T-Jay

Kevin, that is a very impressive scratch build. Now paint it, paint it, paint it!

Update #18 - Sterling SMG L2A3 Aaron (usaeatt2) found a missing puzzle piece: the trigger guard. So let’s start with that. Okay, now comes what we were waiting for: the assembly. Thought a little video would be best to demonstrate this. Enjoy… The rear sight had been skipped in the video, so that was the next step (once the scope rail is attached, I am going to shorten that screw). Also the heads from the carriage bolts got weathered and added. Most photos in this thread were taken at nights with electrical light and this can change the look of the weathering. Therefore I wanted to save that stage of the build in some daylight pictures… Thanks for reading. Next time the bolt will be moved into final position…

Congratulations on your BBB day, Michael. This photo looks so familiar to me Have fun building the armor and good luck

Answered your PM and yes, I am soon going to make a tutorial for T-track installation. That was on my list anyway

Seems like the T-tracks seriously suffered from getting removed and added again. I understand your point of having them look old, although they stick out a bit. In case you plan to replace them with new ones, just drop me a PM. Have a set left and could include that missing hinge screw for your folding stock into this shipment.

Sorry everybody, no update today because I am currently away from home, with very limited internet access only. Had not enough time to set up the full content before I left, so I thought you guys would rather prefer to wait a bit longer, than to get a rushed and incomplete update...

To be honest, I simply aimed for an extra bit of realism and therefore wanted this wrinkle paint. Most of the reference pictures I studied showed this paint. But you experts out there know a lot more of the original part... Hi Chris, I still plan to install electronics like shown in update #08. For the moment, I am happy when everything is in place without any further alterations. But the adafruit board that Sean (count chocula) mentioned seems interesting for such a modification... Thanks Bryn. Glad you like it. Realism is on top of the list for this build – but a real Sterling still looks somewhat different… Thanks Scott. Still very happy about getting the Disney blaster and additional parts from you. Winner, winner, chicken dinner The missing trigger guard is the first item in the next update. Caught me – how did you know When do we get another update in your sniper rifle build? Thank you Bill. Also thanks very much for the kudos in your own build At first I need to get some experiences with the electronics from that Disney blaster. Depending on that, it could later get changed. Will see...

Hi Shaun, very sorry to hear about the broken resin parts. Looking forward to see you integrating those real Sterling parts. Just for the records: this E-11 had originally been built as an ANH blaster. Somebody must have modified it to ESB later.

That is some very interesting information. I always thought the scopes in the movies were mounted incorrect. (edited my text above) Well, in that case we might have a chance to get a resin scope working somehow... someday...

Your Completion Set is on the way already Ask yourself what this blaster will later be used for. If you build it for trooping, make it durable. If it will be a home display (or for minimal trooping) you can go into the details. Some (not all) details can make your blaster fragile, but there are also ways to integrate details into a blaster, made for trooping. Here is a link to a collection of modifications (not sure if you had seen this). Check out what has already been done on other builds and to find ideas and inspiration for your own blaster.

Thank you very much, Dennis. Are these computer generated images? Or digitally altered in some way(s)? Found a few details that look strange to me (but I don't know each and every Sterling version out there).

Update #17 - Making new things look old 48 agonizing hours after painting, I examined the parts and was excited as a child… For some unknown reason, the sides of the trigger group did not get the desired effect. Would not consider this “a mistake”, more likely it’s just a “happy little accident” However, there is at least a visible structure and most of this area will later be covered by the arms of the folding stock. All in all I was not super happy, because a lot of the Humbrol had to get repaired. And although the paint chips could be worked to look good, there simply were too many. During the below following weathering process, I later reduced their intensity by dry-brushing most spots with semi-black paint. Before we jump to that, there was still some work to do on the grip. While this dried, I continued with the wear and tear. Humbrol 27004 and 27003 for metallic effects (27003 is a bit brighter and got used for the trigger group, inside the grip). Revell Silver 91 to slightly dip onto the Humbrol to give the illusion of highly stressed edges. Small defects from the original parts in the resin can be used to support the effect. Humbrol 113 to dry brush some surface rust. Looked okay, but something was still missing. Whenever gazing at Andy’s (PlayfulWolfCub) metal power cylinders, I am fascinated by his professional work to make these look old. Aaron (Squimspickle) had recently done something similar and referred me to a Tamiya weathering kit. That seemed perfect, but was a bit pricey for just 3 colors. Found something else online for less than half the price and tested it on the front sight… Never expected to use any makeup in this build, but hey - it did the job Still had some of my self-made rust powder from the first build, so this got added as well. Below are a few photos, how the other parts looked after the repairs and with fully finished weathering… To summarize the last steps: Layer 1 – polished Humbrol, Layer 2 – silver accents, Layer 3 – rust color and powder, Layer 4 – makeup dust. Weathering rule #1: Less is more. Weathering rule #2: Only with daylight (electric light changes the look and leads to overdo it). In the next update we are going to complete that „Sterling puzzle“ below. Who finds the missing puzzle piece(s)? Happy weekend

