Plasticarmyman88

So after a very long hiatus on the boards; I’ve returned. I picked up a 3D printed shoretrooper helmet kit off Etsy for relatively short coin and it finally arrived the other day. This place has been nothing but helpful and encouraging for past builds so it was almost instinctive to log back in and post. I’ll attach pics of the bucket after unboxing. https://postimg.cc/gallery/vHXxWVM

Ps Scope Rail by Aaron! It's the puuuurrrrrrrttttiiiieeeesssttttt!!!!!!

Finished..........for now. E-11 next to my finished NE ANH Stunt bucket: Various angles:

UPDATE 6/7 Finished all of the base layer aging and weathering for the receiver tube. Decided to shoot for the moon and hopefully recreate the most accurate mock aged "surecoat wrinkle finish" FISD has seen to date. Weathering will most likely be on the heavier side considering my de-ac sterling weighs as much as an infant and I'll need a not-so-heavy but just as aesthetically pleasing E-11. Plus I'm planning a TD build and yea, pretty sure patrols in the dune sea would beat the s**t out of anything. Anyway, here's some progress pics! Profile shot: Charging handle channel: Top view: Bayonette lug flat area/barrel vents:

Update 6/4 Scored an authentic M77c off ebay for $50/shipped, stripped it down and cleaned it up. I have some quick steel curing as we speak while I run errands to fill in the ring gap. Still waiting on Aaron's rail to arrive hopefully today when I get home so check back soon!

Getting back to work on the DD E-11 now that I'm waiting on a fancy new scope rail counter combo to arrive from the fabrication master Aaron, so I figured I'd update while I'm waiting on paint to dry. I really wanted to get a realistic deep looking metal finish as the base coat before the flat black painting would begin. Picked up more Rustoleum flat antique nickel & soft iron spray paint and 500 & 1000 grit wet sandpaper. First, I went back and sanded out all of the silver textured base layer I experimented with in my previous post, then layed down 2 coats of the antique nickel sealed with a coat of matte clear after every coat of nickel. Did the same for the soft iron as well. After fully curing, I spent what felt like an eternity wet sanding the higher areas, and this is what I ended up with! Barell vents Bayonette lug flat area Magazine well Sight rail hole Charging handle channel Check back later! More on the way!

Finished the T-Track!

I know how you feel! If you were to walk into my apartment, and look around (thanks to modern tasteful decor and flair provided by the misses) you would never think it would be a place where someone would spend hours with small delicate jewelry files working with surgical precision on a piece of ABS plastic or resin to duplicate objects or helmets from an entirely fictional universe. One time when the other half had a group of all female friends over for drinks and girly things (not at all a sexist comment) one of them thought the door to my office was the door to the guest bathroom, and as I was on my way out the door I heard "man he's got a lot of halloween stuff in there doesn't he?" Needless to say I made my exit like I was trying out for a Delta Force operator position.

It felt very similar to say a wiper blade but a little on the stiffer side and after the coat of matte clear there was still enough give to make cutting and installing not too challenging but flexibility was drastically reduced post matte clear coat. Plus they have the bevel on the inside of them so there was no battle when mating the surfaces unlike resin ones that don't have the rounded bevel so when gluing they fit like a dream unlike flat non rounded ones.

Picked up a set of 6 8" film canon extruded rubber T-Track off the custom saber shop for $20, they were a little on the softer side so pre-installation they received a coat of matte clear coat to stiffen them up a tad, and they come with adhesive already on the underside so installation was a breeze minus the measuring, which was nice because I didn't have to boil any water or burn the life out of my finger tips. I'll give them the rest of the night to cure and shape with the help of an elastic rainbow then do some fine gluing in the morning. Sight rail is in the works for tomorrow after class. Depressing since the sight rail will be the last of the building process until funds are available to pick up a real M38 and counter

Oh how I wish I had access to such tools and resources!! Why aren't you my neighbor Aaron?!

All I could get in today thanks to another afternoon New England monsoon :/

The work continues...... My make shift spray painting laboratory Filler primer is my best friend After priming and wet sanding Masking off the parts of the receiver that weren't going to get "texture" So im attempting to replicate the "wrinkle finish" texture. Found this at Home Depot, it's Rustoleum multi-color texture Close up of the cap and it's "texture" First coat of "texture" on receiver, folding stock, and end cap. Close up First pass of flat black Still have some work to do paint wise, so stay tuned guys!

**CORRECTION**: MG34.....my bad

I was thinking considering during the deactivation process by the ATF the weapons receiver must be torch cut in several places to weaken the structural integrity enough that re welding the receiver and firing the weapon would cause the receiver to become inoperable, and one of the cuts on these kits is placed before the front trunion that connects the barrel to the receiver, and being a "machine gun" means that it fires from the open bolt position requiring accurate and precise head spacing to prevent jams, misfires, stoppages etc. So, you could simply disregard the heat shield that comes with the parts kit, download a free DLT-19 barrel template and punch out the holes on a piece of PVC. Upon further research, the other pieces of the M53 kit are a 1:1 match with the MG32 used to for DLT-19s, so with some PVC pipe and time, you could harvest all of the cosmetically accurate parts off the MG53 kit to make a DLT-19. Plus the receiver being torch cut would mean a bit of elbow grease would be needed to reconstruct the receiver to get the MG back together rearward of the barrel. Just good for thought......