DD's ANH E-11 Build Thread (First Timer)

[thederek]

This is all for tonight and for a few days; I'm currently working on a spring and think I have that figured out. I'm waiting for Power cylinders (resin) and Hengstler counter, so at this point I"m taking my time. Deciding on what to do with a scope rail. I finally sanded down the barrel plug to fit properly (that took a lot of time too. Probably about 2 hours for bolt and barrel plug, to SLOWLY sand down as to custom fit). I also sanded a bit of the end of the PVC down to accept the butt cap. I will add those pics at a later time as it's nothing earth-shattering.

 

The biggest part of confusion left for me is going to be how to figure out this bolt, which will take a while to research other threads. I had to sand the h3ll out of this thing forever before it would finally fit on the inside diameter of my 1.25" PVC pipe. It was simply too big! Look at my original few posts to see how big the doopy's bolt is out of the box! After a while of sanding, here's how much I had to shave off to fit in the barrel of the electrical conduit/pipe:

 

 

 

 

At least it fits snug, I'm feeling good about this. I just need to sand this bolt down smooth and slow, and redesign the bolt "pattern" and possibly a dowel extension?

 

Anyone have any good threads for this? Like, good ideas to make the bolt extend like it should just so I can get this over with and slap a spring in there? The bolt will eventually be smooth and will be hand painted.

Edited May 2, 2014 by thederek

[usaeatt2]

Glad to see an update Derek!

 

That new magazine is going to look really good.  Be sure to read the Gazmosis build on how to hollow out the magazine well.  No hurry, just grind down the walls a little bit at a time.  While you're waiting on the new magazine, is there any way to salvage your original magazine by filling the engraving with putty, sanding flat and giving it another try?  Or better yet, just sand the whole bottom off and replace it with a new piece of plastic.  You could cut a piece of plastic out of an old CD case - those are usually pretty easy to come by.  Just a thought.  I suppose at this point, working on your old magazine would just be an exercise since you'll probably like the new one much better.  Sorry the selector switch didn't work out - it was looking good.  But being stuck in full auto isn't a bad thing either...

[TrainWreck[501st]]

I know it's a bit too late now but if you need it my kit came with an extra selector switch. Just PM me if you want it.

[gazmosis[501st]]

It's an honor to know that I could help someone. That's what this is all about! Thank you SO much for the mention. We all look forward to seeing another masterpiece DD build.

[thederek]

Not sure why the quoting feature won't work for me today but this is in reference to:

 

"I know it's a bit too late now but if you need it my kit came with an extra selector switch. Just send a PM if you want it."

 

Hey Brian! Thank you, I really appreciate it, but I think I'm good for now. I'll just leave it in the "Auto" position. I'm sure I really could have engineered a fix for it, but at that point even though it would be cool to move around, wasn't the end of the world in retrospect. I'll be honest with you, I expect this thing to all break at some point in time after it's completed I hope I'm wrong! Thank you all for all the offers of help and spare parts.

Edited May 3, 2014 by thederek

[thederek]

Glad to see an update Derek!

 

That new magazine is going to look really good.  Be sure to read the Gazmosis build on how to hollow out the magazine well.  No hurry, just grind down the walls a little bit at a time.  While you're waiting on the new magazine, is there any way to salvage your original magazine by filling the engraving with putty, sanding flat and giving it another try?  Or better yet, just sand the whole bottom off and replace it with a new piece of plastic.  You could cut a piece of plastic out of an old CD case - those are usually pretty easy to come by.  Just a thought.  I suppose at this point, working on your old magazine would just be an exercise since you'll probably like the new one much better.  Sorry the selector switch didn't work out - it was looking good.  But being stuck in full auto isn't a bad thing either...

 

 

Thanks Aaron! Yea, Gaz did a nice job on these, and for the price, just makes it so much better. I could puddy over the old one if really needed, but think I might hang on to it in case someone is really in need of a mag as a last case scenario I could provide mind and can be either kept as-is or puddied if someone wants to. Trying to keep it in the spirit of Troopers Helping Troopers, as a few folks have already offered me spare parts. I will be sure to take my time when sanding for the fit. As I said, most of my concern right now is about doing the bolt extension.

[thederek]

It's an honor to know that I could help someone. That's what this is all about! Thank you SO much for the mention. We all look forward to seeing another masterpiece DD build.

 

Not a problem! I'm just glad there was a much better option out there for me other than what I had. I'll be sure to post pics of the mag and holster when they come in!

[gazmosis[501st]]

Should be any day now! Look forward to seeing it!

