Read an Excerpt
Miniweapons of Mass Destruction 2
Build a Secret Agent Arsenal
By John Austin Chicago Review Press Incorporated
Copyright © 2011 Austin Design, Inc.
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-56976-951-5
CHAPTER 1
AGENT SIDEARMS
PPK TIC TAC
Small and lightweight, the Walther PPK was the signature weapon of a very popular British secret agent. This homemade design features an incredible elastic firing range and an integrated candy dispenser, giving you an endless clip of minty bullets.
Supplies
1 standard art marker
1 small balloon Duct tape
2 plastic pen caps 1 large paper clip
1 craft stick
1 Tic Tac container
1 small binder clip (19 mm)
2 playing cards
Tools
Safety glasses Pliers
Hobby knife Hot glue gun Scissors
Ammo
1+ small, hard candies
Step 1
Locate a standard art marker; a recycled plastic marker is preferred because of the softness of the outer housing, but any marker will work. Using pliers, remove the marker's end cap by slightly twisting it from the housing. Then use the pliers to remove the marker nib — the writing point — by sliding it out the tip of the marker. Discard this nib to avoid a mess.
Using a hobby knife, pierce the marker housing below the plastic point as shown, and slowly rotate the marker. Rotating the housing, rather than the knife, will make cutting safer. Once this end has been removed, the internal ink cartridge should slide out. Discard this cartridge. (If the housing contains ink residue, rinse it out and dry it.)
The marker housing will become the barrel of your PPK Tic Tac. The housing pathway should be unobstructed by any plastic fragments that might have broken off during cutting. Save the marker cap for a later step.
Step 2
Now it's time to manufacture the power source of your PPK gun barrel. Pull a balloon over the end of the marker housing with a majority of it covering the housing, as shown. Once in place, tape the balloon securely into position. Test the strength of the tape restraint a few times by pulling the balloon, and add more tape if needed. It is important that you test it before you continue construction.
Step 3
In this step you will prepare three different components that will be used in the next few steps. Round up two plastic pen caps, one large paper clip, and duct tape.
Component A: Using a hobby knife, cut off the pen clip. This will become the barrel sight. Then, from the same pen cap, cut off a ½-inch ring. This will become the hammer detail.
Component B: With the second plastic pen cap, slowly bend down the clip without breaking it. This component will eventually become the trigger.
Component C: Place the large paper clip on a slightly larger piece of duct tape. Securely wrap the clip so that all of it is covered with tape. This is the beginning of the trigger guard assembly.
Step 4
Plug in the hot glue gun. While it heats up, lay out the components according to the illustration. Hot glue the marker barrel onto the craft stick, being careful not to burn the balloon. The craft stick should extend approximately 1¾ inches off the balloon side. Once that has set, glue the bent pen cap to the bottom of the craft stick as shown. After the craft stick has cooled, attach the cut pen cap clip to the top of the marker barrel, and then glue the cap ring to the rear of the craft stick.
Remember to avoid burning the balloon with the hot glue gun. If you do burn the latex, repeat step 3 with a new balloon.
Step 5
It's time to build the firearm handle and clip assembly. Hot glue the marker cap to the opposite side of the Tic Tac container; the cap should extend from the bottom approximately ¼ inch. Now remove the metal handles of the small binder clip (19 mm) and fix the clip to the opposite side of the pen cap. The clip should be level with the bottom of the plastic container, as shown. The stock assembly has been completed.
Step 6
It's time to join both of the assemblies. Place the barrel assembly onto the Tic Tac container so that the craft stick touches the small binder clip. Once in position, use duct tape to secure both items together. Hot glue is suitable, but the duct tape will camouflage the recycled components.
You now have a functioning launcher. The rest of the steps are for aesthetic purposes.
Step 7
Use two playing cards to transform the PPK Tic Tac's husing. Start with the first playing card.
In the length (longest) direction, with the playing card faceup, fold the card into three sections, with the center section approximately the width of the marker barrel. With scissors, cut two 45-degree incisions starting at the card corner and ending at the two fold lines, as shown.
Fold up both triangles, using the center fold lines as their base.
Toward the center of the card, fold both triangles at a 45-degree angle. On the opposite end of the card, cut two more 1¼-inch straight lines along the center fold lines.
Now fold the sides of the playing card up to align with the cut angle. Once in place, glue the triangles to the side of the card. With scissors, trim the tips of the triangles and cut off the bottom rectangular flap.
Step 8
Now modify the second playing card.
Fold the second card similar to the first, making three sections and two crease lines. With scissors, cut along each crease line; you will end up with three sections of card. Discard the center section.
