Having recently rewatched the Desperado Trilogy, I have fallen in love with El's guitar case that conceals his guns. For those that haven't watched the movies (great movies, go watch), El's guitar case has a false guitar, and concealed underneath are a massive amount of weapons. The concealed compartment is accessible by simply pressing on the panel, and then it opens by itself. I have been lurking on these forums for a while, but this is the first time I've actually had motivation to create a replica. I'm starting of with a rough prototype to get the whole process worked out and fine tuned, and then may continue on to a movie accurate replica. Originally I wanted to complete the project before posting it here, but I have run into a small issue that has stumped me, and was hoping some of the brilliant people here could offer up some suggestions. But first, pictures of my work so far:
A rough template
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Trimmed it down to fit
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Cut template out of 1/4 inch plywood, wrapped it in plush fabric
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Fits quite nicely
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Cut up a cheap guitar
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And that's my current progress. Only work that remains is making the mechanism that opens the concealed compartment with a push. My plan is to use spring hinges, and a push latch to accomplish that task, which shouldn't prove to difficult. My only hang up is the appearance of the guitar's sound hole. The illusion will hold up under a quick glance, or if the lighting is low/not direct. The problem is that the plush fabric shimmers and catches light pretty well, and is noticeable inside the sound hole if it is investigated too thoroughly, or if lighting is not ideal. I have attempted some other black fabrics that I had on hand, but they have had a similar result. My goal is to find a black piece of "something" that will black out the hole, but doesn't catch your eye enough to be obviously fake. Having pondered it for a while, I thought I'd pose the question to the forums here. Any suggestions/questions/comments are welcome.
A rough template

Trimmed it down to fit

Cut template out of 1/4 inch plywood, wrapped it in plush fabric

Fits quite nicely

Cut up a cheap guitar



And that's my current progress. Only work that remains is making the mechanism that opens the concealed compartment with a push. My plan is to use spring hinges, and a push latch to accomplish that task, which shouldn't prove to difficult. My only hang up is the appearance of the guitar's sound hole. The illusion will hold up under a quick glance, or if the lighting is low/not direct. The problem is that the plush fabric shimmers and catches light pretty well, and is noticeable inside the sound hole if it is investigated too thoroughly, or if lighting is not ideal. I have attempted some other black fabrics that I had on hand, but they have had a similar result. My goal is to find a black piece of "something" that will black out the hole, but doesn't catch your eye enough to be obviously fake. Having pondered it for a while, I thought I'd pose the question to the forums here. Any suggestions/questions/comments are welcome.