Dracotrooper Posted February 7, 2018 Report Posted February 7, 2018 No words of experience from me as I opted to install my trigger spring way on the top. A pleasure to read how bottom installs are done differently, to each their own Quote
Suspend Posted February 8, 2018 Author Report Posted February 8, 2018 Update - Receiver Tube/Body I did some work on the main body or I guess what is called the receiver. I did some clean up sanding around the existing holes and the long slit where the charging handle sits then I set about working on the clearing strip. I had myself all worked up because I had no idea how everyone was perfectly removing the old clearing strip. Here's the original strip: But it ended up not being much of a chore at all. I used a sanding drum on a dremel to remove most of the strip, being very careful to not go too deep. Then switched to a cutting bit to handle the corners and finally switched to straight sandpaper to take down the remaining strip. I had myself all worked up for nothing. I also used a bit of a pick to cut into the corners a bit for the slight overhang. Next I borrowed a crayon from my daughter (got to remember to put it back or I'll be in trouble), held a piece of paper over the port opening and rubbed the crayon over the surface. Creating an imprint of the port below. Next I sketched out the angle I wanted for the new clearing strip and cut this out of the ABS from T-Jay's kit. I made sure to make it a little longer than I wanted so that I could try to "tuck" the ends under the plastic lip of the port. The first one I made ended up being a disaster. I had read of people heating up the strip with a heat gun to have it better conform to the curve of the port. Bad idea. I guess I heated it too much and it began to warp. So I heated it again to attempt to flatten it out again. By then it was over 1/2 inch smaller than when I started. Super shrinkage. Note to self - avoid heat gun when building armor. Luckily, I had planned on the possibility of a failure and made sure I had enough ABS left for a second strip. This time no heat gun. I carefully trimmed away at the length until it would just tuck under the overhanging plastic. Then I put on some CA glue, held the strip down with all my might and blasted it with Zip Kicker. It might be a bit thick (tall) but I think I'm OK with it. It curves nicely to the plastic. I used a bit of "green stuff" on the edges to make it look like it's part of the bolt underneath. Next I set out on cleaning up some of the holes where the T-Track go into the main tube. On the Doopydoo's kits, a lot of these holes are partially or mostly filled with resin. It makes things look kind of blobby. I found the smallest (regular) drill bit that I had but it was still too large, in my opinion. And the jewelry bits I was using previously would probably snap if I put side pressure on them. I dug a bit more through my dad's old jewelry tools and came up with these very cool bits. They are very small, but also quite stubby so they are perfect for the side pressure of clearing out the holes. I'll post a picture of them here. The only label on the package says, "EuroTool." When I searched for them online, they appear to be called Twist Bits. Anyway, they did an amazing job clearing out the resin left around the T-Track holes and also for cutting that slight lip where the clearing strip fits on the bolt. Here's a shot as I was working on the holes... That's it for today.... Mark 2 Quote
Dracotrooper Posted February 8, 2018 Report Posted February 8, 2018 I’m liking your t-tracks, looking really tidy against the vent holes. I had a low setting on my heat gun when I set out to twist my clearing strip, this made the difference for me. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote
Suspend Posted February 8, 2018 Author Report Posted February 8, 2018 1 hour ago, Dracotrooper said: I’m liking your t-tracks, looking really tidy against the vent holes. I had a low setting on my heat gun when I set out to twist my clearing strip, this made the difference for me My heat gun has no settings and is actually a paint stripper from what appears to be the 1970’s. It’s probably blowing asbestos everywhere... :-) If the need arises again I should probably look for a replacement. Is there a recommended one? Mark 1 Quote
Dracotrooper Posted February 8, 2018 Report Posted February 8, 2018 I have the same respirator; I think we’ll both be fine lol I don’t foresee you needing the heat gun again; even for your c-shaped guards, you can choose to round them out more by pushing them up against a regular clothing iron as the blaster reference shows Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote
