The New Raygun

This is my preliminary sketch of the current raygun project. The yellow bits will be brass, the handle will be flexible polymer clay (for durability), and the red thing is a wooden spindle. I've done all of the work from the red spindle forward on the piece, except soldering the finial.

I'll still need to fabricate the trigger, trigger guard, and the butt plate from brass, as well as sculpting the grip. These parts will use the same technique that I used for the Cinco de Mayo and Cereza Negra rayguns. I also want a working trigger, like on the Honor of Coronado dueling set and the Isabella de La Vega. Julie and Steph bought me a drill press for Christmas this year, so I should have the means to drill the fiddly bits for the trigger pivot.

I've spent the last few weeks trying to find the tubing to go above the grip. It needs to be a cylinder with a one and a half inch diameter. I wanted brass or copper, but would have settled for aluminum, iron, or steel if I could have found it. The hardware stores in the area had what I needed, but I couldn't stand the prices that they wanted for the metal stock (especially as plumbing parts). I finally found what I was looking for at a thrift store, where I found an inexpensive headboard for a brass bed. I was able to disassemble the piece, and have a nice supply of brass tubing in two different diameters, along with all of the brass trim pieces and connectors.
I plan to work on the trigger pivot first; since my solution for that defines how long the trigger will be, and what its range of motion is. That in turn will drive the shape of the trigger guard. Once I get all of the metalwork done, I can sculpt the grip to fit.