Art of Bruce Whistlecraft

The 7th Mechtorian metal enamelled badge is available from my online store NOW!

I decided to start a series of blogs peeking into my personal collection of art and geekery. Just for my own fun to give me a little downtime (hah!) project and to share some of the stuff I have weasled away.

Today it’s my Bladerunner gun.
(Click on the pics to enbiggen!)

Well it’s actually called the TOME-BLA. Due to copyright reasons. And believe me the makers did try and get it officially licensed, but to no avail.

This is one of the prized pieces of my sci-fi collection. It is a perfect replica of the screen prop used by Harrison Ford in the movie. It is mostly cast metals with some plastic parts and weighs pretty much the same as a Magnum handgun, which is a lot.. It’s a chunky, solid piece which really does look and feel like a real gun.

Manufactured by Tomenosuke in Japan it was a passion project for the owner, Mr. Shinji Nakako who was a top movie journalist in the USA in the 1980’s and is reputedly the fellow who coined the term SFX.. He is also the author of the splendid Sci-Fi film encyclopedia ” A Pictorial History of SF Films”.

The Blaster comes in a stunning foil stamped box featuring nice 1980’s style graphics recalling scenes from Mr. Scott’s splendid film.

Inside it nestles in custom cut foam with the amunition lined up below it.

Included in the box are a schematic posted of the blaster showing the breakdown of the piece with an exploded view on the rear. This really shows the amount of work that went into the production of this piece. It is about as far from a resin block prop as you can get. Also included is a cracking booklet with lots of full page photos of the actual movie prop which was scutinised and measured  to get this repro as accurate as possible. It’s nice to see how beaten up the prop was and makes it tempting to “age” the Blaster from it’s factory fresh appearance to a more used look… Maybe one day, but for now it is too pretty..

There is a really nice touch in that the little lights under the barrels work. And they slowly warm up when you turn them on rather than simply click on and off.

The rear trigger operates the hammer action and revolves the barrel as you would expect. The forward trigger has no function on this prop and indeed it is unclear how it was supposed to work on the film gun had it been real. Maybe discharged a heavier round from the top barrel, though this is blocked. I recall Ridly Scott taking about how the gun was proposed to fire mini black holes which would fold the target in on itself to destroy them, but this was never made clear in the film..

I love the transparent amber resin handle. It lends a real lightness and elegance to the weapon.

Though the safety catch is locked in place, the lever action works and opens the breach as to eject some empty cartridge. This is not a common feature for handguns, usually only found on rifles. It is a lovely detail for them to have engineered into the prop.

The chamber can also be unlocked and be hinged out. It revolves and the Brass cased, Steel tipped shells can be loaded into place.

I decided I really needed a decent wall mount to properly show the Blaster off and to display is safely. So I knocked up this from some MDF, Foam-core and mounting board with steel supports. It is modelled on the wall tiles in Deckard’s apartment, which in turn are inspired by the work of architect Frank Lloyd Wright.

So now I bet you want to know where you can get your hands on one of these beauties for yourself?

Well there were two versions made of the Tomenosuke-Blaster, one is the “Hero Model”, which is this one, and another one is the “Police Model”.

Shinji wrote on his blog :
“The Police Model of Tomenosuke Blaster is the perfect reproduction of the futuristic gun that made an appearance in the sci-fi cult movie in 1982. After spending more than four years of development, the Hero Model, used by the protagonist of the same movie, was released last December to be welcomed by the fans. This time, the gun used in the movie by the police force will be released with the limited production of 300.”

