TKSpartan[Staff] Posted October 12, 2022 Report Posted October 12, 2022 Fantastic detailed work brother . like a watchmaker 1 Quote
justjoseph63[Staff] Posted October 18, 2022 Author Report Posted October 18, 2022 Update time! SO, between building a new workshop and digging 133 holes for my new fence I managed to get some things done on this. The scope- Please note that there is minimal weathering on this part. Some brass showing is good, too much and it just looks awful. To get it like I wanted, I dabbed my finger in the brass colored (Model Master 1782) paint, smeared it around on a piece of paper, rubbed most of it off and then applied it with the same finger. This way it doesn't have any brush marks. Screws installed on the front. I also made/painted a new aluminum scope rail. SIDE NOTE: The front and rear lens holders have threads which hold the lenses in place quite securely. If you are using one of these particular kits and feel the need to add an adhesive do NOT use CA (super) glue. It will permanently fog up the glass lenses. Opt instead for a tiny drop of plain craft glue. Reference images So, at this point some of you may be wondering "What the heck is that strange thing you put on the top of the scope"? This thread (link here) will answer that question. Folding Stock- The folding stock that was included with the kit I received is insanely accurate, but I wanted to kick it up a notch so I will be using a genuine vintage Sterling L2A3 (reconditioned by me) one which (thanks to Bryan's design) fits like a glove and will add a little "heft" to the finished product. Before you ask, yes, those weird things on the side of stock were on the originals. ** I will be doing some final weathering on these (and the stock) before completion. ** I mentioned before that I wasn't too happy with the way the weathering on the Hengstler counter looked, so that was repainted and touched up in the same way that I did the scope with that "worn off" look. The photo makes it look more severe than it actually is, though. I also installed the curved clear Lexan lens over the counter (and yes, I touched up the bottom of that last 7 before doing so, lol). Next up: The power cylinders, magazine mount and the main body! 6 Quote
revlimiter[Staff] Posted October 18, 2022 Report Posted October 18, 2022 Absolutely beautiful work. 1 Quote
justjoseph63[Staff] Posted October 23, 2022 Author Report Posted October 23, 2022 I got the magazine holder glued to the shroud. Note that I had put blue tape over that area before the painting and sanded it down so that the glue would have a solid area to adhere to. I sanded down the rear of the magazine holder slightly to help with adhesion. Be sure to clean those areas before gluing! Now for something that may be a little controversial- Does anyone notice something a bit odd in this screen used E-11? (Besides the fact that the scope screws are not painted black). If you noticed that the shroud (and the front part of the folding stock) has a "hammered" metal finish you would be correct. Why, I do not know, but I like that look. So, I have taped off the parts that should not have it and will be using Krylon Hammered metal paint on the rest. I spent about an hour with a roll of painter's tape and a razor blade, but I think I am ready for this. Please, Lord Vader let this turn out good. Otherwise I have to sand this down again and start from scratch. 9 Quote
justjoseph63[Staff] Posted October 29, 2022 Author Report Posted October 29, 2022 Update: Well, the "hammered" finish didn't come out quite as expected, and is a lot smoother than I anticipated. I have used this product before, but you can overdo it quite fast and get puddling on the item you are painting. Still, I'm happy with the end result. SO on with the show: After gluing on the front sight guard (blue arrows are where the CA glue dried white- this will be painted) I added the tiny metal grub screw on the side. I made a new metal front sight pin from a screw by filing down the end and angling the top just like the authentic one. I forgot to take a pic of it, but the second image (borrowed from Tino) shows what it looks like. Now for the power cylinders- Starting with the correct size screws (10ba from the UK) I first cut off the heads. In looking at about 50+ reference pics, I noted that in most (but not all) cases they were present on the front and back, but that the front ones had a bit more of the bolt sticking out. I added an insanely tiny drop of CA glue (with a needle) to keep the nuts from coming loose, drilled holes in both ends and secured them in. I also added the large metal grub screw on the side of the magazine receiver and the infamous red cloth wire*** in the rear. *** The plate that I made earlier that goes in the side was secured in, but I still have to paint/weather the rear of the bolt to match. I wanted a little more