Rook's Movie Prop Collection: Marine Armor

Aliens Movie Props

Last updated: September 10, 2004 11:14 AM (CST)

Unless otherwise Specified, none of the props shown in these pages are for sale.

This is my hand constructed M41-A Pulse Rifle as seen in the
movie Aliens. If you've read anything about this film at all,
you probably know what goes into a PR. If not, I'll spell it out for you.

PLEASE NOTE: Building a Pulse Rifle is NOT a cheap thing to do!

Building one will cost you between $500 (for a non-functioning,
SOLID cast version)to $3,000 for one will all the bells and whistles.
If you think you can get a PR with moving triggers, pump action
grenade launcher and shot counter for $150.00 you will be sadly disappointed.
Save your money and build (or buy) something you will enjoy. Or heck, make one
yourself out of wood! It's been done before and depending on how much
time you take it could end up looking very nice.

OK, I'm down from my soapbox...

I sold my practical airsoft pulse rifle a few years ago. I used the money to pay for
the parts of my final, Hero rifle. My new rifle has a metal shroud from the Licensed prop replica,
Marui Thompson, Real Steel Spas cage and pump grip (yes, the same ones I've been hoarding
for years now...) Airsoft M870 shotgun with gas shot shells... lots of stuff.

I'd still like to put bearing bushings in it like my last one, and wire up the shot counter
so it functions correctly.

There are a few basic components to the Pulse Rifle.
I'll be listing all the necessary components you'll need to make one authentic
to the movie version, as well as "ballpark" pricing.
It may cost you significantly MORE or slightly less to build, depending on
where you source your parts from.

$300.00 Tokyo Marui M1 A1 Thompson Submachinegun.
NOTE: You MUST use the M1A1 and NOT The M1928 version.
The M1A1 has a side mounted cocking bolt handle. This is the version you want.
The M1928 has a Top mounted charging handle and a finned barrel.

This is the wrong version.
You will often see this version selling on eBay for a hundred dollars or less.
$75 - $200.00 Real Steel Spas 12 Shotgun Vent Handguard cage and pump grip.
This item has become very scarce since the manufacturer has mostly stopped
importing them into the USA.
$200-$300.00 Remington 870 pump shotgun. I recommend using the airsoft version
made by Maruzen. The version you want to use is the Grip version, not the Shorty version.
I recommend the airsoft version as using a real M870 shotgun will get you into all
sorts of trouble with the government when you cut the barrel down.
$120-$160.00 Metal Barrel Vent and stock set
$120-$200 Shot counter PCB with lights and sound.
$300 Pulse Rifle Shroud. Today, there are no companies actively
producing the PR shroud. Monsters In Motion is out of stock "indefinately."

UPDATE: 2004
There's an airsoft conversion kit available now. It's made by either G&G or G&P.
The kit is... not entirely accurate, but for $300, it's accurate enough.
The kit includes...
- Full Shrouds
- Rackable Grenade Launcher with fake 'grenade' in the launcher.
- Stock & barrel vents
- Shot counter
- Mag base.
Essentially all you need to buy to use this kit is the Tokyo Marui Thompson,
a short 190 round magazine and an AK style stick battery.
So, you should have appx. $1400.00 MINIMUM before you even think of
building one of these. Honestly, if you're not really hardcore to own one,
You could buy 4-5 regular airsoft guns for the cost to make one of these.
Of course, the M41-A Pulse Rifle does have that whole "cool factor" going for it.

With the G&P/G&G kit, you can expect to pay around $750 for everything,
including the Thompson. Just remember that it won't be screen accurate, but it's
the closest you can get on a budget.

Not that it's currently for sale, but I wouldn't sell mine for less than $2,500.00 because of all the time,
effort and blood (I cut my hand pretty bad... It was dumb. Don't ask.) it took to build.

These are images of what I call my Practical Hero Pulse Rifle. I actually plan to build
what I'm calling my Ultimate Practical Hero Pulse Rifle or UPHPR.

What's the difference?

Well, my current PR shoots, but the remainder is solid cast resin.
I aim to make my UPHPR as close to functioning as the screen used version was.

My Current PR was made using a Tokyo Marui M1A1 Thompson airsoft submachine gun.
This item fires single shot and full auto. It is also, heavy as hell.
The shroud was created by GEM Reproductions in Canada. GEM no longer makes
pulse rifles FYI.

