN P90 is the obvious choice...
...but I think the B&T MP9 could work also. Especially if some badguy carries it in the thigh holster that they have for it.
In rifles, you've got the FS 2000:
Needs no modification to look at home in the arms locker of a space ship! Also, the Kel-Tec RFB would make a great "hero" gun.
A case could be made for some of the more recent iterations of the original sci-fi rifle, the Steyr AUG:
Assuming your prop-guy could get his hands on one, the Russian OC-14 Groza would make a good, um, sci-fi equivalent to the present Kalashnikov: the cheap, reliable rifle that lacks polish but always works and is available everywhere. Failing that, an AKU-94 conversion could suffice.
The Barrett 95 wouldn't look too out of place, especially if a bit of dialogue mentioned some kind of advanced armor-piercing explosive round, a bit better than what we've got now:
Good for disabling the sensor dome of a parked enemy shuttle!
The DSR-1 series would also look good on screen:
(Sorry for the huge picture on that one.)
Anyway, I'm just musing. If I ever become the prop and gun guy of a sci-fi project, you'll know what to look for.
Other shows have gone different routes. The new Battlestar Galactica (I don't watch it, but I've seen screenshots) pretty much used regular guns, many of which were chosen because of their high-tech look. One downside to this is that the Beretta CX4 ended up as an infantry arm, a role to which it is rather unsuited. Of course, it's not supposed to be a 9mm carbine, it's supposed to be some kind of advanced rifle, chosen because it looks swoopy.
Anyway, I got to thinking. If I were a prop and weapons guy on a sci-fi show, and had to pick and/or decorate weapons to make them fit in with the setting, what would I pick and how would I alter them?
Unlike a lot of shows and movies, I'd do my best to make the modifications at least seem functional in some way, in addition to changing the look enough for the weapons to seem at home with the rest of the props in the movie.
Fortunately, there's a lot of high-tech lookin' stuff out there now.
For instance, if I needed a big, mean-looking pistol that looked futuristic, a 1911 clone with the Urban Advantage Rail mounted on it would look good on camera. A Beretta 92 similarly equipped would suffice as well. It'd work especially well with a double stack 1911, though.
+
Smith & Wesson makes a few revolvers that would fit in nicely as well, especially in a retro-rustic-futuristic setting like Firefly. The obvious example is the 327 M&P R8:
But this Performance Center 629 would work too:
Personally, I think the ultimate space gun revolver would be a 629, 5", but with a barrel profile similar to the above, but without the weights. Also, put on a picatinny rail instead of the weaver rail, and an unfluted cylinder. Do the thing up in some kind of dark gray or matte black finish, and it'd be great on-screen. (Hell, probably make a nice shooter too.
)The Steyr MA-1 looks pretty science-fiction, too:
As does this little Kel-Tec with the laser:
Shotguns are a little harder. If you could get your hands on a NeoStead, that'd be great, but they were never imported. Otherwise, that new one from SRM Arms I saw at shot, with the four magazine tubes, would work great. (No picture available.)
I do think that the Tromix Saiga would be a decent "space ship gun". Cramped quarters is where the shotgun comes into its own, and you rather want limited penetration on your ship. (As an aside, don't take cover behind a pipe marked "Liquid Sodium" or some such.)
For submachine guns, the FN P90 is the obvious choice...
...but I think the B&T MP9 could work also. Especially if some badguy carries it in the thigh holster that they have for it.
In rifles, you've got the FS 2000:
Needs no modification to look at home in the arms locker of a space ship! Also, the Kel-Tec RFB would make a great "hero" gun.
A case could be made for some of the more recent iterations of the original sci-fi rifle, the Steyr AUG:
Assuming your prop-guy could get his hands on one, the Russian OC-14 Groza would make a good, um, sci-fi equivalent to the present Kalashnikov: the cheap, reliable rifle that lacks polish but always works and is available everywhere. Failing that, an AKU-94 conversion could suffice.
The Barrett 95 wouldn't look too out of place, especially if a bit of dialogue mentioned some kind of advanced armor-piercing explosive round, a bit better than what we've got now:
Good for disabling the sensor dome of a parked enemy shuttle!
The DSR-1 series would also look good on screen:
(Sorry for the huge picture on that one.)
Anyway, I'm just musing. If I ever become the prop and gun guy of a sci-fi project, you'll know what to look for.
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