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Did my first major test fit and I'm absolutely giddy!!

No worries, just wishful thinking on my part. Better to take your time on this project. Whenever it is finished it will be the best out there by far!

Incredible work

Tino, you’re a star. I really appreciate your advice and experience on this. Many thanks. :-) Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The hammered paint (preferably combined with the paper dabbing method) is a good way to bring a nice texture on your paint's surface. Compared with the wrinkle paint, it is easier to apply, dries much faster and does not smell like hell. In this build here I had used the wrinkle paint and it turned out not as perfect as I had expected. Be aware: this paint requires a specific room temperature, air humidity, triple layer spray technique and 48 hours drying time. And although my paint job was completed 1.5 years ago (at this moment) it still smells! Keep that in mind. Oh and for working with green stuff, I found it useful to simply keep my fingers and tools wet. This reduces the stickiness.

Today’s 20minute mod is.... :-) Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Another Deposit. I'm losing track of what is left to make.

I think ATA or WTF could help you. You can find their info in the vetted makers thread.

It's really coming along now Dan - nice work!

Hi all, Got a few little parts added today. I’ve taken to using bolts and removing the head. I can then screw that part/s into place before gluing. Here’s some update pics. It’s nice to see more parts on my blaster than on the shelf next to my workspace. Means I must be getting closer to he finish line. :-) Cheers, Dan :-) Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

EIB is in

Wow, these latest updates have made my week! Everything looking sharp! Can’t wait to see the first assembled sample of these blasters. Will Santa have these ready for Christmas?

Just some of what I've been working on so far with this armor. I've been able to disassemble parts without much trouble. The sight of the excess glue at the seams are driving me crazy. Removed button plates to clean all glue and reassemble for a cleaner look. Also working on repainting the buttons for a cleaner job as well Helmet was in rough shape. Lots of glue around the bottom edge under the rubber "S" seal, as well as inside the dome. Removed old padding and temp installed padding I used in my motorcycle helmet. Cleaned and cleaned and cleaned to remove the old glue. Two cracks were also very present. I removed the glue from them and super glued backing material, old white tshirt, then gave a light sanding and covered with ABS paste. Will do something better for the inside. AB/Kidney rivets removed and old holes filled with paste. All 3 rivets were visible above the belt and based off other builds and reference photos, they need to be spaced out more. As for the thigh fitting and knee plate. I removed the knee plate and will clean it up as well. In the meantime will try to figure out how to securely attach it to the shin since it doesn't seem to want to sit where it makes a lot of contact for glue. I also removed the rear cover strip from the thigh and fit it pretty tightly to my leg an taped in place. Marked a center on each overlapping end, where i'm assuming I should cut a straight line down so I can use the cover stip and glue back together. Question is, does the shape look correct now vs. my previous photos?

holy crap! Fantastic job so far. I just saw your pm and came to check it out... Bravo man. So far so awesome. The grip is the one biggest gripe about the airsoft, but you've gone way far above and beyond to make it awesome.

Hi Henry, Sorry I have not replied to your message sooner but things have been really hectic for me work wise but I have finally had a chance to catch up with your thread and your work looks great my friend. I had intended to modify my E11 with some original Sterling parts and tried to pick some up during a visit to the US last year but ran into problems trying to pay with a non-US credit card so that idea had to be shelved. It is actually easier to buy a complete deactivated Sterling in the UK than simple parts like the stock or muzzle which is why I opted to keep mine as a functional airsoft, but what you are doing to make this as screen accurate as possible is really impressive and I like the way you turned the muzzle edge down to make it more curved. I might have to do that to mine . I might have missed it but one part I don't think you mentioned was the bayonet holder lug which from my experience is slightly the wrong shape and a bit small compared to the original, but this would be a simple swap with an original part (assuming it was possible to get one!). Keep up the great work. Cheers Johnnyfl

Thank you very much Tino, that means a lot to me coming from you! Your latest build has been very inspiring.

