Team Fortress 2 Dispenser Mod

Upgrading the Dispenser!

Before going any further it's always a good idea to do a quick dry-assembly to make sure you haven't messed anything up. While I always recommend modding from a detailed plan, don't cut individual pieces completely blindly only to find that final flat-pack assembly IKEA-style leaves you wondering why that top panel doesn't fit correctly.

Indeed, measure twice, cut once, then measure that bit a couple more times *wink*

As you can see, all was well with the body so far. A decent collection of clamps will be as useful to any budding modder than even the fanciest Dremel. If you want a sense of scale, look closely at the first photo which shows the Dispenser standing near a regular waist-high workbench.

The top-header of the Dispenser, the piece which will later be emblazoned with the same retro-esque logo as Valve's own design, was the next piece to be constructed. In order to get a thickness and style of wood which matched the recycled pieces of desk, which can be helpful when it comes to painting the wood, I used 1/4" Plywood.


Next, it was time for a change in materials where I moved from plywood to plexiglass, using the plastic to form the door and help give the Dispenser a feeling of depth.

While that yellow pistol in the pictures below may look like some fancy-pants hair dryer, it's actually a heat gun. I used this to start warming the plexi. When the plexi is properly heated it becomes more malleable and can be manhandled to make it the right shape, but heat it too much and it simply melts.


Now that some of the major panels are correctly cut and the work on the plexi has started, it's time to start putting it all together. While it's tempting to try and make this mod sound even more grandiose and impressive (we need a montage, dammit! - Ed) than it already is by making something up, the reality is that it just isn't true.

I would have loved to weld the wooden panels together using a mind-laser or a super-huge plasma torch, but lacking these I had to settle for wood glue and some standard wood screws. Ah well.


Of course, just because the sides are now bolted together and the rough shape of the Dispenser is starting to appear, it doesn't mean that we're even close to being done yet. Besides...there's still the dual gattling gun wielding Sentry left to build...