A Small, Slightly Beat-up, Brown Box Arrived Recently. Doopydoos Full Resin ANH E-11 Build.

[Dark PWF[Staff]]

Urgh... SO frustrated at having lost that post. I was mostly done with it. Oh well.. Here we go again.

 

I have a couple of pieces of the blaster that are going to be featured in this batch of pictures, and they are both associated with the pistol grip.

 

First will be a little bit of work with the fire mode selector lever. After that, I'll be moving into a modification that is borrowed from OsoTheBear's amazing build. If you've not yet seen it - you should do so soon. It is very clearly the primary inspiration for the mod that I'll be walking through here very shortly.

 

Starting off, here's the little bit of work that I did with the selector lever earlier today: I started by placing it on the pistol grip to see where it would best be placed to support making it functional. Not much more than a test-fit and marking of the pistol grip for the eventual real work that I'll be doing when assembly begins. Here's the pics:

 

I placed it where I felt it would work best, and traced it with a mechanical pencil so that I could make sure that the center of this mark would allow freedom of movement through the different selection modes.

 

Looking good at position "A."

 

Looking good at position "R."

 

Looking good at position "S."

 

Mark made for the drill location. Once I figure out which bolt I'll be using for this, I'll drill the hole and get it ready for assembly!

 

Alright... This is the modification that I've been the most excited to get to (until I get to the next exciting one ) in my build: The functional/spring-loaded trigger! Thanks to all of you in FISD who have done this Mod before and lent your inspiration to me, so I can get it done. This is truly exciting, and you all paved the way for me to do stuff like this, since I'm basically doing a "Best-of" sort of build with my Doopy. Anyway, thanks again, and on to the pics!

 

So, unless my kit is the exception to the rule, the trigger (even after clean-up) does not fit into the trigger well. It needs some clean-up/sanding/shaping for the trigger to fit. I used my 100/180 grit sanding files to get inside of the trigger well, and did test-fits with the trigger often to avoid sanding out too much of it.

 

The trigger fits! Now, it gets fun!

 

I started by taking my pencil and drawing a line across the trigger underneath the trigger well on the pistol grip.

 

Here, you can see that line on the trigger.

 

I put the trigger back into the trigger well, and made marks on the pistol grip, showing where the trigger begins and ends.

 

Using the marks in the previous step, I took my trusty mechanical pencil and traced the outline of the trigger onto the pistol grip.

 

Here you can see the outline of the trigger on the pistol grip.

 

I put the trigger back into the pistol grip, ensuring that it was seated all the way forward and all the way up, and marked the location that I felt it would be best to put the trigger retaining pin, so that I could drill the hole(s) for the pin into the pistol grip.

 

Here, you can see the holes in the pistol grip - made using a 5/64" drill bit. I did NOT drill through the trigger at this time. That will come a little bit later. If you look into the "bottom" of the pistol grip you can see that I drilled a small recession/divot/hole into the bottom of the trigger well, but did NOT drill all the way through the opposite side.

 

Another look at the pistol grip with the hole drilled for the trigger retaining pin.

 

As previously mentioned in the thread, I intend to use a coat hanger to make not only my spring, but also to make pins for use in assembly - to include the trigger retaining pin. The cleaners loved me so much that they had to contribute to my Doopy build by donating this particular hanger!

 

Here you can see the coat hanger being test-fit into the trigger pin holes. I did have to "wiggle" the drill bit in the hole ever so slightly after my initial test fit, as it was the tiniest little bit too small. This picture was taken after that extra drilling with the wiggle. Fits snugly, and that is perfect in my book!

 

Now that I have assured that the hole will work with the clothes hanger, I put the trigger back into the drilled trigger well, to drill the trigger using the holes in the grip as my guide. Again, I made sure that the trigger was seated far enough forward and up into the trigger well before drilling.

 

The trigger now has a matching hole, so it will work just fine with my modification. When doing this drilling, I took it very slowly to ensure that I did not drill all the way through the bottom piece of the pistol grip.

