The Steampunk Rifle next steps

Ok, so I’ve been a bit busy at work and family stuff but I've gotten started again. Due to the nature of the work and that the project is worked on in the evening, use of power tools has been limited due to the fact I don't want to disturb my kids once they are in bed and some things need time to dry/set.
I gave the wood a quick sand down and I’m happy that the recycled wood that had been in the garden for years cleans up ok and should look good once stained. I've got some wood stain left over from doing our mantle piece so I’ll use that on the finished stock. Speaking of which, I cut it out using a jigsaw. The only downer is that the wood is very slightly warped, which is evident when you look along the bottom of it. It’s going to be too time consuming to sort it out, it’s not noticeable unless you are looking at it but I have a plan to hide it.
Here it is.

Steampunk rifle stock shape

You can see a couple of the features already. As well as the groove along the top to house the barrel, I used my Dremel to carve a neater end at the front and rear of the stock. In hindsight, the carved groove along the whole length was a waste of time and effort. Not only is it too big (oh dear!) but it would’ve been easier to use the Dremel tool to just sand a neat groove along the stock. But you live and learn. Here is the groove for the barrel.

You can see the notch I sanded a few inches in on the right side. This is for part of the piping connected to the pressure vessel at the front of the gun.



Pressure vessel space



The pressure vessel is simply an empty drinks can filled with plaster for strength. I’ve glued some card to it and have some small plastic studs to glue on too. Once painted metallic copper, it should do the job. I’m also looking at green and black ink washes to age the appearance a little.

For the sight, which will also be painted, I bought a childs toy telescope from eBay for a couple of quid (I narrowly lost out on an actual brass telescope, which would’ve been awesome but I wanted to keep costs down). A couple of hose clips will be used to connect the site to the barrel assembly.

Rifle scope

This will be the rear of the barrel. It needs a pipe end cap on it and the barrel will fit into the other end. There is a groove cut with the Dremel already which the screw part of the sight hose clip will sit in. The other upright part of the assembly still needs a groove cutting into it. The middle part fits into the side groove cut on the barrel stock, which you can see here.

The part on the side will have an extension to the pipe that runs along the stock to connect to the pressure vessel at the front.

There is still a fair bit to do. I need to cut lengths of brass strip; the Dremel is good for this, to use to strap the barrel down. This is for strength as well as aesthetic purposes. I don’t think glue would be strong enough on its own so brass straps will be screwed to the stock in three or four places to secure it. Stuff needs painting with enamel paint and aged, and additional lengths of pipe need to be cut to secure the joints together, again thanks to the Dremel. I have a toy pistol which I’ll remove the trigger and guard from and insert into the stock. A few additional cosmetic things to think about but I’ll record them as I do them.

That’s it for now. Busy weekend ahead.