Armaments Race

"Armaments Race" is a science fiction short story by Arthur C. Clarke, first published in 1954, and later anthologized in Tales from the White Hart. Like the rest of the collection, it is a frame story set in the pub "White Hart", where the fictional Harry Purvis narrates the secondary tale.
Purvis tells of Hollywood special effects man Solly Blumberg, who is hired to create mock weapons as set pieces for a science-fiction serial named "Captain Zoom". Blumberg becomes involved in an arms race as he creates increasingly elaborate weapons for both the protagonist and his adversaries, until he accidentally creates a functional weapon and "makes the studio disappear".