Phoenix Props ANH E-11 full kit build

[VulpX[TK]]

Okay, so here we are. a few hours later and with no more stinky paint smell in the apartment. Yay...

 

Second coat of primer:

 

 

 

And on to painting!

 

I used satin black for most pieces:

 

 

 

 

I used up almost a whole can of the satin black on this first coating. I'm not satisfied with it yet, do I just went out and bought another can which I'll apply tomorrow. Dry time for this paint is 24 hours according to the instructions, but I'll just let it sit overnight and apply the second coat somewhere in the early afternoon tomorrow. 

 

I used a metal color for the bolt and the trigger group on the grip. Tomorrow I'll mask off the trigger group and spray the rest of the grip gloss black:

 

 

So that's it for today. Overall I'm quite happy with my colors. I think the satin black is not too shiny, and it will look awesome when it's put together somewhere in the coming days  

[Dday[501st]]

Nice one! You're pretty close now. Now, it's too late to say anything but I've never found the need to paint the tracks, unpainted they match the colors of the blaster really well. Hey, you had no problem with the paint sticking to them, so it's all good. I've heard people complain that paint doesn't stick well to them.

[Captain_Wordo[TK]]

Your t-tracks are simply great and your whole blaster will that be too!

[VulpX[TK]]

Nice one! You're pretty close now. Now, it's too late to say anything but I've never found the need to paint the tracks, unpainted they match the colors of the blaster really well. Hey, you had no problem with the paint sticking to them, so it's all good. I've heard people complain that paint doesn't stick well to them.

 

In hindsight I might have done that too. I have two layers of paint on them now but I think I have to do a third to get them neatly covered. Ow well...

 

 

Your t-tracks are simply great and your whole blaster will that be too!

 

Thanks, I hope so too. I'll post pics this evening when I do the third coat on some parts and the gloss on the grip.

[VulpX[TK]]

Ok, so some parts needed more coats than I had anticipated, so the update is a little later than promised. 

 

After the first 2 coats I masked the parts of the trigger group on the grip that I wanted in the metallic color:

 

 

 

And then I coated the grip with glossy black:

 

 

This is after a 3rd coat on most satin black parts:

 

 

 

Scope and Hengstler looking good:

 

 

 

Yesterday I did some gluing of the tracks and the stock:

 

 

 

 

I realized that not all parts of the grip needed that glossy look, so I once again masked a part of the grip, to give the rest a satin black coat:

 

 

 

And this is the status right now. The last coat is drying, I gave the assembled piece some cleanup touches where some unintentional weathering had already taken place, and gave the grip it's final satin black coat.

 

 

 

So if all goed well tomorrow should be the day of final assembly!

Edited August 5, 2015 by VulpX

[Dday[501st]]

Excited to see this come together!

[VulpX[TK]]

And final assembly is done! I glued the last pieces today, and screwed the last screws, and this is the result!

 

Masking worked really well, I have the grip exactly as I wanted it to be:

 

 

 

 

Attached the magazine:

 

 

Bolt inserted:

 

 

The bottom bolt in the grip:

 

 

 

Trigger and selector switch glued:

 

 

Bolts in the nose. The bolts were actually too long and wouldn't screw in, so I had to saw them and actually glue them in:

 

 

 

Guard glued

 

 

 

 

 

And the result:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I think I'll leave it at this for the time being. I think I'll weather it, but that's a job for another time. I have decided that I won't be using this one to troop, I think it's too fragile for that (and honestly a little too expensive  ), so the next blaster build will be maybe a Rubies conversion? I don't know, something that will survive conventions 

 

So now I also need to build a display stand... 

Edited August 6, 2015 by VulpX

[Captain_Wordo[TK]]

Well done!

 

But too clean

 

And I think that you don't have to be afraid that it is not stable enough for trooping.

[allan1313[TK]]

It came out very nice.

[Thrawn's guard]

Nice work with your blaster Richard.

 

I think a small amount of weathering would really take it to the next level.

[Dday[501st]]

I echo the others comments, a little dry brush silver is some spots will go a long ways. Not much, just a few touches.

 

As far as trooping, feel safe. If anything happens to it like the parts get broken during trooping I'll replace them for free. You just pay shipping.

 

Your build looks really great! The one thing I would really say needs to be done is on the bolt. The bolt should not be fully silver. The original bolts were silver on the raised edges and a more gunmetal on the lower sections, giving the bolts a two tone look.

