Sidearms: Part I

Of the various tools at his disposal, Deadpool sports two sidearms, held in holsters at his thighs. Depending on the source, these have been portrayed as either pistols or sub-machine guns.

For the sake of space management (especially since I'll be transporting them long-distance) I am opting for pistols.

Costume weapons policies can be very strict when it comes to form and function of props, especially firearms. For PAX, the guidelines are thus:

- It cannot fire any sort of projectile. (Nerf guns are only allowed if they have been deactivated and can not fire.)

- It cannot be an airsoft weapon. (Yes, even if it’s deactivated.)

- It cannot look like a real firearm at “second glance.” (Yes, even if it’s a kid’s toy.)

- It cannot be sharp or pointy enough to cut or pierce someone with moderate pressure. This includes all real swords, daggers and knives. It also includes ceramic blades, needles, syringes and anything that can pierce such as a Little Sister syringe made of wood

So, Nerf guns are OK, but it can't shoot anything. It also needs to be easily unmistakable as a prop. With this in mind I started work. I already had a set of thigh holsters from a previous halloween costume, so I needed something that would fit into those. After a quick Walmart trip, I settled on two of these:

The Nerf Firestrike. It's compact, has a nifty red flashlight thing, and the design includes a nice flat circular area on the sides (more on this later). The general plan for these is to produce a pair of "weapons" that feature the color and styling of the Deadpool character, namely red and black with the signature logo:

I grabbed two and headed home. After unboxing, the first thing I needed to do was check if they could even fit in the holsters I already had.

Surprise! It doesn't fit...

It turns out that there is a bit of plastic on the lower front end meant for holding extra Nerf darts. Unfortunately, this sticks out a bit too much for the gun to fit all the way in the holster. To rectify the situation, I had to cut out this part, and patch it up before painting. Using a Dremel tool with a cutting bit, I carved out the excess plastic. I then applied a strip of Worbla, and covered it with Bondo Body Filler. This was then shaped and sanded using a combination of Dremel bits and sand paper.