Complete novice builds not bad Doopys E-11

[Scotty71]

There's so many Doopys build threads around, but this one? This build thread is brought to you by a complete and utter DIY no hoper. Seriously I could make a dogs backside of gluing two bricks together. I was going to buy one pre made. Kinda prevent me from making a really crap E-11 I thought. Then I spoke to a few people at a few troops. I gained a little confidence and thought maybe, just maybe I can do this. I visited a trooper and gained more confidence. I then decided to give it a go. I bought a Dremel, glue, paint, elastic bands, etc. Over the next few weeks I, err, created this. And I'm still shocked that I actually did it.

 

[Scotty71]

I documented the build with photos and will gradually build this thread in the hope that it will leave something for other people who lack the confidence to try one of their own like I did. Maybe it will inspire other DIY no hopers like myself to achieve the seemingly impossible as it joins the many other build threads out there. Enjoy the build.

[I'm Batman[501st]]

Looks pretty good from here Scott. Also interesting contrasting white legs on your stand.

 

Nice work!

[cm325i]

Looks great! Where did the stand come from?

[Scotty71]

So how did it start? I read. I read a lot. I spent many nights on the iPad looking at build threads. I looked at all the different modifications which were possible. All the tweaking that could be done. I decided which mods I thought I was capable of and began to gather the tools and equipment. Like I say my DIY skills would not be enough to fill a gnats posing pouch. My tool shed was more of a 70's throwback of tools I'd inherited from my deceased dad. I purchased a Dremel. Without which I really don't think it's possible to build one of these. I nearly dropped it when I turned it on for the first time. Thought it was going to take off!

I live only about half an hour from the Doopy-Doos empire so I arranged to collect my kit. Proudly trotting back to my car with my oblong box. When I got it home I just fiddled with all the pieces. Familiarising myself with them. Pushing them up against each other imagining this really cool blaster i was going to build. I recognised every piece from my research. Then as per my research I washed them all in lukewarm water. In the kitchen sink. My wife nearly had a cow!

 

[Scotty71]

It's a Doopys stand. Arms sprayed matt white, base matt black. Imperial cog comes pre cut into the base. I hand painted this with three coats of Humbrol matt white. Very fiddly but worth the effort. But slow down kids, that's later. ;-)

[ClockworkRonin]

looks great! And Im glad to know Im not the only DIY challenged TK hopeful haha

[I'm Batman[501st]]

Then as per my research I washed them all in lukewarm water. In the kitchen sink. My wife nearly had a cow!

 

 

I hope you used her best cloth and pink gloves too!

[Dark PWF[Staff]]

Looks really good in that picture, Scott.

 

I'd say that the overwhelming majority of us are akin to total newbs when it comes to these projects for the first time. We just follow the leader, and get it done. Along the way, some of us find some stellar inspiration, but for the most part, we just make it happen.

 

Looking forward to your progress in the thread.

[illusionz_09[TK]]

yes, came out great. Nice job.

[Scotty71]

One thing I noticed while I was getting familiar with my parts :-O was that the folding stock was one piece. All my research had shown the two piece variety. Brilliant I thought. One less job to do joining those suckers together. I'd decided to screw the arms of the folding stock to the barrel and simply glue the rest to the barrel. That became quite clear it wouldn't be a good idea. There was so little contact between the stock and the barrel it was going to have to be screwed to be robust enough to eventually troop with. I'd seen it done on a build thread but did want to avoid it as I had no experience of using milliputt. It was unavoidable and would have to be done. It was at this time I discovered that my local independent DIY store was a haven of materials. 1 metre of wire, 40p. Two tiny bolts, 10p each. Off cut of acrylic, 20p. Milliputt, £5. At this point I'd still not begun any construction at all. I couldn't put it off forever. It was time, to begin.

[Scotty71]

I created a workspace in my garage and set to work. Honest, I knew where everything was. ;-)

 

[Scotty71]

First thing to do was replace the crap mould bolts in the end of the barrel and in the base of the handle. As I'd never used a Dremel before this was done very carefully. I knew if I'd chewed out too much I'd have a hell of a job making it look funky again. I have to admit I sat and stared at it for a while before plucking up the courage to begin. I told myself I can't even screw it up unless I start it. With the flick of a switch I was away. And with the bolts purchased from Halfords I'd soon created this.

 

 

 

And more importantly it was really simple. I severed the threads from the bolts using the Dremel. Watch out, they're fuffing hot once you've done that.

[Scotty71]

The thing with the Dremel is take a bit away, check, take a bit away, check, take a bit more, check. It takes time but once you've taken too much away you can't put it back. So there I was. I'd successfully taken out bits of the barrel and it didn't combust! Brilliant! I put these pieces to one side deciding not to glue just yet. I wasn't feeling that brave. Glue meant permanent and I wasn't ready for that.

