Freddy's ANH E11 Blaster Build - a student's path to join the Empire

[Freduster[TK]]

What's up FISD, my name is Freddy, and I'm a student and long-time Star Wars fan from Duisburg, Germany.

I've recently picked up an ANOVOS ANH Stormtrooper kit as well as an ANH E11 Blaster Kit consisting of a DoopyDoo's resin kit and T-Jay's completion kit. After a lot of reading and research I am going to start building it properly in the next couple of days, and as T-Jay suggested, I am also going to document my progress here. As I am an absolute beginner when it comes to cosplaying and crafting stuff in general (I was always more of a "I'll just buy it finished" sort of guy, but students don't have that much money to spare...sigh), I am really looking forward to getting advice from this all-international community with soooo much experience!

 

So yeah, I'll keep you updated, and if anyone has tips and tricks, hints etc. for me, all of it is appreciated, I'll accept any help I can get!

 

Looking forward to a brilliant and fun time together!

 

Freddy (hopefully an approved TK soon)

[CableGuy[TK]]

Welcome, Freddy. A fellow Doopy’s/T-Jay builder. :-)
Looking forward to seeing your build progress. :-)


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[T-Jay[TK]]

Hi Freddy, welcome to the FISD (again ) and glad to see you decided to start a build thread here. I am very sure, your blaster will benefit from it.

[Schmetterhemd[TK]]

Hi Freddy

 

nice to see another TK-Trooper (soon ) in NRW.

I hope you start a build thread for your trooper also. Would be glad to see your progress and help you out with some advice if necessary or appreciated, but for your trooper only. I am no Blaster specialist.

[Dracotrooper]

Hey there Freddy, I am yet another Doopydoos Full Resin Kit / T-jay Completion set guy. Looking forward to seeing your E-11 Blaster Build.  

[Freduster[TK]]

Alrighty, first update in a long time... If only I could study psychotherapy for Ewoks or something cute, humans are just waaay too complicated

The first couple of images I'm gonna put up here are from when I received my kit and when I started to spray paint the single parts (first person I asked about crafting was my dad who apparently has never built an E11 before, so I've got most of the blaster parts painted already). Hopefully this won't cause too much trouble, but I'll see about that later.

I decided to use the FISD Blaster Reference as a step-by-step instruction, but I'm also gonna look at Dan's (CableGuys's) build as I find it really easy to follow due to the ton of pictures (cheers for that, and congrats on your beautiful work! BlasTech would be proud!). First up on the menu therefore will be the Receiver Tube, bit of drilling should get me heated up for the rest of the blaster!

 

[T-Jay[TK]]

That first step already individualizes your build, as painting is usually one of the last steps.

The black coating might cause an issue when it comes to gluing things. But you can always sand down to the pure resin before you glue and add paint again later. So, all good.

Nothing done wrong yet - and the bright color of the resin will highlight your modifications.

[Freduster[TK]]

Found out a few hours ago that once you get started and hyped for the blaster, it's really hard to stop

Since I am working according to the Blaster Reference my first job was to drill the extra holes into the receiver tube. Aferwards I carried on with replacing the resin screws with real screws; the two in the grip as well as the two by the muzzle.

 

For tomorrow I'm probably gonna start working on the trigger mod, so I'll have a look through my tools and will hopefully find a fitting nail. Also I might attach the grip to the tube, but I'm not really sure about the best and easiest way to achieve that, so if anyone has been there (and I know you have ), please don't hesitate to hit me up!

 

P.S.: Is there any clever way to overcome the 71,68 KB size limit for pictures?

 

[themaninthesuitcase[Admin]]

P.S.: Is there any clever way to overcome the 71,68 KB size limit for pictures?

You use an external service like Flickr or imgur and then you use the links they give you. I’m sure there’s guides on both somewhere but I’m on my phone.

[Freduster[TK]]

New day, new progress: replaced more resin screws with real ones, mainly to get them out of the way as I am pretty scared of losing them.

For the rest of the day I am gonna do some work on the trigger mod (I am going for the average nail & ballpoint pen spring mod) because for some reason I just really want to attach the grip to the tube. I feel like that step is going to make the kit look a lot more like a blaster

 

 

Edited November 25, 2017 by Freduster

[T-Jay[TK]]

21 hours ago, Freduster said:

(...) I'll have a look through my tools and will hopefully find a fitting nail. Also I might attach the grip to the tube, but I'm not really sure about the best and easiest way to achieve that (...)

Fred, in your Completion Set is a piece of foam, wrapped around some screws and sealed with a cable tie. If you open it, you will also find a nail for your trigger mod and several mounting screws. These can be used to attach the grip to the receiver tube.