Suspend Posted February 8, 2018 Author Report Posted February 8, 2018 Update - Front Sight (Part 1) Well, I was just about to post my work on the front sight and as I was resizing the photographs, I realized I just made my first big mistake. I have the sighting pin incorrectly positioned....and it's now glued.....with CA glue.... :-( I'll get back to that in a sec.... So after reading a bunch of build threads on the front sight and how the Doopydoo's kit is basically a blob... See here... I decided to order a few parts from Suitcase Props on Shapeways. They were pretty inexpensive so I ordered the Front Sight with Pin and at the same time I ordered the End Clip, Flashguards and Stock Cube. It's my first experience with 3D printed parts and I must say I am fairly impressed. The parts are cheap, the material is incredibly durable with nice detail, but it does still have that sandy/furry/rough texture to it. It appears some of that texture can be filed off. I had to used a needle file to enlarge the hole in the top of the sight to fit in the sight pin. It took a lot of filing to enlarge that hole which goes to the durability of the material. Once I had the sight pin installed and added the set screw from T-Jay's kit, I glued these in place. I didn't realize at the time but I'm pretty sure now I glued the sight pin in backwards. I believe where you are looking at the barrel of the gun, the set screw should be on the left and the sight pin should be sloping towards you. I have the pin sloping away from me. Grrr... Can somebody confirm? If it is the wrong way, I could leave it and hope nobody notices. I could put the part in the freezer and then attempt to fracture the CA glue holding the pin but also risk breaking the pin. I could order another one from Shapeways.....it was only $5 plus shipping. Or I guess I could try to use a file to make it slope the other direction, but it wouldn't be the correct height anymore. Hmmmm..... Thoughts? Mark Quote
Dracotrooper Posted February 8, 2018 Report Posted February 8, 2018 (edited) 2 hours ago, Suspend said: ... Once I had the sight pin installed and added the set screw from T-Jay's kit, I glued these in place. I didn't realize at the time but I'm pretty sure now I glued the sight pin in backwards. I believe where you are looking at the barrel of the gun, the set screw should be on the left and the sight pin should be sloping towards you. I have the pin sloping away from me. Grrr... Can somebody confirm? If it is the wrong way, I could leave it and hope nobody notices. I could put the part in the freezer and then attempt to fracture the CA glue holding the pin but also risk breaking the pin. I could order another one from Shapeways.....it was only $5 plus shipping. Or I guess I could try to use a file to make it slope the other direction, but it wouldn't be the correct height anymore. Hmmmm..... Thoughts? Mark I don't think you have anything to worry about Mark. The sight block is an installable piece, and as such, the set screw for it can be installed either from the left side or from the right. Based on this functionality, either side is good by my estimations. As for the angle on the sight pin, sloping away is the correct way, so you got it right! Just see the reference pictures. Also, set screw on either side! Edited February 8, 2018 by Dracotrooper grammer error Quote
Suspend Posted February 8, 2018 Author Report Posted February 8, 2018 5 minutes ago, Dracotrooper said: I don't think you have anything to worry about Mark. The sight block is an installable piece, and as such, can be done so either from the left side or from the right. Based on this functionality, either side is good by my estimations. As for the angle on the sight pin, sloping away is the correct way, so you got it right! Just see the reference pictures. Also, set screw on either side! That's awesome, Dracotrooper, thanks!!! I feel much better. You found examples showing the set screw each side. Whew.... I can just spin it around now like example #2. Mark Quote
Dracotrooper Posted February 8, 2018 Report Posted February 8, 2018 1 minute ago, Suspend said: ... Whew....I can just spin it around now like example #2. Mark Yeah yeah ... and you're gold man, gold! Quote
Dracotrooper Posted February 8, 2018 Report Posted February 8, 2018 FYI if you don't know of this resource already Mark: The first post in the thread gives you hyperlinks to download the reference in PDF and also a Photo Compendium of Cleaned Sterling Parts in PDF. That's where I got these pictures from. Found the content to be extremely valuable; always worth a look-over Quote
BaneLives85[TK] Posted February 8, 2018 Report Posted February 8, 2018 Liking the work on the Ttrack holes, really adds a nice dimension to it!Sent from my SM-G925F using Tapatalk Quote
Suspend Posted February 8, 2018 Author Report Posted February 8, 2018 Ok, now that my minor crisis has been averted I can get back to it.... Just before I continue with the Front Sight I thought i'd mention that I ground off the large resin screws at the front of the blaster and replaced them with the hex screws from T-Jay's kit. I also installed the bayonet lug. I strengthened the lug by inserting a piece of a nail into the lug and into the body of the blaster. Ok, back to the front sight... Update - Front Sight (Part 2) Once the sight pin was assembled, I spend quite a bit of time grinding away at the original sight frame from the Doopydoo's kit. Eventually I got all the inner resin removed so I was left with just the sight frame. Next I held a piece of sandpaper against the tube and sanded the bottom of the sight frame to better hug the curves of the main tube. And then came the task of cutting the hourglass shaped channel into the main receiver tube. I sketched off the shape and started with a large flat file. Then later moved to angled needle files. Checking constantly to see if the sight would slide in yet. (Some of these photos are out of order. For example, here I hadn't actually cleaned out the T-Track holes yet.) Next I used "green stuff" to add the texture grip to the sight frame... And here's what it looks like.....nothing glued in yet.... Mark 4 Quote
