Hey all,
I'm new here (as you can tell from my post count :) ) But, not new to prop collecting/building.

I've acquired a Wilco! model kit.



That I want to build as accurately as possible.

I do have the Weapons and Field Equipment Technical Reference Manual, by Shane Johnson (1984 ISBN: B00070UMXS),...



...but I don't know how accurate it is. It states that the gun is entirely gun-metal-black.

The book also states that it'a a partical beam blaster.

Thank you

Welcome Zaphod (got a good recipe for Pan Galactic Gargle Blasters?),

I'm new here also, but if you want accurize the Wilco! kit, I'd say Richard Coyle's page is the place to check (racprops --- just google around and you'll find it.)

The tricky part of the Wilco! kit will be opening up the front flash suppressor slots. Drill the large hole from the back to within 1/4 inch of the front hole (I'm assuming you're not going to do anything crazy like I did and add fire fx). I then drilled through the small inner hole in the front. Because of that fin on the bottom, I decided the easiest approach would be to set it up on a drill press equipped with a vice-style bed. Then drill 3/8 holes at each end of the slots, stopping when one hits the large opening drilled earlier. Then I used a dremel tool with a circular abraisive wheel (like a saw with no teeth) and expanded the slot from the holes drilled at each end. This is tricky, somewhat dangerous, do at your own risk, etc etc. Wear a mask, because you'll raise of ton of black resin dust, and wear safety glasses, because these abraisive wheels have been known to sort of explode outwards if you torque them in the slot you're cutting. They can also lop off a finger in the wink of an eye (if one does this, try and find the finger and get to an emergency care facility, because they can often reattach 'em :doh: ) I use a Dremel with a flex shaft, because the tool itself is too clunky for control, and I keep both hands on the flex shaft head, with whatever I'm working on secured in a soft face vice. Bill will sell you another flash suppressor if you need it, but I suggest starting with a spare on hand. I screwed up the one I used on my alternative barrel, and had to do some fixing.

I used black superglue from Stewart-MacDonald-- I think they're stewmac.com. Black superglue is sold by them to repair ebony guitar fingerboards, near as I can tell.

After I fixed my booboos with the black superglue and spray accelerator, then comes a lot of tedious inside dremeling and hand sanding to thin out the connecting bars on the suppressor. Mask/goggle time again.

The rest of the gun is a piece of cake.

I'm sort of a "runs with scissors" type. So don't do what I do or what I say, do only what you know and feel comfortable with. Follow the Burning Man credo-- "we are all responsible for our own stupidity." Have fun-- it's a great kit for thirty bucks!!!

Wow!
Thanks 3dddman!

With the suppressor, I got extremely lucky. The vents were paper thin, I just needed to push it out, and clean up the edges.

Thank you for taking the time to type all of that!
This is gonna be a lot of fun.

Hi Zaphod,

If the vents were paper thin, then Bill (Wilco! Models) has apparently changed his muzzle mold, which is a boon to anyone building the kit, besides being a more economical use of resin. So I essentially sent you a bunch of information you didn't need. Out of curiosity, is your kit black resin and the picture you posted a screen capture from some web site, or is your kit really cream colored resin? Also Bill just sent my parts in a jiffy bag; I've never had or seen an actual box. Which was fine with me-- one less thing to have to recycle.

However, the muzzle/flash suppressor opening info may prove useful for people who have one of the earlier kits or buy an older kit off the floor in a model shop. On the kit I had the muzzle is just a solid chunk of black plastic. Opening that thing up is a real pain, and I nearly decided to saw off the lower fin so I could get at the slots with a router/jig, then slot the bottom and reinstall the fin (if you sawed it off, you'd have to slot the reattachment point, you couldn't just glue it. Superglues have powerful face to face strength, but virtually no shear strength, so you'd be continually knocking the fin off if you removed it and just surface glued it and then carried it around on a costume-- something to keep in mind when using any adhesive in the cyanoacrylate family.)

