to give it a history and tie it into the halo universe:
running out of funds, the UNSC began research into alternative weaponry. when you're fighting a war for the survival of a species - and losing - you tend to run out of cash fast. to save money on ammunition, they created a device that would A) use the millions of pieces of scrap metal created from constant fighting instead of wasting it and B) provide forces with a cheap, easy to use, alternate weapon for close to medium range infantry combat.
ok, so it's not practical in the least, but it's more of a UT-style weapon, where it just needs to kill something in an exotic fashion
it works by firing thin 'cards' of metal at high speeds via use of an electric motor. the cylindrical part of the body houses a wheel directly attached to the motor. the wheel has one portion of it bulging out slightly and made of high-friction rubber, so as to rotate the wheel at high speeds, thus making the rubber grip on it's edge rotate at high speeds.
the 'cards' are fud upwards towards the wheel by a simple box magazine. when a card arrives in the chamber, the continuously rotating wheel eventually brings the rubber section to the card at high speeds, thus flinging the card out the barrel.
the ammunition is the most brilliant part of all - it's junk! almost any piece of metal can be used, as long as it is thin enough and not oddly shaped. the pieces of metal that can't immediately be fired can easily be machined for use in the weapon. however, because using just a bunch of old bent-around steel is unacceptable, the UNSC does take the more promising scraps and specially machines them, very straight, sharpened edges, and heat-tempered.
anyways, enough of my description, how about some pictures?
the odd thing in front of the cylinder (which houses the firing wheel) is for a backup box battery (like a 9-volt). simply pop one in, wait for it to deplete (because it charges the internal battery) and pop it out, replace it, and repeat until internal battery and backup battery are both sufficiently charged
as you can tell, i'm in the progress of making a grip underneath the battery box, but smoothing groups don't really want to behave.... also, that's not the finished handle at the end. i'm still not sure what i'm going to do back there... but anyways, if anyone can give me tips on making a good handle, i'd appreciate it.
and finally, a wireframe. as you can see, i'm not the most conservative, but it looks decent (i guess, lol) and it's a learning experience.
