AgeOfStrife

Only a little more done this weekend. Started on the bolt and spring. The spring is an old coat hanger wrapped around a wood dowel. The bolt is some 20mm PVC conduit which has been cut lengthways and then had two smaller pieces inserted inside to push it out to 21mm and fit snugly inside the DD core pipe. Wood dowel inside allows the handle to be screwed in flush with the outer pipe. Next I'll get the trigger fitted and the grip reattached, then I can line up the rear sight ready to get the scope rail cut. Dan

Made a little more progress today. Drilled and replaced screws on the scope and the magazine receiver. Drilled and fitted hex bolts to front of barrel, and bolted stock on. Drilled out the recess on the stock, and holes on bottom of barrel. Screwed magazine receiver and grip to barrel to test fit. So far no glue used, all of the screws are fitted in close fitting holes and have cut their own threads. Still lots to do, but it's starting to look like a blaster. Dan

No drilling tonight, but I did go through all of the screws I'd gathered and realised I was missing the two small screws from the front of the scope. Find an old mains plug in the kitchen drawer and inside the terminal screws are the perfect size. They're brass so should be OK, a search on Google images appears to show both brass and steel screws being used on scopes. I'll use the brass ones for now, but if they need to be steel I should be able to find some in my tool shed, or in one of the ceiling light fittings around the house, in a small "choc block". Hopefully all the screws I'll need: Even found a brass screw for the free/lock with the perfect length to fit all the way through the grip, and a domed nut to fit it to replace the blob on the opposite side of the grip. Once painted up it'll look pretty much the same as the blob, but I'll know it's a real nut and my growing OCD will be curbed Dan

The really cheap 8x20 monocular I ordered from China arrived today. Took only a few minutes to dismantle, and it has one 22mm lens and two 11mm, so I'll have a small one left over. Next step will be drill out the resin scope and figure out how to fit them. Update: drilled out the small end with a 10mm wood bit, but wasn't quite large enough so had to use a Dremel sanding bit to make it a fraction of a mm larger. This was then drilled out again with a 10mm normal bit to remove the small recess left by the tip of the wood bit, and to give it more depth. The lens fits perfectly, I had to carefully pry it out after a photo as it was such a tight fit. It won't go back in until the scope has been painted. The larger lens will be more of a problem as its 21mm, which is an IDD size. I've started drilling out with a 22mm wood bit which is a little too large, and will add a very thin layer of epoxy putty or ABS putty to the inside edge to get a good fit. I used a 16mm wood bit to add more depth, and then the Dremel to sand the step to a bevel so it looks smooth from the outside. Next job is to clean up any casting issues, and drill out the screws to replace with real ones. Then it should be ready for painting and detailing. Dan

Started on trying to make a working stock. Not sure if it's going to be a success, but I'd kick myself if I built the blaster and didn't at least try to make it as best I could. Couldn't find square U shaped channel in the size I wanted, so used L shaped glued together. This needed a little trimming to get both sides to match up, but it came together OK. The arms were heated with a hair dryer to add the bends. A second layer of PVC was glued on to reinforce the arms and help retain the bend. The dowel will get replaced with since plastic or aluminium tube, but helps to make sure I've lined everything up and adds pressure to the extra PVC to help the gluing. I've used PVC Weld which should bind the surfaces together. I've also made a start on the shoulder plate but I'm not sure it'll work yet. Dan

My boss let me have a rummage in the workshop today and I've got far more bits I can use now. I originally wasn't going to go too far with this, but with these bits I can go all out. Various grub screws, slotted head screws for the scope and counter, springs for the trigger, pretty much everything I was after was there. Also picked up a 20mm PVC conduit to use inside the barrel. I'm even tempted to build a working folding stock, there are only a few moving parts and it wouldn't take much to separate the resin stock into the two main parts, the cubes which pivot, and a piece of aluminium tube. I might mock it up in plastic card first as I've got plenty kicking around. Dan

