Dark CMF

TKboots are a beautiful option.

LoL... I think he's just pointing out (in a fun way) that no screen-used E-11 made any noises - unless it was dropped maybe - or lit up in any way.

Start the Slow Clap for this build... Beautiful work, Tino. Absolutely top-notch from start to (almost ) finish. Definitely one of the builds that will be referenced for a long, long time by new and old troopers alike! Congratulations on a job very well done!

The fun with cylinder bolts is just beginning at this point. LoL. Th magazine will be mentioned regularly. As for the scope foot.... Absolutely a mold flaw - which has been exploited/doctored up/will be painted to look like some form of battle damage. Thank you, Brian, for the compliments. More (paint, in particular) to follow!

I'm doing stuff... Thaaangs. Nighttime - back porch. A light comes on, revealing... A scope and a Hengstler counter prepared for primer! Suddenly, as if by magic, they are coated with a coat of white primer. So moving right along to the power cylinders. These things have slowed my progress forever because I want to have the proper nuts and bolts to put on the ends. So I'll have to remove the cast nuts, and reshape the ends of the cylinder caps. Resin cast nuts are removed first using sandpaper. Now, using some finer grained sandpaper (1000 and 1200) I begin to reshape the cylinder tip ends, giving them a more rounded edge. Definitely an improvement. Now, if I can just find the RIGHT hardware. :/ The divots that appear in the magazine on the Doopydoos kit should not be there. To get rid of them, I'll just fill them with some Bondo here, and sand them back down at least 24 hours later. Top divot filled.... Bottom divot filled. If you look closely (bright lighting ) you can see the color difference between the stock and the scope/counter. The proper nuts and bolts arrived!!! In a package featuring an excellently cast replacement magazine, there was also a baggie that contained the nuts and bolts I need for the blaster! If you're in the market for a Doopydoos build, get a magazine from Gazmosis. You'll be very happy that you did. What's this you say? Aged Brass, you say? Yes, on both counts. For me at least. Believe it or not, I do need a scope for my rifle, just like everyone else so I need to get it painted so it is ready for use soon. The scope is brass!! Another look... The scope is BRASS!!! Yay. Sanded down the bondo in the divot on top of the magazine. Looks like it might technically be a little wet still. It still worked out fine though. Bottom divot sanded out. Hole drilling locations marked on the front of the cylinders. Hole drilling locations marked on the back of the cylinders. This is the same drill bit that I broke and cut my hand on earlier in the build. Drill bit with one of the nut and bolt combos. Holes in the front of the cylinders drilled out prepared for nuts/bolts. Holes drilled in the rear of the cylinders. Nuts and bolts installed in the front of the cylinders. Just have to trim the bolts down to the proper length. All four await the Dremel. But that is to be continued. LoL (This is NOT a cliffhanger)

You could also put electronics into the counter box.

EXACTLY! I'll add that the skills used in a resin build are probably pretty simple to figure out. What you're doing is something that I simply can't do - and don't have access to the materials, even if I could. LoL. Truly awesome looking so far? Are you going to figure out a way to put electronics into it???

Wow. I don't even think it is fair to refer to this as a pipe build. This is more like a blaster fabrication than a pipe build. Beautiful work, Aaron. Beautiful work space, too. Can't wait to see it finished.

LoL... No, it won't be a cliffhanger. "Previously, on FISD's Tim's Blaster Build... I'm doing stuff, Aaron. Thaaaangs."

Okay... Just a text update for the time being. I've got a lot of pictures uploaded for a weekend update. I believe that the hex screw is good. I've got a lot of painting (base coats mostly) done. I still need to get my scope rail built and figure out my counter numbers. Then... It's on to finishing the paint job and final assembly. I guess I've got to paint a bunch of small parts and finish my bolt, too. Oh well... I've been very busy building something else, and that should be done this weekend so I'll post that thread sometime soon, too.

No official announcement yet. The contest page disappeared today and the last time we happened to see it, he was leading the vote count with 50 votes, and the next closest was 31. It appears as though he will win, but there is a clause that the winner will be decided by vote count and grandparents.com. I'll definitely post up the results when we find out what they are (officially). Thank you for checking in!

Looking good, Aaron!!!

I made mine out of a piece of plexiglas. I cut the rectangle shape, and used a dremel to round the top of it. I then took fine grained sandpaper and wet/dry sanded it to get it smoother before using the polishing wheel on the dremel to make it "usable." As Ian said, it is in my build thread - as a minimum - I borrowed the idea from several others, SorenM, SIMpixels, DazAuto all have build threads that come to mind.

Well... At the time that it was supposed to end, he is ahead 45 - 29 but it does not appear to have closed the voting yet. Thank you to everyone that has voted for him! If it turns out that he does win, the Legion and the FISD will have played a very large part in it!

Since my last post, some mom from a talent agency has thrown down the gauntlets and amassed 17 votes today. Kellan is still in the lead, but with only 7 hours to vote, it is a much narrower lead than it was this morning. I'm making a last-ditch plea for votes. LoL. She has publicly stated that she needs "only 9 more votes by midnight to win this." She is counting on Kellan receiving no more votes. I'd love to see all of you bury her with votes for Kellan. Only 9 more? More like 90!! If you haven't voted yet, please do so Thanks

Austria... January, 1992. Hohenfortress Salzburg, Mozart's home. Beautiful scenery, the cemetery behind the cathedral (?). Mountains. Friendly people. I really enjoyed it. Quite a beautiful city, in a rather beautiful country.

Voting ends today, and right now, it's looking good. Win or lose, thank you all for the support!

Ugh... Tino... Not sure about that just yet. As I've said since day one, I'm not a painter. As of last night, I'm seriously a praying man. I'm currently praying that the attempt to fix the damage I did last night works well. I shattered the area surrounding the hex screw beneath the magazine release button, while screwing the hex screw into the hole I drilled for it. Word to the wise, your resin kit shouldn't be very noisy when you are turning a screw into it. I'll post pics of all of this with my next update.

Looking great, Tino! Can't wait to see the finished product!

But I DIDN'T start it yet. I was waiting for this moment, right here. Oh well... (Starts the slow clap) Brilliantly completed Steve, it looks absolutely wonderful. Masterful build from start to gloriously painted finish!!

I suppose that it could be a universal Enlisted and Officer standard, with changing titles to allow for regional/language differences. The visual rank would not change, so an E-8 would be the same from place to place, regardless of title. Even within canon, there are allowances made for differing titles based on the "branch of service" (ie, Admirals and Generals both exist within the rank structures). I do think that splitting the LTs (or only having one LT) makes sense also. That would require some sort of additional symbol of rank for the Flag Officers though. Very cool thread, and nicely done on the symbology, Paul. It makes perfect sense and allows for a universal standard, so to speak.

Truly looking amazing, Steve!!! Well done. (I won't start the slow-clap until it is finished though. )

Yep. I'm with Steve - and the others. Beautifully done. You've got me thinking long and hard about investigating the cost of some of those number dies. LoL

Yeah... Like I said, I originally planned it as an "upgrade" but the more I looked at it, and the more I tried to figure out HOW to make the Doopy "folding" stock stay closed, the more frustrated I got with it. Then, the "other project" that I believe I mentioned to you served as inspiration for me to go ahead and do it now. LoL