M38 Hollow Core Scope Project 2016 - Bulldog44

[Bulldog44[TK]]

Will you be opening an interest list for your latest batch of M38 scopes?

If so I'll jump straight in for one possibly two

These are just what I need in my life right now. Fantastic workmanship on these.

 

Cheers

Brian

I think I will start an interest list soon. Just want to get enough parts casted to satisfaction. Thank you very much for your compliment on these. I do hope you will be pleased with the actual product when they become available. Stay tuned!

[Bulldog44[TK]]

 

While I wait for a few small parts to arrive I had a go at making some simple instructions for the scope kits to make it easy for the builder, especially identifying the parts and their proper location like the original scopes. 

I don't have a any CAD draw type software (or know how to use any properly) so I did it all in MS Publisher with a bit of help using Pixlr Editor online. Just need to go and buy some nice quality paper to print these on. Lots of fun making them but I learned how difficult of a job it is to make instructions simple enough to follow, not to mention the task of editing every time I decided to rename a part or use a different fastener.

 Hope it proves helpful.

[darthcue[TK]]

Wow!!! topnotch work on the manuals Brian....  Sign me up to the interest list already!         

[Bulldog44[TK]]

Thanks. You are certainly on the list when I get that started. Appreciate your patience. I hate making people wait but hope I can come through with a worthy product.

[Tee-Kay Fisto[TK]]

This is a crazy amount of work going into this project Brian. Between your packaging and manuals I'm surprised you have time to make the scopes at all. Can't wait for these. I'm definitely in for one of these (ok maybe two)

 

 

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[Bulldog44[TK]]

This is a crazy amount of work going into this project Brian. Between your packaging and manuals I'm surprised you have time to make the scopes at all. Can't wait for these. I'm definitely in for one of these (ok maybe two)

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Thanks Brian. Time is my greatest hurdle. I wish I had more time to iron out the casting problems. The packaging stuff and manuals were worked on whenever I have a break at work or on my commute. I wish I did this stuff for a living, never gets boring! . I will be sure to add you as well to the list, appreciate your interest in the scope kits.

[silverdollar22[TK]]

Brian, I've been quietly following this thread and i am amazed at the detail of this project . When this project is complete i am certainly in for one of these scopes. 

[Artshot]

After spending a couple of hours trying to make a Doopy scope look presentable, I have decided to give up and just buy something that is far superior.

 

Looking forward to you offering up more M38 scopes

[Bulldog44[TK]]

Thank you Silverdollar22 and Artshot for your comments. Hope to have these ready soon. Please keep in mind these are still in kit form and hope they are easy to piece together and mod to your liking. I have assembled a few of them and found there is still some minor work to do to get things to fit. Now that I am using black resin, this should make it easier to complete as is with some weathering. My dye mixing resin process was not consitent enough so parts varied in shades of gray and black. 

 

M19 Light Port Focal Bulb Casting- Test #3 this week!  

 

This was going to be my final try at making these if the bubble problem continued but to my surprise  most of the bulbs casted extremely clear and free of bubbles. In my second trial I joined the two mold halves together roughly 30 minutes after pouring (this clear resin has a pot life of 100 minutes). Before joining the molds I removed the major bubbles with a toothpick. Everything seemed good. I then allowed the molds to be heated to speed up the curing process for about 6 hours but after two days of curing I found that there were still tons of bubbles.

 

Trial 3 - I poured the resin and planned on joining the molds after an hour wait but I fell asleep on the floor and awoke 2 hours later! Luckily the resin was still gooey so I removed any noticeable bubbles then slowly joined the mold haves together. I did not heat dry the molds this time and let them sit for 3 days. The bulbs came out looking really nice but somehow I must have mixed the ratio of A:B resin incorrectly, so the bulbs have cured in a slightly flexible rubberlike state. I can live with that for now as long as they cast bubble free consistently.

 

 Going to try the same steps in trail 3 tonight but now I have a more accurate scale to ensure a better resin A:B ratio. Just a half a gram off and the results can change. Trail 4 here we go! 

 

Hope all this casting jargon is interesting enough to post. Its exciting when things start to point in a positive direction after so many disappointments. Thanks for stopping by! 