 

I put the trigger back in, and marked the drill bit size on the pistol grip to make sure that I didn't forget what size drill bit I used. (To be honest, when I typed it a few comments ago, I did type it incorrectly, so this plan worked! )

 

Test fit of the coat hanger with the trigger in place. Fits wonderfully.

 

Using a nail to keep the trigger in place, I began to draw out the layout for the spring (Edit: The spring was donated by a retractable ball-point pen). This was my initial layout idea.

 

This is the idea that I changed to. After some thought, I realized that putting the spring that low into the bottom of the trigger could lead to it popping out the bottom of the opening, and generally a weaker amount of force on the trigger after it had been squeezed. As a result, I moved it up to the position seen here.

 

Once again, I marked the drill bit size on the side of the pistol grip. This hole - which will be inside of the pistol grip - will be made using an 11/64" drill bit. I extended the guide lines all the way to the end, to aid in the next step...

 

Extending the lines on the side allowed me to turn the pistol grip upside down and use them as my guide to mark the inside of the trigger well for the trigger spring channel.

 

Unfortunately, when taking this picture, the camera focused on the fine handicraft of the Pakistani towel makers, as opposed to the acceptable handicraft of the American novice using the drill to make the spring channel. I had to pay close attention while drilling this hole also, so I did not drill too deeply and put a hole all the way through the pistol grip.

 

Placing the spring into the channel shows that I was slightly off in my drilling - again, novice handicraft on display here - but thankfully, I drilled it the better of the two possible incorrect ways. Had it been pointing lower on the trigger, it may have caused issues with the amount of tension/force when the trigger is squeezed and could possibly cause the spring to escape.

 

As you can see here, I made another mis-calculation in a drilling effort. I initially started low, and moved it more towards the center to maximize the tension/force of the spring on the trigger. I drilled out the hole at the mark (made after my first, incorrect drill work) a little bit deeper than the initial one. I will be placing a bit of E6000 in the hole when the spring is put into the trigger to ensure it stays in place.

 

Here is how the spring will fit in the trigger assembly, before I put the pin into it and actually assemble everything. I thought that I took a picture of it all in a "test-fit" configuration, but apparently I did not. I'll take one later and edit the post, if I think about it, so that you can see how it worked out. I'm very pleased with the result based on the test-fits that I conducted today.

 

Comments? Concerns? Questions? Ask away...

 

So as to maintain the integrity of the thread, and own my mistake, here is the neglected picture, and a bonus video!

 

Edited January 30, 2014 by Dark CMF

[Dark PWF[Staff]]

One other little bit of work that I did today: I cleaned up the scope. I do have modifications planned for the scope, but as I don't have the parts needed for it, I am not quite prepared to begin the mods. I will come back to them when I get to the assembly of the blaster. I don't think this is any major issue, as the scope is one of the last bits to go onto the blaster during assembly. Anyway, here are a few pictures showing the clean-up/preparation that I did on the scope today.

 

Here you can see some of the excess material on the bottom of the scope that needs to be cleaned up. Once again, I took out one of my trusty 100/180 grit sanding files, and went to work!

 

Here is the scope again - with that excess material sanded off. One last pic of the scope itself...

 

You can see the that the corner on the front foot of the scope looks chipped. It had a large-ish cube hole where the resin did not fill the mold. Much like the piece of the power cylinder that I corrected with putty earlier. Since this was a corner, I felt that rather than using putty to fill and shape it, it made sense to take advantage of the opportunity for a tiny bit of personalization. Since the corner sticks out beyond the sight mounting rail, it would be exposed to anything that came near the blaster meaning that it would be exposed to potential damage. As the blaster will show some signs of use and wear, I opted to take a sanding file, and just erode that corner down a bit. During painting, I'll be sure to dry-brush this area to make it look as if it is simply some damage sustained during use, as opposed to a resin mold flaw - like it was.

 

Bonus photo... Since I had my sight mounting rail metal handy, I decided to take a look at how it was shaping up with the rear sight, sight rail metal, scope and counter.

 

Thanks for taking the time to read and comment. I'm really excited about this project, and I'm equally excited about sharing it. That's why I'm taking so many pictures along the way. I know that it might seem like a bit of overkill, but it makes sense to me to have too many, as opposed to not enough - of course, I'm still missing that one that I have to go back and add later so I still managed to miss one - an important one, too!

