Gun Shields

 Gun shields are the most ubiquitous means of defense for small caliber guns. They should not be that complicated to model them, and yet I find that they are. My previous posts show examples of how I've tried to make them. I have yet to be happy with the results.  Materials used for the gun shield is one factor. Wood splits and thin cardboard bends in ways that I don't want to. Consistency is another issue. It is difficult to make them all the same size. Once you make them, I find it very difficult to try to shape them to look like something more than a tiny cube. Additionally, it is difficult to drill tiny holes that run true from one end of the material to the other.  

Styrene rods to make shields

The gun shields for the above light cruiser uses 2mm x 2mm styrene rods. First, I drill a hole and then glue the wire in for the gun, then I cut the whole thing off. The result is the gun and its shield ready to go. I mark off the length of the gun using an acrylic paint pen, but once I make several, I line them up to make sure the lengths are reasonably consistent. I would like to have the front of the shield to slope a little, but I have yet to figure out how while keeping them consistent. I discovered I had a package of 2.5mm x 2.5mm rods that I will use for a larger caliber gun. That 0.5mm increase might be just enough to modify the shields.

Experiments in unusual materials

Many years ago, before the widespread use of blogs, there was a web site of a fellow that focused on modern microarmor gaming. I wish I could remember who it was because I attribute my interest in modern armored warfare (pretty much anything post-WWII) to the after action reports on his website. In addition to the time period itself, he also showed that it was possible to modify microarmor. One of the materials that he used was erasers (!?!). He used it because it was a material that was easier to carve than plastic, and it had no grain to deal with. 

I tried using the white vinyl erasers but those are too soft and tear easily. Next up the pink erasures. They are soft, but firmer than the white ones. It is easy to cut into them but they don't tear up, especially when you poke a hole in them to push in a metal wire for the gun. 

As a test, I grabbed some old pencil erasures that have been sitting around at home from my kids' elementary school days. 

You can see on the picture above where I cut out the gun shields. Below the end result before painting:

The lip of the eraser had was curved and beveled at the edge. This gave the shield a more realistic design. It also didn't tear like the white erasure did when I poked a hole in to put the gun in. It was more difficult to be consistent in dimensions when I cut out the shields. Also, I glued them down with superglue gel. I hope it holds. Maybe contact cement will work better.  

I will show the painted results in a later post.