thederek

You both are right. I don't mean to sound like such a B. You guys have been great and are my new virtual friends. The FISD community has been amazing at helping me. Aaron, you are correct, sometimes it can be a distraction. I think I've always struggled with being a perfectionist and I get really bent out of shape when it goes wrong, got to learn to stay focused. Brian, very nice words man. Like you I knew it would be challenging but quickly learned I bit off more than I could chew, but it's not impossible. I've built many small models and while I knew this would be harder, did not expect so many issues. After drilling two pipes to get the holes right, I look back and think I got this far. Just all the things I wanted to do didn't turn out as planned. Like you perhaps this is my diary of my mental struggles more than other people's thread. The trigger is fine for me. Was really peeved about the selector switch as it looked really easy. Oh, abd I cut my finger open experimenting with barrel springs from coat hangers. Think I'll go with softer wire from Home Depots vs coat hanger but try and find a close enough gauge. Finished the mag today. The button came out decent but my etching of "off" and the arrow is...off haha. Arrow too close to the end, letters are a bit off (pun intended) but oh well. Keep moving. My bastard little blaster. I will show more pics tomorrow at night, still kept taking pics. And for the loce of Pete I wish I could change the thread name from "threat"!!! It's only threatening my sanity and dignity!

Can ESB TK's use a DLT 19 and still get Centurion and use them? Or can only ANH use DLT? I've seen mixed info out there and I've browsed the forums for a while. I'm on a waitlist for ESB armor, and I just havvvve to have a DLT 19. I could still change the armor if I had to at this point but hoping I can stay ESB (also in the middle of an ESB pipe build). I know this seems crazy, so don't even try to understand, haha. Just wondering if it's acceptable to be approved Centurion ESB and use a DLT that's modded to standards or if it's only ANH TK or TD/HWT? Thanks.

For sure! I test fitted some parts and I think it will be ok, passable for sure. However as far as a thread, there are way better ones out there but I'll still take pics here and there. Your blaster is awesome Tim! I'll probably hit you and Aaron up on some bolt help. There are so many threads out there not sure where to begin. I'm going to walk away for a bit, but I'll be back.

It's been removed from ANH CRL, but it's still a requirement for ESB and ROTJ, or those weren't updated? Sorry for my n00bness.

Ok so today I finally got the bolt to fit into the pipe after over an hour of sanding it down. Still have no clue how to tackle that to make it look realistic. I guess I have some days of reading to do. Glued the hex head bolts to the barrel plug. Found dowels for an inner barrel/bolt stop. A little pissed today, as I tried to make a working fire mode selector, read for 2 days how to make it, and almost had the hole drilled perfectly in the trigger group when the POS dremel jumped on me and widened the hole for the bolt I wanted to use (that would fit the small circle of the selector switch. So that failed, and now it's glued to automatic position instead. I'm really peeved about this. The whole point in doing a build like this is for extra items to work like other blasters won't. I kind of had a feeling this part would not go well when I started to consider how to do this. At this point, I'm starting to lose it, and I think I'm going to forget all these timely/costly parts for mods like some people are doing. I'm slapping this bad boy with the few mods I've done, and figure out a simple bolt system and add a spring. I suggest for others unless you're a good propsman or really good with tools (and excellent at winging it) just get the full resin kit. I wish I would have; would have saved more money and been easier to build than trying a pipe build. Lesson learned (I thought I would save more money doing a pipe build, but the opposite turned out for me). I'll wait until I get a bonus for Christmas and buy an awesome blaster from someone if I feel the urge. I'll just post the end result in a few weeks, I'm sure I'll have a fine basic blaster for troopin. I haven't even tackled the scope and sight rail yet (shudder). Thanks for all your help Tim, Aaron, et al.

Thanks for the encouragement Tim. Yea, I think compared to people out there, I'm certainly not going to outdo anyone, but just want a decent blaster that looks cool to the general public. There is always that badazz who spent a grand or who is an engineer who can do crazy stuff haha. At this point, my main concern is the bolt area, getting my back cap to fit (too thin and brittle to sand the inside diameter) and possibly sanding the back part of the pvc down to accomodate it. Sighhhhhh. The other thing is the paintjob. How many coats do you use? I did a spare-pipe-test with primer and one coat and was disappointed that a barely hard knick or ding would go right to grey primer. Two or 3 top coats?

Haha, I tried shortening the spring a little more, but then it's too short and dangles there. I'll have to stick with what I've done and make a new spring at the length I showed you, no biggie.

Thank you so much Aaron, you've been a huge help, more than you know!!!

Also, have any of you considered this mod yet? I havent' seen anyone mention it. In a perfect world, I would love to dremel the domed chromie cap from the hex bolt part, but feel that would be a challenging cut. Or go the way of Tim's idea, and drill out a hole for a ball bearing or something. The size of the cap nut is the same size as the flat-head screw on the opposite side, btw. Mechanically/engineering wise it makes sense to me, that that's how the grip is really put together? A cap nut vs. just a nut and exposed threaded post? If not, then what the heck is the blob supposed to be on the real Sterling?