Using the scissors again, snip off one corner of each card section. This will make it easier to access the balloon when shooting and is close to the design of a real Walther PPK, James Bond's favorite gun.
Time for more glue! Attach both sections to the inside of the modified first card. The new sections should protrude 1½ inches, with the total assembly looking like a rhombus.
Step 9
Now slide the playing card assembly underneath the barrel assembly and fasten it into place using hot glue. If the pen cap trigger detail causes a problem with the fitting of the card assembly, just cut off some card material with scissors.
Step 10
Finally, don't forget your trigger guard. Grab the duct tape–wrapped large paper clip from step 3 and a pair of pliers. Use the pliers to slowly bend the paper clip three times to shape the PPK's trigger guard. Follow the illustration above to determine the bends. Once bent, position it in front of the pen cap trigger and use hot glue to secure the guard in place. Additional tape can also be used.
Now, load a Tic Tac or other small, hard candy into the barrel so that it falls into the balloon. (You can also use a cotton swab, bean, small eraser, or peanut.) Locate it with your fingers. Once you have a grip on it, pull it back, point your shooter, and release. Remember: it is important that you pick a safe target to practice your marksmanship. Never operate the launcher if the balloon is showing signs of wear; it is possible for ammunition to eject from any tear in the latex.
After you fire, the balloon might get wedged into the marker housing. If it does, just blow it out from the other end of the barrel.
Alternate Construction
Every Tic Tac PPK needs a highly sophisticated silencer attachment. Raid the bathroom for a travel-sized plastic shampoo bottle. Using a hobby knife, create a small incision at the bottom of the container — then with the blade still in the bottle, slowly rotate the bottle 360 degrees. Be careful and take your time — if you rush it, this can be hazardous. Use scissors to level or clean up the edge of the cut.
To get the PPK barrel to match the diameter of the shampoo bottle, wrap tape around the barrel tip to increase its diameter. Now slide the silencer onto the barrel for a snug fit, but do not glue it in place. Permanently attaching the silencer will make it difficult to load your launcher.
CANDY GLOCK 33
Forged out of playing cards, the Candy Glock 33 has a simple and sleek design. It has an innovative flip-down magazine under the barrel, making candy reloading quick and easy. It also features an ergonomic grip that can be customized to the user's hand and an integrated internal metal frame.
Supplies
1 plastic soft drink bottle, approx. 16.9 fl. oz. (500 mL)
1 medium balloon Duct tape
1 glue stick (0.28 oz. preferred)
1 standard art marker cap 12 playing cards
1 small binder clip (19 mm)
1 large binder clip (51 mm)
Tools
Safety glasses
Pocketknife
Scissors
Marker
Hot glue gun
Ammo
1+ round candies
Step 1
Operation "Candy Glock 33" is a go! The first step is to assemble the bean shooter, the firing mechanism. Using a pocketknife blade, carefully saw or cut off the threaded neck of a soft drink bottle. Once you have removed the neck, use the knife to trim any sharp protrusions that may be left on the cut edge.
Next, use the scissors to cut the balloon in half as shown above. Discard the mouth end.
Step 2
Next, you will tightly tape the half-section of the balloon to the bottle top — but before you do, be certain that you've cleaned up the edges of the bottle in step 1. Sharp edges on the bottle top will eventually lead to holes or rips in the balloon, causing ammunition to fly out unexpectedly.
Your basic bean shooter is complete. Feel free to test it out. Drop a bean or piece of candy ammo into the shooter, pull back on the balloon, aim it away from any person or pet, and let it fly.
Step 3
Next, you'll start the assembly of the Candy Glock 33's stock. Using a glue stick, sandwich five playing cards together in a perfect stack, then let the cards set until they are completely dry.
Step 4
Using a marker, draw the suggested grip pattern shown above onto the stack of cards. The suggested pattern includes finger grips and a trigger guard opening that should be drawn large enough for your finger to be comfortable.
Use scissors to cut the pattern out. Discard the scraps.
Step 5
In this step, use the five-card assembly as a template for two more individual cards.
Align the template on top of one card and then use a marker to trace the outline. With scissors, remove the pattern and discard the scraps.
Draw the pattern on the reverse side of the second card and again remove the pattern with scissors. Drawing the pattern on the reverse side is for visual reasons only; it will insure that only the card back will be visible on the final gun, and not the faces of the card.
Step 6
The next step is the assembly of the flip-down magazine chamber, which is optional but convenient. Although a 0.28 oz. (8 g) glue stick is preferred, if this is not available, a lip balm container or larger glue stick (0.77 oz.) can be substituted. Remove the glue from inside the glue stick container by snapping off the rotating bottom end and pulling out the innards.
