How To – Blow Someone’s Brains Out
A few years back I was interviewed by Indy Mogul’s Hollywood FX show. If you haven’t seen it, here it is. If you just want to see the brain splat, fast forward to 4:17:
To this day I still get e-mails from people asking for more detail on the rig I made to blow Erik’s brains out.
I thought I explained it pretty well in the video, but people still ask for more detail, so here it is….
All you need is a gun, and a moron to shoot at.
Seriously, you’ll need:
DISCLAIMER!! Please only try this while under adult supervision! I do not take any liability for any injuries that come from following these instructions! Do not try this at home. No tickie no shirtie.
Air Compressor
An Air Compressor. Any kind will do, so long as it has a tank that holds the air. The small, always on compressors that are used for airbrushing won’t work.
A good compressor can run anywhere from $75-$300.
Places like Lowes and Home Depot have tons of models to choose from.
Make sure it has 2 gauges on it, one for the pressure in the tank, and one for the pressure being released.
Air Hose
An Air Hose to run the air through.
Just about any kind will do.
I like the coiled ones as they are long enough to reach pretty far, but coil up so they don’t take up a huge amount of space.
Of course you’re going to need 2 wrenches to tighten the hose at both ends!
So keep that in mind.
These go for about $10-$20 at Lowes or Home Depot.
Air Trigger
A Trigger Air Nozzle.
These go for $5 or so, also at Lowes or Home Depot.
There are a lot of different kinds, but they all do the same thing. Make sure you can screw one end of it onto the hose above. They should connect with no problem, but make sure the connectors line up.
PVC Pipe
1″ PVC Pipe. I cut mine down to about 12-14″.
An 8′ length is like $5 at Lowes or Home Depot.
You can go with smaller or larger PVC, but it will need a lot more pressure to get it to shoot.
Be careful cutting the pipe to length, but if you cut it badly, you’ll still have seven more feet of it to spare!
Try and get the edge that will be against the trigger as straight as possible.
Lastly, you need some 2 Ton Epoxy.
Mix up the epoxy and use it to glue the PVC to the trigger. Make sure you glue it to the correct end! I reversed it my first time trying this.
Let the glue set up for 24 hours (or 5 minutes if you got 5 Minute Epoxy) and then let it sit a little longer just to make sure the epoxy is fully set.
Connect one end of the hose to the compressor, the other to the trigger.
Now to test it! Fill the PVC tube up with some fake blood. Fill the air tank with air, set the exhaust pressure to about 60 PSI. That’s the number that I found worked best at about 10′ away. You can experiment and come up with your best number based on how far you want it to spray.
You can put bits of latex, or foam or other bits to replicate brain matter and skull, but remember that the more of this stuff you use, the more pressure it will take to fire it.
Also, the thicker the blood (and the more blood you use), the more pressure you’ll need.
And lastly, remember what it is that you’re about to splatter with blood. Make sure that no one is in the way, you’re not splatterting pets, your kid brother, a window, or something that’s going to be tough to clean blood out of. Check the area around the splat zone, because there’s a good chance that blood will get EVERYWHERE. So cover everything with plastic sheeting, or just get it out of the room, because this WILL GET MESSY.
Well, there you go. Simple, down and dirty brain splatter for under $100. Or, if you already have an air compressor, under $10.
Enjoy, and don’t get blood in your eye!