[Bulldog44[TK]]

Trial 4 Complete. I tested my latest method for casting the bulbs and pleased to announce it was successful! All 6 mold produce very clean and almost very clear bulbs. A bit foggy compared to the real one and I can see mirco bubbles here are the but nothing major. Also the resin cured to stable solid state. Back in business on the M19! This was surely the back breaker for me and I hope I can continue making these with success. It just takes a lot of time and patience. Thank you all who chimed in for your advice and help both here and on the FISD. Its your interest and help that led me to keep trying. Thanks once again! <br><br>

Now back to work on these kits. Big casting day ahead!

[darthcue[TK]]

Trial 4 Complete. I tested my latest method for casting the bulbs and pleased to announce it was successful! All 6 mold produce very clean and almost very clear bulbs. A bit foggy compared to the real one and I can see mirco bubbles here are the but nothing major. Also the resin cured to stable solid state. Back in business on the M19! This was surely the back breaker for me and I hope I can continue making these with success. It just takes a lot of time and patience. Thank you all who chimed in for your advice and help both here and on the FISD. Its your interest and help that led me to keep trying. Thanks once again! <br><br>

Now back to work on these kits. Big casting day ahead!

hoorayyy!!! 

[Bulldog44[TK]]

 SCOPE KIT INTEREST FORM
There isn't an official interest thread set up yet but thought to get things rolling by posting this here first for those who have been patiently waiting. Just click on the link and fill out the form if you are interested in these kits. Its just an interest list, not a commit to buy or anything of the sort. If you have any further questions please post here or PM me.
I will create an official interest list shortly but for now feel free to sign up here:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdxY87UYS5Bfq1BsfNwtAKC7MtRSNjtXUYAxs1F5Qjti-9OdQ/viewform?usp=sf_link

 

Due to work and family life, I am still debating whether to offer the kits in short runs or open sales style. I find the packaging and shipping part of the process more time consuming. No worries though, if you want a kit I will do my very best to have them ready for you in some reasonable time frame.

Edited May 9, 2017 by Bulldog44

[darthcue[TK]]

Hey Brian - 404: Page not found – the page https://goo.gl/forms/OJCgpdOiaeaewBC03%27 does not exist.

[darthcue[TK]]

nevermind i found the form and filled it up already....

[Bulldog44[TK]]

Sorry I edited my post on my old ipad and it caused the link to break. I will fix my post tonight so the link opens correctly. Sorry for the trouble. And thanks for your interest in the scopes!

[darthcue[TK]]

no problem bro

[Bulldog44[TK]]

Interest form link fixed in original post but here it is again:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdxY87UYS5Bfq1BsfNwtAKC7MtRSNjtXUYAxs1F5Qjti-9OdQ/viewform?usp=sf_link

 

Thanks again!

[Tee-Kay Fisto[TK]]

I'm in there Brian. I'm sure everyone will be happy no matter how you decide to supply your kits. You need to find the way that suits your life best and your trooper brothers will support you whatever you decide

 

 

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[Bulldog44[TK]]

I'm in there Brian. I'm sure everyone will be happy no matter how you decide to supply your kits. You need to find the way that suits your life best and your trooper brothers will support you whatever you decide

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Thanks Brian. I always worry a bit about making something that is going to be sold to others. Don't want to disappoint. Still having some air pockets present after casting on the inside of two or three parts. Sometimes they are near perfect but its hit and miss. If I sell only according to the near perfect parts I make, I will go broke eventually and would take significantly more time to cast more. Since the pockets are on the inner surfaces I hope everyone is okay with receiving some parts like that. All exterior surfaces are pretty crisp and clean. Any major defects on the exterior surfaces are set aside. I will post up some pics to show some examples. Got your form results super quick yesterday. Thanks for filling it out.

[darthcue[TK]]

Thanks Brian. I always worry a bit about making something that is going to be sold to others. Don't want to disappoint. Still having some air pockets present after casting on the inside of two or three parts. Sometimes they are near perfect but its hit and miss. If I sell only according to the near perfect parts I make, I will go broke eventually and would take significantly more time to cast more. Since the pockets are on the inner surfaces I hope everyone is okay with receiving some parts like that. All exterior surfaces are pretty crisp and clean. Any major defects on the exterior surfaces are set aside. I will post up some pics to show some examples. Got your form results super quick yesterday. Thanks for filling it out.

i am ok with the inner surfaces air pockets bro.