All good Kevin, there are still a few updates to come during the next weeks. After getting to “Sterling level”, the alterations from the prop makers need to get added. This will take some chapters. And in the meantime, I continue to watch your build Dennis, thanks very much for those great pictures. Had never seen the wrinkles so clear before. The instructions for this paint listed primer and heating as optional, but I had a bad feeling to expose the resin parts to 93°C (200°F) for one hour, which is why I skipped that. It dried in a room with constant environmental conditions, all within the required range as per the VHT instructions… Thank you Sean. The most complicated item to wrap is the grip. In this blaster kit, it cannot get separated from the area with the trigger group, but the wrinkles should only be on the sides of the trigger group. And the wrapping needs to be inverted for painting the other half… Hi Aaron, glad you have found this - and used the follow-button. Thanks Michael, your current build started very impressive recently. Already following to not miss any of your updates. Thank you, Mike. Will do my best but cannot promise anything… Fully understand you, Bryn and thought about a shorter interval to release the updates. But even just one per week puts me under serious pressure.

Kevin, you could ask Derrek (Dday) for a resin bolt...

This front sight guard turned out very good. Any plans on adding the knurling pattern?

Here is a picture that was made for a different thread. I checked the prisms and the dimensions are: 20.2 mm on the two equal sides, 28.0 - 28.4 mm on the long side and 11.5 mm wide/thick. These are big and don't cause any magnification. To get this, there needs to be the correct distance to the functional lenses... On the other side: we would not want it to work correctly, because the scopes on the movie prop were mounted backwards. Meaning, if you look through them, you see things smaller. Maybe we find a way to modify the lens-setup to really get some magnification, although looking into the wrong end. Time will tell... Any physics teachers around?

Brian, take care - you are getting deeper and deeper into that rabbit hole Awesome work. This puts future scope modifications into a new dimension... Will see if I can submit measurements of the prisms from the monoculars later.

Hey Sean, there is a monocular in that Completion Set V 2.4 that you got. If you fully disassemble this, you will find 2 prisms. These are bigger than the original ones, but maybe someone can get this working...

A good way to scratch-build those two guards - and a nice clean style to run this thread.

Awesome progress, Kevin. I like and respect the fact, you are building two blasters at the same time. In the picture below you attached the two arms with an angle to the rest of the folding stock. This brings the "bend" in the wrong place (hard for me to explain, sorry). The folding stock runs parallel under the receiver tube. The arms are bent a bit closer towards to hinge. Sorry, don't know how to explain this. Maybe someone with better English can chime in. Added a reference picture to help.

Great work, Kevin and an awesome build thread. Just noticed a little flaw in your trigger guard placement. Please have a look at where the upper end sits on your build and the reference picture below. Maybe this is something you can still adjust? Sorry, this comment was only meant to help getting it more accurate, not to question your outstanding work.

Today’s first pictures fit more likely to the last update but were skipped, so here they are now (just two common mods). Update #16 - Bob Ross & “The Joy Of Painting” When finishing a blaster build, I usually go with the semi-gloss black paint (as seen in the last update) and weather it with Humbrol 27004 on selected spots. Looks okay, but those blasters completely lack the texture from the real Sterlings, because these resin casts were made from a CLEANED Sterling parts set. In my first build I tried to reproduce this surface with the “paper-dabbed” hammered paint and the result was different. So this time it had to be the accurate wrinkle finish. On various reference pictures we find a lot of wear and tear, that I also liked to incorporate. This wear and tear is important for a believable look and I did not want to simply add silver color onto the wrinkle paint. The only way to get it more realistically seemed to be a multi-layer paintjob. The following pictures show, what has been done to each part during this process: Step 4: took photos from all the covered spots after the latex had dried. This will later help to find the “paint chips” when these are hidden under the wrinkled surface. Next pictures show just a few examples… It is mandatory to EXACTLY follow the instructions for this paint, as it requires a specific room temperature, air humidity, triple layer spray technique and 48 hours drying time Next update will tell, if it worked and if the latex will still be removable. Keeping fingers crossed… Enjoy your weekend

Sergiu, Michael and Brian, you guys really make me run out of ways to say “Thank You” Happy to see you still read the updates and leave comments. Chris, thanks for mentioning the build thread itself. Indeed that doubles the effort. Beside of building, I take LOADS of photos, pick the best ones, spend many hours on the keyboard to arrange them and to find the right words for explaining everything Glad to hear about your thought. Let it settle, let some time pass by and the day will come where you start a new build. After my first one was done, I did not seriously expect to build another one… Two years later (and with a much better kit available) this all started again... Thanks Jason. The truth is, I work slowly to avoid at least a few mistakes and that makes it all really time-consuming. But I guess that’s what hobbies are about: spending your time in something you like.

That looks interesting... Good luck Michael

Always a pleasure to read the newsletter. Thanks for all the hard work to put this together!