What began as an attempt to build a screen-accurate reproduction of this iconic movie prop quickly evolved into a conjectural “what if” design exercise. I also used creative obstructions to make the project more challenging. For example, I decided I could only use materials found in my “junk” bins supplemented by whatever could be found at Dollar Tree and a military surplus shop next door to my studio. The idea was to create a prop that was a recognizable “next-gen” iteration to the original.