One other tip-- I replaced the triangular holster wedge with a piece of scrap aluminum, drilled/tapped the frame with 8-32 threads, and screwed/glued it on. The resin wedge in the kit isn't strong enough to holster for costume use, but would be fine for display.

Now, what about that Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster recipe?
B)

Ooops sorry, forgot to post this:

PAN GALACTIC GARGLE BLASTER
--------------------------------------

INGREDIENTS:
1 oz Jack Daniels
1/2 oz Peach schnapps
1/2 oz Blue Curacao
Orange juice

MIXING INSTRUCTIONS:
Fill the glass, mug or whatever about 3/4 with ice. Then, add the J.D.,
Schnapps and Curacao. Fill up the rest of the glass with orange juice,
and stir.

==================================

My digicam is near useless, so that is a pic from a website :( My kit though, does look just like that. Cream colored and all. And yes, it came in a box.

I am going to need to punch several deep holes on it. For:
the toggles
brass pin
trigger
a place in barrel in order to connect it to the handle.

Putting a piece of aluminum, sounds like a great idea, but, I don't have the tools for that :(

Re the aluminum, a vice and a $2 Tool Town hacksaw will do it. Plus a little sandpaper (you can get big packs of cloth backed sandpaper from the Dollar Store. I assume everyone has an electric drill, also needed. If you want to get fancy, Tool Town, or whatever the local equivalent is, will sell you a Chinese tap and die set for ten more bucks. A sheet metal shop will generally sell you small odd chunks of aluminum sheetmetal for a few dollars.

Re the Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster, what, no lemon??? Isn't it supposed to hit you like a lemon wrapped around a large gold brick?

Remember, the guide is wildly inaccurate

Here's my orginal version, which you Earth types, just don't have the ingrediants for...

1. Take the juice from one bottle of that Ol' Janx Spirit.
2. Pour into it one measure of water from the seas of Santraginus V. (Oh, that Santraginean seawater. Oh, those Santraginean fish!)
3. Allow three cubes of Arcturan Mega-gin to melt into the mixture (It must be properly iced or the benzene is lost).
4. Allow four litres of Fallian marsh gas to bubble through it. (In memory of all those happy hikers who have died of pleasure in the Marshes of Fallia.)
5. Over the back of a silver spoon float a measure of Qalactin Hypermint extract. (Redolent of all the heady odors of the dark Qualactin Zones.)
6. Drop in the tooth of an Algolian Suntiger. (Watch it dissolve, spreading the fires of the Algolian Suns deep into the heart of the drink.)
7. Sprinkle Zamphuor.
8. Add an olive.
9. Drink . . . but . . . very carefully . . .

See...no lemon.

Here's an alternate Terran blend:
Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster #2
Ingredients:

* 70 ml Champagne or sparkling wine
* 20 ml Vodka
* 10 ml Blue Curacao
* 1 Sugar cube
* 1 splash Angostura bitters
* 1 Cocktail onion

Mixing instructions:

Splash a puddle of Angostura bitters into a saucer and place the sugar cube in it to soak. This will take a minute ot two. Stir the Champagne (or sparkling wine), the Vodka and the Blue Curacao together in a container and put into the fridge to chill. Place the soaked sugar cube in the bottom of the Champagne glass, pour in the mixture and add drop in the cocktail onion, which should be loose, not on a cocktail stick.

Lastly:
Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster #3
Ingredients:

1. 1 oz. EverClear
2. 4 oz. Bombay Sapphire or Jeremiah Weed
3. 4 oz. Cold Wild Turkey
4. 2 oz. Herredura Tequila
5. 5 oz. Rum
6. 1 worm from bottle of Mezcla
7. 2 oz. Gatorade
Before drinking, eat one olive to create a sweetness in it which is not there.

Drink very, very extremely carefully at your own risk, and remember where your towel is (if you can).

=========

All of these are to be had at your own risk. I'm not responsible for your hangovers or addictions... :alc: