Photoshop That Gun
 

Hey all! I've recently gotten Photoshop CS6 and my sister (who's been editing images longer than me, being a photographer) has been helping me get into the swing of things. I've made a few shops, the most complex being this one, and I'd like to try my hand at some of the firearm modifications I've seen done on IMFDB like making the Mauser T-Gewehr look like the Red Dead Redemption Explosive Rifle.

So if anyone has a request for a particular shop, like mixing up parts into a custom gun or seeing what this gun would look like with that stock, make a request and I'll try my best to make it come to life!

This is the first one I did, since MP5s and UMPs are very similar to the point of modularity (from a Photoshopping standpoint). Very easy, just replacing the stock of an MP5A2 with the buttcap from an SP-89 pistol and the magazine of a UMP-45.

http://i50.tinypic.com/be7g2.jpg

Lets see you make the following AK.

http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z...rouble_AK2.jpg

or even more challenging the following G36

http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z...ps0a0e607e.jpg

I don't know if any of you remember that there was a controversy some years back when a few members were taking my original images, photoshopping them into other variants, and then taking credit for the image 100%. It was a definite no no on IMFDB and a real no no in the world of Copyright. It was called 'making Franken guns". There is something about photoshopping guns like that which makes the gun look fake (like the shadows or light source at the adjoining parts don't match how the real gun would look). That's why I try to make a real variant and photograph that, so that the general public doesn't believe that most of IMFDB's gun catalog is of 'artist's rendition of guns'. Ugh. that would irritate me to no end.

Though I have obviously have no problem with PSing images of guns (I've fixed damage, shape of trigger guards, removed trademarks, removed rust, obscured serial numbers if the owner requests it, and fixed minor details like nicks, partial stickers and tags, fixed furniture, fixed optics, or color corrected the image due to weird lighting when the photo was taken.) But I have never created a gun out of thin air with PS. I think it should be avoided if at all possible. If the item is not possible to be created in real life, then the image should be listed as an 'artist' approximation using photoshop and crediting the original source material.

Well, I haven't stated any intention to make fake guns and pass them off as real. Considering that I've made this thread under a username that I commonly use and the images can be easily traced back here to where I outright state that they're fakes, there should be little issue unless a forum member steals the pictures and tries to use them elsewhere. In that case, this thread will provide an immediate source for them (and I list all of the parts I used and unique source images if necessary).

All right, let's see how close I can get. It's easiest to make an image if I have a blank white source (like the ones on IMFDB) so I can easily mix and match the parts without editing out the background.

This one uses an AK-101 as the base, with the pistol grip from an Arsenal 5.56mm AR-M4SF seen here. The drum is a standard AK 75-round drum from an AIMS source picture. The rails come from this AK used for the Modern Warfare 2 article. I went into Pimp My Gun myself to check on the stock, and found that it's an ACE SOCOM stock. Sourced from redwolfairsoft.com. Flash hider is taken from this Mk. 14 EBR. The rail along the top comes from a Kerbs Custom railed top from Midway USA. The backup rear sight was probably the hardest, since there's almost no photos I could find of just the sight in profile. But I eventually found a set of A.R.M.S. on Mitchell Supply that I could use.

I left a little nub under the barrel like in the photo that the cleaning rod used to be attached to. Moved the front sight to the gas block and removed the rear sight entirely (since a BUIS would make it redundant).

Still not a perfect replica, though. I have no clue what the silvery piece on the receiver is, and I couldn't find a chunk of metal/plastic to put behind the foremost top rail that matched the appearance. And the obvious difficulties with lighting and shading between pictures (most obvious in the stock and flash hider). The barrel is also still deceivingly full length due to the sheer size of the flash hider.

http://i48.tinypic.com/1zptrg1.jpg

Enlarged charging handle.

Not that bad. On the source image the pistol grip is a M249 style grip. the dustcover rail is a TWS gen 2 dogleg, the hand guard rail is a Krebs rail system and the flash suppressor is a Smith Enterprises Vortex system.

As Spartan said it's a Galil style charging handle.

That thing is hella enlarged! Probably weighs as much as a Beretta by itself if it's solid metal.

Anyways, here's my take on the G36.

http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z...ps0a0e607e.jpg

It was easier than you'd expect, since it's basically a modified SL-8. I used an SL-8 already fitted with the 30 round magazine as the base, and gave it the entire forend of a G36C as a same-size replacement for the longer forend and barrel. Erased the carrying handle and gave it the G36C one as well, slightly modified in size to fit. M68 Aimpoint red dot off of an M4A1 pic and the Surefire forend from a Colt Model 933, all from IMFDB.

In the future I plan on doing color correction and some deeper editing to better improve how the parts mesh.

http://i46.tinypic.com/1y5w2h.jpg

Not as much as you would think. It would be more like a Galil charging handle. the one used in my image was an X-47 Airsoft Charging handle. basically something so that I can use more than a finger and thumb to cock the firearm.

I always thought that the wiki needed screenshots of weapons with attachments such as an M4A1 fitted with an EOTech sight.

The problem with that is it is incredibly hard to scale something like that correctly. Just look at the picture of the PS G36 above where the Aimpoint is way too small.