Also, thanks for the ref on the barrel hex nuts. I will go ahead and drill them down to be flush with the barrel. Glad I didn't glue them yet!

Hey Aaron, thanks for your feedback! I went on two troops today as a handler with my local garrison, and had so much fun. To be honest, my blaster even as it is, will look totally boss when done compared to what a lot of other people had. When my sample group is the internet, of course people are doing some insane stuff. Like I stated a while back, if you look at the pic of my trigger spring, I actually already cut that in half of what you see. I still get some good spring action in it. I'm not sure if the spring is so much as too long as the well isn't perhaps deep enough? I've posted the two pics of what you wanted to see. I'm just worried about "over-tinkering" at this point. Fully out: Fully pulled back: Annnnnnd now I think I see what you mean. Hmm. Since the trigger guard is already extended out and epoxied, I'm thinking about just leaving it. But now it's also eating at me. So basically I'd only need about a quarter of a spring then, huh? I've already cut to half.

Thanks. This is really taxing my brain but I'm having fun. I've always learned in life by effing up stuck then fixing it for the better. Just hate when you've spent so much money and time to make errors, but oh well! I'll have to checkuo on your build tomorrow.

That's a good idea with the crayon too. You could even then go back and pick some out carefully with an exacto in choice spots to match your weathering; as if some of the paint in certain spots of the letter has either flecked out or is not as "new looking". Weathering is my favorite thing to do on models too.

Dude, that's looking fan----xxxxx----ing-tastic! Love the idea on the plastic primer paint! I will pick some up for my future paint job. Do you plan to use white lettering on the scope when finished a-la toothpickin' it?

Last post for a while. This is the great "Trigger Fiasco of 2014" . Everything was going good building the spring trigger, as I did read up on a few builds. However, I failed at considering how deep to hollow out the trigger well. I had no idea what was too much or not enough, so I did only a bit to where it moved in and out of the well smoothly, so it didn't catch on the sides. I never thought about the depth too much. I did hollow it out a bit at the top of the well, so the top of the trigger had room to be drilled when I would put in a pin. I should have thought more about hitting the trigger guard. So what I did was before I pinned it, I cut the spring in half hoping that it wouldn't stick out so far. That didn't work well, and at this point, the only thing I could think of (didn't think about hollowing out deeper) was to extend the trigger guard out about 1/8" of an inch or so in order to prevent it from rubbing. The close ups are ugly, from farther away not so bad. I keep thinking: "it won't look so bad with paint". Ugh. Anyways, any suggestions? Be gentle some of you Master builders, hah, I'm not proud to post this yet but I've often been an awesome "finisher". With enough sanding, paint, and weathering most people won't notice (I hope). Let this be a lesson to all future amateurs doing this. Keep in mind, I've never made a spring mechanism before, so I had to think about my current guns and even how toys were built. I used a pen spring like others, and made sure it didn't rub, catch, etc; that it was a smooth motion. I can't tell you how long I tinkered with this until I felt really confident. I marked up the trigger on all the borders, etc involved in the dimensions (sans trigger guard apparently). I drilled a hole in the direct center in the back of the trigger for the spring that will connect into the trigger well hole. I used a drill bit that was as close as possible to the spring's diameter, widened with an engraver dremel tip, and then kept test-fitting until the spring was snug in the hole on the trigger. I also fitted the trigger into the well where I wanted it, and marked the trigger and trigger well with marks of where to drill. I then brought it outside to drill a hole through the whole assembly where the fulcrum pin will go. I later cut this spring size in half, THEN glued it in with 2 part expoxy and let it sit overnight. After it dried, I drilled the same size hole in the trigger well and engraved a bit out for a snug fit for the spring. I did not glue this part as I figured the pin would hold it in place fairly well. If the trigger later shoots out, I might consider gluing the other half of the spring into the trigger well. Tim (DarkCM) used a coat hanger pin I think which is smart and more durable, but I ended up finding a smaller hitch pin at the hardware store that I had and decided that would work well also (in theory). I later cut/dremeled it to the size I needed. Fully pinned and working: Another angle: I was so happy so far, as it was the first mechanism I made and then I had to resort to this as a fix. I tried to mold it with artistic license along the trigger group "lines": Looks fugly up close (puddy epoxy and 2 part epoxy...why the heck did I go ahead and glue this?!) However, on profile from a little bit away, doesn't look TOO horrible I guess. I have to sand, find a way to do soemthing with the lower side. Doesnt feel like the puddy really dried well. Maybe more glue? Heck, I dunno, maybe more sanding? This will require a weekend of brainpower when I can sit and think. Busy between two jobs.

A common error I've seen some do. I read about this too late. I drilled out more than I needed to of the folding stock "gap". I drilled into where some of the body would be. Again, kids and the public would never know, only my fellow builder nerds. So I haven't decided to just sand it down and make it look nice and leave it or mess with puddying it up.

