Shawn Morgan (aka Morganthirteen) has informed me of the following replica accessory project he is crafting. If you would like to get more information about this accessory, please e-mail him directly. Images below are © Shawn Morgan, and used here with written permission.

Here are a few pictures of my first attempt at building the USCM M42A Scope Rifle. I have since redesigned it and plan on starting that version in the near future. At the time, I was not aware that it was based on a real Walther sniper rifle (a particular blow to my ego, as I consider myself a firearms buff). Had this been so, I would have used it as a base to start from rather than try a literal copy of the drawing as seen in the ALIENS: Colonial Marines Technical Manual.

I made a guess as to the rifle's size based on the grip, enlarged my sketches full scale and went to work. I used cherry wood for the majority of the body, which fills easily and sands smooth. The scope was turned on a lathe out of maple, with cut pieces of pvc pipe attached to the bottom. Various smaller pieces of wood and styrene plastic were added for detailing.

The only real problem I ran into was the bipod. I tried to make the design from the book work, but in the end, probably should have purchased a commercially available (and more practical) one, and just attached it to the bottom of the fore grip.

After priming, the body was sprayed with a gunmetal gray, and an olive drab green was used on the camouflaged parts. All in all it's not bad for a first try, but not so good so that I won't try again.

I've already built several ALIEN(S) props, and hope to finish my new USCM Flame thrower and Nostromo pistol in the next few weeks. I must acknowledge that those projects could not have even been attempted without the gracious help and input from the generous Harry Harris. Thanks Harry!