Ok... I've mentioned these before but never actually did a 'build thread' on them, and recently the topic surfaced again, so as promised, here's how to make GATLING GUNS for "fighter jet" type models, though I've used them on a sci-fi model in the past and it looked REALLY cool...

Ok here goes.

First, the materials. You need a box of round toothpicks and some "BIC-Stick" pens, the kind typically handed out at conventions, trade shows, farm shows, etc. They're pretty common-- the kinda fat ones with a stepped ball point end and a fat slide off cap, with a flush plug in the end of the tube. Dead pens usually tend to accumulate and are the easiest to use. You'll also need pliers, a sharp hobby knife, and a razor saw if you have one. For glue I used thin CA.

Take you're hopefully dead pen, and using a pair of pliers, gently twist slightly and pull on the curved "adapter" part to remove the ballpoint and ink tube from the pen tube. These ink tubes make good micromax launch lugs from what I've read and I'm sure can be put to other uses if you drop them in paint thinner to remove the ink-- capillary action over a couple days should dissolve the ink for you. Otherwise you won't need the ink tube, so I usually toss them. Be careful so you don't get ink everywhere... The ink tube can be gently pulled out of the adapter and ballpoint end with the pliers, and sent to the paint thinner jar or the trash can.

Take the pen tube, and using a piece of launch rod (or the rod from those store clothes hangers that have the two "clothespin" clips on them (typically used to hold pants in store displays) push the plug out of the end of the pen barrel tube. Set the cap aside. As a side note, I LOVE the rods from those clothes hangers-- you can pull them out of broken hangers and remove the clips and they're PERFECT for aligning launch lugs on the model when gluing them on and clipping fins to them to keep them straight while the glue dries, and other stuff like that. VERY handy little buggers and they're FREE.

Now, you can make a "cannon" out of the ballpoint tip and stepped tube adapter. They look fairly close to the "laser cannons" typically found on stuff like the BSG Viper, various starfighters from various movies and shows, etc. They also look pretty close to the conical-tipped rocket pods found on Hind helicopter gunships and various aircraft. Cut a peice of the pen tube an inch or two long (whatever looks best to you) and put the ballpoint tip and adapter back into the short bit of tube, and the plug in the other end. The plug is chamfered slightly so it looks really cool once installed in the "cannon". The front end, being stepped, ends in the ball point "laser emitter" and after gluing on the model and painting, it looks terrific. Best of all, it takes all of 2 minutes to do!

Here's a few pics to get you started... more to come... OL JR

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The X-87B Cruise Basselope-- THE Ultimate Weapon in the arsenal of Homeland Security and only $52 million per round!

Cont'd...

Ok, so now we get to the Gatling Guns...

Grab 7 toothpics out of the package. Take one and cut the entire tapered ends off both ends, usually about 1/4 to 3/8 inch back from each end. This leaves you with a "dowel" rod about 1 1/2 inches long, more or less. Set this one aside, as it's your "axle" or center of the barrel assembly.

Next take the other six toothpics, and arrange them so the ends match in taper and shape as best as possible. You'll often find that flipping them end for end will usually give you ends that will be pretty darn close in size/shape and amount of taper. They don't have to be perfect, but the closer to uniform, the better.

Line the toothpics up and even the ends up against a box or ruler so they're all even. Look at the other ends, and see how closely they line up. If they're off by quite a bit, well, now we know you bought CHEAP toothpics and you'll have to settle for one fugly end and one pretty end. Cut the tip off each toothpic with the hobby knife, approximately 1/16 to 1/8 inch from the pointed tip, so the end is flat. Try to cut the tips off all the other as close to the same as possible. Don't worry if they're off a little bit, as we can fix it later; close is good enough, but again, the closer the better.

Grab two toothpics and the center 'axle' toothpic, and lay the two snipped ones on either side of the center 'axle' one. Put them on a bit of wax paper so you don't glue the toothpics to the work mat and have to pry them off later... Make sure that the 'axle" one is pretty much centered lengthwise in between the other two 'barrel' toothpics to either side of it, and that the 'barrel' toothpic's snipped ends are even with each other. I pinch them together gently and press them against the edge of the hobby knife to ensure that they're even. Once everything's even and looks good, while gently pinching them together at the "ugly" end, put a little thin CA between the toothpics at the other end. It should look like the picture. Once the glue's had a chance to set up and dry a bit (so you don't glue yourself to it-- try explaining to your spouse how you glued yourself to a Gatling Gun!) pinch the glued end and apply a bit of CA to the other end. Let it set up and dry a bit (few seconds or so usually will do it.)

