A working Aperture Science Sentry Turret from Portal

The talented Kiwis down in the WETA Workshop have begun sub-contracting for Aperture Science.

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WETA is the New Zealand-based special-effects company, best known for bringing life to The Lord of the Rings series of films. Game publisher Valve worked with the company to produce a real-world version of one of Portal’s iconic weapons:

That’s an Aperture Science Sentry Turret from the Portal series of games with fully functional parts. It collapses and expands just as the equipment does in the first-person puzzle games. These operations don’t happen at random either. WETA packed in a motion sensor so the turret knows when and where to fire at human targets.

Are you screaming: “Shut up and take my money” in the general direction of the southern hemisphere? Well, WETA says it’s possible it could sell these to consumers if Valve agrees to it, but the price would be exorbitant.

“It’s a little less pricey than a piece of military hardware from the U.S. government — and a bit more expensive than a piece from the New Zealand Government,” WETA Workshop director, Sir Richard Taylor, told the N.Z. branch of Stuff magazine.