VulpX

Thanks for the input guys! I will weather it some day, just not in the coming days/weeks I have a busy schedule coming up at work and my armor should arrive in the next few weeks too. The thing I'm worried about with trooping is not parts breaking, but more the glue not holding on for example the tracks, the trigger and the guard. I will probably add some pins to the trigger to stabilize it. I used E6000 for all of my gluing, and I just have a feeling that a little rough handling will loosen the bond too much. But maybe I'm just being paranoid... -edit- Ah well, maybe I will do some weathering this weekend I have Tamiya X-11 Chrome Silver acrylic paint that I use for gunpla, would that be a correct color for the blaster too? As for the weathering itself, which parts should absolutely not have silver weathering? The scope and counter bracket should be brass, the grip, since it's a plastic. The T-tracks weren't metal originally either right? Ok, so now I just need to find brass colored acrylic paint. -edit 2 - found metallic brass Mr Hobby paint. Thank you Ebay

And final assembly is done! I glued the last pieces today, and screwed the last screws, and this is the result! Masking worked really well, I have the grip exactly as I wanted it to be: Attached the magazine: Bolt inserted: The bottom bolt in the grip: Trigger and selector switch glued: Bolts in the nose. The bolts were actually too long and wouldn't screw in, so I had to saw them and actually glue them in: Guard glued And the result: I think I'll leave it at this for the time being. I think I'll weather it, but that's a job for another time. I have decided that I won't be using this one to troop, I think it's too fragile for that (and honestly a little too expensive ), so the next blaster build will be maybe a Rubies conversion? I don't know, something that will survive conventions So now I also need to build a display stand...

Cool, an electronics build! I'll be watching this!

Ok, so some parts needed more coats than I had anticipated, so the update is a little later than promised. After the first 2 coats I masked the parts of the trigger group on the grip that I wanted in the metallic color: And then I coated the grip with glossy black: This is after a 3rd coat on most satin black parts: Scope and Hengstler looking good: Yesterday I did some gluing of the tracks and the stock: I realized that not all parts of the grip needed that glossy look, so I once again masked a part of the grip, to give the rest a satin black coat: And this is the status right now. The last coat is drying, I gave the assembled piece some cleanup touches where some unintentional weathering had already taken place, and gave the grip it's final satin black coat. So if all goed well tomorrow should be the day of final assembly!

In hindsight I might have done that too. I have two layers of paint on them now but I think I have to do a third to get them neatly covered. Ow well... Thanks, I hope so too. I'll post pics this evening when I do the third coat on some parts and the gloss on the grip.

Okay, so here we are. a few hours later and with no more stinky paint smell in the apartment. Yay... Second coat of primer: And on to painting! I used satin black for most pieces: I used up almost a whole can of the satin black on this first coating. I'm not satisfied with it yet, do I just went out and bought another can which I'll apply tomorrow. Dry time for this paint is 24 hours according to the instructions, but I'll just let it sit overnight and apply the second coat somewhere in the early afternoon tomorrow. I used a metal color for the bolt and the trigger group on the grip. Tomorrow I'll mask off the trigger group and spray the rest of the grip gloss black: So that's it for today. Overall I'm quite happy with my colors. I think the satin black is not too shiny, and it will look awesome when it's put together somewhere in the coming days

Very nice!

Ok, a big update. I was able to do some more work the last few days, and am proud to say I'm ready to start painting already! Right now I am waiting for the first layer of primer to dry, so I have a moment to post pictures from the last few days and this morning: So I figures out the placement of my scope on its rail and drilled the holes And yesterday I did my T-tracks. I dipped them in very hot water that had just boiled for 25 seconds. Then I stuck them in a hole at the end of a broom I have that is just the right size (what are the odds, right? ). They bent easily. Before trimming: And after trimming: I also glued all parts that needed gluing last night with trusty E6000: I got the paint I want to use on the blaster. First a primer, then gloss black for the grip, metal for the bolt and triggergroup, and satin black for the rest. I made some hooks to suspend large parts from some coat hangers. The construction I made for the small parts. The alligator clips on sticks that I use for Gunpla come in handy The larger parts are really kept in suspense! First primer coat done! The primer layer on the T-tracks is a little too thick for a first layer. Hope it'll look ok after the second one. So, now I'm waiting 2 hours for the first coat to dry, and then it's on to the second one. Protip: keep the doors to your house closed when you're spraying paint on the balcony. I didn't, and I fear I'll have to live in the stink of paint the rest of the day

Wow, that weathering looks awesome! Hope I can achieve this level of detailed weathering on mine. BTW, I did my T-tracks this afternoon. I dipped the ends of the tracks in very hot water (just boiled) for 25 seconds. Then the bend very easily. No need for a heat gun

Ok, so here's a little update with pics: I sawed the scope rail: The little cut to assist with the bending: And it's bent! Thanks for the useful tip Derrek! I also needed to do some more cleanup on the stock, so I drilled out the residue on the tip: Next I need to work a little on the "teeth" of the scope rail, I made them a little to sharp so the rail doesn't sit very well on the barrel. Just need to make the angle a little smaller, easily fixed. Then I'll do a test-fit and screw all the pieces together to figure out the exact position of the scope and where I need to drill the holes for that. Then a very thorough wash and on to gluing and painting!

