Sentry Gun

The sentry gun has a particularly interesting story. It was used in a deleted scene which for a long time remained shrouded in mystery and myth amongst ardent Alien fans. This scene, and a number of others, were finally brought into the public domain for audiences enjoyment worldwide when James Cameron released his special edition of the 1986 classic.

The computer controlled pair of “Sentry Guns” were installed outside the command complex and protected the approach corridor and our heroes within. Two of these weapons were specially fabricated and dressed by Baptys & Co for the movie and this is subsequently the only surviving example. The other was recycled and painted silver for the 1996 Dennis Hopper movie “Space Truckers”.

The core of the prop is an MG42 machine gun which is mounted on a specially made metal stand. It stands an impressive 45 inches from the ground and still pivots as per its requirements on set. There was originally a prop built camera lens on the top which was supplied by Pinewood Studios, alas this was returned to them after filming and lost forever. Connected to the gun is a light up prop battery control box which has also been dressed in the same style as the main gun to look like military hardware. The whole ensemble is the same military green colour as the Pulse Rifle and flame thrower.

Perhaps a little large for most collections it is this gun that seems to draw most comments from those who visit us, most don’t realize just how big this gun is! It now stands in pride of place, guarding a corridor here at The Propstore, although to date we have had no cause to activate it. “Outstanding – now all we need is a deck of cards”