thederek

Bingo, ordered tonight, site to store: http://mobile.walmart.com/ip/Rust-Oleum-Black-Primer-Ultra-Cover-2x/22796128 Hope that works. I think this is better for me since I already have gray conduit pipe. I just Googled Rustoleum black primer and Walmart popped up. Crazy most stores only carry rust, white, gray, but no black. The hell? I'll be on the lookout for a pad, lol.

No worries, you're a busy man like everyone else. Was just poking at ya. I plan to just have a flat black finish, no real texture, keep it simple and clean. Like you, just want a cool movie prop replica. I have "failed" at making a "Sterling replica" about 15 steps ago, and haven't done near the mods that you all have done haha, so I'm fine with just a cool looking prop. Just trying to figure out if I can find a black primer (since some are paint + primer), painting order, and how many coats. PS, loved the rubber pad idea for your spring assembly. Where do you think/find this stuff? Please share? I already stole your ring sizer idea (Thanks Mrs. Dark CMF) which worked out great.

This is a good point, and I don't think I'm planning on doing any texturing/crinkle finish. Here's my plan of action: one coat of gray primer (my brother who's a great artist but not a model/prop builder, recommended a black primer?), then about 2-3 coats of Flat Black Rustoleum (like what Tim used, exact same can I have). However, I had to put 2-3 coats on a test pipe since any nick or ding went straight through to the grey primer. Maybe black primer is better, but I can't find any. Have only seen grey. Or there are "primer + paint" in one can. This final step is making my head spin more than figuring out the bolt next!

I thought that too about painting inside of barrel before doing anything with the bolt. Also, I went ahead and just attached the grip; I was willing to compromise here. I've seen a lot of builds were people have attached EVERYTHING and it still came out good, so I'm fully confident I can mask the grip no problem for the matte/gloss sections. I honestly would like to paint as much as I can AT ONCE so I get a uniform look. If you paint everything separate, you really can risk throwing off a mostly-uniform look. Or having to mask 18 parts just to paint the pipe, then you're left with a nightmare to tidy up, does that make sense? Or am I dense lol.

Tim? You're slackin!

A little more progress made. After an episode I won't mention (let's just say I effed up a good mag), I finally got things fixed and in working order. The clip and magwell is now done, and will prepaint per Tim's recommendation before putting it on I suppose. Seems like that's something that you regret not doing Tim? Then you'd just mask it totally off when you spray the rest of the blaster once it's on? You have to hollow it out and thin the walls even more than this if you want Gazmosis' mag to fit.You can see on the upper wall, right about where the middle bend/joint of my index finger is, there's an anomaly. This was due to a thin spot/air bubble on Doopy's mold, nothing I did with the Dremel (everything else was perfect). Was not happy about this. In fact, that tiny chunk later snapped out as it was wafer thin compared to the thickness of everything else. I can only hope my putty skills will solve that. Right where the mag clip is, is where I cut off just below the mag to shorten in. I didn't want to try and fit the whole mag into the well, and I liked this look. I also put on the grip finally. I was really proud about this part. I should have taken pics, but it seems taking pics of my progress has been completely jinxing everything I'm doing. It turns out it came out good, and I have nothing to show to help anyone who might be considering this. :\ So I borrowed Tim's idea (which I'm sure is borrowed from quite a few others) and pinned the trigger grip. I drilled some holes that looked more or less uniform in spacing on the top of the grip that would connect to the pipe. I got some wire cutters and cut some coat hanger bits really low and sunk them into the hole, and epoxied, and let dry overnight (turned into a week or so since I got busy). I finally matched up the holes and drilled holes in the pipe without going all the way through. This is important because if your pins are too long, they will push the grip off the pipe and not fit snug. The trick is to keep trimming the pins, they're just there to act as rebar to keep the grip more steady. I slapped a bunch of epoxy on and rubberbanded it. Still going to sand down the putty around the trigger guard, and will use some JB Cold Weld for any gaps between the trigger grip and the pipe. At this point, my scope rail and bracket was ordered and is coming in. I do not trust myself with that step at all, and my brain can't handle it. I think my next step will be to glue on some of the smaller pieces, and add the T tracks. The last steps will be the bolt and paint, but I have plenty of time at this point. Just nice to see some progress, and I've finally learned to slow down and relax, you can't build this thing in a week. I also bought a premium holster from Gaz. In fact, Gaz has made me a little poorer this month, but those investments are finally paid for and I can move on! Love the holster.

Looking good Tim!!!! (Your blaster, not you!)

Good points Tim, thanks! Also, did you mean you would paint the grip when its on the gun with everything else, right? Not by itself then attach. Will take your advice on the mag and cylinders. Also, what about the INSIDE of the barrel by the bolt/spring? Everyone seems to mask it off but mine is a grey pvc pipe. My plan was to spray a bit of black where you could see the internals, THEN add the finished bolt after all that (so as to not worry about painting the bolt by accident).

Aww, too bad you poor millionaires can't schlep it up in the Resin Slums like the rest of the peasantry! Ay, while me shanty may look a bit less, it still works and 'tis cheap! Haha.

Congrats Tim!!!!!!!! Woooo! Months to go for me :/ lol

As far as the E11, I have not given up on my Frankenstein baby. I got a mag from Steve and have been working on that to get it adjusted and to fit. I've went ahead and pinned the grip for prep to glue to the pipe tomorrow. I will post some more progress later. Speaking of, in Tino's build, it looks like he painted parts beforehand and put them on at different times. I planned on putting most parts on and laying a base primer at first. Should I paint the trigger group/grip BEFORE I pin it to the pipe? I want a uniform look so I'm siding with "no", and gluing most parts on and priming it with everything else. I can always tape it up really well for the glossy vs matte part. I will also be painting the bolt separately and taping that off eventually.