[Bulldog44[TK]]

i am ok with the inner surfaces air pockets bro.

Thanks Darthcue. I will do my best to provide the best parts I can. Appreciate your flexibility with the quality on some of these parts. 

 

Air Pockets:

 

Trapped air for these parts seems a bit unavoidable until I perfect a better way. At the moment I fill only the main exterior half of the mold with resin and dislodge any trapped bubbles with a toothpick and flexing the mold around. The outer edges on the M38 mounting plate are very delicate and hard to cast without any bubbles affecting the thin walls. After I release any bubbles I place the top half of the mold in place trying to persuade any trapped air to funnel out of the spouts. This sometimes works but often the air somehow gets stuck. I also pour some resin down one of the spouts to force out air but its not always effective. 

 

My main concern with these castings is how the buyer perceives them and their value according to what they paid. So I am hoping by putting it out there that some parts are not perfect that anyone who buys the kit won't be disappointed with what they get. And if the buyer is not happy with a particular part, I will replace it with something better to match their expectations if I can.

 

 Bump for the interest form:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdxY87UYS5Bfq1BsfNwtAKC7MtRSNjtXUYAxs1F5Qjti-9OdQ/viewform?usp=sf_link#responses

[darthcue[TK]]

Thanks Darthcue. I will do my best to provide the best parts I can. Appreciate your flexibility with the quality on some of these parts. 

 

Air Pockets:

 

Trapped air for these parts seems a bit unavoidable until I perfect a better way. At the moment I fill only the main exterior half of the mold with resin and dislodge any trapped bubbles with a toothpick and flexing the mold around. The outer edges on the M38 mounting plate are very delicate and hard to cast without any bubbles affecting the thin walls. After I release any bubbles I place the top half of the mold in place trying to persuade any trapped air to funnel out of the spouts. This sometimes works but often the air somehow gets stuck. I also pour some resin down one of the spouts to force out air but its not always effective. 

 

My main concern with these castings is how the buyer perceives them and their value according to what they paid. So I am hoping by putting it out there that some parts are not perfect that anyone who buys the kit won't be disappointed with what they get. And if the buyer is not happy with a particular part, I will replace it with something better to match their expectations if I can.

 

 Bump for the interest form:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdxY87UYS5Bfq1BsfNwtAKC7MtRSNjtXUYAxs1F5Qjti-9OdQ/viewform?usp=sf_link#responses

hey Brian did you get my form responses?

[Tee-Kay Fisto[TK]]

Thanks Brian. I always worry a bit about making something that is going to be sold to others. Don't want to disappoint. Still having some air pockets present after casting on the inside of two or three parts. Sometimes they are near perfect but its hit and miss. If I sell only according to the near perfect parts I make, I will go broke eventually and would take significantly more time to cast more. Since the pockets are on the inner surfaces I hope everyone is okay with receiving some parts like that. All exterior surfaces are pretty crisp and clean. Any major defects on the exterior surfaces are set aside. I will post up some pics to show some examples. Got your form results super quick yesterday. Thanks for filling it out.

Considering that most of us were using a doopydoo type of resin scope and trying to drill through for a bit of realism, your C or D grade scopes are still a million miles better for those wanting to go that bit further with our blasters. This should be obvious by the interest and following that your scopes have.

 

Personally I have no problem with a bit of filling and sanding if needed. Let's face it a genuine scope (gold standard for making a blaster) is a bit rough around the edges after all these years

 

 

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[darthcue[TK]]

Considering that most of us were using a doopydoo type of resin scope and trying to drill through for a bit of realism, your C or D grade scopes are still a million miles better for those wanting to go that bit further with our blasters. This should be obvious by the interest and following that your scopes have.

 

Personally I have no problem with a bit of filling and sanding if needed. Let's face it a genuine scope (gold standard for making a blaster) is a bit rough around the edges after all these years

 

 

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i totally agree with you Bro!

[Bulldog44[TK]]

hey Brian did you get my form responses?

Yes, sorry I forgot to add that. Response confirmed! Thanks!