[Freduster[TK]]

5 hours ago, T-Jay said:

Fred, in your Completion Set is a piece of foam, wrapped around some screws and sealed with a cable tie. If you open it, you will also find a nail for your trigger mod and several mounting screws. These can be used to attach the grip to the receiver tube.

Ooooh right, well that makes it a lot easier i've attached the grip with other screws already, but the nail will probably still help quite a lot!

Now since I've figured out how to insert pictures, finally some proper pictures of the rest of my progress tonight:

 

Did a lot of work on the trigger mod:

 

Drilled all the holes and used the dremel to "clear" them out until everything fitted together smoothly

 

Added the spring, the trigger and a place holder nail to see how it all fits together

 

And for my last trick today I glued the grip onto the receiver tube and rounded it all up with two screws to make the blaster "core" as stable as possible.

 

I'll see how much else I can get done tomorrow night and Monday (loving my uni, Mondays and Fridays off ) before having to take a 3-day break to live a normal life, before then getting deeply into it again next weekend! I really want to get the trigger sorted tomorrow though, but I feel like I'm on a good way. It's still quite wobbly, but I guess I'm gonna have to get some modelling clay soon anyway..

 

@T-Jay, if you have any recommendations on what clay works well and (even better) where around here to get some, hit me up!

 

Cheers and over and out for tonight,

 

Freddy

[CableGuy[TK]]

Hi Freddy,
Great work so far. :-)

Just out of interest - are you intending to paint again when all of the parts are finished? Or are you planning on your current paint being the final finish?
The reason I ask is that if you plan to do a full paint job near the end of your build, ie silver under coat, hammer paint, top coat etc., you might find it harder if all of the parts are glued together. This is because some parts are finished with gloss black, some with Matt black, some silver etc etc. It’ll be harder to mask off the relevant parts if they’re glued. :-)

Also, regarding the clay, if you’ve got Tino’s kit you’ll find some “greenstuff” in there. It’s the yellow and blue stuff. You mix it together to creat greenstuff and can use it to fill gaps etc. Once dried you can sand and paint it. :-)

Best wishes,
Dan. :-)


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[T-Jay[TK]]

11 hours ago, Freduster said:

(...)   @T-Jay, if you have any recommendations on what clay works well and (even better) where around here to get some, hit me up!   (...)

Exactly what Dan (CableGuy) already said. Just keep your tools and fingers wet while working with it and allow at least 24 hours to dry. If you run out of greenstuff, let me know.

[Freduster[TK]]

19 hours ago, CableGuy said:

Just out of interest - are you intending to paint again when all of the parts are finished? Or are you planning on your current paint being the final finish?
The reason I ask is that if you plan to do a full paint job near the end of your build, ie silver under coat, hammer paint, top coat etc., you might find it harder if all of the parts are glued together. This is because some parts are finished with gloss black, some with Matt black, some silver etc etc. It’ll be harder to mask off the relevant parts if they’re glued. :-)

 

Hi Dan!

First of all, thanks for the kind words I think I'm gonna re-paint some of the parts that I either damaged or that need to be repainted, but in general I was planning to keep this type of colour. The blaster will be for trooping purposes mainly, so apart from some subtle weathering I won't put too much work into the accurate paint.

 

Concerning today's progress:

 

Cleared out more of the spare resin in the folding stock - I am probs going to hollow out the part right underneath the holes and then put only a little part of the aluminium tube from Tino's completion kit in there to make it look a bit more realistic.

 

Also i started to cave the scope but I am struggling..

This is what it looks like right now, but I can't think of the right way to carry on - any hints?

 

Third of all, I struggled a lot with the trigger mod again, I think I made the hole in the trigger too big, so now the trigger has just gone all wobbly and stuff. Trying to fix this with a little bit of black plastic on either side of the trigger to counter that, but I'll see how that works tomorrow since the glue is drying.

 

That's it for tonight!

 

Freddy

[CableGuy[TK]]

Hi Dan!
First of all, thanks for the kind words I think I'm gonna re-paint some of the parts that I either damaged or that need to be repainted, but in general I was planning to keep this type of colour. The blaster will be for trooping purposes mainly, so apart from some subtle weathering I won't put too much work into the accurate paint.
 
Concerning today's progress:
 
Cleared out more of the spare resin in the folding stock - I am probs going to hollow out the part right underneath the holes and then put only a little part of the aluminium tube from Tino's completion kit in there to make it look a bit more realistic.

 
Also i started to cave the scope but I am struggling..
This is what it looks like right now, but I can't think of the right way to carry on - any hints?

 
Third of all, I struggled a lot with the trigger mod again, I think I made the hole in the trigger too big, so now the trigger has just gone all wobbly and stuff. Trying to fix this with a little bit of black plastic on either side of the trigger to counter that, but I'll see how that works tomorrow since the glue is drying.
 
