 If you were at our pitcon convention earlier in the year then you may have seen me at one point or another walking around with a life-size replica of a manticore executioner sniper rifle. At the same time you may have well thought that looks like a large and complicated 3D print. You would however be incorrect to think that, not because the gun isn't complicated it is, but because it's not a 3D print at all. It is in fact a beautifully crafted and detailed entirely handmade replica and also it has a firing mechanism. Yes you heard that correctly, the life-size executioner rifle and indeed its kinematic P15 counterpart that was also at the show were not 3D printed. They were both handmade replicas entirely created in a workshop by one very talented commander. So who created these marvels and how did they do it? The weapons were created by commander Abril Keane and are crafted entirely from pieces of specially shaped and carved wood as well as scraps of electrical flex and speaker wiring but there's also pieces of broken tools in the builds and even parts from an old X-52 joystick. The P15 came in its own custom made presentation case complete with a cut foam interior and a couple of proposed attachments a silencer and a scope that don't appear physically at least in the game. The now familiar handgun from Elite Dangerous is incredibly convincing when seen in real life and you'd never guess at first sight that it was actually made from pieces of shaped wood that had been stuck together but if you think the P15 is a complicated piece of work then the executioner rifle takes it to a whole other level. The outer structure and subframe of the rifle is again built entirely from wood and as I mentioned the various little pieces of detailing on the gun are scraps of wire and plastic etc. Again the rifle is singularly impressive to see in the flesh and to hold it it weighs about what you'd expect it to weigh were it actually the real McCoy which only serves to make it more intimidating and impressive to be honest but it's when you realise that the weapon has the ability to be primed and then fired that your chin starts to head rapidly in the direction of your feet. Abril initially designed and built the internal firing mechanism again all from scrap and entirely his own design with the ability to fire three rounds just like the default weapon in the game and indeed for a brief while during its construction that's exactly what it did it rapidly became apparent during prototyping however that such was the strength of the elastic material inside being used to power the gun that it caused the trigger to recoil back and give the user a dead finger also more than once the gun literally blew itself apart under its own power so Abril went back to the drawing board and now the gun features a single shot with each priming of the mechanism. When the weapon is primed to fire the heat radiator fins retract to lie closer to the body of the gun and then when the trigger is pulled the internal mechanism is released resulting in a loud and satisfying audible snap an associated kick in the rifle for the user as the radiator fins snap open into the ready position again whilst the gun doesn't fire a projectile it absolutely sounds and feels like it has the most amazing element to us however is that Abril made the weapons specifically for us and presented them to us at Pitcon they now take pride of place in our nerd cave at the Burpit Homestead these two pieces of fan art are so impressive and so unique we really wanted to share them with as many Elite Dangerous fans as possible hence this video our huge thanks to the lovely commander Abril Keen for these extraordinary gifts the talent and passion in this community is something that never fails to leave both of us stunned if you've enjoyed this video be sure to like and subscribe as that stuff really helps the channel you can also become a patron and directly support our work here at the Burpit that's it for now thanks very much we look forward to seeing you next time