HOW TO MAKE THE VALIANT (IRVINE'S RIFFLE)
Needed material:
* 1 Piece of stove pipe about 8cm of diameter
* 1,50 mt of rigid plastic pipe for wiring about 4cm of diameter
* Some pieces of fir wood in various sizes
* Plywood in different thickness
* 1 drawer handle
* Assorted wood screws
* 1 plate of copper or cardboard
* Hot Glue
For the coloring:
* Walnut or cherry mordant water or alcohol soluble
* Shellac
* Black syntectic spray glaze
* Transparent syntectic spray glaze
Procedure:
Let's begin with the barrels, cut 2 pieces
the pipe for wiring 60cm long and glue them together by the long side.
Then glue both of them on a piece of plywood 5mm thick. Paint it black
with spray. Saw in a fir wood board (2cm thick) the shape of the riffle's handle.
Saw in a fir wood piece (4x4cm square section) the lower part of the riffle, making thinner the front part and making a channel in the back part in which will be fitted in the handle, that will be fixed with glue and screws.
After that this part can be colored with many coats of very dilute walnut or cherry mordant (or aniline) with a soft brush.
When it's dry, melt the shellac in alcohol
and give many coats with a soft brush, avoiding the accumulations that
can remain sticky. Cut a section of about 10cm of the stove pipe, make 2 vertical cut in it so that it has a "C" shape. Bend the extremities so that the piece can fit into the back part of the barrels. Eventually you can close the end with a plate of copper or cardboard. Then paint it black.
Other details such as the trigger, the hammer and the back of the riffle are made in plywood, glued and painted black. Cut the drawer handle in a "L" shape.
Give a pair of coats with transparent spray on all the pieces painted black before, so that the surface become more resistant to scratches.
Now all the parts should be ready for the assembly. First fix and glue the stove pipe in the back of the barrels, then glue this piece on the wooden part of the riffle. Fix the back part of the riffle (the one with the hammer).
Glue the trigger and fix upon it the handle
with a little spike and glue. Finally paint other details with black and metal acrylic paint.
