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OK folks, so here it is (at last). I got all the pieces attached and secured and 95% of the weathering complete. Still a few tiny areas I want to tweak, but overall this is it. NOW, before anyone mentions the lack of black paint on many of the actual screws, prongs, spring and such, I left these as-is to show that they had been added. Whoever ends up with this is more than welcome to cover them with some flat black but that will be their choice. As for general weathering I am a minimalist. Yeah, I did add more "brass" on the Hengstler than normal, but I wanted it to pop a little. The lighting was not too great, so here is a better pic of the front. Yes, the word OFF and the arrow on the end of the magazine are a bit wonky. I had to use a Dremel to inscribe it and this was after 5 Mountain Dews. I really gotta' cut down on the caffeine. Also a close-up of the rear power cylinder setup. Front view of the scope/cylinders/Hengstler Front sight close-up OK, so if you remember a few posts back I was concerned that since I wanted to use a real wire spring that the inside circumference of the rear of the shroud was too tight. I was determined not to let this beat me, so I ended up going with a hole saw bit (Pic 1). I used an extension bit to get down inside, but there was a lot of the PVC pipe inside in the far end that just shredded, so I used some elongated needle nose pliers to get out the bits and it worked a charm. HOWEVER, the inside walls were... well let's just say chewed up badly, so I CA glued sandpaper to the hole bit and went to town on it. It worked. Not perfectly smooth inside, but very close and not noticeable. Took me about 3 hours. Here is the end result, and I'm pretty pleased. End cap Hengstler** Grip **As I mentioned earlier, I used my leftover curved Lexan lens from an old build. Note: The lens appears to be fogged under the 0 and 5, but that is a reflection. And finally the folding stock. I was worried that since I was using a real vintage Sterling one that it wouldn't line up correctly. But, that was unfounded. Bryan's 3D files are so accurate that it fit like a glove with no modifications! And that's it, folks! This build was both challenging and fun, and I hope you enjoyed it as much I enjoyed doing it. It will be going up for auction in the next day or so to raise funds for the JDRF, and I hope it makes money for a great cause. If you would like to see any detail pics that are not shown or have any questions, just ask here in this thread. Last but certainly not least, I would like to give a BIG shout out to Bryan @trooper96 for supplying the files (and some extra pieces) for this incredible weapon, Kevin @kmwilson343 for donating the 3d print (and extras), Brian @Bulldog44 for donating one his incredible scopes, and Andrew @Sly11 for giving me the thumbs up to auction this off here on the FISD. You all truly rock, gentlemen, and my bucket is off to you.

Update: Well, the "hammered" finish didn't come out quite as expected, and is a lot smoother than I anticipated. I have used this product before, but you can overdo it quite fast and get puddling on the item you are painting. Still, I'm happy with the end result. SO on with the show: After gluing on the front sight guard (blue arrows are where the CA glue dried white- this will be painted) I added the tiny metal grub screw on the side. I made a new metal front sight pin from a screw by filing down the end and angling the top just like the authentic one. I forgot to take a pic of it, but the second image (borrowed from Tino) shows what it looks like. Now for the power cylinders- Starting with the correct size screws (10ba from the UK) I first cut off the heads. In looking at about 50+ reference pics, I noted that in most (but not all) cases they were present on the front and back, but that the front ones had a bit more of the bolt sticking out. I added an insanely tiny drop of CA glue (with a needle) to keep the nuts from coming loose, drilled holes in both ends and secured them in. I also added the large metal grub screw on the side of the magazine receiver and the infamous red cloth wire*** in the rear. *** The plate that I made earlier that goes in the side was secured in, but I still have to paint/weather the rear of the bolt to match. I wanted a little more detail on the sides of the rear sight to closer match the original (pic 2) so I cut off the ends of 2 pop rivets, drilled a hole in each side of the sight and glued them in. When disassembling the components of the trigger/grip I snapped off the base of the selector switch. Oops. I drilled out the center and epoxy glued piece of a bolt. It will be secured back in with epoxy putty. My apologies, but due to this it will be stuck in place and not operable. The 3D print lines are filled/sanded, so now I just have to prime and paint it before adding it. Still quite a bit to do, but I will be finishing up all the details today and posting up photos. This afternoon I will do the weathering and will be posting up the auction thread within a day or two. Stay tuned, and if you have been with with me on this journey so far- THANKS!

Well just got word that my commissioned armor build has started. It's been a couple months I guess since I did the deposit on it and I STILL am nervous about it all. I've certainly enjoyed reading and seeing all the posts of all the troops people have been doing and it is hard to wrap my head around the idea that I might be doing the same very soon. Weird. Bart

Finished up the last bit of requirements and got some paint on the scope of my blaster. Now off to submit my Centurion application. Thanks, M

I have found in case you go too heavy you can use a heat gun and it will help the hammer effect, this also used to work on wrinkle finish and flock paint, all can be finicky to apply

Troop #26 Event Name: Rise of Skywalker Premier at Studio Grill Location: Hampton Roads, Virginia Date: 21 December 2019

I could not agree more on Bryan's kit. It truly is incredibly detailed. I am actually building one now to auction off for charity (link here). As I mention in my thread Glen linked to above, those wires on the Hengstler counter were not present in any of the E-11s seen onscreen. Looking forward to seeing your build!

Second Glen on this. This is one of the **best** file set available, Bryan is a truly amazing artist, he went to great lengths to see these parts are as accurate as possible next to the real thing.

Some great info here Joseph sells some nice finishing kits And recently found detailed greebles I can highly recommend these files

I got the magazine holder glued to the shroud. Note that I had put blue tape over that area before the painting and sanded it down so that the glue would have a solid area to adhere to. I sanded down the rear of the magazine holder slightly to help with adhesion. Be sure to clean those areas before gluing! Now for something that may be a little controversial- Does anyone notice something a bit odd in this screen used E-11? (Besides the fact that the scope screws are not painted black). If you noticed that the shroud (and the front part of the folding stock) has a "hammered" metal finish you would be correct. Why, I do not know, but I like that look. So, I have taped off the parts that should not have it and will be using Krylon Hammered metal paint on the rest. I spent about an hour with a roll of painter's tape and a razor blade, but I think I am ready for this. Please, Lord Vader let this turn out good. Otherwise I have to sand this down again and start from scratch.

Noted for my eventual Hero build! Heck, I already have the hovi tips, so perhaps I’ll knock out this paint job now.