[VulpX[TK]]

Thanks for the input guys!

 

I will weather it some day, just not in the coming days/weeks   I have a busy schedule coming up at work and my armor should arrive in the next few weeks too.

 

The thing I'm worried about with trooping is not parts breaking, but more the glue not holding on for example the tracks, the trigger and the guard. I will probably add some pins to the trigger to stabilize it. I used E6000 for all of my gluing, and I just have a feeling that a little rough handling will loosen the bond too much. But maybe I'm just being paranoid...

 

-edit- Ah well, maybe I will do some weathering this weekend   I have Tamiya X-11 Chrome Silver acrylic paint that I use for gunpla, would that be a correct color for the blaster too?

As for the weathering itself, which parts should absolutely not have silver weathering? The scope and counter bracket should be brass, the grip, since it's a plastic. The T-tracks weren't metal originally either right? Ok, so now I just need to find brass colored acrylic paint. 

 

-edit 2 - found metallic brass Mr Hobby paint. Thank you Ebay 

Edited August 7, 2015 by VulpX

[Dday[501st]]

Your observations about what to weather are spot on.

 

T-Tracks were plastic so no need to weather them unless you want to imagine what material they should have been in the fantasy world of star wars.

[VulpX[TK]]

I saw Captain_Wordo did that in his build, it looks pretty nice. I think I'll do a little less weathering than that, but having completely unweathered parts surrounded by weathering gives a weird effect, maybe.

 

I see there is nothing about the weathering in de CRL for ANH Stunt, so I guess that means it's up to the trooper what he/she wants.

Edited August 7, 2015 by VulpX

[jkno]

Very nice build! A bit of weathering will make it even cooler!

[VulpX[TK]]

I started weahering today. Happy with my progress. I do weather the t-tracks, because I agree that in-universe it would probably have been some sort of metal.

 

 

 

 

[Dday[501st]]

Doing good, it really makes the piece pop when you add the weathering.

 

Whats funny though is that you saif you'd probably not do as much weathering as Markus and ended up doing about the same amount    Once you start, it's hard to stop.

[VulpX[TK]]

Hahaha, yeah I saw that too when I went back to check on his weathering. It's like you say, once you start it's hard to stop. But that's kind of thing you need to be most cautious of too, because too much and the whole look suffers for it.

[jkno]

Very nice! Weathering indeed adds up to a piece. For example the Master Replicas E-11 is a beautiful piece, but it is way too clean and perfect.

[VulpX[TK]]

Derrek, how did you attach your trigger guard securely to the grip? I have glued mine twice already, but it's still pretty wiggly. It's the part I'm most concerned about losing during trooping. 

[Dday[501st]]

Derrek, how did you attach your trigger guard securely to the grip? I have glued mine twice already, but it's still pretty wiggly. It's the part I'm most concerned about losing during trooping. 

 

It is a fraglie ish piece due to it's limited surface. IF you use CA glue it will hold tight, since Ca doesn't allow any wiggle. To give it some additional hold after you can fill the holes with putty if you like.

[VulpX[TK]]

It is a fraglie ish piece due to it's limited surface. IF you use CA glue it will hold tight, since Ca doesn't allow any wiggle. To give it some additional hold after you can fill the holes with putty if you like.

 

Hmm, ok, so I'll try a different glue first then. That comes later, I need to fix the colour of the bolt first, so I can't have the trigger too permanently attached now

 

*Need to find some good gunmetal colour spray*

Would this be a good colour? http://www.humbrol.com/uk-en/catalog/product/view/_ignore_category/1/id/1491/

Edited August 10, 2015 by VulpX

[Dday[501st]]

Hmm, ok, so I'll try a different glue first then. That comes later then. I need to fix the colour of the bolt first, so I can't have the trigger too permanently attached now

 

*Need to find some good gunmetal colour spray*

 

What I did on some of my builds is to take a little black and drop in silver until I get the right coloration.

[VulpX[TK]]

What I did on some of my builds is to take a little black and drop in silver until I get the right coloration.

 

Ah yeah, I could try that too.

[Dday[501st]]

Ah yeah, I could try that too.

 

When you only need a little bit, it's a waste to buy a full setup for it. Much more cost effective to mix up some and brush it on.