YAHM - Yet Another Hasbro Mod

[Brent]

I attempted more painting this evening.

 

I had discounted using the hammered black finish because in my earlier tests when I tried weathering it away with sandpaper it just made a mess. The paint makes a sort of rubbery surface that doesn't scratch back nicely.

 

Here is my sandpaper weathering test with flat black (metallic, flat black, sanded, clear coat), which up until now has been my best attempt and what I was shooting for:

 

After seeing Solcar23's latest results I was again tempted to give hammered black a try. Especially since there is pronounced glue visible from the e6000 which I am hoping hammered black will cover. (Too late did I heed Darth Aloha's warning)

 

My new plan is this: Metallic Base (2x), Liquid Latex, Flat Black, Liquid Latex, Hammered Black, Clear Coat

 

Here is a piece of scratch pipe that I tried this procedure on (very rushed though since I didn't want to wait the full dry times, and no clear coat either)

 

 

I like the texture, which I think will hide the glue much better, and I like the ability to have it peeled back to the flat black layer. I think it is somewhat reminiscent of real sterling shots like this (photo blatantly lifted from TK Bondservnt's post in the Best Sterling Ever thread):

 

 

I applied the latex with a brush, spray painted it with the flat black and now it is left to dry.

 

We'll just have to see how it turns out. In my tests so far the latex has peeled away much easier when under the flat black then the hammered black. I'm thinking it might be wise to leave the latex that is on the barrel now all the way until the hammered black has been applied and dried. I just won't know how the weathering is doing until it is basically done. If I used too much latex I suppose I can go back and touch it up with a brush.

[Brent]

Another thing I found with the hammered black. Too light of a coat and you could see pin pricks through to the metallic base. Too heavy of a coat and it started pooling pretty badly. This is probably just due to my lack of spray painting experience, but it's one more good reason for me to have a flat black undercoat for it.

[ZeroRoom[TK]]

I'm thinking it might be wise to leave the latex that is on the barrel now all the way until the hammered black has been applied and dried.

 

This is definitely the way to go. Leave it on all the way until all coats are finished so you don't get layers of paint - just the appearance of one layer on metal.

[Brent]

After painfully waiting for the paint to dry I finally was able to peel back the "chips". This is two layers of metallic, followed by some latex, followed by flat black, followed by a wider layer of latex, followed by hammered black. I then peeled off the paint by dabbing at it with masking tape.

 

 

I think the two layers of paint give it a more "worn" look. The metal is a bit two shiny I think. I'll stick with this recipe for the rest of the gun for consistency, but I think future attempts will use a more dull metallic layer.

 

In the reference pictures of the folding stock I showed earlier you can see that where the paint is worn away the metal is a very dark grey except for right on the edges. It seems that if I want to replicate that look I'll need to do a lot of experimenting.

 

This is definitely turning out to be pretty heavy weathering, which I wasn't originally planning on, but I think will turn out fine.

 

The pictures in this post are right after peeling back the paint. I've now applied a clear coat on top of that, which I'll need to let dry before I can move on to the next part; attaching the barrel to the Hasbro.

[Brent]

I just went out to the mailbox and discovered that the t-track I ordered from Marv has arrived! It looks awesome, and puts my earlier crude experiments to shame. It's a good black color as well, so I plan on attaching it without even needing to paint it.

[Brent]

I cut off the Hasbro barrel and attached my new one. So far so good. I'm almost ready to seal up the body except I can't get the soldering to stick on the watch. I think I'm stuck until I can get some magnet wire and possibly a finer soldering iron. Even the finest wire I have can only make a temporary bond to the tiny solder pads on the watch, and when I try to move it in to position for gluing, the wires tend to pop off.

 

Once sealed I need to extend the Doopy Doos folding stock by about an inch. Anyone have suggestions on what I can use for that? I'm thinking of using whatever scrap plastic I have around to make a rough skeleton for the gap, then fill it over with Bondo. Would some sort of clay be better? Fiber glass? I need to be careful because this will be up against the finished barrel, which I will try masking off.

[ZeroRoom[TK]]

I would say use this stuff. It's really easy to work with, can be wet moulded like clay and dries like plastic. It's also super sand able and file-able.

[Brent]

I'll give that a try as soon as I can close it up. I found some magnet wire and I'm upgrading to a better soldering iron, so I should be able to make more progress soon.

[NastyNoah[TK]]

I'm loving this build. Please keep us updated !

[Brent]

My soldering set up is considerably better now. I'm using a temperature controlled soldering iron with a fine tip. I also got some fine tweezers and magnet wire. This beats the pants off of the radio shack soldering iron I was using earlier (the tip was thicker then the whole watch I was trying to solder on to).

 

Here is a picture of the new connections to the watch.

 

The thick wire is what I was using earlier. It is out of a gutted ethernet cable. The new thinner wire is magnet wire, which is small enough to make good contact with the pads, and flexible enough that when I move the watch it doesn't rip off. I'm using a small right angle header to bridge between the magnet wire and the thicker wire connected to the switches.

 

I was then able to get everything connected and glued in to place.

 

I needed to cut back a bunch of plastic from the other side to allow room for the wires to pass through. It took a while push the wires and tape them out of the way for everything to close up as well. Now that it is all closed up I ran some E6000 around the edges and will let it cure until tomorrow.

 

[Brent]

I haven't made a lot of progress on my blaster for a while. Lately my free time has been used up by my armor build.

 

Lucas, where do you get Apoxie Sculpt from? I swear I saw it at a local store sometime recently, but I can't remember which one and have had no luck finding it again. I should have just ordered it online a week ago and I'd have it by now.

[ZeroRoom[TK]]

Best price is to grab it straight from the manufacturer's website - Aves Studio

 

I used white because I originally picked it up for armour repairs, but it is also available in silver-grey and black which would probably be better for blaster's in the event of any chips or dings.

[Brent]

A long overdue update;

 

I've glued on the resin bits, and I finally got my hands on some Apoxie Sculpt. I ended up ordering it online since I can't figure out where I saw it locally.

 

Here's the before:

 

And after:

 

I like the Apoxie sculpt. It's pretty forgiving and easy to work with, and when dried it seems pretty solid.

 

This has freed me up to start painting.

 

Masked off:

 

Coat #1

 

I'm applying a coat of brass to the scope tonight.

[Brent]

I took a break from armor to do a little work on the E-11. Another coat of paint and its starting to look like a blaster.

 

[Brent]

Just completed the finishing touches.

 

I added the final coat of paint and attached the T-track I got from Marv. I bent it in boiling water, then sanded down the ends so they fit in the holes. The fit snugly enough I don't even plan on adding any glue.

 

[Brent]

And it's done!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ZeroRoom[TK]]

Nice work Brent! This is one of the best Hasbro mods I've seen yet.

 

Especially cool mod on the scope. Nice paint job too.

[Arnie_DK[TK]]

Great job on this one. Love the watch in the scope, and really nice paint job

[MattyJ[TK]]

Awesome job! Thanks for giving me some inspiration to get mine done. LOVE the watch in the scope, Have often thought where I could hide a watch during troops. GENIUS!

[Chefhawk[501st]]

looks brilliant..

I'm going to use this as reference for my chewbacca build 

 

cheers

[StevenBills]

Hey I know this is an older thread, but I have found it very informative to reference while working on my Hasbro mod. Quick question though for @Brent, how far does the pipe barrel stick out of the gun? I need to cut my pipe down, but I'm not sure of the exact length. Thanks!

 

SB

[StevenBills]