 

Thanks again for your time in reviewing and commenting/suggesting as this goes along.

[Cantina Security[501st]]

Spot on, really detailed thread. A joy to watch, read, and learn. Thank you for keeping such a thorough thread...

[Dark PWF[Staff]]

Thank you Jason, for the encouraging words. I do truly hope that it is somewhat educational and enjoyable for others. I'm having a blast with both the build and the thread. I'm almost starting to feel accomplished and then I remember that I don't have armor to assemble yet. LoL.

[seantrooper[TK]]

Great build so far!

 

Lots of little ideas that I can pass on/borrow if I get one of these kits

[Dark PWF[Staff]]

Thank you, Sean!

 

I'm debating on which part(s) to do next. Getting excited about reaching the "glue" part. I still need to figure out the specifics of my bolt carrier group, so that will be a little while. Perhaps the folding stock. Hmmm...

 

I guess we'll see what mood strikes me when I have a little bit of time again, won't we? LoL

[A Master Builder]

THIS. BUILD. IS. ABSOLUTELY. AMAZING.

 

Tim! Your work is magic, Keep it up brotha. 

 

You are doing VERY well with this build!

 

Brenton

 

 

[SorenM[TK]]

Loooking really really GOOD!

[Dark PWF[Staff]]

Thank you, Brenton!

 

Loooking really really GOOD!

I pray that when I get to the painting, that I can emulate your results (amongst others), Soren.

 

Thank you both. I'm happy that you're enjoying it with me.

Edited January 31, 2014 by Dark CMF

[TK-13340]

I love this thread! Your build is looking awesome!

 

I'm excited to see the next update!

[millenium1]

Awesome !!!!!!!!!!  

[Dark PWF[Staff]]

So. Yesterday (last night/REALLY early this morning) I completed "Day #6" of work on the Doopy kit.

 

It marked a point where I feel I'm getting pretty close to ready to start assembling pieces soon.

 

It also marked the point where I was bound to make a mistake that would require "un-doing." Nothing critical, or difficult to un-do, but it happened as a result of a few things: Me being over-zealous? Yes - Most certainly. Me not asking a question? Yeah, definitely. Me, assuming that since I know something about other real weapons in the world today, that what I know applies to a Sterling SMG built before I was born? Yes, yet again. Moral of the story??? If you're unsure, ask a question or be prepared to undo whatever it is that you're doing when someone gives you proper information.

 

My thanks to Steve (Gazmosis - our Detachment Deployment Officer) for lending me his knowledge and assistance by letting me know what should have happened. You'll see it when I get to those pictures, I'll be sure to point it out for you.

 

And now, without further adieu... Those pictures :

 

Today's parts: The folding stock and, later - the Hengstler Counter. The folding stock, showing the exact point where I was about to make my error of ignorance (the first of two rapid ones, really). This hinge point. I drilled all the way through this hinge point - and I should not have done so.

 

I also drilled all the way through this one - which also, should not have happened.

 

The pictures that follow are me proudly flaunting the error of my ways...

 

Clearly, I drilled all the way through.

 

I also clearly did it here, too.

 

Just in case you couldn't actually see that I had done so, I proudly held it up to a light and took another picture - just to make sure that you could see what I had done.

 

Not wanting to leave it to chance that you'd possibly miss the other one, I did the same with it.

 

 

So with my tom-foolery completed, I switched to my rotary tool, fixed a large grinding bit that I discovered in a little tube filled with bits and burrs. It turns out that my 80 piece set actually included more than four accessories. Totally amazing discovery that I made last night. Thankfully, I am really starting to get comfortable using it. The other bits that I discovered will probably make a lot of my tasks much easier. The big one in the next picture certainly did. Moving to the other end of the folding stock (the part that attaches to the blaster), I removed the resin-cast "screws" so that I can modify it so that it is partially functional. Here's the footage:

 

As you can see, this bit is much larger than the other four that I'd been using this whole time.