Just looking to build it to display in my living room. Not going fit any particular scene, will be happy to just get it together without making breaking anything. Looked at plenty of other builds so will be making a few mods to it such as drilling the scope to take the monocular lenses, making the trigger work, and separating the block from the front sight. Also need to find a small piece of clear plastic for the Hengstler counter display. I'll try to start working on it this weekend, first job will be to use the Dremel to clean up various parts and drill out the slot on the folding stock. I'll also likely drill out the barrel holes even though they are under the stock. Still need to figure out how to convince my wife that we need a new display cabinet to put the helmet and blaster in. And the Tomy/Marmit 12" Stormtrooper figure I've got on the way from Japan Dan

Cheers T-Jay, I have looked at your kit thread a few times but I already had quite a bit of it, my spare screws and other bits I've built up over the past 20 years and have a wide variety of odds. Only thing I don't have is pipe for the bolt but I can get that easily enough from one of the many hardware stores near here. Dan

My DD full resin kit arrived this evening, the last 3 weeks since I ordered it seem to have taken ages to go by. So far all I've done us checked all the parts were in the box, clean up the flash on a few parts (trigger, trigger guard, curved parts) and filed and sanded a few areas where the mould had blobs. I've already got a piece of aluminium 1m x 20mm x 2mm) for the scope rail, and should be able to use a sliver for the front sight. I've also got some 6mm hex bolts for the muzzle. I've also got lots of odd screws and bolts in my tool shed so should have enough to replace all the screws visible in the resin. And finally I've got a 8x20 cheap monocular, which cost £2.25 (around $3.50) on the way from China which has lenses which should be just the right size for the scope, thanks to Squimspickle for the suggestion in his scope build here: http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/index.php?/topic/31359-M38-Scope-build-from-DD-resin Obligatory box shot. Rough filling and sanding of most pieces, and large parts placed to see how it looks. The parts are mostly really well cast, will only need a little filler. Dan

Woo, boxed just arrived, haven't opened it yet. Time to start a build topic hopefully you should have yours soon.

Might be lucky and get it by Friday, tracking shows it was only dropped off at the collection point this morning so isn't actually in its way yet

As i wrote a few replies back, 22nd May. Dan

Had a despatch email today, and a MyHermes tracking email showing delivery due in 2-3 days. Looks like my email over a week ago about changing the delivery address was ignored though, hopefully it'll get delivered to a neighbour and not dumped in a bush like Hermes have done to me in the past. Dan

Glad I stumbled on this thread. My DD kit hasn't arrived yet, but I've ordered one of those monoculars from a certain auction site for £2.25 , even if it's junk at least I haven't spent much on it If my scope ends up being half as good as this one I'll be more than happy. Dan

Ordered mine on the 22nd May too, not seen anything either - and I'm in the UK, so don't have to wait for it be shipped overseas either. And same as you Bill, no replies to any emails I've sent. Dan

Thanks for the praise. I can't take full credit for the stripes as I did use a Trooperbay standard template, but I avoided decals/stickers as I wanted to give it a more authentic ANH look. Dan

Thought I'd post up photos today as fitting the visor was easier and quicker than I thought it would be. From the outside I think everything is done now, just the chin straps left and i think I can leave it alone. http://www.ageofstrife.com/download/file.php?id=3007&mode=view http://www.ageofstrife.com/download/file.php?id=3008&mode=view http://www.ageofstrife.com/download/file.php?id=3009&mode=view http://www.ageofstrife.com/download/file.php?id=3010&mode=view It'll be nice to have a break this week, although I ordered a Doopydoos E-11 blaster full kit yesterday so if that turns up soon I'll be getting on with it ASAP. Dan