Next, grab two more 'barrels' and lay them on top of the three you just glued together, sorta like you're going to make a 'woodpile'. The two should drop very neatly right into the two grooves between the three toothpics on bottom and self-align. Pinch them slightly together and make sure the snipped ends align with the other two snipped ends you just glued to the axle, (pushing them against the side of the hobby knife blade) and once you're satisfied they're all even, apply a little CA to the ends you're not pinching together. Apply a little between each toothpic and the adjoining one. Let dry a bit and apply to the other ends. It should look like the pic below, with four barrels in a half-circle surrounding the center axle.

More to come... OL JR

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__________________
The X-87B Cruise Basselope-- THE Ultimate Weapon in the arsenal of Homeland Security and only $52 million per round!

Cont'd...

Ok, so we have the half-barrel assembly. Roll it over onto the two barrels we just glued on. The center axle should now be on top, flanked by a pair of barrels we glued on in step one. Take the two remaining barrels, put them on top of the axle barrel like you just did with the last two. Make sure the snipped ends are at the same end as the others, and make sure they're all even against the side of the hobby knife blade so the barrels are even. Pinch it slightly to hold everything true, and apply a bit of CA between each barrel on the opposite end. Once dried a bit, swap ends and apply the CA between the barrels on the the other end. Voila-- your Gatling gun six-barrel assembly is now completed! Set it aside for the CA to completely "lock up".

Take the leftover pen tube, and cut a piece about 1 1/2 to 2 inches long, whatever "looks right" to you. This is the main "body" of the gun into which the barrel assembly will be pressed. Now you're pen tube should be getting pretty short (what's left of it) but go ahead and cut a VERY SHORT PIECE off the end of it, maybe 1/8 to 1/4 inch long. If you're using a razor saw, it's much easier to cut the pen tube, but you'll have to carefully shave the ends of the tube where it's cut to smooth it out with the hobby knife and eliminate the "fuzzy" plastic edge from the saw blade. If you're using the hobby knife, be careful as it's easy to slip when cutting plastic like this because it's slippery yet resists cutting fairly strongly. This little "ring" of tubing will be the front "bearing" of the Gatling gun and will band all of the barrels together. It'll also give you another place to glue to when you glue the gun to the model. If the ring doesn't come out exactly parallel and even, lap it on a piece of 220 sandpaper to smooth it out and even it up. Once your satisfied, you're ready for final assembly of the gun.

Take the "gun body" piece of pen tube and gently press the barrel assembly into the tube. It should fit snugly but not exceedingly tight-- a firm push should slide it in. Stick the uneven unsnipped "ugly" end into the pen tube and slide the whole thing in about 3/8 inch to 1/2 an inch. Now take the short band and slide it over the barrel ends so it's about 3/8 inch or so from the tapered 'pretty end' of the barrels. This will hold the barrels together (such a band is commonly found on Gatling guns and is often used for a forward support bearing for the rotating barrel assembly).

Once the thing is where you want it and how you want it to look, apply a little CA between the band and barrels, and around the barrel assembly and the main body tube of the gun. Insert the pen body tube plug into the back end of the pen tube, and Voila! Your Gatling gun is now virtually complete!

If the ends of the barrels are slightly "off" in their alignment to each other, simply stand the gun on the ends of it's barrels on a piece of sandpaper flat on your work surface, and gently sand in little circles to "lap" the gun barrels even and to the same length. You can also "floss" between the barrel tips a bit with the sandpaper if you're VERY CAREFUL to make the tips more evenly shaped to each other. Remember a little sanding goes a LONG WAY with such fine parts...

Enjoy! OL JR

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__________________
The X-87B Cruise Basselope-- THE Ultimate Weapon in the arsenal of Homeland Security and only $52 million per round!

A few more pics... some by the "ruler" on the edge of the workmat for scale.

These are similar to the Gatling gun "pods" that were grafted onto the F-4 Phantoms in Vietnam after it was discovered the fighter jets actually DID need more than just missiles to dogfight!

Enjoy! OL JR

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__________________
The X-87B Cruise Basselope-- THE Ultimate Weapon in the arsenal of Homeland Security and only $52 million per round!

Very cool!
Thanks for the technique.

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Layne Pemberton NAR# 83083
Mad Scientist, Minion and Owner
PembertonTechnologies.com
P.O. Box 250760
North Little Rock AR, 72225

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