Rise Of The Tomb Raider Nagant Revolver Tutorial

If you are like me and can’t spend $100-150 dollars on an airsoft copy of this pistol. I offer you an alternative. Not only is it expensive but the M1895 model is very different from Lara’s gun.

For one, the weapon pictured in the reference photos is a top break revolver which means the frame is hinged at the bottom front of the cylinder. Releasing the lock and pushing the barrel down exposes the rear face of the cylinder.

The Nagant M1895 is a swing out cylinder which means that the cylinder is mounted on a pivot that is parallel to the chambers, and the cylinder swings out and down (to the left in most cases). Lara’s gun is also missing an extractor rod.

In this tutorial you will see my step by step process for building a copy out of foam board and craft foam.   Reference:

Result:

What you will need:

  • Foam board
  • Craft Foam
  • A cutting blade (like an Xacto Blade)
  • Glue gun and glue sticks
  • Black, silver and brown paint

These are the printer friendly patterns you can print on A4 paper

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I started out by printing a life size picture of the revolver.

I printed it faded to conserve ink, I was still able to draw the frame.


You will need one cut out of the frame with the trigger and the hammer. (Part A)

You will also need two foam board cutouts of just the frame. 
(Part B)

You should end up with something like this.


Put together they should look like this, feel free to use masking tape to secure the trigger guard as this will be very fragile. Also don’t forget about the rectangle in the middle where the cylinder will go, cut those out.

Next you will need to roll up a 4.5 inch piece of craft foam into a 3/4 inch thick cylinder and glue it on the frame. This will make the barrel.
 (Part C)

I started working on the grip next, in order for me to create a cushioned rounded off look to it, I placed a smaller piece of craft foam as seen above. 
(Part F)

Then added a piece that would cover everything and would look more like a grip. 

(Part G)

After this I needed to add some detail. I placed more craft foam at the top to give the gun a smooth edge and then made a cylinder release.

I took a 12 inch x 1.5 inch piece of foam and rolled it up half way. 
(Part E)

On the unrolled half I drew ovals half an inch apart. 
(Part E)

I then proceeded to cut those ovals out. 
(Part E)

Here is the cylinder glued together and ready to be attached. 
(Part E)

I added some more detail here for more accuracy like the extension of the frame and making it look more like a top break revolver.  
(Part H & D)


Finally I added some more parts like the front sight and the screws. All I did was use hot glue and shape it with tools I dipped in water so the glue doesn’t stick to them. Also I added some texture to the grip as well as paint the entire thing black with silver nuances.
That’s it! you’re done! this won’t be a perfect replica but at least it is cheap and conventions safe and if you take your time you will surely produce something great!
Revolver Parts diagram: Click here

and here’s a video where i went over the construction


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