usaeatt2

I had a "driving in Chicago during rush hour traffic on Friday" fiasco, but I was finally able to get my hands on 5MM brass tubing. 3/16" tubing is too small and 7/32" tubing is too big. Nobody makes 13/64" tubing. With that and some Sculpey modeling clay in specific colors, I could finally use Andy's advice and have a go at making a more accurate set of capacitors. These will be painted, so I'm not real concerned about the text or decals - but I did want to get much closer on the size and shape...no more "bedazzled" capacitors! I cut the tubing to length and filed a smooth rounded edge at each end. For the small plastic insulators at each end, I used "copper" and "elephant gray" oven-bake clay. I rolled little balls of clay and pushed them firmly into each end. I baked all the pieces at 300 degree for 15 minutes. After that, I carefully sanded the edges flush on the belt sander. Next came shaping the insulators. I chucked the capacitors in my drill press, turned it on and used a combination of needle files and sand papers for shaping and smoothing. And finally, I drilled a tiny hole in each end and CA glued some wire. I'm quite pleased with the result! I could probably sand them down a little more, but I'll let them sit for awhile. I didn't want to get carried away on the first one...

The sight block is shorter than the dovetail - it does not protrude from either side. This allows side-to-side adjustment of the sight, if needed. The dovetail is 3/8" wide, 1" long and 3/16" deep (at the centerline of the receiver). The sight block is 3/8" wide, 3/4" long and 3/8" tall. Each "step" of the block is 3/16" tall. That leaves 1/8" clearance on either side of the sight block - in other words, you can see 1/8" of the bottom of the dovetail on each side of the sight block. Really tough to get a good picture since the sight guard is in the way... You can see one side in the picture below. The other side looks exactly the same, except no set screw. I hope that all makes sense...

BRILLIANCE!!! That looks ridiculously better! And the green stuff hatching with a file handle is GENIUS. Nice modification, Tino! I've always been curious which way is correct for the sight pin slope - seems like I've seen them both ways...and the search for details has yielded answers. The front sight block is a tension fit into a receiver dovetail: The sight block (which you did a tremendous job creating from scratch): And the answer to my question - the sight pin and grub/set screw. See how the sight pin has a groove cut on the side and the set screw comes to a point? The point fits into the groove and holds the sight pin in the correct orientation. When assembled correctly, the slope can only run towards the muzzle. Sight block partially assembled. The sight pin screws down into the sight block much further. Fully assembled in the receiver: Sorry for pirating your thread, but I wanted to share the discovery! Even without the dovetail, your modification looks dead-on AWESOME! Great work!

Two weeks strapped to a running box fan? Wow. Thanks for following up on this...

Very nicely done! Congratulations, Ericia. You definitely earned your approval!

That's an AWESOME effect on your tank tread wheel. Really nice detail too! Seems like it would take an enormous amount of skill to build and weather a tank like that...hmmm, and YOU built it. Even better that you already have the woodless graphite!!! The folding stock doesn't look bad, but with a couple minutes of work, I bet that seam would almost disappear. Seems like a simple investment. PM replied. I think you're onto something with the Doopy bolt position...

Nice post, Derek! Trust me when I say you've got plenty of skill compared to some people I know. I think your blaster looks just fine. You're identifying and solving problems or making compromises in cases where it would be too much work to repair at this stage. If you're happy with it, that's all that counts. Simple suggestions: For the folding stock joint, you might just try rubbing some spot putty placed on the end of your finger into the seam. I wouldn't get crazy with it - just fill the gap, spend a minute or two sanding lightly and call it done. Final coat should cover it. For the bolt, you can either wrestle it into place and touch it up as you mentioned, or sand off another layer to ease the fit. For the trigger, since widening the gap would require major surgery, how about trying some graphite to smooth the operation? It's dry, dark and lubricates. Even cheaper than buying graphite powder, maybe rub the sides of the trigger with pencil lead, then work the trigger a few times. Repeat a few times to see if it makes any difference. Rubbing the sides of the trigger with a pencil will also have a burnishing affect on the paint and may help reduce the thickness slightly. In the end, you're going to have a solid, troopable blaster. I don't see what's not to like?

Thanks, Steve. I've already got plans for a backup blaster...something, to my knowledge, hasn't been done yet...and it's gonna be COOL!

LOL! Paint is in the mail. I'm going to use flat black Gunkote for this one. I didn't even know that product existed until I read Felice's "Make do and mend" thread.

Wow, thanks, Andy! Funny, I've done a few other projects here with Sculpey Premo (very similar to FIMO) and I was just thinking that might work better than anything else. Plus, it comes in a wide range of colors. And now you've confirmed it - thanks, yet AGAIN! Also on my shopping list is to find aluminum tube or rod of a slightly larger diameter. The tubing I used is just something I found in my scrap bin and it's about 1mm too small. You'd think only 1mm off would be close enough, but you can really tell the difference side-by-side. Thanks for the pictures too - just when I think I've seen every picture of power cylinders, another one crops up!

Sorry, Ian... Purely out of respect for Andy, I won't be selling these. I couldn't have built them without his research/help and it wouldn't be fair to steal business from him. I didn't understand Andy's prices in the beginning, but after making several sets, I understand - making these is a ridiculous amount of meticulous work and if you count time for labor, he's very likely losing money on every set he sells.

Working on a couple more power cylinders and trying different materials. Stainless is the most difficult, but I think those look the best. My wife asked for a set to hang on a choker necklace for Cons and trooping. The stainless tubes and gold caps will polish up brilliantly. Wish I had a pile of authentic capacitors! I can't bring myself to paint the real capacitors since I only have three and another three on the way from the UK. Anything that gets painted will have capacitors made from aluminum tube. Looking for a better alternative than the beads for the end pieces. I may try punching some holes in orange and black plastic sheets with a leather punch and use the resulting "dots"...sanding a bead in half might work too, but I haven't figured out how to do that without sanding my fingertips off...