Ok, I'll try that than. I made a really shallow cut, hope it doesn't break. As always, thanks for the tips Derrek!

Ok, so I've been working on this steadily last weekend, together with painting my boots. I have all the parts sanded and drilled except the rail scope. I'll update later today with some pics. So for the rail scope I'm facing a little problem. I need to bend it, but don't have a vice at home. Does anyone have tips on how to do it cleanly with other household items? I've already made a litte cut in the backside of the rail so it'll bend easier, but I can't figure out how to do it neatly without a vice.

Hats off to all the contributors to this guide! Thanks a lot! This really helps with my build and clears up a lot of doubts I had about the correct installment of certain parts

Great read! Looking forward to the reference library!

What paint did you use? Matte black, satin black? Silver for the bolt? Looking really smooth!

Thanks. Yeah I saw the monthly report. Really great timing on the reference library!

So far I'm definitely enjoying the build! Which parts do you mean specifically with the trigger group plates?

This is looking great! I hadn't really thought about how I wanted to cut the scope rail yet, but your pictures reminded me I need to account for the circular angle of the barrel when I make the cuts. Thanks! Have you thought about your paint scheme yet?

I got an example of a blaster coated with satin black from a trooper over a DG: I think this doesn't look too shiny at all. I would only add a little gloss to the grip, more gunmetal to the bolt and some weathering. Thoughts?

Hmm, I'll go check at the hardware store tomorrow. Thanks for the tip!

Ok, little update. I did some more cleanup and sanding today, and most parts are coming along nicely. I drilled holes in some of them, and the only parts left that need some work are the counter, scope, the scope rail and t-tracks. I need to figure out the exact positioning of the counter before I drill the holes, and that needs a little research. Anyways, I had a little mishap yesterday and today, here are some pics: This is the little hook on the stock that's supposed to go into the barrel. Here is the hook after I did my magic: So I broke it. Luckily the hook isn't really essential to keep the stock sticking to the barrel, a little screw a few centimeters down will do that. And here is another part that I think didn't really turn out quite right: The power cylinder. I started sanding this today and I noticed there was already a crack in the plate the cylinder rests on. It was really thin of both sides, so to prevent further cracking I just took off the really thin base on both sides, and quite some resin residue on both sides. But now I'm a little worried. Of course this is now no longer strictly screen accurate. Will this be a problem with certification, should I go looking for another power cylinder? I think when it's glued on the mag well it will be hardly noticeable. I also started thinking about the paint I want to use. I came up with this after some advice from a friendly TK over a Dutch Garrison: Gloss black: grip Gun metal: bolt Satin black: the rest I think that will look really nice in the end.

Nice work there Captain! I hope you can fix the few mistakes without too much trouble. But all the other parts look really smooth. And so we all learn new things from each other, I now know I have to look out for the guide pins when I start sanding the rest of my parts down

Thanks for the info Derrek! So after washing I decided to clean up/sand some parts. I had two parts, the ring and sight cage, that had quite some resin residue left from the cast. Too much to sand away by hand, so I used a dremel to do it. I have never used one before, but that tool is awesome! Very carefully (and actually quite anxious, I really don't want to screw up my parts), I used the drill, saw and sand bit to clean up the ring and sight cage. Pro tip, use a dust mask while doing this, the amount of fine resin dust that is released can't be healthy So, here are some pictures of the two parts after sanding with the dremel and finishing by hand: Dust everywhere (and this is after a gust of wind blew most of the resin away): The parts look quite rough now, but that's easily fixed later with a nice wash and a fresh coat of nice matte black paint

So, today was a good day. A brown box arrived, containing the kit that will be my first big step into a new world: a Phoenix Props E-11 kit, ANH style, pipe included. I say first big step, because together with the TM kit that I will order in a few days, this kit will be a part of the TK ANH Stunt build that (I hope ) will be my ticket into the 501st! But let's get on to the important stuff: The aforementioned brown box: The neatly packed contents: The contents displayed: First things first, a nice wash: Next up, cleaning up the parts and finding out how much drill work still needs to be done. I am really looking forward to this build!

As a fellow buyer of the PP E-11 v2 I'll be following this closely