Many gamers love dressing up as their favorite characters, with some fans taking cosplay to truly extreme and impressive levels. Reddit user YonyanCosplay seems to be one of those people, based on the breathtaking prop they created for their Apex Legends cosplay. YonyanCosplay built a full-sized replica of Apex Legends’ Deadheat Wingman pistol. The prop lights up, emits steam, and even functions as a portable phone charger.
YonyanCosplay showed off their take on Apex Legends’ Deadheat Wingman skin in a short Reddit video. It weighs about 850 grams or just under 1.9 pounds, most of which comes from the battery. That makes it about the weight of many small real-world handguns. The LED coils on the replica’s barrel glow like they’re red hot and emit vapor. YonyanCosplay created the steam effect by using parts from a vape pen to create a miniature fog machine. It’s so realistic that at least one commenter mentioned briefly forgetting that it wasn’t hot.
The replica also features an LED ammo counter beneath the rear sights and a detachable cylinder, just like in the game. The entire piece is an almost shockingly accurate replica of the in-game model, duplicating the gun down to the smallest detail. The one thing they weren’t able to pull off was the Wingman’s Inspect animation where the rails on the top and bottom extend out from the weapon’s body. YonyanCosplay says they attempted to include this feature, but one of the motors failed. They say they would have needed to rebuild the whole prop to replace it.
I made a Deadheat Wingman replica for a cosplay i'm working on. It has 39 programmable LED's, a mini fog machine and a usb port for charging your phone! from apexlegends
The only deliberate deviation is a USB port just in front of the rear sight. The thread didn’t indicate whether the port helped charge the replica’s battery, although the video showed that it lets the model double as a portable phone charger. YonyanCosplay mentioned including it as more of a joke than a practical feature. Still, that quirky extra function made some fans wish they could have it even more.
Reactions to the post were overwhelmingly positive, with some even saying it looked better than the in-game version. A few commenters even asked if the prop’s creator was willing to sell it. However, some noted that the parts alone likely cost thousands of dollars.
It wasn’t just Apex Legends fans applauding YonyanCosplay’s work either. An artist for Apex Legends’ developer Respawn Entertainment noticed the prop and promised to share the video with the rest of the team. There’s no word yet on how the other developers feel about the replica, but it’s certainly an impressive piece of fan-made memorabilia.
Apex Legends is available on Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.