Tag Archives: prop

Custom LED Glowing Borderlands 2 Zer0 Sword: My Her0 Zer0

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Fans of Borderlands 2 would love to get their hands on this weapon. This awesome glowing sword is just like the one that Zer0 uses in the game – only this one is real. While there’s no cloaking ability to go along with this sword, it’s still pretty amazing.

borderlands 2 zero sword 2

This Borderlands 2 Zer0 Sword was built by Michelle Khuu (aka Sadistic-Otaku) out of wood, blue acrylic, a blue LED ribbon, a toggle switch and a 9v battery. It is a geek creation of deadly beauty. Hopefully she hasn’t cut anyone in half with it.

borderlands zero sword

If she sold these, I would buy one. She would probably make a ton of money off of all us gaming geeks. At least we would look cool for the apocalypse.

[via Obvious Winner]

Pip-Boy 3000 Made from Picture Frame 2012

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Last year we saw a prototype for an unwearable Pip-Boy 3000, which involved using a smartphone to create a replica that was functional, or at least interactive. This hack is not as high tech, because it only uses a digital picture frame, but at least it’s wearable.

pip boy 3000 by zacharaiah perry

The replica was made by amateur prop maker and sculpture student Zachariah Perry as a gift for his brother. Awwww. As with the replica we saw last year, Zachariah also used the Pip-Boy alarm clock that was included in the Survival Edition of Fallout 3. Then he inserted the innards of a digital picture frame and covered it with the domed glass from a slide viewer, giving it a great retro look. He made three buttons to switch between the images being displayed on the frame, which are screenshots from the Pip-Boy 3000 of his brother’s Fallout save game. Double awwww. The knob at the lower left toggles the lights at the bottom of the display. Finally the separate, gizmo you see on the glove is an MP3 player, which he couldn’t fit inside the case of the alarm clock.

Now Zachariah’s brother is ready to leave their vault. Check out Zachariah’s blog for more pictures of the replica.

[via Hack A Day]


501st Legion Builds a Life-sized Rancor Monster, Malakili Cries

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There are a lot of huge monsters that I would like to meet in real life, just because they are cool, but the Rancor from Return of the Jedi is not one of them. The Rancor will tear you limb from limb and pick the meat out of it’s teeth with your bones. Still, this life-sized Rancor statue is looking pretty bad-ass.

rancor monsterIf it attacks you, you know what to do. Just pick up a bone from one of it’s previous victims and shove it into it’s mouth. It isn’t smart enough to get it out so it will just get more ticked off. Then pray that there is a heavy gate nearby to drop onto it’s head.

life size rancor 2

This beast is Roxy the Rancor, a sculpture by the 501st Legion. If you like to poop yourself, it will be unveiled at the upcoming Star Wars Celebration at the end of the month in Orlando, FL. The detail is incredible. Don’t show up in a black Jedi costume. These monsters hate that.

[via Obvious Winner]


Microsoft patent applications take Kinect into mobile cameras, movie-making

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Microsoft patent applications take Kinect into mobile cameras, moviemaking

Microsoft has never been shy about its ambitions for Kinect's depth sensing abilities. A pair of patent applications, however, show that its hopes and dreams are taking a more Hollywood turn. One patent has the depth camera going portable: a "mobile environment sensor" determines its trajectory through a room and generates a depth map as it goes, whether it's using a Kinect-style infrared sensor or stereoscopic cameras. If the visual mapping isn't enough, the would-be camera relies on a motion sensor like an accelerometer to better judge its position as it's jostled around. Microsoft doesn't want to suggest what kind of device (if any) might use the patent for its camera, but it's not ruling out anything from smartphones through to traditional PCs.

The second patent filing uses the Kinect already in the house for that directorial debut you've always been putting off. Hand gestures control the movie editing, but the depth camera both generates a model of the environment and creates 3D props out of real objects. Motion capture, naturally, lets the humans in the scene pursue their own short-lived acting careers. We haven't seen any immediate signs that Microsoft is planning to use this or the mobile sensor patent filing in the real world, although both are closer to reality than some of the flights of fancy that pass by the USPTO -- the movie editor has all the hallmarks of a potential Dashboard update or Kinect Fun Labs project.

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Microsoft patent applications take Kinect into mobile cameras, movie-making originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 02 Aug 2012 18:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Gears of War 3 Digger Launcher Replica Will Blast Your Jaw to the Floor

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The chainsaw-equipped Lancer rifle from Gears of War is a favorite among prop makers, but Ryan Palsen and his wife Dena – known together as Kronos Props – just put another weapon from the series in the spotlight. Their replica of the Digger Launcher from Gears of War 3 is so authentic I can barely believe that the couple only create props in their spare time.

gears of war 3 digger launcher replica

Palsen admits that one of the reasons why their replica looks so much like its in-game counterpart is because he was able to secure high-resolution pictures and 3D models of the weapon from Epic Games – the developer behind Gears of War –  itself. He used these detailed resources to create the replica out of medium density fiberboard (MDF), styrene plastic, Apoxie Sculpt, Rebound 25, Smooth-Cast 300 silicone and other materials. As you can see the gun also has LEDs in front and on the sides to emulate the original gun’s glowing effect. His wife Dena is responsible for the amazing weathering and detail work.

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You can see more pictures of the Digger Launcher replica on Ryan and Dena‘s Flickr pages. They also joined Instructables’ Make it Real contest, so check out their page for details of their process and vote for them while you’re there. No offense to the other contestants but I think they deserve to win the top prize.

[via Instructables via Kronos Props via Kotaku]