Hellboy Samaritan prop

For Christmas 2012 I decided to make my son Hellboy’s Samaritan pistol. I also decided to make it full size and not scaled down like some of the other things I have made for him in the past. 

Hellboy movie screen shot

It started with a plan. I searched the web and found images of the gun, and started to work up a  set of plans in AutoCAD.

Plans for the Samaritan

With templates made up I set down in front of my scroll saw for a couple of hours and had the beginnings of the gun.

Lower parts cut out Lower and upper parts together

With the lower frame glued up I worked on shaping the grip. It also hits me at this point just how big the Samaritan really is.

Lower parts cut out Getting a feel for the size of the Samaritan

With the lower done I moved to making the cylinder. Things didn’t go as planned. First attempt I didnt have the vise tight enough and the part moved on me, making the hole go off at an angle. The second time with the vice tighter the wall thickness for the cylinder was too thin to hold up to the pressure from the vice, and it busted in the vise. 

Cylinder fail round 1

 Cylinder fail round 2

So regrouping on the cylinder I started to glue up the upper half. To give the barrel a hollow look and also strength I used a piece of PVC pipe. So the cylinder could spin I put in a blind nut and a shoulder screw. 

Upper assembly upper assembly barrel insert
cylinder spindle cylinder center post mount

I then started to build up the hex shape of the barrel. Everything laid next to each other in front of a full size keyboard you can get a feel for just how big the Samaritan is.

getting close to assembly Barrel assembly

Then I moved my attention to the locking bar mechanism. I used an aluminum post for hinge on the lever. Then a short piece of a welding wire for the hinge pin. The locking bar is a cut down deck screw.

Locking assembly parts gluing up the locking assembly
Locking mechanism closed Locking mechanism open

Here it is all assembled for the first time.

Assembled Assembled and open

After a fair bit of sanding, fitting, filling, sanding some more. Ready for paint.

Assembled and ready for paint

The grip I painted in stages. First all black, then streak coat of white latex house paint, then using my airbrush started layering in shades of brown acrylic paint that I watered down to be fairly transparent. 

Painting the wood grain on the grips

The main frame I painted black. I was running out of time so I couldn’t make it look weathered. Over all I was quite pleased with the result. Considering I had never built something to this level of detail before. 

Samaritan finshed