Firefly pistol prop made out of foam
Here in Australia we have stringent gun laws, this means – more often than not – if you try and import a gun, even a solid resin prop gun like Mal Reynolds prop pistol from “Firefly” customs will seize it (a friend tells me you can’t even import a mint in box Megatron transformer because it’s in the shape of a gun!).
That is a problem for law abiding fans like myself and also for cosplayers who need the prop pistol to finish off their costumes. I’ve always wanted Mal’s “Firefly” pistol prop, it’s iconic to the show and I do love the show. Problem is friends have purchased the official Firefly prop gun online and it’s never made it through Australian customs (I know of 4 failures, though one friend says he managed to get his okay). This is a confusing one, given I bought a full metal LeMat replica last year legally – from a museum – no problem (Jayne’s pistol in “Firefly” is a modded LeMat), but alas, no solid resin QMx prop allowed by Australian customs, go figure.
With this in mind I decided I’d have a crack at making myself Mal’s prop gun from “Firefly” as a test, should someone want to commission one (always better to do the test one for yourself, as opposed to a client lol). This is the result, really happy with it.
The main material in this build is closed-cell foam, though I did give it a rigid center piece so it wasn’t totally floppy. Used a bit of artistic license on the grips as they’re plain on the original prop, but I wanted them to have some texture so did faux wood grain.
Hoping to make a display stand for this and call it complete so I can put it on my DVD shelf. If you need a Mal Reynolds prop gun and you’re in Australia so importing it is out, this can be commissioned and personalized to suit (color, grips etc), for your own shelf, or Captain Mal cosplay. Note it sadly won’t be as cheap as a factory made resin replica as it probably takes a couple of minutes for each Qmx model to be done and this took me a few days.
Hope you’ve liked this latest prop build.
Mal Reynolds bronze look pistol prop from Firefly / Serenity complete!
“They [the Alliance] will swing back to the belief that they can make people… better. And I do not hold to that. So no more runnin’. I aim to misbehave.” Mal Reynolds.
Till next time people… what do we say?! ….
DO GOOD THINGS!
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Originally written for GirlyGamer.com.au home blog of Nerfenstein / GirlyGamer / BoardGameGran. Catch up with me on my Facebook page, or if you Tweet… there’s always Twitter and guess what, I actually reply!
Hi there,
I am hoping you are still doing the Malcolm’s Reynolds pistol.
I have been trying to get it from overseas with no luck..
Could you please advise how much this will cost me and if it is at all possible be able to get it to me before the 26th October…
Also wondering if you do helmets, looking for a set of the Daft Punk helmets.
Cheers keep up the great work
Brendon
Hi Brendon,
I don’t do the Daft Punk helmets. I can do the Mal Reynolds pistol. Please email me if interested (Nerfenstein@gmail.com) and we’ll work it out 🙂
I have been trying to get one off these for ages, how much are they. And do you also do his boots?
If you want one email me Nerfenstein@gmail.com
I don’t do any costuming, just props for the most part.
I absolutely LOVE this prop. wondering if u are still doing them, and if so, how much for? because this is a MUST HAVE prop for ANY browncoat, and also because i plan on doing a malcolm reynolds cosplay soon, and i cant seem to find a replica ANYWHERE and when i do, its always that disappointing QMX resin replica which cant be shipped over here anyways lol
I would say the QMX version is way nicer than my version, because mine is foam, but you’re right, you can’t import the QMX as customs stop most of them 🙁
You can commission the foam version though, just email me (Nerfenstein@gmail.com)
You can buy the Qmx Mal Reynolds Gun from Mad Zombie Collectables in Adelaide at a cost of $ 200, only just found this out myself and had one delivered to Melbourne in 2 days
Thanks for the info Dan. It’s a shame they’ve over doubled the price of it, but it’s still good for fans who want the resin version.
I sent a painted Nerf gun from the UK to an Australian customer, it was seized by Border Control as a “replica Firearm!” The customer put in an appeal and won, they finally have their gun. But I won’t be sending anymore. Nice prop by the way, I just finished one myself using wood though.
Are you still making these?
If so, cost?
I could be tempted, commissions via my Facebook page messages. 🙂
Hey what sort of dimensions are there? I’m looking to make my own and I’d like the right sizes.
Honestly it was so long ago I couldn’t begin to guess. Suggest you do what I did, print of the shape, but it out, hold the paper version, keep resizing the print until it feels good, then use the cut out as the template. Good luck!