It's been a while since I posted. So I decided half way through my build I'm done with this, and decided to modify my plans to my E11. As you all have pretty much watch me botch up every step of this process thus far, I decided to take a crash internet course on sculpting, using an injection molder, and also how to use a vacuum form. Here's is what I've come up with, with only 1 hour of sleep during the last 7 days: How do you think it came out? Hahaha. Of course you all know I"m BSing obviously. After speaking with Lewis at Sci Fire, I've wanted a DLT 19 since I was like 6 years old. He said his current mold is on its last leg, and that he has few more pulls out of it before it's done. He had 2 on hand ready to go, before he did a last run, and said it would be quite a long time until he thought he would make them again. So I'll post some pics of how it looks. Really good details, just need to add some wire to the T tracks and remove some extra rubber flashing. It's already weathered, but I may add some more. It's Centurion ready out of the box for the most part (ejection box cover, conical disk on trigger group, etc). This thing is mean looking, huge, scary, and VERY lightweight. I decided to go with this over a Doopys-by-purchase-through-English-proxy since I don't want a resin DLT to shatter and break, or hurt someone if they bump into it. With this thing, I've already banged it around a few places, so I'm glad I did get the Hyperfirm. Can't wait to troop with this.....once my armor gets here. In the mean time here are some pics: From the physical right side of the gun: Physical left side of gun: Other than wire, I don't think I'll really be doing any mods to this thing. I don't want to mess them, or it, up! Any ideas?

LOL, lucky SOB...

Welcome to my world, have you seen my thread?! (threat? lol). Amateur to these dudes, but I still put all my f ups and ugliness up there anyways. If anything, to help others not do the same

You talking about real or resin? Real scopes are $$$$ man, I just went resin M19 from Pete, looks real nice and does the job "good enough" since I'm not *really* hunting, lol.

I have not yet secured it, as that's not my main concern at this point, so to speak. If anything, I'd just glue it, putty any visible gaps, but most likely the charging handle would go right where the two are are joined, which is actually kind of...weird. Hope that works out well. I was more concerned about the strip/angular design across the bolt, it's been occupying my thoughts. I'll have to do some more reading. At this point when I posted this, I am wondering if the length of the dowel extension looks right? Too short? Too long? Some blasters don't even have that, so I guess mine would be more accurate I suppose even with this chunk in there. Hope I can match it all with paint. Not sure about mixing wood/resin and a strip-design for a cohesive look. Anyways, here's where I end it for tonight. I'm mentally exhausted. "Progress", I guess. Thanks to Tim for the "ring size reducer" idea to keep the better D ring seated better and not rattling.

I wouldn't see why not? It would just be a clear/translucent decal with the colors printed on it. If Brian knows a printer, problem solved. Has Google not helped on that? I saw some clear ones earlier today and I can't find them now I'll look again.

I'm wondering the same. Almost EVERY single build I've seen for ANH uses an M38. Well guess what, since my build has been kind of mediocre anyways, I'm going with the M19, and NO wires on the Hengstler. That outta get some razzing. I'll just be happy if it comes out nice. If not, I always have my DLT 19 to fall back on. Wait, what?! I second this! A -real- M19 is better than any resin!

You all are hereby under arrest for thread hijacking! Haha. Yea, that was a great scene though. Han really having no idea "how" to respond on the radio. Was hilarious. I kind of forgot that quote to be honest, I do remember some other ones that are more obscure. Go figure.

I had a feeling it was going to be a SW quote I forgot about that was going to make me look even more foolish. SIGH. Hey Gaz, this thread was a fantastic idea. I've learned NOTHING about scope preferences!$!@%!

Haha, go back up and read my friend, two or three posts I've said I've copied it, don't remember where I saw it/who did it. Thanks for throwing a name out there though, so thanks to Glen (gmrhodes13) and anyone else whom I've forgotten to mention. I simply don't have a ton of time to browse these forums or remember all the ideas/names/threads other than a few of you guys. There's a 99.999998% I've done nothing new from what everyone else has done or posted out there. I mean for god sakes, look at the state of my build! PS, after looking around a bit too, looks like Billhag did something similar, but also incorporated a crystal bead: http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/6187-howto-pimp-a-hyperfirm-billhag-style/

Haha, to be fair, I copied someone else's idea. I saw it on some thread about 2 weeks ago, and can't for the life of me remember where to link or to who to give credit to, so my apologies to whomever. Seemed like a great idea and I filed it away in my brain at the time. However, I think I showed a few more pictures, and offered a bit more info. Here's about the size I had to grind down to get the optical. This is super detailed dremel work here. Go slow! Also, when you have the 2nd layer of clear plastic removed (remember, a CD composes of two layers) be CAREFUL as to not scratch the holographic finish or you will have a scratch in your "optical". I recommend holding it with a tissue or just make sure nothing scratches either side. This is one in the pic I did not use, as you can see it is scratched (first attempt). Learned my lesson and 2nd time around made a pretty flawless piece. I wanted to show you all though: Thanks Ian! That's probably because my decals are from Trooper Bay. They are more like a vinyl sticker. I don't have a scope from doopy's, I got mine from Striker. Here's the decals from Trooper Bay, might want to give them a try and you can choose from two. There are also other options available on the web I'm sure. http://trooperbay.com/e-11-scope-decals/

I....am....beyond.....LOST. And you all are just loving it.

Haha, you are too kind sir. Thank you for the compliment. When it comes from you, Tim, Steve, et al ("the master builders") it's a heck of a compliment. I learn more from you all than anything. As always, thanks to you all for walking me through some of this and providing ref pics, parts, etc. I couldn't do this without you all and is why I love the FISD boards.