T-Jay

Update #01 - Smooth surfaces The problem with 3D prints is to get rid of the print lines. Sanding is most common but blasters have too many small areas where it is hard to get to. So I searched for a method to smoothen the surface by adding something to it. I was recommended to try an acrylic bush-on modeling paste. Bought it, tried it but had to sand the brush strokes. Therefore not suitable. Then I came across XTC-3D. A two-component epoxy resin (ratio 2:1) to brush on with interesting results in many Youtube videos. Instead of this I bought the simplest two-component epoxy resin I could find. It was transparent, cheaper and easier to mix (ratio 1:1). Result: worked good, multiple thin layers recommended, no sanding required. To then remove the last rest of any print lines, I applied some coats of spray primer. And to add structure, I used spray paint with hammered finish… It took several layers of primer and hammered paint to make all parts look like in the next photo. Then I finally added the matte black to everything but was so busy, I forgot to take pictures.

Hello there Last summer I bought a kit for a DLT-19 blaster from @Freduster who didn‘t find the time to build it. It was 3D-printed by @Rasagal, using a free online file. While doing some research on the original MG-34 I found many details to be wrong or completely off. Seemed like it was not the most accurate file out there, so I tried to make the best of it. A build thread was not planned so I did not take photos right from the start, but captured some progress later to retrospectively do one now. The front barrel made me worry because cooling holes and T-tracks had the wrong amount and wrong layout. Additionally there were flat areas for gluing the T-tracks, also in the wrong positions. So I decided to rebuild the barrel from scratch and buy accurate T-tracks.

Thanks for all the kind words, guys. Means a lot to me. Thanks Brian. Hope you don't mind I meanwhile took your premium scope out of that little showcase box. It simply was too much fun to tell people "One of these scopes is real. Guess which one - without touching." Hey Tony. Guessing I won't ever offer something like this for sale. Just imagine the shipping costs... However, if you want to upgrade the wall-mount for your blasters, here is a link to the gun rack, which started it all. The measurements should help to build something similar and you can expand or reduce the size to match your amount of blasters.

Update #10 - ‘with some modifications’ Thought about placing some kind of control panel below the drawers. Should be easy to make from wood with some knobs and greeblies. Then I got an old tablet in hands and things went a bit crazy. Sorry, had missed to take photos of some steps. Now what to do with that thing? Would be cool to have some Star Wars footage, looking like coming from Death Star security cameras or so. Hm, maybe that already exists?! On Youtube I indeed found a suitable clip. So I contacted the owner and asked for permission to use it. As chance had it, this was made by FISD member Daniel @SKUTCH and he agreed. Thanks again, Daniel. He looped a 3.5 mins sequence to a 25 mins clip. I chopped it down to 2.5 mins with no audio and transferred it to the tablet, where it can run in an endless loop. Wondering how it looks like? You got to wait a moment. Then it was time to fill that cabinet with everything I had gathered over the years plus the blasters, all decoration and stuff. I started at the bottom because some things are just stacked on top of each other. Ever since finding those device covers, I dreamed of how cool it would be to have the red and white lights blinking, like seen on many background props in the movies. Unfortunately I wasn‘t able to do that but luckily there is Dave @Cody42 in my Squad. He had offered to build custom-made circuit boards to fit behind the covers. It took some time, phone calls, measurements and bucks but he went all out and designed the following: Having no AC power outlet nearby the cabinet, he ingeniously made the circuit boards to work at 5V DC via Mini-USB port. That means they can be operated with a standard power bank. It is also possible to switch through various light modes, adjust the brightness and the interval time. And whatever you select remains stored in the memory, even when the power source gets disconnected. https://youtu.be/x7fIisnKrJM In the video you can see two temporary push buttons. These are required for configuration. For the final setup Dave had simply planned with my black switches, which were already present in both panels. Dave, I cannot thank you enough for this awesome work. Even after a few years now, everything is still working fine. And that‘s it. Project finally completed. The cabinet is completely filled with goodies and electronics. The 'surveillance' video looks very cool and the lamps change every 10 secs. As photos don‘t work well to show the final result, I simply filmed the cabinet from top to bottom. Enjoy.

Update #09 - Cabinet background Never felt happy with all that free space inside the cabinet. And the boring rear door was still clearly visible. So I had to focus on the background instead of the display pieces. Was happy with the result and for me both panels brought some Star Wars vibe into that cabinet. Yes, blinking lights would have been very cool but I lack the skills to build something. We‘ll get back to that later. Next I had to reorganize a few items inside the cabinet. About six years ago, two drawers had been added, just laying on a painted wooden shelf. Their flat metal surface made them slip around, each time I touched them. Pretty useless when not being mounted. So I tackled this next… Moving the drawers to the middle, caused a large area to fill right below them. This (plus other things) will be covered in the next update...

Happy new year everybody Wow! The last update is already 6 years ago. I can’t believe it. During that time however, the work on this project continued and I finally wanted to share the result with the following two updates...

Thanks for the update, Chris. I experienced FISD to be somewhat slow since a few days (end of last week) and hoped this was only caused by the work in the background. However, the problem is still present. Not sure if this was discussed or even mentioned somewhere else?! But I am not the only one. Any info on that? Thanks in advance.