[thederek]

Going to try and spend more time today working on the blaster. My M19 scope arrived from Striker, and it looks great! I was originally doing an ESB E11 when I posted this thread and then later changed my mind. Still debating on whether to get an M38 scope, since both were used in ANH. These scopes look good to me, they are black resin and he even weathered it for me. Thanks Pete!

 

 

 

Now just need to get a white crayon and make the letters pop! There are a few threads in regards to this, the most recent one I looked at was Dark CMF's.

[thederek]

So made some more progress today. My scope rail project was vomit. I just can't get the right bend on it. I think I might invest in getting one precut. Takes the "pioneer/do it yourself" fun out of it, but I also hate effin' stuff up repeatedly as well. Anyways, something that I thought DID turn out well today. I colored my letters with a white crayon like Tim (Dark CMF) and others have done. Came out well. I simply wiped off the excess pretty darn easy with a spare towel.

 

 

 

I also forgot which thread I saw this idea (sorry, someone PM if they find out), but I decided to cut out a small chunk of CD to add to the smaller scope as a cool optic effect which is better than a blank, black hole. Apparently I can dremel skillz a tiny paper hole-punch size of CD, but can't drill a hole into a trigger stock. AHEM, moving along before I rant again.I cut out some chunks of CD. It cuts like butter with a cutter attachment on the dremel.

 

 

I didn't really photograph the next step, but I put on the sander attachment and kept going around and around, forming a circle and shaving down the CD chunk. Then I realized, this separates into two pieces. I pulled them apart, one layer is a clear piece of plastic, the other is the "shiny", holographic bit. So I tossed the clear piece aside as it did nothing for me and kept test-fitting the holographic piece to the smaller hole as I slowly went. Finally, I got the results I wanted, and this made me really happy for some reason. Probably because it's project 2 of 7 that actually turned out how I wanted! It just adds a unique, optic effect for all us poor souls who can't fork over $100's for real scopes. Simply glued it with a tiny bit of E6000.

 

Different angles/color effects:

 

 

Finally, I ordered some decals off of Trooper Bay for the scope. Just a neat addition, nothing too crazy. Again, just dressing up a resin scope.

 

Striker did a heck of great job weathering the body of the scope for me, but went a little heavy on the sight for my purposes, but that's ok. I plan to sand some of it down a bit, just so it doesn't have that "painted on" look. Other than that, fantastic quality scope for resin and the price!

 

The final look (minus the other side of course):

 

Edited May 5, 2014 by thederek

[usaeatt2]

AWESOME, AWESOME, AWESOME!!!!  I love the iridescent scope lens made from a cut up CD!  REALLY cool effect and super cheap - the best kind of modification.  Super glad you posted this - I just learned something!

[thederek]

Finally, I cut a small chunk of dowel off to be the bolt extension. That's about as far as I got. I really have no idea how to proceed at this point, but am determined to figure it out. I think I'm going to glue the wooden dowel to the doopy's bolt, and redesign the "slant" of the bolt to extend upwards. I'm thinking I might sand/engrave to raise the bolt surface vs. gluing stuff on, but that seems a bit more challenging and too easy to mess up. What do you all think? This is a point where I can use the guidance. I looked at Tim's thread and a few others. I guess I'll keep reading before I get to that point. Until then, I am not putting the barrel plug in, nor any other attachments that can get in the way when I'm tinkering with this.

 

Here's just the "bolt extension" (complete with my putty repairs from the first few posts ). You can kind of see where I left some of the original design (more or less) when I had to sand the whole thing down to fit inside my PVC pipe).

 

What do you think on the size? According to Aaron, I tried to use his specs (more or less) of a Sterling bolt. He wanted me to share this to help future builders as well.

Doopy Do bolt is 2-3/4" long (his was, and so was mine)

Real Sterling bolt is 4-7/8" long.

 

So I made the size of the dowel to "complete" the 4 7/8" measurement. It's good enough for me, honestly. I'm not going to split hairs over mm's and what not. It depends on how far you want to mount the bolt, and also (per Aaron) take into account the recoil buffer if you want. I of course in C-student fashion, said heck with the buffer. It will most likely cause a catastrophic failure/miscalculation later.

 

 

 

Finally, I put in a piece of the spring I want to use. Obviously, it's not the length I want, I was experimenting with the circumference, what do you all think? Does the thickness look ok (I know the coils aren't symmetrical at this point either, did a lot of test fitting with it which caused it to bend a bit)?

 

[thederek]

AWESOME, AWESOME, AWESOME!!!!  I love the iridescent scope lens made from a cut up CD!  REALLY cool effect and super cheap - the best kind of modification.  Super glad you posted this - I just learned something!