 

Look at that "screw head" all smug, like it can't possibly be unseated from it's post. I've got a large grinding bit that is prepared to deliver news to that screw... It's about to go TK-421.

 

One last look at it. Both of them, really. Quite smug, they were.

 

Yeah, see... Right there on the left. Totally not on it's post. That took just a few moments. SO glad that I found those other 65 parts that I'd chosen to ignore for the last two weeks or so.

 

Moments later, they were both nothing more than memories.

 

Misty water colored memories....

 

I'll post another photo here a little later (I haven't taken it yet) of the stock with the putty pressed into those proudly drilled holes up there at the top of this post! Thanks again, Steve.

 

Edit: Here is a photo of the stock with the putty in place:

 

Next up: The Hengstler Counter's initial modification prep work.

 

Thanks for reading, please feel free to post up comments, concerns, clever anecdotes, etc...

Edited February 3, 2014 by Dark CMF

[Dark PWF[Staff]]

The Hengstler Counter...

 

I'm going to be doing some variant of the counter window modification. I'm still deciding exactly what I want to do with that window/numbers part, really.

 

I DO know that I've got a really fun idea in mind for the reset button. I haven't seen it (and that does not mean that nobody has ever done it before) in any build threads here at FISD yet, so I'm excited about doing it, and sharing it with all of you.

 

Anyway, enough foreshadowing. Here's the work that I did last night with the counter window removal:

 

This is the before picture. I trust that you're all familiar with this, and how it looks beforehand.

 

You've probably seen this before too, but I feel a responsibility to all of you (and, as always, the integrity of my build/thread) to document all of the steps and share them here with you.

 

I stuck with the large grinding bit that I "discovered" while working on the folding stock, and it made pretty quick work of the "counter window" too.

 

WIP...

 

Getting there...

 

Going...

 

Going...

 

Gone!

 

Another view.

 

...

 

Just about to take it to the sandpaper.

 

Some sandpapering done now.

 

Feeling happy with the current state of the counter.

 

Ready for modification(s) - when I receive the other, necessary parts.

 

As always, thanks for taking the time to read and/or comment.

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Hengstler mods can be fun

[millenium1]

Needed that fix of the next instalment You got me hanging on again though with this counter!!!!!!    

[lindkvast]

AWESOME build man! Making a check-list for myself based on it! :-)

[Dark PWF[Staff]]

Thank you, Glen!

Ricky... A tiny bit more coming along momentarily.

 

AWESOME build man! Making a check-list for myself based on it! :-)

Thank you, Patrik. I fully appreciate the fact that you are enjoying it and using it as a check-list (make sure you use others, as well!!). As I've said several times (I think ) I get just as much joy in sharing it as I do in building it. I'm flattered that you are following so closely, and will ensure that I work to maintain the highest standard of work that I'm capable of doing.

 

More pics momentarily.

[Tolo[TK]]

Looking very good Tim!!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone 5 using Tapatalk

[Dark PWF[Staff]]

Sunday night, following an abysmal example of a professional championship game, I went and decided to tackle a "quick and easy" project that I simply had not gotten to just yet. Clearing/cleaning out the cutout in the front of the folding stock. I figured that this would be quite easy because it was just a matter of hollowing out a spot that isn't much wider than a 1/8" drill bit, or the rotary tool cutting bit, and I had found all of those other bits and burrs to make it simpler, right? How hard could this step possibly be?

Well, I'll get into that as I upload the pictures tonight.

Here they are - starting with a bunch of the extra bits and burrs that I found hidden in my rotary tool bucket the other night...


Had I had these "available" from day 1, I'd have probably done slightly cleaner work on the "OFF" and arrow on my magazine bottom...


This was the mission that I perceived to be so simple before I got underway with it.


Here's the other side. The objective was to clean it out and leave the basic shape of the bar on the folding stock that extends back towards the grip, in the cutout. Simply, hollow out the bottom edge of the shape. That was the basic desire. I think I got there alright, but as I've alluded to so far, this was anything but simple.


I started by drilling a hole at each end, the "plan of attack" was essentially to connect the dots with the cutting bit.