I painted the tube stripes white, left them overnight to dry, then did the blue. Left that for a couple of hours (I'd read that the template should be removed before the paint dries fully to prevent peeling it off), and then peeled off the templates to find this. http://www.ageofstrife.com/download/file.php?id=3000&mode=view http://www.ageofstrife.com/download/file.php?id=3001&mode=view Left that to dry fully overnight, then carefully picked at the bleeds with a cocktail stick this morning. http://www.ageofstrife.com/download/file.php?id=3002&mode=view http://www.ageofstrife.com/download/file.php?id=3003&mode=view All the painting is now complete, including freehand on the stripes on the tears and traps. Just got the visor and chin strap left to fit before trimming the screws inside. Should be able to post finished photos tomorrow. Dan

Looks like I got lucky then, saw the email at 11:00 UK time this morning, got my order in at 11:20 and was still showing in stock.

Started painting, so far got the traps and tears filled with black (the grey doesn't like going straight on the ABS, the solid black should give it a base to adhere to), outlined the ears (should have filled them with black, will see how the grey goes), vocoder and hovimics painted black, and placed the tube stripe templates. http://www.ageofstrife.com/download/file.php?id=2998&mode=view http://www.ageofstrife.com/download/file.php?id=2999&mode=view Do the templates look to be in about the right place? I have them about a pencil width from the vertical part of the faceplate, and added 10mm masking tape to stop them lifting. Going to paint the stripes white first, then French Blue when the white is dried. Time to start the grey Dan

On that helmet both ears look similar, at least to me. On mine the right ear was about half the thickness of the left. I was going to paint before building it again as trying to paint on a helmet rolling around will guarantee I'll mess it up. At least with the parts separate I should be able to get the areas to paint in comfortable positions, and I had to take it apart to wash the parts so it's already in pieces on my table. Dan

The thinner right ear bugged me, so tonight I've trimmed the spare right ear and much happier with it, pretty much the same thickness as the left one and looks more balanced now. Here's a photo showing the two right ears, the first one is at the back and clearly much thinner. http://www.ageofstrife.com/download/file.php?id=2996&mode=view. And here it is from the front fitted on the helmet. http://www.ageofstrife.com/download/file.php?id=2995&mode=view I've now dismantled the helmet, hand sanded all the edges to remove any burrs, countersunk the screw holes on the ears, and washed all the parts to get rid of dust, pencil marks, and mould release. Will leave it overnight to dry out thoroughly, should be able to start painting tomorrow evening. Once the painting is complete and the helmet put together I'll fit the visor and chin strap, and then trim the screws back - almost took an eye out trying it on earlier :/ Dan

Both ears cover the seams, the right was a bit close though. I think I will trim the spare one to match the left better, probably later in the week. I had pics as I was trimming, but got a little carried away on the right, and as the ear beds to match the shape of the tube there's not much leeway. While it didn't take as long to do the second attempt at the left ear, i did take less material off each time so didn't need to keep going over the same areas repeatedly which I had to do on the right. Dan

Did the left ear, happy with the result although it's a little thicker than the right. I might try to replace the right ear with the spare if I can trim it to the same thickness as the left. I might also notch the tips of both ears to help close up the gaps near the tops. http://www.ageofstrife.com/download/file.php?id=2992&mode=view http://www.ageofstrife.com/download/file.php?id=2994&mode=view http://www.ageofstrife.com/download/file.php?id=2993&mode=view I now know why everyone says the ears are hard to get right! Dan

I've messed up the first left ear, took a bit to much off and it's not recoverable. Decided to do the first right ear before attempting the spare left one and ruining that too. I've got the right ear as close as I could without having a meltdown, although I might take a hair thickness off in a few places (marked in pencil) when I take it off again to countersink the screw heads and wash the helmet before painting. http://www.ageofstrife.com/download/file.php?id=2989&mode=view http://www.ageofstrife.com/download/file.php?id=2990&mode=view http://www.ageofstrife.com/download/file.php?id=2991&mode=view Do these gaps look acceptable? I've compared with some images from ANH and the gaps range from hairline to buy enough to drive a truck through. Dan