Commander Shepard’s holographic weapon of choice from Mass Effect is now recreated beautifully by a whiz prop designer.
Of all the futuristic weapons at Commander Shepard’s disposal, his most serviceable has got to be his Omni-tool. In the Mass Effect universe, these holographic hand-hovering devices run off powerful computer-bits that would beat the computing pants off any large mainframes of today, and in battle, help soldiers do a variety of tasks like AI hacking, unlocking doors/corridors, or repairing objects.
All perfectly good support features if you happen to be any of the character classes that take advantage of those specific talents, sure – but what about actually, you know, attacking? That’s where Mass Effect 3 comes in, and by now, I’m sure if you’ve either played the game or seen some of its fine cinematic trailers, you know well enough about the Omni-tool’s newest attribute, the Omni Blade.
With melee playing a larger role in Mass Effect 3, players can easily pull off physical attacks, and in close-quarters combat, deliver an instant melee kill which are character-class specific – say, in the case for the Solider class, can surprise his/her Reaper foe with a menacing (and also kick-ass cool) short blade to the breadbasket, or umm, whatever it is Reapers have as stomachs. Do they even have stomachs? Do they even eat?
Gah! Never mind that foolish jibber-jabber! Because what we should all be focusing on is this related Mass Effect replica created by Chris Myles, a highly skilled video game prop-master that has done other such projects for Valve’s Portal series. Here, Myles has impressively designed an almost identical Omni-tool with matching Omni Blade out of 2.5mm sheet acrylic that was formed via a laser-cutter.
After the cutting process, Myles placed the parts in a 325-to-350 degree oven for 15 minutes, and then gently by hands – wearing gloves of course – molded them into its Omni-tool shape, give or take a few screws and straps to hold it together. I’m quite floored at what an astonishing job Myles did at assembling this prop all by himself – right down to the stylish lines that make up it’s in-game match. Whoa boy, that’s great!
To be fair, this isn’t the only home-made creation I’ve admired recently. Check out one Iron Man fan’s take on the Marvel Superhero’s flame-throwing glove. And stay connected to Walyou for more nerdy news, like the community-driven robot movie Dome that needs your help.
