silverBoyd's T21 Blaster Build

[silverBoyd[501st]]

Here are a few pics of the T21 I built starting September 2011 until February 2012. It was a fun build but I'm glad it's finished. I used a combination of Pandatroopers build as well as my own ideas on how to do a few things. Most of the parts I sketched out using AutoCAD myself.

I cut out / shaped styrene for some of the greeblies.

A couple of dry test fits (pleased w/ the results so far)

rounded out and smoothed the stock, cut out more greeblies. My rear sight being fabricated & attached the greeblies to the top of the "top feed"

Built the top rear sight from scratch (looks like it's a working sight but I made it stationary) as well as made a few other details using the styrene and FOR SALE sign material. Next, I attached the top feed portion to the blaster. Here are some pics of the "almost finished feeder portion of the T21.

also built the rear-most sight that will mount on the rear of the PVC barrel. Constructed out of PVC and a FOR SALE sign

A little test fitting of the PVC barrel slid on top of the wooden main body just to see how it all felt. The PVC really gives the blaster some weight

I closed off the rear of the main barrel (where the main gun body meets the barrel) using the plastic from a FOR SALE sign I had lying around. I custom fit it around the wood body and trimmed it to match the barrel circumference. Also, finally constructed the "cooling fins" for both sides of the blaster. Thought they would be the bane of my existence but actually i think they turned out nice. From the reference pics I've seen online as well as other blaster builds on other forums...I think I'm spot on. The (10) cooling fins were designed by me using AutoCAD to draw out the shape, 2mm styrene plastic from the local hobby shop and some scrap PVC pipe I had from making the side chambers on the blaster. By using a little E6000 (my favorite gluing adhesive) I was able to set up the cooling fins on top of the PVC bases. I hope to prime the cooling fins tomorrow and get them ready to be painted gold with the black and silver weathering. I finished off the cooling fins with a small bit of hot glue but I did it in the way so that it sort of looks like welds and then I painted the "welds". Also, you can't really tell in some of the pictures but any screw-head that you could see...I filled in solid with wood putty. Once it dried, I sanded smooth to try to give it the appearance that they were not your typical "philips head" screws.

Did some Bondo work to a small area on the blaster where the stock & greeblies meet up. I wanted a smooth transition between the two parts. I still need to sand it smooth and "shape" it. More pics on the finished product later.

Primed my cooling fins for the blaster w/ Hammered Chrome paint

After the Hammered Chrome dried I used some leftover Dupli-Color Sunburst Gold automotive paint I had leftover from my Iron Man helmet build that I made from scratch last year. But that's for another forum. I let the gold set overnight and then gave it a light dusting of black paint to give it a weathered look

Did lots of Bondo work and sanding where the 2 different sized barrels comes together so that it's a much smoother transition.

I also decided that I'm going to add the little "rear stock oil lube" compartment to my T21 blaster. I picked up a few small 3/4"x1/2" pvc slip bushels. I will use a 3/4" Speedbor to drill a nice hole on both the top and underside of the rear stock. I'll then either use E6000 or Hot Glue to glue inside the stock. I used a small file (along w/ some patience) and created a "knurled" look to the top piece that will be at the top of the stock.

I'm going to spray paint the pieces either a "Hammered Silver" or maybe a weathered or dirty brass effect kind of like how I did my blasters cooling fins. Hope it turns out. It's a small detail most people won't notice but I'll know it's there.

Here's a dry fit of how I did the stock compartment. Got the holes drilled out in my stock to accommodate the "oil lube compartment tube" and painted the "oil lube compartment"

finished the rear barrel sight. Attached it to the rear of the barrel utilizing a few L-bracket for picture framing that I had lying around. They are galvanized brackets so I had a hard time bending / cutting so that I could shape it to the barrel diameter the best I could. I tried screwing the brackets to the PVC barrel but had some problems w/ that and had to scratch it. Decided the "attach" the brackets w/ my buddy E6000. This stuff is so strong and I've used it on so many projects. It seemed to hold to the barrel fine but it took lots of dry-fittings, measuring, etc. of the bracket locations to the inside of my rear barrel sight. Once the bracket glue dried and set...I filled the inside of my rear sight with hot glue and set it on top of the brackets. Once I got a semi-sturdy fit I very carefully added more and more hot glue into the underside of the sight. Almost filling it up with hot glue. Enough with all the rear barrel sight talk...enjoy the pics

Now time to prime the blaster with paint. I started to spray one side of the blaster w/ the flat black and already used 1 1/2 cans. I'll spray the other side tomorrow.

Spent some time starting to paint the blaster grip I made out of 2mm Styrene Plastic and the stock w/ a nice Burnt Umber color I had. I would have used actual wood staining on the stock but i had written on the wood with a pen when i was constructing the blaster not thinking about what I was doing at the time....I think it's turned out good though.

Added the cooling fins, finished painting the blaster handle and added the "oil lube compartment". Now to just add a sling and the (14) ribs on the rear of the barrel. So close to being done. Can't wait to troop with this big sucker...

I assembled the new sling and swivel I ordered from www.e-sarcoinc.com, they are amazing quality. Took only a few minutes to do...

I have spent the past few nights adding the "14 ribs" to the barrel of my T21 blaster build. While I've seen some people use corrugated downspout drain extensions...I opted to go for what I think looks a little better (in my opinion). I used 1/4" x 14'-0" white vinyl weatherstripping used for doors in your home. I could only find it in white so I used some black Plasti-Dip and sprayed it black. The nice thing about Plasti-Dip is it's flexible. Once it dried, I wrapped the barrel the best I could while gluing it down with E6000. It's very much on there and shouldn't become unraveled. One thing i noticed was while applying the E6000 it made some of the Plasti-Dip rub off. No worries though...I'll paint over it with some black paint and I think i'll be fine. Here are some shots of it before I finish the final paint touch-ups on the "ribs".

I'm aware that the ribs are not wrapped up perfectly but I think it adds "realism" to it. I also like the clumps of E6000 you can see between the ribs. It could be mistaken for "grime" that has gotten in the cracks due to patrolling in the Tatooine desert.

Here is a shot of the "ribs" after applying a few more coats of Plasti-Dip. I'm happy with the results. I can now say that I'm officially 100% finished with my T21. Started working on it last September. Can't wait to show it off @ future troops

If you have any questions...please feel free to ask for tips. It was a fun build but I'm glad I'm finished with it

Edited May 2, 2012 by silverBoyd

[NastyNoah[TK]]

Wow this is great !!!! Will you be making your CAD drawing available ?

[silverBoyd[501st]]

I can give it to anyone who wants it. It's not the most perfect build but I think it's pretty close.

Edited May 2, 2012 by silverBoyd

[NastyNoah[TK]]

PM sent

[Arnie_DK[TK]]

Niiice

[Kade[TK]]

Great work I just finished a T-21 recently myself and they are a lot of work.