Dracotrooper Posted February 8, 2018 Report Posted February 8, 2018 Dude! Great precision work here! That dove tail is looking nice! I also like the knurling pattern you used; I bet on lookers of your blaster will be able to see this detail, arms length away, well done! Quote
Suspend Posted February 8, 2018 Author Report Posted February 8, 2018 56 minutes ago, Dracotrooper said: FYI if you don't know of this resource already Mark: The first post in the thread gives you hyperlinks to download the reference in PDF and also a Photo Compendium of Cleaned Sterling Parts in PDF. That's where I got these pictures from. Found the content to be extremely valuable; always worth a look-over You know, I keep referring to this document but somehow I keep missing the "important" photos. I've downloaded the PDF now. Thanks.... Mark 1 Quote
Suspend Posted February 11, 2018 Author Report Posted February 11, 2018 So I have a question on the bolt. In T-Jay's kit, you get a piece of tubing which appear to the the correct width to create the bolt. However, the tube is quite long and slides nicely right into the receiver. Is the idea to cut a small piece of this tubing to use as the bolt? Or is the idea to slide the entire length of tube into the receive so that it fits right up to the front of the nozzle, this way it also looks like the inner barrel as well? Mark Quote
BaneLives85[TK] Posted February 11, 2018 Report Posted February 11, 2018 So I have a question on the bolt. In T-Jay's kit, you get a piece of tubing which appear to the the correct width to create the bolt. However, the tube is quite long and slides nicely right into the receiver. Is the idea to cut a small piece of this tubing to use as the bolt? Or is the idea to slide the entire length of tube into the receive so that it fits right up to the front of the nozzle, this way it also looks like the inner barrel as well? Mark I didn't really create a bolt for mine, just kept the inner tube sliding right up to the nozzle as you saySent from my SM-G925F using Tapatalk Quote
CableGuy[TK] Posted February 11, 2018 Report Posted February 11, 2018 (edited) One word for your build thus far : TIDY!! :-) Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Edited February 11, 2018 by CableGuy Quote
Dracotrooper Posted February 12, 2018 Report Posted February 12, 2018 Yes, I think what you’ve described is the typical installation of that completion set part - it doubles for a bolt / barrel install. I seem to recall this from one of Tino’s builds...Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote
T-Jay[TK] Posted February 13, 2018 Report Posted February 13, 2018 On 11/02/2018 at 7:20 PM, Suspend said: (...) Or is the idea to slide the entire length of tube into the receive so that it fits right up to the front of the nozzle, this way it also looks like the inner barrel as well? Correct, that's how it was meant. Oh and great work on your recent progress. Loving how this comes along... Quote
Suspend Posted February 13, 2018 Author Report Posted February 13, 2018 Update - Magazine and Clip The first thing I did with the magazine housing was to clean up a few of the edges with "green stuff". I used a drill and dremel to clean out the resin grub screw and installed the actual grub screw from T-Jay's kit. Next I drilled a hole right through the housing so that I could later use a large machine screw to help hold the housing on the main barrel. I also drilled a small opening for a magnet so that I could use a magnet to attach the clip to the mag housing. Right now I've got one magnet in the housing but I may still redo this and add a second magnet for strength. I also made a plastic cover so that the magnet will be hidden once everything is assembled. Then I installed the little thumbscrew thing onto the mag housing. I didn't do anything fancy here like some of the other builds (I'm lookin' at you, Dracotrooper ). I just used 1/2 a nail to provide additional support and glued the button/screw on. Then I started working on the clip. Using T-Jay's parts, I installed a magnet in the inside of the clip, drilled the hole for the LED button on the bottom and installed the foam to push out the LED. Everything was then covered with a plastic plate and sealed with "green stuff." Next came the letters. I really wanted the "OFF" letters on the bottom of the clip. I picked up a letter punch set from Amazon and set out to experiment. I used a dremel to clear out an area for the letters, hoping to use the same "green stuff" trick that T-Jay showcased. I experimented using play-doh. I pressed the letter punches into the play-doh. It was kind of hard getting the right amount of pressure. Too little pressure and the letters didn't show up cleanly. Trying a second time over the same letter wasn't going to work. It's impossible to line up the letter again for a second "press" into soft material. Too much pressure and you got the frame of the punch in the imprint, as