Long story, but I had to replace the front bumper on my truck several months ago. I bought a chrome bumper from Taiwan, because it was less than half the price of a dealer bumper. About 2 months after installation, it started rusting. By now, it looked terrible, but the rest of the truck is in excellent shape. I had to do something about the eye sore on the front of the truck. Yesterday, I removed what was left of the chrome (not very much) using a 40 grit flapper wheel. Then I sprayed the whole thing with Duplicolor Bed Armor (truck bed liner). Unfortunately, I didn't think to take a picture - it had a nice flat finish and is supposed to be tough as nails. I topcoated it with Krylon semi-gloss black. That's when I realized this is kind of like painting a blaster... Just thought I'd post the results for comparison and a possible finishing option.

AWESOME!!! Definitely excited to see this build. I've got a Doopy pipe kit, but also considered getting a DVH. I've got plans! Looking forward to it! Who needs furniture? All you need is a workbench and a bar stool!!!

I've run across the screen name a million times and figured you don't get that many medals for nothing...

Nothing makes me smile more than when I'm minding my own business, reading Centurion applications and I come across something I did being used as a reference... The top rail was "supposed" to be steel...but if you read my build thread a little further, you'll find the agony of defeat, where I realized I bought a 1/8" steel bar in error. Bending 1/8" steel is tough without heat and that's when I noticed it...you'd think I would have noticed during cutting and filing, but I think I was preoccupied with making my 4th rail. Sooo, the 1/16" rail you see in the top picture is actually made from 1/16" aluminum angle. Turns out it's difficult to find 1/16" steel bar. The 1/16" aluminum rail doesn't bow very much AND that's with a REAL scope and counter (heavy) attached. Maybe having the counter bracket and rail cut from one piece provides a little "rigidity" in the middle. Whatever the case, I think a 1/16" aluminum rail would work fine with a resin scope and counter attached. NICE WORK on all your modifications, Jason!!!! Congratulations!!!

AWESOME NEWS TIM!!!!!! Knowing how long you've waited, the excitement is palpable! I wonder if that build thread will reach 20 pages? And I'm all about comiserating over Strawberry Shortcake ice cream bars...

DUDE! Another great post! The rail(s) are deceptive. There's a lot going on in a small area and positioning occurs in three different axis's. In most rail threads I've seen, the person ends up making more than one rail. I've got 4 rails...I've seen as many as 7, before getting it right. I struggled a little with the counter position since there is so much variation in the film. I used several different screen shots and came up with a "compromise" position. I mounted the scope first. Line up the rear scope foot centered on the folding stock pivot rivet (Fun to say, no?) Then, I mounted the counter using the following "landmarks" for reference (looking at it from the side view): X-axis: I lined up the rear edge of the counter with the front edge of the rear scope foot (read that 2 or 3 times!). Y-axis: I lined up the top edge of the counter with the little dots beside of the number cast on the side of the scope. Z-axis: I wanted my counter flush to the receiver tube so it could appear as if it were glued in place. People may argue any of those references, but I think they're a compromise between all the variations seen in the film. Kind of an average position. As always, nice work, Tim! P.S. - Just noticed I'm the first post on page 20...I like those strawberry shortcake ice cream bars...

^^^^ VERY NICE ^^^^ !!!! What's the brand of the pimped out tote?

Great idea! How much?

LOL, yeah, sometimes I get silly about details, but I like the challenge... I built my first set of power cylinders using stuff I already had in my shop. I learned while building them and then bought authentic parts, like nuts, bolts and resistors from Andy. Whenever I'm fabricating something that involves machine setups, I make at least two parts...that way, if I screw something up, I don't have to start all over again. Right now, I've got enough parts to make at least three more sets of metal power cylinders. With what I've learned and all my spare parts, I'm almost positive they will come out better than my first set, so I can't avoid giving it another shot. For accuracy, I think they fall somewhere between Doopy's and Andy's power cylinders. Maybe I'll offer the completed spares for sale? Thanks for your vote of confidence on the wire routing. Whenever I'm working with my fingers in the chamber, I've made it a habit to move the switch to the "safe" postion or remove the bolt and spring entirely - I'm pretty sure the bolt would shear my 26 gauge wires in half and might do some painful damage to fingers. I won't grind a channel in the receiver since it's only 1/16" thick, but I like your idea of "blending" them with some putty. After routing, I put a couple small dots of CA glue under the wires - it holds them in place and isn't visible. Thanks for the genius compliment! I wanted to create a unique feature that I hadn't seen before. As a controls engineer, it just seemed logical to make the counter work!

Looking GREAT, Tim! Nice work with the micro brushes and yet another innovation with the "rubbed" flat finish. Along with many other troopers, I'll definitely be using your build thread as a guide when I start my Doopy build!

NICE!! <rubbing hands together briskly and smiling> You're using the exact same Duplicolor spray dye I used on the Cadillac seats and those are still going strong! Interesting reaction with the handguards - Latex or rubber is a completely different category...I don't think the dye is able to soak in since it's not a "fabric" so the dye just dries on the surface. Nice job with light coats on the boots. I think these are going to turn out great!

Thanks for the update and looking forward to more. Take your time and take care of your family!

Considering the level of talent and attention to detail on the FISD, yours is probably the BEST compliment I've ever received!!! THANKS, Jason!!! Thanks, Brian! Just gotta make more accurate power cylinders and get over the paint hurdle...