Introduction: Black Rock Shooter's Cannon

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About: I am a self proclaimed Junkyard Craftsman. I am an ER Nurse with a love of art, craft and fabrication. I have a habit of looking at things, especially before throwing it away, and thinking "what can I m…
Here is another anime based prop for my daughters recent cosplay at San Japan Mach 5. She went as Black Rock Shooter from the anime OVA of the same name.  Her whole costume consisted of various props as well as her brother and sisters props that included swords and flaming eyes as well as the costumes.  I will start of a series of these items with this, The Black Rock Shooter's Canon.

Materials
1. One 8” x 48” Builders tube
2. Six  pieces of Poplar 1 1/2” x 48” x 1/4”
3. One 8” x ½” x 48” plank of wood
4. One 6” x ¾” x 6 ‘ plank of wood
5. One piece of square dowel 1 ½” x 1 ½” x 24”
6. One piece of square dowel rod ¾” x ¾” x 24”
7. One dowel rod 1” x 24"
8. Beach pail with an 8” opening
9. PVC pipe 4” x 6 ‘
10. 2 PVC 3” connector, 1 PVC 4”to 3” reducer
11. Black spray paint
12. Glue – Wood and/or All purpose
13. Wood filler
14. Thick (at least 2 inch, the thicker the better) Styrofoam sheet
15. Low profile plastic pylons
16. Clear blue acrylic clip board
17. Zip ties
Tools
1. Miter saw
2. Trim saw
3. Crafting knife/Box cutter
4. Sand Paper
5. T-square/Ruler
6. Drill
7. Clamps – corner and clip
8. Styrofoam heated cutter



Step 1:

1. I cut the inner ring of 2 low profile pylons out.  I then cut the two tags and connected them to make a full circle.  I inverted this and glue it back into the large ring.

Step 2:

2. Using the builders tube as a stencil I traced 4 circles on the Styrofoam. Using the PVC pipe as a stencil I drew a circle in the middle of the each of the larger circles. I cut the rings out and made 4 Styrofoam donuts.

Step 3:

3. I inserted the PVC pipe through one of the donuts (end flush with the surface) and glued it in place. I then spaced the remaining donuts along the PVC pipe so that they would be hidden when inserted into the builders tube and glued them in place (I had cut the builders tube to a length of 36”). I inserted this into the builders tube and glued it in place.

Step 4:

4. I took the reducer and made markings with my sharpie to mimic the ventilation slits on the cannon. I thought about carving these in with my Dremel but decided to apply 1” foam strips to build up the reducer and left channels between every second strip. I coated this with modge podge once dry.

Step 5:

5. I took a beach pail and cut the bottom out. I found the bottom too large for my needs (I needed to fit snugly over the 3” section of the PVC reducer) so I found a smaller beach pail and glued it together with the larger pail so as to form what I needed. I then slid the reducer (3” section) into the smaller hole of the beach pail.
6. I cut the PVC pipe attached to the builders tube to the length that allowed the pail/reducer piece to fit flush with the builders tube (large opening). I placed the pail/reducer piece over the PVC pipe with the wide end towards the builders tube and glued it in place. I glued the modified pylon over the opposite end from the pail forming the front of the barrel of the cannon.

Step 6:

7. I cut 4 pieces of 1 1/2” x 48” x 1/4” poplar to 38” and glued them to different sides of the builders tube making sure 2” are over the pylons. I then took the scrap pieces and cut them to the length of the buckets and glued them to the bucket, extending the pieces glued to the builders tube. I took the remaining scraps and glued them to the reducer, extending the pieces from the bucket. I used wood filler to fill gaps and seams to make it appear each piece of poplar was one continuous piece. I sanded any rough edges once the wood filler was dry.

Step 7:

8. I took the square dowel and cut 4 two inch pieces (making a 45° cut on one side of each piece). I glued each piece to the poplar strips over the pylons making sure the 45° angle was at the front edge. I then took the ¾ x ¾ square dowel rod and cut 4 one pieces (making a 45° cut on one side of each piece). I glued each piece to the poplar strips at the end at the reducer the square edge towards the end about 1 inch from the edge.
I then spray painted this cannon barrel black, putting 3 layers, and I put it aside.

Step 8:

9. I spray painted the 4” PVC connector black (3 layers) and set it aside I cut a 4” section of the PVC pipe. I traced the 4” PVC pipe on the blue acrylic clip board and cut it out with my scroll saw. I glued this round piece of acrylic and glued it inside the 4” PVC connector and inserted the section of PVC pipe behind it and glued it in place. I set this aside.

Step 9:

10. I cut a 6” piece off the 6” x ¾” x 6 ‘ plank of wood with a 45° angle at one edge, and 5” piece and three 8” pieces with square edges all around. I traced the 4” PVC in the center (of the surface with the smallest area) of the 6” piece with the 45° angle. I cut a corner off 2 the 8” pieces making the length of the cut equal the total length of the beveled edge of the 6” piece. I glued these together to make an open ended box (the circular cut out opposite of the opening).
I drew two patterns of the sides of the handle of the cannon on the 6” plank of wood and cut it out. I sanded the rough edges and glued these to opposite sides of the box. I cut a length off wood (about 8 inches) to act as the crossover on the handle, sanded it and glued it in place. I cut a length of the round dowel (8”) and glued it to the bottom of the handle. I drew 2 patterns of the inner handle from the remainder of the 6” x ¾” x 6 ‘ and cut it out and sanded the rough edges and glue them in place. I drew a small arch as the cross piece of this handle, sanded it and glued it in place. I also cut a piece off of the round dowel to fit the bottom of this handle, sanded it and glued it into place. I spray painted this whole piece black, again applying 3 layers.

Step 10:

11. I cut a piece of foam I had laying around to fit into the end of the 4” PVC connector and cut a pattern in its center where I can insert my flashlight snugly. I did not think of how to secure the flash light in place so at this time I drilled 2 holes opposite each other on the side of the 4” PVC connector and secured the flashlight with zip ties.

Step 11:

13. I tried inserting the 4” PVC pipe/flashlight assembly through the hole in the cannon receiver box from the inside. I hit a glitch here as the pistol grip flash light did not fit, so I had to replace it with a straight handled flash light instead. After taking care of that little problem I then connected the cannon barrel to the protruding pipe. I did not glue this because I want to be able to take this apart at my leisure for transporting purposes.