Brent

The optics on the scope seem ok. I can barely see the sighting target, and its a bit rotated. It's as though it is just slightly out of focus. Does anyone know if one of the many screws on the M40 can be used to bring it in to focus?

I did a little cleanup using a toothbrush, some q-tips, steel wool, and oil. It's now looking more used then neglected:

My scope arrived today . It's an M40, and like the Sterling, in less then perfect condition. I'm going to investigate cleaning the corrosion around the end. There is also a little bit of green here and there from the underlying copper. Of course, if I can't clean up the corrosion I can strip it and repaint it, but like the gun, I'd prefer to keep it as close to the current condition as possible. It didn't come with any mounting screws, so I'll check the local hardware store for an appropriate replacement.

Maybe these? http://www.whitearmo...showtopic=20865 I actually think it would be neat to have a papercraft E-11 that you could print out, then cut and glue in to shape. Wouldn't be sturdy at all, but it would be extremely cheap. Assembling one could actually be a fun activity too. I know I would have had fun building toy blasters for a birthday party as a kid. Actually I'm pretty sure I still would

Yeah, I saw it and was just curious. I didn't go back and look to closely, but in the few shots I saw near the end it just struck me that there weren't any at all that I could see. If they just weren't common it's an interesting historical look at how far FISD has brought costume standards since then. If they were asked to take them off (no guns or holsters?) I would wonder if that ever happens today since mine is riveted on.

I recently watched the Star Warriors 501st documentary and one thing that jumped out at me was a lack of holsters on the marching TKs. I'm curious if that was just the way that most armor was assembled in 2007, or if they were explicitly removed for the parade? I also didn't see anyone with blasters in Pasadena so I'm assuming LFL asked people to leave them at home.

Most of the things you can do for EIB (and even Centurion) aren't any harder then using an alternative method when you are building for the first time. Don't assume that more accurate equates to harder. Even if you don't plan on working toward EIB, be aware of the requirements when you are planning your build and evaluate them for yourself one by one. That said, vern is right on: have fun. The goal is for you to be happy with your armor.

I'm using an Aker. I have an iComm but I haven't been using it since I didn't like using VOX and I had trouble with my PTT button. I also agree that not being able to adjust the relative volume of the static burst and speech is a little troublesome. The default adjustment is pretty good, and honestly I have a hard time telling how good I sound while I'm in kit, so it's probably not an issue. I haven't been out on many troops, so I'm still experimenting a bit. For my microphone I was going to use the Memorex since I didn't want wires going to my bucket, but it was a bit bulky. Instead I got this from a local store: http://www.amazon.co...ords=throat mic It's a throat mic made for FRS radios. I had to make an adapter between it in the Aker (a simple 1/16" to 1/8" plug adapter). It goes right at the top of my neck seal so there are no wires going in to the bucket. It also adds a fair bit of distortion so it gives a pretty good "radio" sound just by itself. I just tuck the headphone bit under my neckseal, but I could imagine using that someday for some other purpose.

I'll probably go with the curved rail. @troopermaster pointed out in Rob's thread that the blasters with curved rails are at least sometimes missing the rear sight. It looks like they somehow removed the sight and crammed the rail under a screw that goes in the sight holder: ----------- I'm not sure if I want to go as far as trying to remove the rear sight since a: it would be irreversible and b: I'm not even sure how to do it gracefully (bolt cutter? dremel? drill out the rivet?) I think I'll wait until I have my scope in hand and try attaching using the same method as Andy (http://www.whitearmo...showtopic=17296)

I'm not exactly sure how they did the paint job. The various parts seem to have original paint with the crinkle coat, and are sometimes worn all the way to the metal. The receiver tube is more of a flat black. I'm not sure if they painted over the crinkle coat to to blend them together after welding or what. Any references on how I could make one? Unfortunantly my machining capabilities are pretty much limited to what I can do with a dremel and hand tools in my garage. I generally have preferred the straight rail to the curved ones, but I think you are right. For this conversion the bent rail would go nicely. I think I'll be better off shooting for a screen used beat up a little look rather then try to make an idealized blaster and curved scope rail fits very nicely with that image. I'm thinking I'll need to make a replica bolt from scratch, or import a resin copy. My state doesn't look kindly on me owning a real F/A bolt