The Spas cage, pump grip, grenade launcher and pistol grip units are from a
kit I purchased from Monsters In Motion.

The metal stock and barrel vent were purchased from Dean O and are
not only movie accurate, but very strong as well.

Rounding out the set is a custom machined locking stock bolt, that makes the
stock rock solid, and an OD Green sling similar to the ones used in the film.

Before and after detailing.

Some more detail shots...

And finally I have the shot counter window installed. Without that little
piece of smoked plastic in place you have a hard time seeing the actual
numbers on the shot counter. And the camera flash really kills the numbers
without the filter in place.

Also, the activation switch I used for the shot counter is not ideally
suited for this function, so when the PR is fired, half the time the
shot counter resets. I find it annoying... but then I'm a bit anal about it.

Update 3/14/2003 - Well, I broke down and installed a set of bearings! Let's
just say that taking one of these guns apart AFTER you build it is... a pain. But, 4 hours
later, I have the bearings installed and WHAT A DIFFERENCE! It's a LOT faster shooting
than it was before. I crunched the numbers and it shoots about 1020 rounds/minute on
full auto. I counted appx. 3 to 3.5 seconds to empty a 60 round magazine, so that equals about 17
rounds/second or so.

By contrast, a stock Marui Thompson shoots 700-850 Rounds per minute.

I also (with the help of a friend) discovered why the shot counter would reset after
only a few shots. It turns out that it wasn't a loose wire (I soldered ALL the wires
togeather) or the activation switch as I originally thought it was.
It turns out that the problem was in the battery box I was using to power the shot
counter. The box would be vibrated when the gun was fired. This vibration would
cause the 2 "AA" batteries in the battery box to lose contact with the connections
and wa-la, automatic reset! Well, I fixed that little problem strait away when
we figured it out (I tapped the old battery box with my finger and with each tap,
it would reset the counter!), and now it functions FLAWLESSLY!!

A bit of trivia...
And for those who are curious, the shot counter reads "95" when a mag is inserted.
The "movie accurate size" airsoft magazine actually holds 190 rounds. When the
counter reads "00" there's about 50-60 rounds left in the magazine.

Another bit of trivia...
There is NO ROOM in a PR shroud to store a battery
to power the airsoft gun. None. Zip. Zilch. Nada. The battery I used actually
takes up ALL the space forward of the eject port on the grenade launcher.
I'm still trying to figure out what type of battery will work when I have a
full sized Remington 870 inside the Spas Cage. Time will tell...

Trivia 3: The search for Spoc... er, no...
After checking out some images of the Monsters in Motion PR, it appears that
their gun doesn't even store the airsoft gun battery IN the gun! From the images
I've seen, it appears that they never re-routed the mechbox wiring like has been done
by others, including myself. The images I saw show the wiring harness plug
hanging out the back of the gun, right where the locking stock release button is
on my gun. Interesting... They never showed THAT on their web site... :)

The VP-70 Pistol

The VP-70 is seen in Aliens several times through the film. The real steel version
is a double action only pistol (meaning, it cocks and fires the gun with each trigger pull)
and there is no external hammer. The airsoft version I own has a different grip frame
than the screen used version but Tanio Koba, the manufacturer of the airsoft version,
has suggested that they will be releasing a grip frame version (or replacement part)in 2005.

This airsoft replica is of the VP70-M, the military version. It differes from the civillian
version in that you can add a shoulder stock, which enables a 3 shot burst feature like that
found on the Beretta 93r.

The pistol disassembles identically to the real VP70, and can be taken down with no additional
tools.

The safety is located where the mag release is on most modern pistols. Keep in mind that the
design for this pistol was conceived back in the 1970s so features such as fast reloading was
not quite as important. Also keep in mind that most police officers in the 1970s still carried
revolvers for a sidearm. ^_^

With the stock attached, the gun is stil very small in stature, but comfortable to wield, much
like an MP5 SMG variant.

I prefer to think of the VP70 as the Colonial Marine's answer to the PDW. It's small enough
that it could be stored in a small location, making it ideal as a survival piece for Dropship
crews or even regular combat personnel.

So what's next? Things to do...

Build the next generation of pulse rifle. :)
Hook up the barrel flasher LED lights. The wires are there, just nothings attached
to them yet. Still trying to decide if I really WANT someone to see the front of my gun
flashing when I'm shooting at them in the woods...

"Hey look guys, he's over there."
"Where?"
"Right where the bright flashing light is coming from."