For my second 2D project i had to design a science fiction firearm, the only restriction being that it must be a mechanical, projectile firing weapon, as opposed to an energy/beam type.

As usual, i began by doing some research, and creating mood boards. I decided i wanted to ground my designs based on functionality of firearms as they are today. I decided early on i would concentrate mainly on assault rifle models or light/heavy machine guns (Largely due to my preference towards noisy, shootier guns as a gamer myself).

During my research, i looked into the progression and development of firearms used within the British military today, and discovered the frequently used weapons of the past being replaced by the innovated "Bullpup" configuration (such as the SA80 and P90 etc.) where the magazine and loading mechanism is housed within the stock, in order to minimize upon wasted space and make the weapons lighter. This kind of innovative movement of technology certainly seemed relevant in moving towards science fiction.

My first two designs concentrated around the "bullpup" configuration, which i felt worked well and helped lean towards that science fiction look, i left the initial designs relatively vague, getting a general feel for the weapon before quickly moving onto the next.

However, i eventually settled on a heavier, more destructive design, abandoning the "bullpup"configuration as i decided there would probably be limited room for an extensive ammo feed tucked between the wielders cheek/ear/armpit, once sketched out to the same, brief, basic design as the previous, my decision was made and i proceeded to ink the line work.

I then loaded the design up into photoshop and gave it a basic color scheme, sticking to a base color layer, a shadows layer and a highlights layer.

I am relatively happy with this design, although my scarce and limited experience of photoshop has left the rendering far below what i would like to achieve.