Falling Bullets Effect

In this tutorial I will show you how to realize cinematographic fallen bullets effect quite similar to the famous “bullet time” FX seen in the Matrix trilogy. The process is extremely easy although a bit time consuming.

Note for the Italian readers: potete trovare questo articolo in italiano su Triplozero.com a questo indirizzo: link italiano.

I’ve used the following material: a plasticard rod with the diameter of 1 mm, quick drying cyanoacrylate glue, a modeling knife and as extra tools a small slotta base to glue on all the work and a ruler to cut all the pieces at the same size.

I’ve started cutting the plasticard rod in small pieces, each 3 mm long.

In the next step I’ve created a solid based upon which build the falling casing shells. I usually make an “H” shape, or a “T” or “Z” shape because you need at least 3 pieces to have something stable. Every single shell was glued to the previous one using a tiny drop of glue. Do not exaggerate or you will risk to have crystalized blobs! Later you will paint it all and the excesses of glue, once transparent, will stand out an all of their ugliness!

It is time to form the bullets “waterfall”. To obtain a realistic effect you have to create a plausible falling trajectory . I normally use a linear shape, as you can see in this tutorial, or at least a parabolic one. You have to avoid strange shapes like S or C or stuff like that.

I have glued every single piece with the previous one trying to make a random bearing of the casing shells. If you are unable to glue the bits easily with your hands, use modeling clippers.

Let’s go on with the waterfall…

To make everything more realistic I’ve built some branches of casing shells that bounce on the ground to give the idea of a longer spray of gunfire.

In the last step I’ve scattered some bullets randomly on the ground.

Here you can see the final result with a Games Workshop Space Marine.

The main part of this tutorial is finished. As a bonus I’ve painted in a fast way the casing shells, and I’ll briefly show you the steps used.

Black primer.

Layer of Warplock Bronze.

First highlight of Warplock + gold.

Second highlight with gold in the upper areas of every single shell.

Last highlight with gold + mithril silver on the tips of every bullet.

I suggest to paint small black dots on the rounded bases of the casing shells to simulate the empty zones.

The model is finished!