well. I sensed this was going to end up taking several attempts. I pushed some green stuff in the opening, and carefully pushed the letters in. I used an "I" for part of the arrow. I wasn't going to be able to do a full "->" arrow and I found it impossible to line up the other parts of the arrow. Well, it ended up that this didn't work that well. After everything hardened and I sanded down the green stuff to make it flush with the surface of the clip, I ended up losing the letters because they weren't deep enough. So I dremel'ed off the green stuff and tried again. The results were better on my second attempt. Then I shot on a coat of primer and I could see that my green stuff wasn't completely flush. A bit more sanding to flatten out the green stuff, and again I lost most of my lettering. Some of this was due to the sanding of the primered surface was filling in the letters. This needed some rethinking....I'll come back to this.... On to the little clip. There is a little clip thing on the magazine clip that is not molded in the Doopydoo's kit. I saw in T-Jay's build that he fabricated one. I set out to do the same. I went to a local hobby store and picked out a small sheet of brass that was 1mm thick. In hindsight, maybe aluminum would have been a better idea as I have now found out that brass is incredibly strong. Even 1mm thick brass takes a lot of effort to bend. Unfortunately I don't have any photos of the fabrication, as I was on a roll. But basically I used tin snips to cut out a rectangle then used a vice and a rubber mallet to bend the sides into a "U" shape. Then went back and forth between a file and a dremel to shape the sides and tip. Once I had this done I cut another small strip for the center portion and rolled it around a small plastic tube that I cut from a pen. This was the result... I also filled in those little rib notches on the side of the clip. I saw Vern mentioned that they shouldn't be there with a cut down clip. Lastly I went back to the lettering. For my third try I went with something different. I took a spare piece of resin from the Doopydoo's kit, in my case the lower clip and I tried using the metal punch directly on the plastic.....no green stuff. Surprisingly, this seemed to work ok. I thought it might splinter from the punch but the letters punched in nicely directly into the resin. So I filled in my letter area again with green stuff, let it completely harden and sanded it smooth. Then, once it had completely dried, I then used the letter punches directly on the green stuff. I think that will be good enough for me. :-) Mark 2 Quote
T-Jay[TK] Posted February 13, 2018 Report Posted February 13, 2018 17 minutes ago, Suspend said: (...) Right now I've got one magnet in the housing but I may still redo this and add a second magnet for strength. (...) Guessing you will use all 5 of them, as the plastic covers and green stuff are causing a little gap between the magnets and reducing their strength. Good job done on your other work in this update, too. I can only imagine how hard it was, to build that little clip from a sheet of brass... Quote
Dracotrooper Posted February 13, 2018 Report Posted February 13, 2018 Wow - excellent progress here Mark. That magazine cap is looking spot on with the corners, button, lettering. Thanks for sharing your trials and tribulations with the punching letters; this will help me plan to go at my cap with this detail, thanks! Yeah, I got your nudge, I spent the better part of a month on that magazine release button; good to see you have your solution Nicely done magazine clip by the way, your magazine is really going to pop with that detail. Quote
Suspend Posted February 14, 2018 Author Report Posted February 14, 2018 Thanks again guys for all the kind words. Quick Update - End Cap Clip When I was checking out Suitcase Props on Shapeways, I saw they also produced an end cap clip which looked better than the Doopydoo's version. I picked up one of those at the same time. Here's a shot of the two along with the aluminum channel from T-Jay's Completion Kit... Using the same 1mm brass strip I purchased previously, I fabricated a strip to fit on the bottom of the clip. I gave it a bit of a curve to hold the clip up and simply attached it using E6000. We will see if it holds up over time... I also added some green stuff to add a knurling pattern to the top of the 3D printed clip... I cut the channel to the correct length and used a file to round off the edges of the channel. I gave them all a coat of primer to reduce the roughness of the 3D print and to help the paint adhere to the metal pieces. Then, finally, I installed a piece of a nail to pin the clip into the channel. Luckily, the hole I drilled in the channel was ever so slightly off, which means there is a bit of pressure pushing on the nail so it won't fall out by itself. That's it for today. :-) Mark 4 Quote
CableGuy[TK] Posted February 14, 2018 Report Posted February 14, 2018 Great work, Mark. Loads of lovely little touches throughout. :-) Quote
T-Jay[TK] Posted February 15, 2018 Report Posted February 15, 2018 15 hours ago, Suspend said: Excellent job! For this purpose, it was good to have that piece of brass laying around Quote
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