Well done, Henry. These modifications truly help making it look like a real Sterling. Can't wait for your next "Episode"

Episode II - Attack of the Caps The second most inaccurate part of this Airsoft gun is the Rear End Cap and then the Muzzle Cap. As I explained in the introduction they both have their inaccuracies and I will be correcting all of them in this chapter. I will be replacing the Airsoft Rear End Cap with a real Sterling Rear End Cap, and I will modifying the Airsoft Muzzle Cap to better replicate a real Sterling Muzzle as the real thing doesn't have a "cap". The rolled edge on a real Sterling muzzle is actually part of the receiver so it is not easily removable. I found a cast of a real Sterling muzzle but it's made of plastic, and I want a steel blaster so I will be modifying the Airsoft Muzzle Cap to make it more accurate. This mod took some time and patience, I've actually seen this exact mod attempted on this exact gun but not successfully. The other option is to alter the original Airsoft End Cap to look more realistic but that one sits too far back I feel, plus this option will be more authentic. You can't beat the real thing so why not use real parts whenever possible. Here is the inside of my modified Rear End Cap from a real Sterling MK4 L2A3 Sub-Machine Gun. Using only the tools below I was able to file out the inside of the Rear End Cap to fit the adapter on the back of the Airsoft Receiver. The Rear End cap nearly fits but the 3 pegs inside are just too tall & wide, so I made them a little shorter and skinnier using some needle files. The edge of the pointed file has one smooth edge and I utilized that to file small detailed edges while preserving adjacent ones. The inside wall of the Rear End Cap has three areas or "rings"; The outermost ring in the front, the middle ring which is where the 3 pegs are located, and the innermost back ring which is the deepest at the bottom of the Rear End Cap. The middle ring between the pegs is actually wide enough to fit around the adapter on the back of the Airsoft receiver, so the 1st outermost ring and the 3rd inner most ring just needed to be filed down with really heavy grain sandpaper until the depth matched that of the middle ring. This took some patience, time and was a little hard on the fingers, I pressed the sandpaper against the inside wall really hard while spinning it. A Dremel or rotary tool with a sanding drum would do the job quicker, I just wanted to go slow to make sure it remained perfectly round. Here are some different angels of the real Sterling Rear End Cap installed on the Airsoft gun. Here you can really see how a real Sterling Rear End Cap tapers toward the front of the gun, I'm so much happier with this now. Here are some profile views of the modified Sterling rear end cap on the Airsoft gun. Here are some Before & After comparison shots of my Airsoft Rear End Cap mod. Before on top, After modification on the bottom. And here are some comparison shots of a real Sterling MK4 L2A3 (top), and my modified Airsoft with real end cap (bottom) The first thing I corrected on the Muzzle Cap was the size of the center hole which was done by simply removing the internal barrel and barrel sleeve, after doing this the center hole is now much more accurate. The next problem with the Airsoft Muzzle Cap was it's lack of a rolled edge, it wasn't that sharp of an edge before but it wasn't nearly as rounded as it should be. To correct this inaccuracy the Muzzle Cap was put into a lathe and very carefully machined to have a rolled edge, this had to be done without making the diameter any smaller whatsoever. Here are some initial shots taken of the Muzzle Cap after being machined in the lathe. As you can see there is still a small ring of paint left around the outer edge, so the outer diameter is still the same size. It is still bolted to it's backing plate here, this was bolted together while being machined in the lathe just so there was more material to work with. Profile View, unbolted from backing plate. To give you a good picture of how it fits here are some photos of the Muzzle Cap installed before paint, this way you can clearly see where the receiver ends and the muzzle cap begins. The front end of the receiver tube comes with a very small taper on it which helps the rolled edge appearance a bit, once I fill this in and sand and paint it you won't see the seam line. The hex bolts in these photos are still the same incorrect ones that came with the gun. The accurate hex bolts with the correct diamond cross-hatch knurling pattern are somewhat difficult to find. Tino (T-Jay) provides a completion kit which includes the correct hex bolts and the threads even fit the Airsoft gun, however they are about 4 threads too long and they bottom out in the threaded hole. No problem at all, I just took them into the shop and grinded them down to size. Before (top) After (bottom) Here are some photos I took with the hex bolts after a prelminary paint test, this is NOT the finish I will be using. Profile Views Here are Before & After comparison photos of my modified Airsoft Muzzle Cap. Before modification on top, After modification on the bottom. And finally here are comparison photos of a real Sterling MK4 L2A3 (top), and my modified Airsoft Muzzle Cap (bottom) I hope you enjoyed this chapter of my blaster build, please feel free to leave any comments or critique my work. I always enjoy reading your all of your feedback. In the next update I will correcting the accuracy issues with the folding stock and the front and rear sight guards. to be continued...