Ducati

The front plate. Similar to the back plate but with the detail required on something seen all the time. Wookie arms! Some trimming A very recognizable feature Notches at the back of the plate Taking a layer off of the part on the right of the pic below This is a blurry pic but adding more depth to the edges Work on the interior side of the box The finished part

The counter bottom plate: This part is almost a mirror of the top plate but with an extra hole for mounting. Again different than the screen used item but it needed to be done to ensure stuff stayed together properly. To give you an idea of how long it was taking me, from start to finish this part took about 6 hours. Raw mat Trimmed down Detail work on the top side Detail on the bottom side Work on the left Work on the right/ the finished part

The counter back plate. Raw material Detail on the front edge A flip and onto detail on the other side. This is a case of where I deviate from the original screen used item for reasons you will see later on. No one will be able to see it so don't think it matters anyways. Another hole, this time for wiring Another couple of flips to trim the sides This pic was done much later in the build. Some holes for sound

On to the counter. This was really the first item I dug into on the build. The learning process on these parts was tough. Before starting on this process I'd never machined anything before and as a result everything took a long time. I was unsure on everything from the feed rates to the order of operations on each part. The thing that really shocked me is how hard it is to machine small parts on full sized equipment. Its so easy to wreck a detailed part; you can hold it too tight in the vise and distort it or you can not hold it tight enough and then the cutter can do bad things. The smallest miscalculation and you'd be swearing as 8 hours of machining was in the toilet. This realization actually made me stop part way through the process and redesign how the over all assembly would be done. Instead of having a series of small plates that I would glue together, I chose to make the plates as large as I could and machine the detail parts into the large plates. I also made the decision that anything thinner than 1/16" (1.5mm) was gong to have to be made a on something other than a mill. Again more on that later. First up a bit of a better explanation of how every part was done. So I start off by working in a modelling program called Solidworks. Its the go to design program for manufacturing. I use this software every day in my real job. By modelling this prop up before hand you can plan everything out to ensure that everything will fit together correctly. Its a lot of work do but its a lot less work than making 3 parts because the first 2 don't work. But the thing I like the best is that you get to work with quantitative figures; plate "A" is 3.0625" long. Below is the process from start to finish for one part: The finished model of the counter: Just the top plate model From the model of the individual parts I made drawings for manufacturing. Typically these are a bit more professional but since these are for my personal use I'm a little sloppy with standards. From there I grabbed a chunk of aluminum from the scrap bin Then to the band saw where I trim the material to a rough size. Taking a bunch of material is easier with the saw vs the mill Next I stick the part in the mill and through a series of steps take the rough material to the overall size of the finished part. I'm also making all the sides square to each other. Drilling a hole on the top Then counter sinking it Now into milling some of the details in Then the part is turned so I can do some detail on the sides Another turn and I start to clean up the back side. This stuff won't ever been seen but it was important so that the whole assembly could fit together. After a bunch of additional work on the back its another couple of turns for the sides. After that I would go in and sand the part down to remove the machining marks, burrs and flashing. Sorry no picks of that. I don't have a pick of this part finished on its own. I'll show the finished goods off in a later post where you see the rest of the counter parts.

Post #2 D-Ring holder and the D-ring. The original D-Ring holder looks like it was punched out of sheet metal then stamped to shape. Making a set of dies to do that was not practical so I ended up machining this part. It started with a piece of plastic which I turned to the appropriate diameter. Then it went into the mill to machine the "bends" in the sheet metal. Next was to flip the part over and clean up the bottom. Then I milled the rest of the "bends". A test fit on the cap. Then off to paint. The D-Ring. This is a case that I didn't take photos of how it made it. It was actually one of the more problematic parts. I tried bending round bar to shape but I didn't have much success with either steel or Aluminum. I ended up machining a "donut" out of flat bar then filing the edges round. A dab of glue. Finally some weathering. Note I did a bit more after the final assembly of the entire prop. What I did here was some light stuff to make the edges pop.

First off, I like to thank everyone on the forums for all of your help. This build would not have been possible with out you. I am very grateful for everyone that has made a build thread, answered my questions or done a tutorial of some type. I stand on the shoulders of giants. I started my build last November doing research, modelling and drawings. Fabrication started just before Christmas. Today I've finished. I've done my best to take photos along the way (just over a 1000pics) but looking back I realize that I've missed a few steps. If I were to take a guess I'd say I've put nearly 1000 hours into this project. I've learned a tonne and enjoyed every minute of it. Everything that you will see, with a few small exceptions, I've built myself and I'm very proud of the results. Please note that I have purposely done some things that are not 100% screen accurate. The reason for these variations are typically for the ease of fabrication or I wanted something a little cooler. If you're a purist you may want to turn back now . Anyhow, here is the first set of pics detailing the butt cap construction. Turning the raw mat Starting the bore An hour later the bore is done Doing the taper Out of the lathe and into the dividing head for a slot cut and some milled flats Out of the dividing head to the band saw where I removed the extra part for holding. Then back into the mill to clean it up. Here I need to skip ahead a bit. I made some tabs (more on how later) I've bent then and then had them welded onto the butt cap. Some filing and then filling with a 2 part epoxy. A bunch more sanding and it was off to priming with an aluminum specific primer. Finally a coat of hammered black then flat black. I'm out of time for today. I'll post more later. CNC files: PDFs_and_edwg.zip Scope sight.dwg.zip