That's it for tonight!
 
Freddy

Solid progress again, Freddy. :-)

I used a selection of spade bits for the scope. They seemed to work well.





With the lens from the monocular in Tino’s kit, that’s about as hollowed as I needed for mine. :-)




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[T-Jay[TK]]

Yep, I fully agree to Dan's suggestion. Spade bits are the best choice for this type of drilling work. Just make sure you grab a set with a 25mm spade bit, as that will be required if you are planning to install the big end from the monocular into your scope (like you can see here).

[Freduster[TK]]

Cheers for the advice so far guys! Concerning the spade bits, I have decided to ask an old family friend who has essentially every tool there is on this planet and even in most parts of the galaxis, he should be able to help me out with the tools needed for the scope so I don't have to buy a whole set of bits just for this one scope (money is an issue, sadly).

Different topic, how did everyone install the trigger with the nail? Sadly I can't find any evidence in the builds I have looked through, and even in the blaster reference I can't find anything specific.. Did you just cut the outstanding bit of the nail and then glue it?

 

Sadly no progress today apart from a bit of research - I feel like I have taken some big steps during the weekend though, and since bloody ANOVOS just announced that my kit probably won't arrive before March I've got plenty of time to finish the blaster anyways.

 

Until next time,

 

Freddy

[T-Jay[TK]]

10 minutes ago, Freduster said:

(...)   Different topic, how did everyone install the trigger with the nail? Sadly I can't find any evidence in the builds I have looked through, and even in the blaster reference I can't find anything specific.. Did you just cut the outstanding bit of the nail and then glue it?

Yes, cut the outstanding part of the nail, then glue it and seal the holes with greenstuff. Just make sure to do this at the correct moment of your build progress, as you might have to dismantle it a couple of times until you are done with the build.

Edited November 28, 2017 by T-Jay

[Freduster[TK]]

Hello guys,

 

just a quick message from me to state that I'm still alive. Just really busy with uni at the moment, exam phase coming up

However in the couple of days that I'm not gonna spend with revision I am planning to carry on the work on the scope; I found somebody who has a drilling press at home (one of those things that do the drilling for you in a really precise way, all you need is a precise starting hole and some patience). However, as I have already hollowed out some bits (in a really, really crappy way) Im gonna have to fill it up with some car surfacer - it's gonna be a pain but the experience I'll gain from it will probably be worth it, especially when it comes to building the armour..

That's me for today, mainly wanted to check in again, and it's actually not just a faulty mic

[Freduster[TK]]

Right, first update in a long time.. Managed to fill up the holes I drilled with some car surfacer; hopefully I can now redrill the holes which would make the whole thing look a lot better.

This was before:

And this is after:

 

Furthermore, I decided that I am going to go for a more practicable build, mainly because the main purpose of this blaster will be trooping. So this building thread will most likely not feature any cool new modifications, but probably cut down on some to make the whole blaster as stable as possible. Hopefully this won't scare people of from this thread as I am definitely gonna need more tips concerning the build.

 

Over and out for now,

 

Freddy

[T-Jay[TK]]

Wow, this is filled up pretty solid. Curious to see how it looks after drilling...

[Dracotrooper]

Nice work on filling up the scope; hopefully the car surfacer you used didn’t give off too much unwanted fumes during application.


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Edited February 19, 2018 by Dracotrooper
removed unhelpful content

[Freduster[TK]]

Actually it did smell about as bad as the inside of a Tauntaun, but I was prepared for that and did all that work in the garden

Yesterday I spent some time with painting a couple inside parts of the blaster that I screwed up when replacing the resin screws with resin ones, mainly because the cheap no-name brand dremel can sometimes be very unpredictable.. No pictures tho because I think these tiny changes aren't really worth showing. Also I might finish the blaster mod soon as I have already got a decent plan of what I want to do and I really just want to get that out of the way (I really enjoy tasks that I can split into subtasks which are like a small success at least). So let's see how that'll go..

 

[Dracotrooper]

3 hours ago, Freduster said:

Actually it did smell about as bad as the inside of a Tauntaun, but I was prepared for that and did all that work in the garden ...

 

Oh yeah, I hear ya. I did some research on the popular product Bondo here in North America, and you absolutely cannot do that in doors. Car surfacers stink world-wide! I explored spot putty but the thing is, that's exactly what it is best for, evening out divot spots on a surface. I need to resurface my scratch-build magazine. Glad you chose the right product

 

3 hours ago, Freduster said:

... (I really enjoy tasks that I can split into subtasks which are like a small success at least). So let's see how that'll go..

 

Yup! That's how I've been approaching my build; breaking down tasks to smaller ones and celebrating wins - it's immensely satisfying, have fun!