 

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.

[TrainWreck[501st]]

No that's a really cool scope mod. I had been trying to figure out myself what to do with that small end. I might be eventually copying you on that one. Looking good brother!

[I'm Batman[501st]]

I might do that scope mod to my Hasbro? I've got the same decal (came with the Doopy Kit) for the rear of my scope, but it just doesn't look right. Yours does look beter for some reason.  

 

Going great guns!

[TrainWreck[501st]]

I have a friend who can print me stickers so I'm eventually going to design my own for the rear lense.

[Dark PWF[Staff]]

Looking good, Derek.

 

For the bolt extension (not sure if you did this or not) I would take a piece of the dowel that you have, and just cut/dremel one end down to the size of the hole in your resin bolt, and fit it inside of there to help secure it. You could simply glue it, or drill a hole into the bottom/opposite side of the resin bolt and run a screw into the wooden dowel from the other side, and that would help keep it in one piece. Then, just put some putty in the gap.

 

That's just my thought on it. You may have done it. I don't know, but that's the approach that I'd take to do what you're doing.

 

I am pretty sure that the CD idea you used (which looks very nice, by the way) has been around for awhile. I am pretty sure that if you troll the weapons forums, you'll encounter it sooner rather than later. I'm almost positive that Glen (gmrhodes13) did one like that. Hmmmmm... I may have to go and search it out now myself. LoL

 

EDIT: Glen did indeed do it in a pipe build for Centurion approval (http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/20729-e-11-blaster-for-centurion-standards/page-3), but it has been around a few years prior to that also.

Edited May 5, 2014 by Dark CMF

[thederek]

No that's a really cool scope mod. I had been trying to figure out myself what to do with that small end. I might be eventually copying you on that one. Looking good brother!

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:

 

 

 

I might do that scope mod to my Hasbro? I've got the same decal (came with the Doopy Kit) for the rear of my scope, but it just doesn't look right. Yours does look beter for some reason.  

 

Going great guns!

 

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/

[Dark PWF[Staff]]

I have a friend who can print me stickers so I'm eventually going to design my own for the rear lense.

Can those be printed on a clear sticker?

[TrainWreck[501st]]

I'll ask and get back to you.

[thederek]

Looking good, Derek.

 

For the bolt extension (not sure if you did this or not) I would take a piece of the dowel that you have, and just cut/dremel one end down to the size of the hole in your resin bolt, and fit it inside of there to help secure it. You could simply glue it, or drill a hole into the bottom/opposite side of the resin bolt and run a screw into the wooden dowel from the other side, and that would help keep it in one piece. Then, just put some putty in the gap.

 

That's just my thought on it. You may have done it. I don't know, but that's the approach that I'd take to do what you're doing.

 

I am pretty sure that the CD idea you used (which looks very nice, by the way) has been around for awhile. I am pretty sure that if you troll the weapons forums, you'll encounter it sooner rather than later. I'm almost positive that Glen (gmrhodes13) did one like that. Hmmmmm... I may have to go and search it out now myself. LoL

 

EDIT: Glen did indeed do it in a pipe build for Centurion approval (http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/20729-e-11-blaster-for-centurion-standards/page-3), but it has been around a few years prior to that also.

 

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/

Edited May 5, 2014 by thederek

[Dark PWF[Staff]]

I read that. LoL I was just trying to help you out, since you said you couldn't remember who it was.

 

I'll ask and get back to you.

Thanks, Brian... I've been trying to figure out how to do this myself for awhile now. I have a fun idea to go along with my scope mod(s) so far! Maniacal laugh, maniacal laugh, maniacal laugh...

Edited May 5, 2014 by Dark CMF

[thederek]

Can those be printed on a clear sticker?

 

 

I'll ask and get back to you.

 

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.

[Dark PWF[Staff]]

Google would probably tell me that it can be done. LoL

 

I can't think of all this stuff on my own. ROFL... Troopers helping Troopers!

[thederek]

Looking good, Derek.

 

For the bolt extension (not sure if you did this or not) I would take a piece of the dowel that you have, and just cut/dremel one end down to the size of the hole in your resin bolt, and fit it inside of there to help secure it. You could simply glue it, or drill a hole into the bottom/opposite side of the resin bolt and run a screw into the wooden dowel from the other side, and that would help keep it in one piece. Then, just put some putty in the gap.

 

That's just my thought on it. You may have done it. I don't know, but that's the approach that I'd take to do what you're doing.

 

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.

Edited May 5, 2014 by thederek