detail on the sides of the rear sight to closer match the original (pic 2) so I cut off the ends of 2 pop rivets, drilled a hole in each side of the sight and glued them in. When disassembling the components of the trigger/grip I snapped off the base of the selector switch. Oops. I drilled out the center and epoxy glued piece of a bolt. It will be secured back in with epoxy putty. My apologies, but due to this it will be stuck in place and not operable. The 3D print lines are filled/sanded, so now I just have to prime and paint it before adding it. Still quite a bit to do, but I will be finishing up all the details today and posting up photos. This afternoon I will do the weathering and will be posting up the auction thread within a day or two. Stay tuned, and if you have been with with me on this journey so far- THANKS! 5 Quote
gmrhodes13[Staff] Posted October 29, 2022 Report Posted October 29, 2022 I have found in case you go too heavy you can use a heat gun and it will help the hammer effect, this also used to work on wrinkle finish and flock paint, all can be finicky to apply 1 Quote
justjoseph63[Staff] Posted October 29, 2022 Author Report Posted October 29, 2022 OK folks, so here it is (at last). I got all the pieces attached and secured and 95% of the weathering complete. Still a few tiny areas I want to tweak, but overall this is it. NOW, before anyone mentions the lack of black paint on many of the actual screws, prongs, spring and such, I left these as-is to show that they had been added. Whoever ends up with this is more than welcome to cover them with some flat black but that will be their choice. As for general weathering I am a minimalist. Yeah, I did add more "brass" on the Hengstler than normal, but I wanted it to pop a little. The lighting was not too great, so here is a better pic of the front. Yes, the word OFF and the arrow on the end of the magazine are a bit wonky. I had to use a Dremel to inscribe it and this was after 5 Mountain Dews. I really gotta' cut down on the caffeine. Also a close-up of the rear power cylinder setup. Front view of the scope/cylinders/Hengstler Front sight close-up OK, so if you remember a few posts back I was concerned that since I wanted to use a real wire spring that the inside circumference of the rear of the shroud was too tight. I was determined not to let this beat me, so I ended up going with a hole saw bit (Pic 1). I used an extension bit to get down inside, but there was a lot of the PVC pipe inside in the far end that just shredded, so I used some elongated needle nose pliers to get out the bits and it worked a charm. HOWEVER, the inside walls were... well let's just say chewed up badly, so I CA glued sandpaper to the hole bit and went to town on it. It worked. Not perfectly smooth inside, but very close and not noticeable. Took me about 3 hours. Here is the end result, and I'm pretty pleased. End cap Hengstler** Grip **As I mentioned earlier, I used my leftover curved Lexan lens from an old build. Note: The lens appears to be fogged under the 0 and 5, but that is a reflection. And finally the folding stock. I was worried that since I was using a real vintage Sterling one that it wouldn't line up correctly. But, that was unfounded. Bryan's 3D files are so accurate that it fit like a glove with no modifications! And that's it, folks! This build was both challenging and fun, and I hope you enjoyed it as much I enjoyed doing it. It will be going up for auction in the next day or so to raise funds for the JDRF, and I hope it makes money for a great cause. If you would like to see any detail pics that are not shown or have any questions, just ask here in this thread. Last but certainly not least, I would like to give a BIG shout out to Bryan @trooper96 for supplying the files (and some extra pieces) for this incredible weapon, Kevin @kmwilson343 for donating the 3d print (and extras), Brian @Bulldog44 for donating one his incredible scopes, and Andrew @Sly11 for giving me the thumbs up to auction this off here on the FISD. You all truly rock, gentlemen, and my bucket is off to you. 8 Quote
trooper96[501st] Posted October 29, 2022 Report Posted October 29, 2022 Thank you for using my model. I am honored to play a small part in your creation. It’s even more meaningful since you will be raising funds for JDRF, and as we discussed earlier, my 2 year old grandson was recently diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. God bless you for what you do, and good luck with the auction! The blaster looks stunning! 2 Quote
TKSpartan[Staff] Posted October 29, 2022 Report Posted October 29, 2022 Amazing!! Great master piece Joseph. 1 Quote
Doggydoc[Staff] Posted October 29, 2022 Report Posted October 29, 2022 Absolutely incredible work Joseph. 1 Quote
revlimiter[Staff] Posted October 29, 2022 Report Posted October 29, 2022 Just top notch all the way. Truly beautiful work. 1 Quote
