Rez's Arsenal: Remington 870

The 870s near completion

Yesterday I was busy working at this pair of Remington 870s seen in the book Resolution and soon to be seen in Residue. I've got them done but there is just a little more tweaking left to do, as I want to make at least one of them look worn and well used. At this point they look shiny and new, and they are just to give my readers a visual, either for those less versed in the way of the gun, or for those who are; something fun to look at. I use very simple Photoshop techniques to accomplish these drawings and don't intend for them to be masterpieces, but they take only a few hours to complete at the most and are fun little projects. A little copy/paste for the tan version on top, a little Photoshop magic with filters for the texture and done. I'll update this post with the final product later.

The final product with a little wear on the shorty.

Rez's Arsenal Preview Remington 870

Rez's Remington 870s

Well it's officially 2013 by a couple days and guess what, Residue is not ready and won't be for awhile. No big deal I guess, but I hope to finish it soon. In the mean time I just did some line art for Rez's Remington 870 12 gauge which he carries often in Resolution, but never actually fires. In fact, the only person who uses it in Resolution is Nobel. However, it is Rez's constant companion in all of his vehicles and appears on several occasions in the book. In Residue he uses an even shorter version which can be hidden inside an extra large pizza box. They are the same firearm, and both of them are considered short barrel weapons by the BATF, however the little one is extra short and probably not especially comfortable to shoot, but effective in its intended role. The longer version is pretty similar to a factory version that Remington offers with a 14 inch barrel and a 5+1 capacity, while the shorty is only going to offer 4+1. Both are equipped with a muzzle device used for breaching purposes. The gnarly looking unit on the end of the barrel can be jammed into the soft wood of a door or door frame to keep in place while the user pushes the go button. The vents allow gases to escape so that the gun doesn't beat the shooter to death in the process. The longer gun has nice ghost ring sights and a rail section to give it a more multipurpose flavor while the shorty has none of that. It's strictly for busting doors and close encounters of the drug dealing kind. This pretty well rounds out the boom sticks seen in book one. I will probably work on an "official" Rez 1911, but as my readers and gun aficionados can probably guess, Rez has a number of them, each with unique features.

Flats for the 870s

 I thought it might be fun to show how these drawings progress. After the line art is finished, in Adobe Illustrator, I take them into Photoshop and lay in the flat colors. This is just to create something to work on top of and if I plan to do multiple colors, or I have wood somewhere on the gun, then I get a quick idea of how the colors will work together. I like to have a neutral background color because it's easier on the eyes when you spend as much time in front of a computer as I do, and it gives a more accurate representation of the lighting as I work, rather than working with a white background the entire time and finding out when I'm done that my lighting doesn't work with the background I choose.

Simple Photoshop brushes and the 870 starts to take shape!