Boneyard Build Blog: Post Apocalypse AKS-74U
The objective of this Boneyard custom build is to use as few additional parts as possible, and scrounge everything we can to turn our ex-HALO MILL rental AKS-74U into a post-apocalyptic bandit slayer of an AEG!
Fortunately for us, the rental players of HALO MILL have done a lot of the work for us! The wooden handguard looks like someone attacked it with a screwdriver, the stock rattles, as does the flash hider, and the front sight post is snapped, meaning it is instinct aiming only with this poor, downtrodden CM.045 AKS-74U AEG.
Whilst this AK AEG is in a rough state, it isn't really rough enough to be considered "post-apocalyptic", yet. To go with the natural wear applied to this AK over its many years of hard use, we are going to go right ahead and intentionally scrape it up a bit more, hit it with some tools, and hopefully encourage some rust with a bit of salt, water and white vinegar to make this AK fit in amongst the Mad Max like future we envision for it.
The natural rusting process was carried out using a spray bottle filled with a salt, water and white vinegar mix, applied to the disassembled AK intermittently over the course of a few days. It is very important that the gearbox, inner barrel and HOP-up are removed for this process as they don't tend to take kindly to being drenched in salt and vinegar juice. The effect gradually grew, but we knew when to stop to keep our AK looking realistic. AK rifles, particularly those built in Russia are coated with an extremely hard wearing paint coating which protects against rust, even over the long term.
We went for a moderate rust job for our AK as we can envision the owner living outside, exposed to the elements, with no shelter and perhaps even the occasional acid rain shower. Despite this, firearms are a rare commodity in the dark future, and the owner treats his AKS-74U like his baby. We do love guns with the full Fallout style rust job, but for this build we decided to test our hand at applying subtle "Somali pirate AK" style rust.
Our natural rust job will obviously only work on steel parts, so to ensure our AK remains realistic we have hit the alloy parts which are steel on the real rifle with some MIG Interactive Rust Wash, and layered on some home made washes made from a mix of Tamiya acrylic paints and water.
Our AK is intended to sit in the post-apocalypse era somewhere between Metro 2033 and Fallout 4, so we need it to age by at least 40 years. As we have not yet invented the time machine (you can't make one from Boneyard guns, unfortunately), we are going to settle for removing some of the parts, and replacing them with improvised solutions.
Our upper handguard was made from an empty baked beans can, and was treated to the same natural rusting process used on the receiver, stock and top cover. We supplemented this with more MIG Rust Wash, as well as our home made washes.
Given our boneyard AK was missing the handguard retention pin, we have used a hose clamp to secure the "new" upper handguard to the rifle. Though the hose clamp is made from steel, it appeared to be impervious to natural rust, at least in the timescale we had available. To alleviate this, we hit the hose clamp with some more MIG Rust Wash and bent/scraped it up a bit. The remaining lower handguard was hit with a hammer a few times and was then sanded to remove the glossy varnished finish. With the finish removed, we gave it a good coating of our washes, in a random and messy manner.
To equip our AK to handle the post-apocalypse battlefield environment, we are going to need some "tactical" accessories. Unfortunately, in our scenario all the awesome suppressors, rail systems and other bits available at Patrol Base were destroyed in "the event", and what was left was looted by bandits years ago...
Next, we need to think about how to keep our position concealed and avoid drawing attention to ourselves with the clear sound of gunfire echoing around the deserted streets. To facilitate this, we have added an improvised suppressor to our AKS-74U in the form of an automotive oil filter to dampen the muzzle report as we hunt, fight and survive in the dark future ahead, with only our AK for company.
We hammered the oil filter with various tools, and scraped it across a brick wall a bit, and gave it a sand with fine-grit sandpaper to remove the "box fresh" look. The oil filter was attached using a plastic birdcage flash hider which was chopped down and superglued in place. A hole was drilled in the tip of the oil filter to allow our BBs to sail straight and true onto our targets.
Even at the end of time, we demand superb ergonomics and handling from our wastelander AKS-74U. To facilitate this, we have added a vertical foregrip from hammer drill to keep that muzzle down as we let long bursts rip into rival bandits.
To ensure our polymer parts are apocalypse ready, we have wrapped them in fabric camouflage tape, which we then covered in paint and the remains of our homemade washes, and also scrubbed up a bit to make the tape look like it has had years of hard use. We didn't worry about being precise here, as any paint or wash that managed to make its way onto the polymer parts directly simply looks like dust or dried mud.
So, here you have it! Our completed post-apocalypse Airsoft build. These builds are a truly awesome way to make an old and tired Airsoft gun look new and fresh again, in a manner of speaking anyway!
This type of build is probably the easiest and cheapest thing you can do to add a custom look to your Airsoft rifle, and the same techniques can be applied to prop guns and homemade EVA foam guns used for Cosplay and LARP. There is nothing quite as satisfying as hitting an Airsoft gun with a hammer, dragging it across concrete, covering it with paint and washes and ending up with something as pretty as this rifle 😍
The total cost of our build, including the Boneyard base gun was under £70, including all materials used and the paint and washes, of which there is plenty left for the next build. With appropriate attention paid to realism and plausibility, we have managed to create a true masterpiece which will stand out at any skirmish and is sure to draw attention from other, curious wasteland survivors.
The only thing to watch out for when building something like this is that the wear is realistic, and not over the top. The best technique we came up with to apply realistic wear is to hit the raised edges of the rifle with fine grit sand paper, focussing on the parts of the rifle which will come into contact with gear when carried on a sling, and those protruding parts of the rifle that are prone to damage.
If you enjoyed seeing the build process for this cheap custom Airsoft build and want to give this kind of thing a try yourself, check out our Boneyard guns here. There will be plenty of post-apocalypse custom build opportunities, and other, less messed up Airsoft guns which are ready to be built into whatever your imagination and heart desire!
Why start a custom build with a brand new gun if you plan to smear paint all over it or hit it repeatedly with a hammer anyway? Grab a Boneyard, and have fun without worrying that you are taking a file to a brand new and valuable Airsoft rifle!