I'm starting to plan out my deac-Sterling conversion and I'd appreciate some input from the community as I go along. Right now I'm still in the "collecting all the parts" phase, but I'm getting pretty close to wrapping that phase up. Right now I have a deac-Sterling and the Hengstler counter, and I should be getting an M40 scope soon. The sterling isn't in top notch condition, but I'm finding that to be a mixed blessing. Some of the artifacts of it's deactivation/reassembly are annoying, such as the steel plug welded in the receiver tube, and the tube itself being somewhat wonky since it isn't original. However I'm happy with the worn condition of the rest of the parts. For example the front sight guard is bent from an apparent fall, and while it is technically damage, that is the sort of aggressive weathering I could never bring myself to do but in the end gives it some really nice character. Here is a link to an album with the detailed pictures, I'll only show some highlights here: https://picasaweb.go...feat=directlink Here is the Sterling with the Hengstler next to my modified Hasbro: I'm looking for recommendations on a few things: 1. bolt and spring Since the bolt is a welded block I need to do something with the hatch on the right side (ejection port?). I'm thinking making a fake bolt and cutting it to fit in place. RougeTrooper said he had done this with a cast bolt, but since I have no part to cast from I'm thinking it might be easier to fabricate one like in ZeroRoom's or other scratch builds. Any suggestions? Even I do this the spring won't be very good. You can see in the pictures that the space where the spring should go is filled by steel, so it would be hard to make something look spring like in there. 2. body bend Due to the welds the main body has a slight bend. I was expecting this from the auction photos when I bought the gun, and in person the bend is less noticeable then I was expecting. I'm not sure if it's worth trying to bend it back and risk making it worse. I'm thinking if I wanted to I would have someone who does welding apply a little heat on the top and see if it will just reset itself with a little bit of force. Anyone else have this issue, and did you try to do anything about it? 3. Paint I love the crinkle coat finish on most of the sterling and I want to preserve that as much as possible. Does anyone know if that is actually screen accurate though? My understanding is that the crinkle coat appeared on commercial guns made by Sterling and the British army made their own guns with a flat finish and a few other minor distinctions. Does anyone know where they got the ones used in the movie, or how old they were? Also, when they made E-11s did they give them another paint job after everything was attached? My plan is to paint as little as possible. Probably just the metal parts of the Hengstler and the rail. I haven't evaluated the scope yet since I don't have it in hand. Painting the Hasbro was just adding detail, but painting this I'm worried about losing any detail I'll keep this thread updated when I start making more progress. I'm looking forward to putting it all together

Great job. I'm looking forward to seeing your handiwork Not if I beat you to it .

Nothing wrong per se. It doesn't meet the qualifications for Centurion since it is based on a Hasbro. I did more than most people do with this one so it's a bit harder to tell, but if you see it up close there are some pretty obvious Hasbro giveaways. This one was sort of a learning project for me. When I'm done I'll have a Centurion blaster and a backup blaster; and who couldn't use more blasters?

As I recall I also had to hammer on the screwdriver a bit to get the wings to spread out initially. I angled the screwdriver in by 30-45 degrees and gave it a few taps in either direction.

There are tools specifically for this, but I don't think anybody actually uses them because a large flat head screwdriver does the job pretty well. These pictures of of the side, but it's basically the same. Once I had the elastic and washer on the rivet I just used the large screwdriver in the picture to wedge between the wings and pry the river open a bit. Once it was open enough I just pounded them down with a hammer, and presto, you've got set rivets.

Enjoy your Friday everyone!

That's actually the same sterling I posted about initially. So far it looks like he's had no takers and keeps relisting it at the same price every few weeks.

Here's a reference picture: The cover strips don't go all the way down to the return edge, but stop just at the raised border.

Nice job Ingrid! One question; what's that black strip showing from under the plastic on the right side of your belt?

They get counted off as they are approved, so you can follow in the request forum. After someone is approved the put the count in that person's thread title. As of now we are at 241.

Awesome! Thanks for showing us. How did you go about extending the folding stock?

Locitus has some pretty good pictures of how he formed his: http://www.whitearmo...=40#entry154717 Here's a good shot of how TM placed them on a suit he built: http://www.whitearmo...83 You can also see an example in the archive pictures: http://www.whitearmo...L-JoeR_Arms.jpg (although the angle isn't all that great, maybe someone else knows where to find a better one) I formed mine using some spare cover strip material and a heat gun. I heated them and bent them by hand with leather gloves until I had a hook that could reach over the return edge. I used the shaft of a large screwdriver to form the curve around. As for attaching them, I glued them with E6000. So far so good, they do seem to help keep the arms from falling down.

Thank you sir! Centurion is in the plan. I first need to replace my blaster with one that meets the Emperor's exacting standards.

Thanks! After such a rousing article in today's newsletter I figured I'd better get my EIB application submitted

I guess the takeaway for me is to be prepared for unexpected reactions. I think this dog was mostly surprised since I came out of nowhere. I doubt it would have been concerned if they had approached me.