American Handgunner Jul/Aug 2011 - Jeffersonian

HOLLYWOOD
Continued from page 63
that potential clients (a producer and
an independent production armorer) are
0waiting for him outside.
The producer wants to select firearms
for a production. Producers
and directors want unique items and
fresh looks for their films, so it’s not
uncommon for them make a pilgrimage
to ISS and cherry pick items from
the vast collection. Karl assigns ISS
armorer and gunsmith, Brian Rogers to
help me finish the tour.
The Vault
Brian leads me into the vault where
all the full auto stuff is kept under even
tighter lock and key. I am again reminded
not to take photos of the security arrangements.
So okay, there will be no shots
of the auto-tracking directed energy
weapons, no description of the, um, uh,
stuff, but let’s just say if you screw with
this place, there will be blood.
I step inside and am overwhelmed —
again. The Knob Creek events cannot
hold a candle to this place. This is
machine gun Valhalla. I cannot fathom
how much rarity, movie history and
value lay within these walls. Millions of
dollars at the very least.
In the center of the vault exotic futuristic
weapons rest upon a table. Upon
closer inspection I recognize they’re the
infantry bullpups used in James Cameron’s
Avatar. Each are actually Ruger
Mini-14s in disguise, redressed with
custom made futuristic furniture. There
are six bullpups of various configurations
originally designed and built by the
WETA special effects gurus in New Zealand.
But Karl informs me the WETA versions
took 30 minutes to disassemble and
reassemble the coverings for reloading.
So he and the ISS crew spent endless
hours recrafting these weapons with simpler
furniture so they could be reloaded
quickly during production. Time, mistakes
and malfunctions cost money on
these “tent-pole” (big summer movie)
productions. Some films cost upwards of
$200K per day, for months at a time.
Each of these bullpups are labeled:
“Carb Cellular Ammunition Rifle
Base.” Case-less ammo?! A modular
20mm weapons system? Humm! Plug
and play? Not a bad idea! Manufactured
by “Matanza Arms Corporation”
at some point in the future. And for all
you sci-fi aficionados, the ejected cases
were digitally removed in post-production
to give the impression of futuristic
case-less ammunition.
Different magazine colors denoted
ammo types. There’s lots of unseen
details in films. I personally visited the
outdoor city street set for Blade Runner in
the late ’70s on the Warner Brother’s back
lot and witnessed the amazing unseen
detail demanded by director Ridley Scott
(I’m also a screenwriter). But this sort of
painstaking minutia surpassed everything
I had witnessed since then. Having met
with director James Cameron, I know
the man is also a skillful illustrator and I
believe much of this incredible stuff came
right out of his mind.
Avatar WASP
Tagging along with the bullpups is
another famous recognizable movie
weapon from Avatar, the “WASP”
handgun used by actor Stephen Lang
who played the RDA (Resources
Development Administration) SecOps
Commander, Colonel Miles Quaritch.
Years before, when I visited, the Stembridge
armory (then then largest movie
armory) I was allowed to handle Han
Solo’s sidearm (from Star Wars — a
tricked-up Broom Handle Mauser),
which later sold for over $100K at auction.
I’m thinking the WASP will have
some major collector’s interest because
it’s already drawing lots of curiosity on
internet movie fan forums. The “WASP”
is a dressed-up Dan Wesson Model 15-2
revolver with a lower mounted sensor
array and upper electronic scope. No,
the stuff does not work, and I wish it did
somehow. It just looks real cool.
I turn around and see Brian holding
an extremely evil looking M4 rig.
Brian informs me this is John Connor’s
(actor Christian Bale) rifle he used in
Terminator Salvation. Despite sensory
overload, I manage to snap a couple of
photos of Brian posing with this piece
of movie history. Brian with a devious
smile leads me out of the armory and
into the gianormous prop warehouse.
There’s an entire acre of space
entirely devoted to militaria. Should
you need to outfit a Waffen SS Panzer
outfit with authentic accoutrements,
web gear and uniforms, no problem!
Need to equip a platoon of Marines to
land on Tarawa in The Pacific (and they
did) — no problem! I’m surrounded
by anti-aircraft guns, TOW launchers,
flame throwers, RPGs, bins of replica
weapons of every imaginable type,
countless cubby-holes of mag pouches
and badges and endless racks of helmets.
You want a war? ISS can give you
a war! All you military re-enactors eat
your hearts out.
Next Up?
We return to the armory. Brian
assists me for the remainder of my
time at ISS. I have complete unrestricted
access to photograph any part
of the massive weapons collection. I
hope you all enjoy the images. With
the next installment of this article, I
will venture out on location and into
the major motion picture studios with
the “gun wranglers” for a first-hand,
insider look at this unique
firearms profession. *
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