M150

United States Armed Forces - Electric Anti-Material Rifle

 Description:

The M150 is a standard issue electrical long-distance sniper rifle used by the US Armed Forces. It is a 5th generation rifle based on miniaturized railgun technology. The rifle is large, coming in at 4.5 feet long, and comes with a 10 round magazine. The weapon pulls power to drive its electromagnetic rails from a belt-attached pack of hyper-energy dense batteries. Previous generations of this piece of military equipment required a soldier to wear a whole power backpack while the latest generation has managed to reduce the size of the battery to a belt attachment. 

The M150 sports the latest in controls for the expert marksman. It includes an integrated optical video-sight with augmented reality overlay and HUD compatibility. It also utilizes a computerized spotter system making long-distance shots a one-man operation.

The M150 can throw a .50 caliber equivalent tungsten-encased sabot at 5-7 times the speed of sound and can used also be used in space operations.

Idea:

For a very long time, I have been fascinated and intrigued by the concept of railguns. I learned about the technology in the late 2000s when the anime To Aru Kagaku no Railgun was gaining popularity online. I later went on to read up on the nascent technology, including what the US Navy planned to do with a prototype artillery gun for warships. Around then, I also learned how the railgun as a weapon was a popular trope found in the science fiction community.

I was so involved with the idea, that I even made a cardstock and foam mockup of the original rifle back in high school.

It would be safe to say that I was obsessed with railguns, especially as a potential weapon that would be personalized for infantry or marksmanship use. This idea evolved over years and eventually led to its incorporation into the Eleran Eclipse Project.

Process:

Like most of my other illustration projects, the M150 is a vector illustration made in Adobe Illustrator. I focused on a 2D schematic-like design that could easily convey the shape and image of the object, and made its purpose straight-forward and easy to understand. Since the general visuals of the weapon have been racking around in my head for so long, forming the art piece into its final product was a relatively simple process. Most of the work went into getting the small details to a level of fidelity that I was comfortable with.

My hope is to do several more illustrations like this for the world-building project.

And perhaps in the future, I’ll try tackling making a real-life replica of it again.