Another Rubie's Mod (and scored cheap lenses)

[tsongololo[TK]]

I decided to bite the bullet and get something I can use immediately, and of course I'll be working on it long enough to prevent that from happening. I wanted to have a proper blaster for photos to submit to my local GML, and it did serve that purpose after a quick blast of black paint. Even after dropping it in the dirt and painting over it. I learned that trick from my ex, who used to work at ILM. 

 

Right now it's a garden variety mod, I'm going to replace the D-ring, add aftermarket power cylinders, drill out the barrel & scope rail, fix where the folding stock melded into the T-track, etc. and probably add rivets like like this thread:

 

That's just what I'm planning on doing, I hope it doesn't get away from me. Though I think it's too late! I wanted to add more than cosmetic realism to the scope, and yesterday started down the rabbit hole of optics, lenses, etc. I don't think a proper functional scope is feasible, especially for a Rubie's mod, but I did find a CHEAP source of lenses and a bonus Perro prism! It was a $2 old camera.

 

The lenses are the exact diameter of the scope, with the plastic housing around them. So it should be easy to install them without too much fuss. 

 

I'm not sure if I want to put the prism in there, since I don't know enough about optics to even know where to begin on how to make it functional.

 

Now for the pics:

 

This is after the first evening's work. I got the scope rail drilled out, and started on the area of the t-track / folding stock. I did put it in the freezer, and that helped make it more brittle to split. I also used a couple screwdrivers as a pry bar, chisel and punch.

 

This is after about 3 days. Other than the t-tracks, not a lot of visible progress. I broke my only Dremel routing bit making a pilot hole for the front sights. Satisfying progress halted until I get a replacement. 

 

And now for the cool find part:

THRIFT STORE SCORE

It was half off day too!!!

 

The viewfinder is offset from the front lens, so I chose that, thinking it would have prisms in it.

 

Turns out it's a FILM camera. Now I feel it's death is more than justified, at least it can live on as something useful.

 

After fiddling with about 50 teeny, tiny screws I was able to get the top off, and this Perro prism fell out. I have no idea where it went. There is also a Perro-Abbe prism that needs more disassembly to access.

 

And here's the haul of potentially awesome treasure:

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Looking forward to seeing the progress

[tsongololo[TK]]

Still not a lot of visible progress, but it's almost to the point where reassembly can start, after priming & a few other tweaks.

 

The forward lens is about the same size as the plastic, but wouldn't fit inside, so I cut it off and made the hole big enough to clamp down on the lens. The rear lens involved removing a lot of material from the inside of the blaster, but I didn't get a pic of that.

 

For the barrel I used a pipe that comes with fish tank filtration systems. I have a lot of spare parts / junk since I've had fish most of my life.  I decided to keep the bosses that screw the two halves together in many areas. 

 

I also removed material under the scope, and decided to go for removing the ejection port and charging handle slot.

 

For the bolt, I went stupid simple. TP roll! A little paint *should* give nice results.

 

Charging handle will go on this. I don't think I'll keep that screw configuration. Also a tube from an aquarium filter.

[tsongololo[TK]]

I got the halves glued together. I kept all the screws except for the one in the scope. Where the top T-track, and under the scope rail have the gap, I made "snakes" out of epoxy putty (Plastic Weld) but that didn't work exceptionally well. I think the idea still has merit, but it might be best to actually measure the gaps and size accordingly. Not think "oh gosh what can I do with this leftover epoxy before it cures in 6 minutes". I used ABS paste around all the seams, and used a hypodermic needle to painstakingly add paste to the aforementioned gaps drop by drop.

 

And sanding. So much sanding.

 

I'm getting close, it might be ready for paint by tonight.

 

[tsongololo[TK]]

Here are some pics before I mask, prime and paint. I think it's finally ready.

[T K[501st]]

Looks great! I love what you did for the bolt.

[TKSpartan[Staff]]

Great Mod. looking cool!!