Now, hot glue the cap from a standard art marker to the bottom end of the glue stick container. Later, in step 9, this cap will fit snugly inside a large binder clip.
Step 7
To avoid ammunition spills from the magazine, add a hinge system that is fabricated from a small binder clip. Before attaching the binder clip to the container, you will need to hot glue the metal handle on one side only.
Now place the modified clip at the end of the glue stick, with the glued handle facedown, and tape the binder clip into position as shown. Then place the cap in front of the container and tape it to the binder clip metal handle. Once assembled, the cap should "click" and lock up and down.
Finally, wrap 11 inches of duct tape around the glued marker cap to increase its diameter.
Step 8
The barrel on the Candy Glock 33 is constructed from playing cards. You will need to fold each card twice; the center width will be the diameter of the bean shooter. Use the bean shooter as a guide and fold the two sides of the playing card at a 90-degree angle.
Put crisp crease line in the folds, and then repeat this step with four additional cards (for a total of five folded cards).
Step 9
It's time for the Candy Glock 33 to take shape. Start by sliding the marker cap end of the magazine clip assembly into the triangular void of the large binder clip. The 11 inches of added tape around the marker cap should make for a snug fit, but adjust if needed. The binder clip hinge should be under the magazine, as shown.
Next, place the five-card custom grip approximately ½ inch into the large binder clip and lock it into place. Flip the metal handles down when finished.
Step 10
Glue one of the folded playing cards onto the glue stick container, but be careful not to glue the card onto the hinged cap.
Next, coat one side of the playing card handle with hot glue and then place one of the single grip cards over the metal handle. Repeat this step for the opposite side, with the last grip pattern card.
Once both cards are fixed to the grip, add a little hot glue between the trigger guard and glue stick magazine to bring it all together.
Step 11
The barrel assembly is the last step. First, hot glue two of the folded cards face up to create a channel. These two cards should be flush with the existing fixed card and large binder clip. You will need to overlap the cards to strengthen the barrel support.
Second, once the channel is in place, heavily glue the bean shooter assembly into the rear of the channel as shown. The balloon firing mechanism should be protruding from the back, making it easily accessible to grip.
Third, use the final two cards to cap the barrel assembly and complete the chamber. Again, add glue to both the existing cards and the bean shooter assembly for support.
Now load a round candy — or an eraser, mini marshmallow, or peanut — into the barrel and locate it with your fingers. Once you have a grip on it, pull it back and release it. It is important that you pick a safe target. This launcher shoots with incredible force!
COTTON SWAB.38 SPECIAL
Recycle — Reuse — Reload! The Cotton Swab.38 Special is manufactured with lightweight recycled plastic. The friendly design is smooth to operate and extremely accurate. With a small barrel designed to reduce ammunition jams, it's the perfect handheld MiniWeapon starter.
Supplies
1 standard art marker
1 small balloon
Duct tape
1 plastic ballpoint pen
1 large, empty dental floss container
1 plastic shaving cream can cap (approx. 2 inches in diameter by 1¾ inches high)
Tools
Safety glasses
Pliers
Hobby knife
Scissors Hot glue gun
Ammo
9+ cotton swabs
Step 1
The barrel of this launcher is made out of one standard art marker. A recycled plastic marker is preferred because of the material's softness, but any marker will work. Using pliers, remove the marker's end cap by slightly rotating it from the housing. Again, use pliers to remove the marker nib by pulling it from the opposite end of the marker. Discard the nib to avoid a mess.
Using a hobby knife, pierce the housing below the plastic point on the marker housing and slowly rotate the marker, not the knife. This will make cutting it safer. Once this end has been completely removed, the internal ink cartridge should slide out. Discard this cartridge. (If the housing contains ink residue, rinse it out and dry it.)
The now-empty tube should be unobstructed by any plastic fragments that might have broken off during cutting. Save the marker cap for a later step.
Step 2
Elastic firepower! Pull a balloon over the end of the marker tube housing; a majority of it should cover the housing. Once in place, tape the balloon securely into position. Test your tape job a few times and add more tape if needed. It is important that you do this before you begin construction on the rest of the MiniWeapon.
Step 3
Next, disassemble a plastic ballpoint pen into its various parts. Depending on how the pen has been manufactured, you may need a tool to assist you with dislodging the rear pen-housing cap. A hobby knife (for cutting it off) or small pliers (for pulling it out) would both work just fine. Once the pen is disassembled, use a hobby knife to remove ¾ inch of material from the pen housing.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Miniweapons of Mass Destruction 2 by John Austin. Copyright © 2011 Austin Design, Inc.. Excerpted by permission of Chicago Review Press Incorporated.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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