SIMpixels

Awesome job Sean, well done on the rail hole coverup too, looks great!

Congratulations! (cool TK number too)

Thanks Glen! OK, I need some advice from you wonderful people. I have given the main parts a coat of grey primer, sanded, filled and reprimed, now I have a decision to make. I am torn between: Satin black over gunmetal silver and weather by rubbing down. OR Satin black straight over primer and add the weathering by drybrushing. I'm fairly confident I could do it either way and I think I know which way I'd prefer. So... Question for the knowledgable: How did YOU do yours? Compelling arguements either way would be helpful. Some additional info: I will be adding gloss to the grip after spraying for the plastic look. I know it's not screen accurate but I'll be weathering the T-rails (a personal choice based on how they're supposed to be cooling coils). Si.

Kind words Frank, and very much appreciated. Although there are one or two areas that would give the game away, but best not to mention those. When I started I didn't think I'd be confident enough to share my first E-11 build with the folk here having seen the stunning results that appear on these pages by people with far more skill than I could muster. It turns out that with a bit of imagination and a lot of luck, even someone as non-practical as me can produce something that looks "good enough" (in my eyes) whilst having lots of fun in the process. Along the way, having been inspired by so many build threads, it seems I've given a few folk ideas for their own spark of inspiration, and that's something I am VERY happy about. Si.

Before I set about painting my blaster with primer tonight, I finished the faux bolt extension that I started last night. Sadly I didn't take any pics so I'll have to explain the first bit. Hopefully you'll get the idea once you see the pics below that I took tonight. I found a tube with some end caps that fitted perfectly inside the doopydoos inner tube so I cut it down to the desired length (it rests against where my scope rail enters the barrel). Once in position I marked it with a fine permanent pen (holding the charging handle in place to draw around it). I also drilled a small hole so that I can dowel the charging handle when I glue it in. I took the tube out again and fashioned a big blob of milliput (epoxy putty) over the area required. I made it bigger than the slot in the blaster so I could sand it down to fit once it had hardened. And that brings me to this evening... 1 - The tube I found in a drawer (it had a ballpoint pen inside it). 2 - Positioned inside the barrel (as it was when I marked it last night). 3 - Milliput shaped to suit (filed flat then filed down to form the shape). 4 - In position on the tube (pre-moulding the milliput onto the tube formed a nice little locating ridge). 5 - The spring I made from a piece of coat hanger wire. 6 - All in position with the end cap holding it in place. I'm going to hand paint these parts as I want the bolt to be gunmetal and the handle to be black. I shall glue them all in once the main body of the blaster has had its top coat. More soon, Si.

Cheers Darren.

Thanks guys, going to be starting the paint job tonight.

Thanks Matt!

OK, Hengstler mod part 2. Adding a window. 1 - 100mm square of 2mm clear acrylic. Window required marked on protective sheet. 2 - Window hacksawn slightly oversize to allow for sanding edges. 3 - Curved face roughly filed (using a flat bladed needle file). 4 - Sanded smooth and uniform with a 240 grit flexible sanding pad. 5 - Sanded smoother still with a cork sanding block. 6 - Polished clear with T-Cut (refraction occurs at a distance). 7 - When laying flat, the clarity improves so I call that finished. 8 - Positioned in the recess the numbers look easily readable. 9 - Another view of the window in position. All I have to do now is add the reset switch. I'm sure it'll look better once it's painted too. More soon, Si.

Yup, that was me, met up with a few of the UKG fellas to get the lowdown. No doubt we'll meet up on a troop one day soon buddy, I'm hoping to be ready for approval & induction by the new year.

Thanks for the support guys, I'm thoroughly enjoying this build. Even more than I though I would! Si.

Nice work Jim, congrats!

