Portal gun!

For Halloween this year my family is doing a video game theme.  Each of us (except for Jamie) will be a major character from a different video game.  I am going to be Chell, from Portal and Portal 2.

Chell looks like this...


The costume is pretty simple, but the real gem of this costume is the Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device
otherwise known as a Portal gun.  It was a necessity for my costume but the prospect of making one was daunting.  Buying one was out of the question, as they are over $100!  I watched a few tutorials, and was still unsure of how to proceed.  I decided to ask my totally awesome dad for some help.  Since I am making 4 very elaborate costumes, I asked Dad if he could work on the portal gun.  He was game and he came up with the most impressive part, the core of the gun that lights up!

Using PVC pipe, camera extension tubes, an old lens, wire, alligator clamps, an empty capers jar, blue film and a flashlight he had the barrel of the gun ready for me to work on.

Dad had some old foam floor tiles, like these


That I cut out the shape for the white parts of the gun from, I molded them into shape, then covered them in wood putty.  When they were dry, I sanded them down and spray painted them a bright glossy white.  I used mom's Silhouette machine to cut the logos out of wall vinyl.  When i was putting the gun together, the barrel became unstable, the extension tubes didn't quite fit right on the PVC pipe and the weight of the gun made it keep falling off.  So I found a plastic tube that fit perfectly over the pvc pipe, (i had been looking for a "glass" cover for the core anyway.  It was long enough that it fit over the core, and projected way further.  So I cut some more foam and covered the tube with a ring. I then attached the lens to the front and put the front white part on.  It was much more stable now that the barrel was all one piece.  Lastly, I reattached the wire arms on the front and hooked up the wires with a bit more foam.  The end result is AWESOME!  you can turn the flashlight on and off, to make it look like the portal gun in shooting and it lights up so vividly.  I love the way this project turned out!  The only thing I had to buy was the wood putty and the spray paint, so we only spent about $10 on the gun.





Now I just have to get working on my Long fall boots!