However, I always felt there is something missing to make that Vader look more fearsome and terrifying. So I thought of a Star Wars-styled base… The camera did not get the colors right but in reality there is a clear difference between the amber and the red. Just look at the wall to the left of the base. Anyway, as this is an ANH Vader, I tend to use the white light most of the time. And here is how it all looks during daytime.

Hi everyone Since a few years I wanted to build a lifesize Darth Vader display for my living room. In May 2020 things got serious and the build was then completed in less than one year (April 2021). Running a WIP thread was not on my list, but I had taken photos of some build stages to do a rough one now. In places it might feel a bit rushed, so here is how it all turned out... Part list: Dome: TM Facemask: TM Armor: 80s ESB/ROTJ Tour Cast Chestbox: Darth Rosso & FenixProps Shin Guards: Korbanth Cod Piece: Dark Shadow Boots: orig. WWII Wehrmacht Offizier Cape Set: KevVader Leather Suit: FenixProps Belt: Paul Walsh Belt Boxes & Buckle: Dark-Side Gloves: Endor Finders Ligthsaber: Parks Sabers Saber Hook: self-made My friend Nick @Darth Niob had an 80‘s ESB/ROTJ Tour armor plus TM dome for me (both already painted) and arranged a suiting TM facemask from Paul Walsh in the UK. Paul had kindly sent that mask straight to Juan Fernandez in Puerto Rico for finishing. I used the meantime to focus on gathering the other parts and the mannequin. From my lifesize Stormtrooper display I already had a good experience with a specific type of mannequin and bought a similar one again. Of course it had to be modified heavily, to match Dave Prowse‘s dimensions. Meanwhile the facemask from Juan had arrived and as I had expected, the colors did not match the chest armor. Both pieces sit too close on the mannequin to oversee that fact. Luckily Juan had told me what colors he used, so I was able to buy them and repaint the chest armor. Now the colors match perfectly. Was quite happy with how Vader now looked and placed the mannequin in the living room. Not on the photos: a tiny bluetooth speaker is located right behind the front mesh of the facemask. When playing the ‘breathing sound‘ it is quite cool to have it coming straight from there.

Hi Andreas. Glad to see you finally went for the classic ANH stunt armor. Looks good so far. Basic approval should be easy.

The All-In-One TK Stunt Index of Resources has its own chapter for Armor Yellowing. Maybe you want to check this out... And if nothing works for you, it would still be possible to convert a good armor into a Sandtrooper or a Zombie-TK.

...and if that doesn't answer your questions, drop me a PM so we can chat or run a phone call. This way you can ask many questions and get immediate replies.

Done

Hi Torsten. Welcome to FISD. Great to hear about your plans to join. Not sure what step of the process you are actually in at the moment. However, don't hesitate to ask questions here, or run a build thread (so we can assist) or just contact me via PM. We also have a section in German language, in case that helps you. Good luck and enjoy your TK-journey.

Donated. ?

As far as I know the Baptys were used for filming in Tunisia with the Sandtroopers and therefore are not the perfect fit for us Stormtroopers.

Donation sent.

Hi Ken and welcome to the FISD. First of all you have done an outstanding job on this blaster. Don't worry about the power cylinders and the counter being angled. We've had this discussion a while ago and both is accurate. Most builders (me too) just find it strange to have parts on a blaster that are NOT parallel to the receiver tube. But we have seen both so that's fine and gives it your personal touch. Your blaster looks great and once the stand is finished, I am sure it will make a very nice display. As it currently appears 'factory-fresh' you might want to think about some fine weathering?! This often adds the bit of extra realism. Not sure if @justjoseph63 already mentioned, but here you can find interesting info with a specific chapter for weathering. Regarding blaster certification: armors and blasters can be built towards different levels of accuracy (Basic, Level 2 & Level 3). As far as I know you can only get your blaster reviewed as part of your full application for higher levels (incl. armor), which in both cases requires to already own the lower level and thus the 501st membership. In other words I am not aware of a process to only certify a single blaster. Maybe the staff experts here know more. However, we DO have an unofficial certificate in the Download chapter of the E-11 Blaster Reference. Just check the PDF document and scroll down to the last page. Printed and framed this will surely look awesome next to your display.

Not sure if I correctly understood your problem but the first video in the following link shows how to disassemble and assemble the whole Sterling. Maybe this helps...

Also helpful for all things related to the classic E-11 blaster: https://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/32111-fisd-e-11-blaster-reference/page/4/#comment-422899

Never too late to check in for seeing a good blaster build. As always, great work Joseph.

Hey Ken, maybe our member Fieldmarshall is able to help you:

Welcome to the FISD, Markus. Great story. Looking forward to seeing more content from you here.

What sticks out to me is that both blasters have different kinds of T-tracks. While the tracks on blaster 2 look like having been bent to really lock into the venting holes, blaster 1 has tracks with no signs of any bends. It more looks like they have been shaped to have curved ends. This results in the question of why having 2 different types and/or methods of adding T-tracks. My guess would be both are rebuilds.

Outstanding Blaster, Adam. Yes, there have been a few blasters in the past which I found outstanding, too. But from all E-11s I've ever seen here on FISD, this seems to be the most perfect one so far.