This is the barrel assembly. My screws finally came in from Apex, Inc. At two dollars a screw I can't really complain, however they didn't look much different from what I had except I suppose they are accurate as they are hexed in the middle and not the rounded at the hardware store. A clean cut. I was pretty dumbfoudned considering how I mangled the side-grip flat head nail the other day. Get...yourself....a...diamond...tipped cutter blade. Worth the extra few bucks, I believe around $15. Sorry for the bad lighting, but here they are very smooth (although they didn't quite photograph like that) after using a metal file like you see in the old prison movies. When I looked at the mold, I realized the screws were really longer and solid if it was a "true" Sterling it was molded after. I have no idea if this next part is correct, but I used some artistic license. I decided instead of drilling it all out, I would drill out just the size of the hex head and leave the texture all the way down. If it doesn't look that great, no one will know and we're talking mm's here. I won't be entering any blaster competitions anytime soon.............at least in the Milky Way galaxy. Blue I left, red I drilled out, based on the actual size of the hex head. It looks as if most people just drill all of this out. I haven't glued them yet, so it's still fixable. Here is the end result: Here the hex bolts are laid where they will sit, but not yet secured/perfectly straightened.

Ok, so I made some more "progress" if you want to call it that I call it more repair work. Keep in mind, I've never done a build like this before, and I'm putting it all out there for you all: ugly/mess ups/not-as-accurate-as-I-intended it to. I hope this helps other people to perhaps realize to take the time and be ok to mess ups as most things can be fixed if willing. So here are some basic parts you've seen in 50 builds. The butt screw, the flat grip screw, the selector switch sanded, the latching pin (?) sanded. Here's my sight. I later added the "grooves" on the side and they came out, eh, less than stellar, so I most likely leave them a little wider than I've seen (Tim did a good job on his). Instead of using a nail like most other people, I used a small jewler's flat-head screw driver and cut it to the angle with my dremel. I chose what I thought looked proportionate, not sure on the exact size it should be, etc. Butt hex:I widened this a tinnnny bit more than I wanted to but most people (other than blaster builders) would ever know to look that close. My selector switch sanded, I have yet to attach this to the trigger group yet. Not sure how I want to screw/attach it to make it work. Haven't seen too many detailed builds of that yet, just people putting them on after assembly: This is hollowed out now (didn't want to go too much deeper...?). Would like some details on the side, so I'll have to think of a way to engrave/make it "pop":

Yea sanding sticks are awesommme. I had some left over for when I built tanks. I bought a bag of them, different grades for really cheap online. If anyone is interested I can hunt the link down. So I have to sand my doopy bolt down to fit in my barrel. Do you all recommend I use the dremel sander or hand-paper sand it?

Nice, I'll pick some up for after I'm done gluing stuff. Is it sandable or do you need to be super precise with it? Another quick question regarding the pinning and maybe I missed it: you didn't extend the pins too far into the pipe, right? Im not worried about a working spring or bolt at this point so I doubt it would matter anyways, but was just curious. Sorry I have a million questions, don't want to bog your thread down.

Bwahah! More like I can eff up drilling screws in drywall. I'm a computer nerd and can wire anything up. You get me around toos/nails/power stuff and I'm like a caveman. As far as bondo, did that really seal the gaps? Looks,like it went around it. Thought about epoxy resin puddy, but then I'd have to sand it a final time. Thoughts?

Very true, you and Tim have inspired me and kept my spirits up for us less skilled. I'll post pics tomorrow when I get home of the repairs. I think it will be fine, and I've learned this is about fixing stuff as I go along. If anything, maybe my thread will be things not to do, to help someone else who may be starting. I've also realized I can't rush this stuff and that's half the battle for me. Thanks for stopping by.

Grumpy today. Can't delete this thread or change the name to show correctly days later. Still trying to figure out the bolt and spring assembly. I've got so many threads open on it that I'm lost. I dremeled out too much of the folding stock hole everyone does so I'll have to puddy that. Trigger is spring loaded finally but only fix to make it legit was to extend the trigger guard out a few mm's with some puddy so the trigger wouldn't touch. I may post pics later, today is research day and trying to calm myself down. There are some really good builds out there so I dont want to throw up my boo boo pics. Not to mention i have nothing new to add that other people haven't done.

Finally found your build thread! Also, to hell with you guys!!!!! This thread did the opposite of inspire me. It's so damn good its intimidating. [Cries and throws Doopy kit in garbage and runs home]. I'm doing a straight pipe build, and hell I'm off to a rough start, so rough in fact, I spelled the subject wrong and can't change it. I've yet to post updated pics but I finally got a working trigger but no matter what I did the trigger kept hitting the guard so had to use putty to extend guard out a bit. Very confused about what to do for the bolt. Waiting on barrel retaining screws from gun supply store. I love your ideas about pinning, might look into that. My ish is looking rough right now. After all the other builds I'll hold off for a while. Did you ever post the selector switch? Don't remember your step by step for that.

I'm trying to go for ESB Centurion when my kit gets in, so the CRL's I assume are ok and accurate to go by when I start my build? Also doing a DD ESB pipe build as well. Just asking, thanks!