Bulldog44[TK] Posted October 29, 2022 Report Posted October 29, 2022 Fantastic build Joseph! What a journey to see this through. Extremely honored you asked me to help out. Best of luck with the auction and hoping it raises big bucks for that charity. 1 Quote
Chemi[Staff] Posted October 30, 2022 Report Posted October 30, 2022 Congratulations Joseph, for the final result and for deciding to auction it to raise funds for the JDRF. 1 Quote
Sly11[Admin] Posted October 30, 2022 Report Posted October 30, 2022 I concur with others, this is a beautiful replica, and whoever wins this auction is getting a "built with love" piece of FISD history, thanks to the overwhelming generosity of Joseph for his skill and eye for detail, and those who supplied various parts to make this a reality. JDRF is the detachments legacy charity, and a wonderful cause to support. 1 Quote
kmwilson343 Posted October 30, 2022 Report Posted October 30, 2022 On 10/29/2022 at 8:27 AM, justjoseph63 said: OK folks, so here it is (at last). I got all the pieces attached and secured and 95% of the weathering complete. Still a few tiny areas I want to tweak, but overall this is it. NOW, before anyone mentions the lack of black paint on many of the actual screws, prongs, spring and such, I left these as-is to show that they had been added. Whoever ends up with this is more than welcome to cover them with some flat black but that will be their choice. As for general weathering I am a minimalist. Yeah, I did add more "brass" on the Hengstler than normal, but I wanted it to pop a little. The lighting was not too great, so here is a better pic of the front. Yes, the word OFF and the arrow on the end of the magazine are a bit wonky. I had to use a Dremel to inscribe it and this was after 5 Mountain Dews. I really gotta' cut down on the caffeine. Also a close-up of the rear power cylinder setup. Front view of the scope/cylinders/Hengstler Front sight close-up OK, so if you remember a few posts back I was concerned that since I wanted to use a real wire spring that the inside circumference of the rear of the shroud was too tight. I was determined not to let this beat me, so I ended up going with a hole saw bit (Pic 1). I used an extension bit to get down inside, but there was a lot of the PVC pipe inside in the far end that just shredded, so I used some elongated needle nose pliers to get out the bits and it worked a charm. HOWEVER, the inside walls were... well let's just say chewed up badly, so I CA glued sandpaper to the hole bit and west to town on it. It worked. Not perfectly smooth inside, but very close and not noticeable. Took me about 3 hours. Here is the end result, and I'm pretty pleased. End cap Hengstler** Grip **As I mentioned earlier, I used my leftover curved Lexan lens from an old build. Note: The lens appears to be fogged under the 0 and 5, but that is a reflection. And finally the folding stock. I was worried that since I was using a real vintage Sterling one that it wouldn't line up correctly. But, that was unfounded. Bryan's 3D files are so accurate that it fit like a glove with no modifications! And that's it, folks! This build was both challenging and fun, and I hope you enjoyed it as much I enjoyed doing it. It will be going up for auction in the next day or so to raise funds for the JDRF, and I hope it makes money for a great cause. If you would like to see any detail pics that are not shown or have any questions, just ask here in this thread. Last but certainly not least, I would like to give a BIG shout out to Bryan @trooper96 for supplying the files (and some extra pieces) for this incredible weapon, Kevin @kmwilson343 for donating the 3d print (and extras), Brian @Bulldog44 for donating one his incredible scopes, and Andrew @Sly11 for giving me the thumbs up to auction this off here on the FISD. You all truly rock, gentlemen, and my bucket is off to you. You did an AMAZING job! You truly are a master at your craft. Thank you for letting me part of your work, and please do not hesitate to contact me in the future for other charity events. It was fun to watch you work through the steps. 1 Quote
justjoseph63[Staff] Posted October 31, 2022 Author Report Posted October 31, 2022 Thanks for all the kind words.. . Since we have never done an auction here before we (the Staff) are working on the details/logistics, so it will be a week or so before I can get that up and running. 1 Quote
Nairy[Staff] Posted November 2, 2022 Report Posted November 2, 2022 Man I wish I could bid on this magnificent piece of work! I'm staring at it like... **(one day Jonatan... one day)** Set for stun! Thank you Joseph for the eye candy! 1 Quote
Daetrin[Admin] Posted November 4, 2022 Report Posted November 4, 2022 Absolutely gorgeous build - hope to be able to bid on it soon. 1 Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.