The Police model is the same but has a solid black handle instead of the clear amber version.
This is the URL for the Tomenosuke-Blaster on the Japanese store site. (In Japanese.) :
http://www.tomenosuke.com/blaster/

And Shinji’s blog about the Blaster (In Japanese.) :
http://tenshu53.exblog.jp/i17/

You can also purchase them from the movie toy store “Hollywood Collectors Gallery”.  They also hold stock in LA.
The Hero Model. ( Info in English at the bottom of the page..)
http://www.hollywood-japan.jp/html/newpage.html?code=11
The Police Model. ( Info in English at the bottom of the page..)
http://www.hollywood-japan.jp/html/newpage.html?code=16

I don’t think this Blaster could have been made any better than it has been. Truely a remarkable piece.
To the modelmaker who built it and to Shinji and his team who putthe project together I have to say ; “You’ve done a man’s job sir!”

On Thursday the 5th or April (UK time) the 7th Mechtorian Enamelled badge will go on sale at the Spookypopshop.

This version of Bella DeLaMere comes in antiqued silver with white and blood red enamel fills.

Each of the 100 pieces is engraved on the reverse with its own edition number and comes carded and bagged.

Candy Cane Wrangler.. A Candy Factory Minion for the Monsters and Misfits II show.
With Kathie Olivas, Brandt Peters, Chris Ryniak and Amanda Spayd.
April 13th, Japan
Kusakabe Folk Museum, Takayama, Japan.

The second Bella DeLamere badge goes on sale on Moday the 5th of March. (Next week).
Limited to 100 pieces the Copper and red version will have it’s edition number engraved on the back of each piece.

Comes bagged and carded..
£6 ($10) each..

Owners of iPads, Kindles, Android tablets and laptops. Have you been searching for a stylish cover to protect your valuable computing equipment?
A cover that is practical and one in which your computer would be proud to be seen out and about?
Well search no more! New UK company Funky Peanut are pleased to announce the release of Funky Sleeves mobile device covers featuring an exclusive Rupture design by Doktor A.

The extremely popular and abundantly toothy Rupture character has assaulted the art toy world for several years. No longer content with devouring your hip vinyl
collectibles he is now focusing on your treasured mobile media electronics..

Doktor A has updated the Rupture design especially for the Funky Sleeves device covers and says “I have given it a little more attitude than the previous versions”.
The Funky Sleeves are initially available in three sizes to suit a wide range of mobile devices. Each beautifully printed front and back with the Doktor’s all consuming
creation.

At launch the sizes available will be :
7” = 21 x 15cm (Suitable for Kindle and most 7” Android tablets) Retail price £18.99
10” = 26 x 19cm (Suitable of all iPads and most 10″ tablets) Retail price £23.99
15” = 38 x 26cm (Suitable for Apple Probook 15 and similar laptops) Retail price £27.99
(N.B. Sizes reflect internal dimensions.)

The sleeves are manufactured from high quality 5mm neoprene with a black super soft fleece lining. The all black military grade zipper, black metal pulls and black trim
perfectly complement the Rupture design. And the finished product? Well as Doktor A himself says “I don’t think a better job could have been done on these”.

These Rupture Funky Sleeves are a strictly limited edition with just 500 of each size being made available.
This release is the first in a proposed series of artist designed media device cases from Funky Peanut.

To purchase on the release date of Monday 27th february click through to Funky Peanut  or Spookypopshop.

New Product info incoming……………….

Chester Runcorn will make his public debut at Wonder Con on the 16th -18th of March this year.

After the show he will go on general release but if you want to be one of the first to get him for your collection you need to get to the Kuso Vinyl booth at the show.
This is the “Port” colourway of the 6″ tall vinyl figure. The edition size of this version is I believe 300 pieces. And he wil retail around the $65 mark.

Look what arrived today..

My Designer Toy Award for best customiser of the year 2011…
It’s so shiney! And HUGE!

Thanks to everyone at Clutter and everyone who voted for me..

This Sunday the 5th of February sees the first of the Enamelled Bella DeLamere Mechtorian badges go on sale on my online store.

And the same day will see the release of the Humphrey Mooncalf Leprechaun edition APs too.

So that’s two great reasons to put a few minutes aside to drop by the Mechtorian Online shop this Sunday.