Vette11's DD E-11 build

[Vette11]

[Vette11]

Then came assembly.  I was so excited about this part.  I was not able to put a pin into the front sight b/c I had previously sanded the bottom so thin.  I decided to use the e6000 on the front sight but when I tried to put rubber bands around it to hold it in place it started sliding all over the place and finally settled into a place that was way off center.  no matter how many times I tried to readjust the bands it kept getting pulled off center.  eventually I just put some more e6000 on in it, centered it and left it in place with no bands.  I let it dry for the required 24 hours and it came out good.  it is centered and solid.

 

after my difficulty with getting the front sight in place I decided that I would switch to a faster glue.  I purchased Loctite superglue gel.  this one sets in about 10 seconds so it gave me time to make sure everything was in place and where I wanted it. 

I may have mentioned before that my patience is lacking - this is evidence of that...lol

 

these next pictures are of the e11 being assembled. 

[Vette11]

[Vette11]

Thanks to Steve (gazmosis) I was able to acquire the correct nuts/bolts for the power cylinder and hengstler counter.  you can see the power cylnders have been modified with the new screws and nuts.  special thanks to Steve.

[Vette11]

now that the gun is mostly assembled,  I decided it was time to paint.  I went with a Metallic Dark steel for the base coat as you can see in the picture of the can.  the inner parts (barrel, charging bolt and spring) were all painted with a Flat Iron color, the same as used by Tim.  I looked at various colors and felt that those two were the best for starters.  the dark steel looks absolutely outstanding and I wish I could just leave the e11 that color.  the final coat will be Hammered black with certain parts being just a flat black.  (at least that is what I think for now, I may change my mind once I see the two together on the pieces).  I have also decided at this point to not weather the e11 but that is subject to change as well.  I am thinking that the weathering will occur naturally with handling during troops, by the kids etc. As always I am open to suggestions and with that being said here are the pics

[I'm Batman[501st]]

Did you realise you've got your cylinders on back to front? Also try to hollow out me of your mag well, or shorten the magazine to get that further into the well. It should be right up to the flat part of the clip.

[Vette11]

[Vette11]

Although they are not pictured, the trigger and charging bold handle have also been painted with the dark steel color.  

so while the paint is drying I decided to try once again to make my own scope rail and H bracket.  following Tim and using a piece of cardboard as a template I was able to make both the rail and the bracket.  I am very pleased with how they turned out.  I used pieces of brass that I found at a hobby shop near my office.  I went through 19 dremmel cutting discs to get it done but it is done.  you can see some of the fragments from the discs in some of the above photos.

As I have said before I will not be making any modifications to the scope with the exception of maybe putting in a real lense in the rear but that will be completed at a future date.  as for the counter, the only thing I have done is to grind down the mold of the window.  I will be adding my own numbers at some point in the future but don't know when that will be done.  neither the scope nor the counter have been painted as of yet as I am still deciding on how/when to proceed on them.

[Vette11]

[Vette11]

in the last picture above of both the rail and the bracket, the bracket pictured was my 1st attempt and it is incorrect b/c it was bent in the wrong place.  the picture of the one I am holding is the correct one.  I am very happy with how both turned out.

[Vette11]

Now for the final set of pictures of the day.  I mentioned before about the attempt to make my own D-ring and posted photos of it. I have gone to a bigger ring and did not cut it at all.  i used my vice to flatten it out some and it came out very well. I do realize that it is not correct as the D-ring should be more rectangular but truthfully I actually like it.  I am posting the pics of the Ring placed in the end cap.  it has been glued and painted with the dark steel paint.   one thing I have noticed is that it moves around a lot.  I think I will be able to live with it but if it gets to annoying I will find a way to quiet it down.

[Vette11]

[Vette11]

I am hoping to finish the painting and final assembly within the next couple of weeks.  please feel free to offer any comments/suggestions or point out any errors that I have made, just keep in mind that I used superglue on the pieces so fixing them is going to be difficult to say the least.  thanks for all of the input and for stopping by.

[Vette11]

Did you realise you've got your cylinders on back to front? Also try to hollow out me of your mag well, or shorten the magazine to get that further into the well. It should be right up to the flat part of the clip.

