Crossposted from the MEPD Forums...
So having placed myself on the 8-month waitlist for ATA armor, I've decided to build a gun in the meantime. As we all know with guns, bigger = better, so I opted for a DLT-19 scratch build. I have never done this before, but reading a few threads on here and at whitearmor inspired me to start. A huge thanks to gmrhodes13, as I'm following his build fairly closely. Fair warning: I anticipate this build will take me several weeks/months, but I'll be sure to keep updating as I go. Also, Wall 'o Text inbound... ### For starters, I got templates for the MG-34 here. This is the same resource that has been linked to in a few other threads, and it's a little more robust than the other template set I found from Blaster Builders. To get the templates to an appropriate scale, I loaded the picture file in GIMP, changed the ruler to inches, and took a few measurements. When I measured the total length of the gun at the image's default size, it was much longer than 48", so I rescaled the image until the gun length hit the magic 48" mark. If you're doing this now, load the image and go to Image > Scale Image and set the width to 89 inches. This will scale things appropriately. Use the measuring tool to double check dimensions. Because the dimensions of the image are still huge, I did what gmrhodes did, and created a new image file that was 8.5" x 11". I then selected areas from the templates that would fit onto a standard sheet of paper, and printed them off section by section. After rough-assembling the pieces, I was almost ready to build. A note on the barrel: I looked around forever trying to find the actual barrel width so I could determine what size PVC pipe to buy for this gun. The threads here and here helped narrow things down. Long story short, the outside diameter for the main barrel is about 40mm or 1.57" (1 & 9/16"), and the outside diameter for the wider part of the barrel (near the receiver) is about 43mm or 1.70" (based on my printed templates, not the actual measurement someone did in a thread from a while ago). For a quick and convenient chart that will take you from mm to decimal in to fractional in, check this out. Now here's a catch - there are no Schedule 40 PVC pipes with an outer diameter of 40mm/1.70". The closest you can get is 1 & 1/4" PVC pipe, which has an outer dimension of 1.66". This is large enough to be the big end near the receiver, but a bit thick for the actual barrel part. (I realize this is totally splitting hairs, but when I bought 1 & 1/4" PVC pipe and wrapped the barrel hole template around the pipe, it was too short. Given that the other measurements were correct on the template, I figured there must be an error somewhere). However, a 1" Sch 40 PVC pipe has an outside diameter that is more inaccurate (way too small) than the 1 & 1/4" pipe - so I stuck with 1 & 1/4" for the build, even though the outer diameter is a bit large. Purchase list: One two-foot long PVC pipe - 1 & 1/4" inner diameter Five couplers for said pipe One bushing with octagonal end Screws 3/4" thick pine board Approximate total cost: ~ $20 I cut out the side templates from my paper versions and traced them on the pine board, and then cut out the resulting pieces with a jigsaw. Results: (apologies for crappy cell phone camera quality) Stock This is very thick. Should leave plenty of room for sanding though. Main Receiver For the main part of the gun, I cut out one center piece that had the handle included, and then cut two pieces for the left and right sides that only fit the top part of the receiver. I know the front part of this isn't as wide as it should be - I plan on carving out some curved pieces and using small dowel rods to fix them to the sides of the gun later. Grips I decided to fashion the grips out of wood with a little Dremel carving, so I traced two grips for the left and right sides of the gun. The tops of the grips overlap with tabs on the receiver - this was deliberate. My goal is to carve out the tabs and the tops of the grips using a Dremel to fit them into the receiver. The grips will also need to be sanded down significantly (they're very thick when you put all three together). More to come when that happens. Top The top of the gun pictured here. This creates a nice gap between the receiver and the top of the gun, which is where future electronics will go (along with inside the metal box, as in gmrhodes13's build). Barrel The mostly-fitted barrel shown here. As you can see it matches my printed (to-scale) template pretty well. It's a bit long but nothing that can't be shortened fairly quickly. I have a little work to do on the front end (cutting the octagonal piece to fit, fitting the funnel part, etc.), but all in all it's coming along. The barrel holes still don't line up perfectly, but I figure it will be easy enough to replicate the pattern with a drill press. The pieces all arranged look like this: The basic form is there. Next it's on to gluing/sanding the stock, finishing the barrel fit, and screwing the receiver together. I'm leaving the receiver in three pieces for now. Eventually I want the build to include a translucent center barrel with LEDs that run the barrel length and animate when you press the trigger. I may need to make room in the center receiver piece for electronics - we'll see. Future challenges:
How to attach the barrel to the receiver. I neglected to make the front long enough to slip the PVC over a tab on the receiver's front. I'm considering a few options, like using a bunch of small dowels to create a "plug" that fits onto the front of the receiver and slides into the PVC pipe. However, any solution I come up with needs to accommodate a hole for running/connecting electronics.
Which sound system to use. I like skyone's Arduino idea, but I'd have to learn how to code the thing to do the blaster barrel lighting effect. Alternatively there's Blaster Core, but that's $$$ and questionable availability.
That's it for now - sorry for the mega post. I should have time this week to work on the project, but I have plenty of time before my armor arrives :-) Cheers!