It only took me a moment to realize that my plan was not going to work. The resin here is by far the thickest that I've had to cut through so far, and the cutting bit was not simply going to slide through it like I had anticipated. Plan number 2 - drill several holes along the intended path, and then use a grinding bit to clean out the space in between the holes.


So, here are all of the "pilot" holes and the resin in between that needed to be cleaned out. Not nearly as simple as it looks, even from here on out.


Another issue that I discovered when I flipped it over - Either the resin cast is not perfectly symmetrical, or I drilled one of the holes every so slightly crooked. I'm inclined to believe it is the fault of the novice handicraft wielding the rotary tool and the drill myself. Either way, I had a little bit of a mess to take care of now.

Now, for some textual healing... (Queue the Marvin Gaye???) So, after the holes were drilled, I took the same large-bore, cylindrical grinding bit that I had used in the other work done on the folding stock, and started cleaning out the space in between the holes. I apologize for not getting any WIP pictures here, I just really got very focused as a result of what I discovered was happening. By putting the bit straight into the holes and grinding them out side to side, I realized very quickly that I was creating what looked like a child's drawing of ocean waves in the resin. Ultimately, the way that I discovered I could fix this was to lay the bit down in a manner that was parallel to the table, as opposed to perpendicular to it. By doing that, and placing it (always) at an angle while in the cutout area, I was able to remove the waves that I had created, and I do wish I'd have stopped to take even ONE picture of what I'm talking about. Anyway, keeping that bit turned "flat" or nearly flat allowed me to get it cleaned up in what I feel is a pretty respectable manner as you'll see shortly.


After cleaning out the "channel," I switched to this bit in order to clean out the corners, and shape the opening a little bit better. This bit proved to be a very valuable and handy one to have discovered. I highly recommend giving it a "whirl" if you have one (it may be hidden with several others) in your possession!


The final (as of right now anyway) shape to it. I'm hoping that painting and weathering will allow it to shape up slightly better than it currently is, even though I'm happy with it, given my experience in getting it to this point.


One final look at it.

Thanks for checking it out.

If any of you Weapons Experts have any advice or tips on this particular bit of work, I'll GLADLY take a look at it, and I'm sure that anyone else reading from this point forward in my build thread will appreciate having it available before they begin doing the same!

Thanks, everyone!

Edited February 5, 2014 by Dark CMF

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

It's the little details that takes the time, nicely done

[The5thHorseman[501st]]

If you can, i would try to round the edge you have left inside the notch for a better correspondance with the folding stock main branch:

[Dark PWF[Staff]]

If you can, i would try to round the edge you have left inside the notch for a better correspondance with the folding stock main branch:

Good call, Germain!  That, I believe I can probably do with a sanding file.  The rotary tool may be a bit much for that, but I'll definitely get to that the next time I pick it up and get to work.

 

Thank you.  (Pictures will, of course, be posted.)

[Dark PWF[Staff]]

It's the little details that takes the time, nicely done

 

Thank you, Glen...  This bit of work was very, very frustrating.  I do wish I'd have stopped to take a few more pictures to share in the midst of my irritation.  I thought that I had, but I realize that I was just spending a lot of time staring at it.  *I* can still see exactly what it looked like at the time.    I wish everyone else could.

 

In the end, I am really happy with where I've gotten it to and did consider doing what Germain suggested at that time, but I was mentally just spent after duelling with it to get to this point.  In the end though, I know it will be worth it.

Edited February 5, 2014 by Dark CMF

[micflair]

I'm building mine at the mo, pretty much in line with your thread mate! Just did the drilling out of that last bit from the folding stock... Jeez talk about messy and time consuming! Worth it in the end though.

 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

[Dark PWF[Staff]]

I'm building mine at the mo, pretty much in line with your thread mate! Just did the drilling out of that last bit from the folding stock... Jeez talk about messy and time consuming! Worth it in the end though.

 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Absolutely, but man was it EVER frustrating to work through it. LoL. I'll be posting up more pictures tomorrow or Saturday sometime. Did some REALLY fun (and minimal, in the grand scheme of things) work on it tonight! Looking forward to sharing it!