I've not done a great deal more on the blaster itself but I thought I'd share tonight's work with you all. Inspired by Dazauto's brilliant Hengstler mod, I set out to do one myself. I knew if what I had planned went horribly wrong I'd be able to go with Darren's mod to hide the mess I made. However, as it stands I think I'm going to be alright. I put up a post on FISD asking for the dimensions of the Henstler face (thanks again Vern). I drew it to size and printed it off. The pic below shows the steps I took this evening to make my mod. 1 - Face of counter already sanded flat and paper template cut out. 2 - Stuck template to counter with spray mount. 3 - Marked the apertures with a fine marker to help me see. 4 - Slowly scratched out a sharp edge with a needle file. 5 - Used a Dremel to remove the rest. All nice and flush. 6 - Printed out a number and placed it in (temporarily). Once it's all painted black and I've shaped a piece of clear acrylic to go over the number I'll put it all together. And if anyone want's it, here's the number I used (and a yellow version of it too). (just print out 100% @ 300 dpi and it'll be the right size) Knowing my way around photoshop helped me get exactly what I wanted. Eventually it'll display my TK digits, but it's only a matter of typing them in on the psd file, I've not got to mess about editing them all again, they'll appear over the barrels in the correct place. With that in mind, If anyone wants to do a similar mod and would like a specific number in this style just drop me a PM. More soon, Si.

Vern, you are an absolute Diamond Geezer! Huge thanks for these dims, I can now move to the next step of my plan. I never saw any of the live Peel sessions sadly, although I do have the Zeppelin BBC sessions CDs which is pretty epic. My music collection and preference is mixed. If you want to tag Napalm Death with the grindcore label, then yes, I have some, but not much. Lately I've been fluctuating between 60s/70s rock (Hendrix, Zep, Floyd, Clapton, etc), European Symphonic Death/Black metal (especially Dimmu Borgir and Cradle of Filth) and Electronica/Aggrotech (Combichrist, Psyclon Nine, Suicide Commando). They all seem to go well with blaster building! Thanks again, Si.

Thanks Darren, that was one of the first mod threads I bookmarked when I began my search all those months ago. If the mod I want to do to mine goes pear shaped, your thread will be my first port of call to get me out of the mire. Cheers bud.

Cheers Vern! It doesn't really need to be modified Roger. I just want to do mine so that it looks more like an authentic Henstler counter rather than how the resin one currently looks. It's purely a cosmetic thing for my own amusement. Si.

I'm doing the same with mine. I'll be using low profile M6 hex head bolts to fix my scope on. I'm going to glue the counter bracket to the underside of my rail, paint it all, fit the counter, then glue the bolts and scope in place before mounting the whole lot onto the blaster.

Hi all, I'm looking for some help from any of you lucky enough to own a real Hengstler counter. I'm hoping to mod the end of my Doopydoos resin one and would like to know the dimensions indicated below. I'm going to cut out the hollow to insert numbers and rebate the face for the clear plastic screen so that it sits flush. If you could post A=... B=... C=... it would be a great help. I'd prefer metric dimensions (to the nearest half mm will be fine ). Many thanks, Si.

Don't be too hard on yourself Sean, your build is one of the ones I've followed intently! I just like incorporating some of the little finishing touches from lots of other builds into mine while keeping the whole thing fun for myself and not going overboard. Thank you Serge, I'm really enjoying it.

Great job Phil, congrats!

Thanks Glen & Mark! Right, the build continues! Have had a bit of fun tonight making a "magazine thingy". Yes, I'm certain that's what they're called. Pics below as follows: 1 - Small piece of 2mm aluminium and paper template (by me). 2 - Template stuck to aluminium with spray mount and cut roughly to size. 3 - 20 minutes of filing later, shaping is finished. 4 - Two V shaped grooves filed to aid bending. 5 - Holes drilled and paper removed. 6 - Bent into shape. 7 - Section of an old screwdriver sawn off for the central part. 8 - Decided not to use the holes, I glued on nail heads for end sections. 9 - Placed into position on magazine. Just after picture six I decided the 2mm aluminium looked too thick so I filed inside the folded piece til it looked about right. I'm under no illusion that this is über accurate, but it looks good enough for me. And besides, I doubt it'll ever get noticed once the blaster is finished. More soon, Si.

OK, I decided I wasn't happy with how close my Hengstler was to the scope. Rather than make a new bracket I added a bit of leftover 3mm ally to pack it off. Here's the packer glued on. And here it is all filed flush. Once it's painted up I doubt it'll even be noticed, and hey, it's not like I'm going to blab about it by posting on an internet foru... oh. I also decided that I'm not going to add the selector switch until I've painted it (so I can more easily paint silver beneath its position on the grip). I have added a pin in readiness though. And here is what it looks like as of last night. The scope looks a bit high due to the fact it's sitting over the nut & bolt that is temporarily holding the counter bracket to the scope rail. Once it's all painted the nut won't be there and it'll sit flat to the rail. More soon, Si.