Doopydoos - Relatively fast, cheap and looks good. You can customize it by adding more detail as your desire, budget and skill dictate Hyperfirm - Fast, durable and looks good. Ready to go out of the box. Pipebuild - Time consuming, likely the most expensive, require the most skill, but IMHO the best looking and personally satisfying build.

It's being recorded, I'll watch it when I get home. What an amazing match that would be to see live. I dream of seeing the mannschaft in person one day. Fingers crossed I can get tickets for Brazil.

My blaster is primed and ready for painting. Before I start to spray things I want to ensure that I've got things right. Below is a list of areas and how I plan on painting it. Could someone please post if I have things correct? (and if I don't set me on the right path). Textured/hammer finish black - Barrel, sight guards, bayonet stud, ejector port/blow back guards, handle (the part the grip slides onto), butt cap, lock for the butt cap/rear stock, folding stock, and the scope body. Non textured black (somewhere between mat and semi gloss) - clip, mag well, counter, muzzle, muzzle bolts, scope rail, T-tracks, trigger, trigger guard, scope "ends", Ejector screw parts, bolt lever, Selector switch, various fasteners for the grip Gloss black - Grip Unpainted steel - bolt spring, trigger mechanism stuff, spiral details on bolt Gun metal gray - remainder of bolt. Everything will have a steel or brass base layer which will be visible via weathering as appropriate. Thanks for your help

Just to follow up for the next person that comes across this thread using the search button. I stumbled across some screen material at my local fabric store. It's plastic and came in several sizes; everything from bug screen, to pet screen size. It was sold by the foot, which is 1000x cheaper (considering the amount required) than buying a whole roll at Home Depot.

On the kidney plate of the ATA set, there are return edges present on the top and bottom of the piece. The both are very clean. I could not tell if this edge was part of the vacuum forming process or was part of the sculpt. Thanks for the replies

I've spent the night browsing a variety of different threads, but I've been unable to find the answer that I'm looking for. I would like to know the following: Around the neck of the chest plate is there a small return edge? (1/16"-1/8") On the ab plate at the top, what is the typical return edge size? Is a return edge necessary here as it's not seen? On the kidney plate, should a return edge be present on the top/bottom? If so, what are the return edges sizes? On the sides of the kidney and ab plates, I've seen no return edge. Is this correct? On the top/bottom edges of each piece, where a return edge is present, the return edge tapers down to no return edge as you move towards the sides. Is this correct? Thanks in advance

http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=8686&st=0&p=110664&hl=milliput&fromsearch=1entry110664

What are people using on their helmets for mesh behind the tooth area? Mosquito screen? Something else? What size of screen can you suggest? By size I mean the center to center distance between fibers on the weave. Can you suggest somewhere to purchase the above material? Thanks in advance

Imperial = 1/4"-20 UNC hex socket cap screw Metric = 6mm hex socket cap screw The length will depend on how you are mounting them to the muzzle and if they serve a functional purpose or not. If you are cutting the threads off the length doesn't matter. You should be able to find these at any hardware store: Home depot for example. If you're really stuck you can order from here - http://www.mcmaster.com/#socket-head-cap-screws/=he8iz0

A question for anyone... Are they really 6mm bolts or 1/4"? The reason I ask is the gun was designed in the early 1940's when British industry primarily used imperial units. The country didn't officially switch over to metric until 1965. Other measurements on the weapon, (the barrel diameter for example) suggest that sterling was imperial units. Not that it really matters to us. It would be difficult to tell a 6mm bolt head from a 1/4" bolt head from a distance.

A question for anyone that has a real sterling clip/magazine receiver: What does the device on the side of the clip do? I'm referring to the gizmo in the north west portion of the picture below. What does it do? (I'm assuming that it's aids with alignment of clip to the receiver such that the rounds can be fed into the bolt properly) How does it work? Does it do anything other than butt up against the receiver? Is it sprung is some fashion? Thanks in advance

Thanks, your reply is greatly appreciated. The exploded parts diagram is even better than a digital picture. I gathered how the end cap locked the stock in the rear position and had a good idea how the lock in the front worked. I was totally in the dark with regards to the butt plate spring mechanism. Your diagram makes things crystal clear.

Could any one please post some pictures detailing the spring mechanisms in the folding stock? I'm looking for details of the spring mechanism that locks the stock in the forward position and the mechanism that locks the "butt" in the vertical while the stock is in the open or rear position. Pictures from a original sterling stock would be most helpful. I've scoured the net but have come up empty. Any help is greatly appreciated.