Ian, thanks for the input, nope I did not realize the power cylinders were on backwards. not sure how I can fix them at this point. I don't want to go any further into the mag well as I almost went through the wall getting it down to that point.  the walls are very thin and if you look closely at the pic you can actually see the shadow of the mag inside the clip. I will attempt to fix the power cylinders, that ought to be fun.     

[Dark PWF[Staff]]

UGH...  Hang in there Dustin...  I'm certain that you'll be able to get those power cylinders fixed - after a great deal of fun, yeah.  

Looking great otherwise though!!!  

[Vette11]

Well, God must have heard my prayers, I know he certainly heard me swearing....lol. I attacked the mistake as soon as I got home. I was able to get the power cylinders off with very minimal damage. Holes have been epoxied and will set over night. Tomorrow I will replace the pins and remount it correctly. I do have pictures to post but will have to post them from work tomorrow, so I will have to keep you all in suspense.

[Vette11]

Oh and I also do not know why my photos keep getting posted upside down. They are correct when the go into photobucket and seem to post correctly when the are transferred over so whitearmor.

[I'm Batman[501st]]

Oh and I also do not know why my photos keep getting posted upside down. They are correct when the go into photobucket and seem to post correctly when the are transferred over so whitearmor.

I have that problem too with photos on the iPhone. I stick to regular camera now....

[I'm Batman[501st]]

Well, God must have heard my prayers, I know he certainly heard me swearing....lol. I attacked the mistake as soon as I got home. I was able to get the power cylinders off with very minimal damage. Holes have been epoxied and will set over night. Tomorrow I will replace the pins and remount it correctly. I do have pictures to post but will have to post them from work tomorrow, so I will have to keep you all in suspense.

Good job. Nothing that a bit of epoxy and filler can't fix! Wiser men have put things on upside down before (haven't they Tim?) hehe

[Dark PWF[Staff]]

Good job. Nothing that a bit of epoxy and filler can't fix! Wiser men have put things on upside down before (haven't they Tim?) hehe

I don't know about the wiser ones Ian, but I most certainly did! LoL

 

Edited December 23, 2014 by Dark CMF

[gazmosis[501st]]

If you can get the magazine out of the well, just trim the mag down until it hits the corner points on the front and on the rear lock clip.

[Vette11]

If you can get the magazine out of the well, just trim the mag down until it hits the corner points on the front and on the rear lock clip.

I thought about that last night.  I used e6000 to put the mag in so it should not be as difficult to get out but like I have said before the walls of the well are pretty thin, as a matter of fact a small chunk of the wall came off when I removed the power cylinders but I was able to fix that with epoxy.  you might be able to see it in the photos I will post 

[Vette11]

Thanks again to Ian for pointing out my error on the power cylinders.  I went right to work on it when I got home last night and it actually went a whole lot better than I thought it would. I contemplated what I could use to separate the cylinders from the mag well, first thought was to use a very small flat head screwdriver and a hammer to try to break the glue apart and separate it. I was worried that would seriously damage both the cylinders mag well.  as I was looking through my tool drawers I found the perfect implement:  a paint scraper, it has a large surface area and was far narrower/thinner than a screwdriver.  I have several hammers of various sizes but decided on a handheld sledge hammer simply due to the weight. I wanted something heavy so that I would not have to sit there and beat on the thing.  I wanted to use as few hits as possible and it worked like a charm.  it only took 3 moderate taps and the cylinders separated, I then turned the blaster around and did the same thing on the back side.  Once I was able to pull the cylinders off I then used my dremmel with a sanding bit to remove the glue on both the cylinder base and the mag well.  That was when I noticed that when the cylinder separated it pull a piece of the mag well off with it.  it wasn't very big and will be covered up by the cylinders when they are remounted.  I took my Testor's model putty and filled in the drilled holes as well as the hole that was created.  Today I will sand the mag well smooth and remount the cylinders correctly. 

I will also look into trying to remove the magazine and try to shave it down so that it fits correctly in the mag well, unless it's removal will cause to much damage to the mag well. I will evaluate it carefully.

 

here are the pics

[Vette11]

[Vette11]

Hopefully I will be able to get some work done on it today before the holiday madness starts.  290 miles of travel with 3 stops start this evening so I don't know when I will be getting back on-line so I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas/Happy Hannukah, I hope you all enjoy your time with your friends and family.  Happy Holidays and may God Bless you all.