I moved on to the counter. One mod I liked was the real brass screws replacing more crap mould. I'd bought a small pack of what looked the right size from Wilko. I'd also researched putting screws in resin. Pilot hole first and no loud screws. Loud screws were bad and could lead to cracked resin and tears. Again I used the Dremel to drill pilot holes, testing for size first in a piece of scrap wood. Clever eh? I then put holes straight into the crap mould screw on the counter. I'd gone and done it now. I'd voluntarily screwed a hole in a perfectly good piece of resin. The holes were a little tight when I tried the screws so I removed them and used the same drill bit and gave it a bit of a wiggle until I'd made the hole bigger. Before long I'd created this.

 

 

Real brass screws in my counter. And guess what? The resin still had not combusted. ;-) I sat back in my swivel chair and admired what I'd done. This was great!

[Scotty71]

Confidence with the Dremel was growing so I then decided to clean a few of the other parts up.

 

Magazine cleaned up and sharp corners removed to give the look of wear.

 

Next I went to work on the sights and cleaned them up a little.

[Scotty71]

Liking the mod with the small screwdriver in the sight I'd bought said small screwdriver. I Dremelled off the metal blade from the handle making sure it was longer than I needed. I would use the screwdriver as the the pin to help hold the sight in place again as I'd read on another thread. It was time to carefully drill a hole in the front sight to accept the blade. Again testing in some scrap wood first. The hole was a little tight at first but the tried and tested wiggle of the Dremel soon opened it up sufficiently and......... voila!

 

[Scotty71]

Bolts, screws, magazine and a funky looking front sight. Confidence was growing and I was actually starting to enjoy myself.

[Scotty71]

The front of the folding stock needed some Dremmel work according to research. Easy to get wrong too. I drilled in from both sides to make sure I'd not gone in at an angle and came out the other side in completely the wrong place. I drilled several holes and then just kinda joined the dots with the Dremmel. Easy peasy lemon squeezy. Here's the result of some delicate work.

 

[Scotty71]

Next it was time to go drill crazy again and attach the folding stock to the barrel. I'd decided on screw city for sturdiness. A screw in each side of the arms, one in the front of the barrel and another cunningly hidden in one of the depressed circles already in the bottom of the folding stock. Arms first and over to the trusty Dremmel again. I took the existing lumps on the arms almost flat so when a screw went in place it would sit nice and flat. Pilot hole again just through the arm first. Check screw. Bit tight. Wiggle drill. Perfect. Offer up to barrel and go through the same hole I'd made in the arm and into the barrel. The moment of truth. Put screw in and hey presto. It worked!

 

 

This was solid and just what I was looking for. I repeated the step the other side. With these arm screws in and holding the folding stock in place it was pretty easy to do the other two holes in the upper barrel. Each screw required two holes. The first large enough to take the threads of the screw. Drill, test screw, perfect. The second hole went just low enough to sink the screw below the surface so it could be filled and hidden later. This second hole is obviously made once the screw was removed. Put the screw back in and this what you have.

 

 

And the second hole. Beautifully hidden as you can see.

 

[Scotty71]

This is how the stock looked once screwed in place. The arm screws would also be covered with some milliputt later to disguise the fact that they are screws.

 

[Snaps[TK]]

Looking good so far

[Scotty71]

I sat back and wallowed in my own glory. I was a genius. This was actually working. It was coming together and still hadn't combusted in my hands. But a scary time was looming. Sooner or later I was going to have to glue. And that meant whatever I did was permanent. I'd taken advice about glue and decided on the E6000 route. Some say two part epoxy, some say E6000. I was in no rush so the long drying time of the E6000 wasn't a problem. Each time I glued I would leave the parts for a full 24hrs to set solid. I unscrewed the folding stock and walked away from the blaster for the evening so I could start afresh the following day. Patience young Padawan.

[Scotty71]

Thanks Steve. I promise you a crisis did come later. And there was a death of a rubber band. All still to come in the next instalment.

[Snaps[TK]]

Yeah, a lot of rubber band victims in my build too! E6000 is the best choice in my opinion! Strong but easily let's you take things apart if needed!

[Scotty71]

Right, where were we? Oh yes. Glue. It was time to begin the glue work. But before that I had a thought. I really didn't want my charging handle to 'float' in mid air so I began to look into the inner barrel option then I'd be able to sit my charging handle on that. Nothing fancy again. I never was going for über accurate here, but I did want it to look ok. As I would be screwing the folding stock to the barrel the screws would go into the inner barrel so this needed sorting before the folding stock was glued permanently into place. Some forum questions and research told me that a piece of black 20mm plastic pipe was the answer as it slides perfectly into the Doopys barrel. Now when I bought my current house the previous owner had done some renovation and the scruffy sod had left off cuts of bits and pieces in the garage rafters. This became a treasure trove for my build as up there was about 12 feet of 20mm black plastic pipe! Enough for several screw ups and then some!!!!! I chopped a bit off longer than I needed but just to roughly see if it would work. And bingo bango! It slid in perfectly. I checked other build threads to see where it needed cutting to length, chopped it, checked it and then whooped for joy. I was now ready to glue.