SlyFox740

What kind of glue are you using that allows you to finish an entire suit in one weekend?

Mark hasn't shipped your Armor yet, last time we spoke at the armor party you had your helmet already. But you're still waiting on the rest?

Hey man looking good so far! <br> Fellow recruit here from Cambridge Ontario. I'm just assembling my armor as well, though I have the AP kit. I would have ordered the Anovos if I was able to get in on the pre-order pricing. Also I recognize the characters in you comic on photos. I was also there, I went dressed as Wolverine.

uhm... Am I doing okay so far?, yes? no? Halt!? Move Along?...

The counters on ANH E-11 blasters had 6 digits, all white font on black rollers. The variant with the last two digits that are yellow or red is actually inaccurate and less expensive when buying the real thing.

Hey Jim there may be another armor party in the GTA next weekend, I'll keep you posted if it happens.

Just to be clear I know this thread is in the ANH Blastech E-11 section and is about the www.stormtrooperblaster.com website. I'm not trying to hijack this thread with stuff about Hovi mic tips, I was only trying to show an example of his plastic work in comparison to resin parts and the mic tips are the only thing I have two of to compare. His blaster parts are also extremely accurate, great stuff! Lightweight and strong.

Yes I have become aware of this site in recent months. I have actually spoken with Robert the guy who is doing the casting for all the replica parts, he makes them in hard black plastic, not resin. This is a good thing because plastic is light and strong, resin is heavy, soft, and damages much easier than plastic. Though it less expensive to fill molds with resin than plastic which explains why resin is more common. I was actually going to post a thread about the site but I didn't know if that was technically advertising or not. He is on eBay under the seller "swpropman" http://www.ebay.com/usr/swpropman?_trksid=p2047675.l2559 But he actually prefers private sales and is trying to get away from eBay so he can also be reached at swpropman@gmail.com. I have bought some products from him and the casts are clean and super accurate, and made of good quality hard black plastic. Here is a side view of your average resin mic tips (left) and his black plastic mic tips (right). Notice the vent slits in the plastic mic tips are actually open just like the real thing, that's accurate! Notice the precise detail in the writing of the words (Hovi-Mix Pa2) just like the real thing, that's accurate! The walls on these plastic mic tips are also thinner exactly like the real thing, the resin versions have thick walls which is not accurate. The original real Hovi mic tips don't exist anymore but they were made of plastic, these too are made of genuine plastic. Only the original Hovi tips were white plastic painted black, instead these are cast in black plastic so no is paint is needed. However these are probably the absolute closest thing available to a set of real Hovi-Mix Pa2 tips. For more photos of these mic tips and the rest of the internal parts for them look at his eBay store.

This is a nice kit, I'm assembling an AP too. You did a very good job putting it together!

Everything is looking good so far, keep up the good work Michael!

Thank you very much Tino, that means a lot to me coming from you! Your latest build has been very inspiring.

Shoulder Bells There wasn't much to the shoulder bells. Other than the fact that I tried to trim as little off of these as possible. They are basically supposed to touch the shoulder straps that connect the chest and back so I trimmed as little as possible. Right up to the point before the Shoulder Bells start to "flare out" at the mold lines. Then I sanded all the edges using 180 grit sponge block. I also kept the small return edge at the bottom of the Shoulder Bells, some of the suits used on screen had these return edges and some did not. Here you can see the return edge inside the bottom of the shoulder bell.

Forearms After finishing the Biceps it was time to assemble the Forearms, I basically used the exact same procedure again except this time I used the Lexan Scissors to cut the center line instead of a ruler & razor blade due to the curves in the armor. First I held my 7.5mm marking strip flat against the inside ridges to draw the center lines, then cut using Lexan Scissors, then I cut more 15mm inner cover strips to size, sanded and glued them to inside again like so. Making sure to glue each one on opposite sides so the two halves will fit together after. To hold it in place while the glue dried I used clamps with pop-sicle sticks wrapped in painter tape to protect the surface, and some rare earth magnets. After the inner cover strips cured for 24 hours I joined the two halves together using tape, clamps and rare earth magnets. First along one side of the Forearm only as the opposite side will pull apart when joining this side together. This allows me to align the each seam line perfectly. As you can see below after joining one side the opposite side pulls apart much more on the forearms than they did on the biceps. When trimming this armor for the butt-joint assembly method the two forearm halves won't exactly "fit" together at first. By this I mean the edges of the armor along the seam lines don't really align very flat when you put the two halves together. That's right where the coverstrip goes on the ridge so it will need to be flat, both edges of each half must align flush in order for the covesrtrip to sit flat. Because of this large gap I actually wait 48 hours before attempting to close the other side. If you read the back of the E-6000 tube it says it may take up to 48 hours to fully harden so that's how long I wait, after that I remove the clamps and magnets but leave the tape and even add more tape to help hold it while I close the other side. I then use the same method I used on the biceps to close the other side; first painter's tape, then immediately apply clamps to the outer edges, and rare earth magnets along the inner cover strips. This will be enough to hold the armor in place perfectly while the E-6000 cures. Again for the forearms specifically I waited a full 48 hours before removing the tape, clamps, and magnets. 48 hours later; here are some photos of the forearms complete with inner cover strips but no outer cover strips yet. Just like the biceps I used painter's tape to mask and prep the area for sanding before gluing the outer cover strips. Then again I used painter's tape to hold the outer cover strips in place temporarily while I applied the clamps and magnets. Then I repeated these steps for the rest of the outer cover strips on both forearms. They turned out really good and they fit me perfect! Forearms complete with both inner and outer cover strips.

Biceps I have been using the FSID Photo Reference Gallery to make all the cuts on my armor, I noticed some of the suits had return edges in certain places while others did not, so the consistency is not exact with the suits used on screen, I guess some of these small things are personal preference and/or cut to fit the individual trooper as the CRL does not specify requirements in most of these areas other than the wrist edge of the forearm which is a good thing. After rough trimming the biceps to the mold lines I made a 7.5mm wide marking strip using a scrap piece of ABS. This is exactly half the width of the 15mm cover strips that will hold the bicep halves together. I just held my marking strip flat against the inside of the ridges and marked my center cut lines. Center cut line 7.5mm from the edge of the ridge. After rough trimming, the bicep halves were plenty flat enough to use a ruler and a razor blade for the score and snap method. After cutting, I then repeated these steps for the other half of the bicep. Both halves line up really well with little to no gap whatsoever. After cutting both bicep halves to the center line it was time to make some 15mm wide cover strips for arm pieces. Using my steel ruler I measured carefully and was able to get three long 15mm strips from one of the included exrta ABS pieces. I'm really trying not to waste any extra material with this build as I will be doing both inner and outer cover strips, inner cover strips are not required but I like the extra durability. Then I used my adjustable square and clamped it to the table on top of the ABS cover strip aligned with the first cut line I drew, I should mention I have a 3' square table with 90 degree corners and edges. I then used a heavy duty utility knife with a fresh sharp blade and scored along the lines carefully. I read it's better to make several cuts with light pressure than it is to push really hard and make one deep cut so that is what I did. I used the score and snap method and It turned out pretty well, after scoring the cuts bend and snap fairly easily with nice clean straight edges thanks to the steel ruler and square. Then I cut two 15mm inner cover strips to size, one for each side of the bicep. Then I sanded the edges of the cover strips with 180 grit sponge block. I sanded each surface with 220 grit sandpaper before gluing with clear E-6000. I used Popsicle sticks wrapped in painter's tape to prevent the clamps from marking up my armor. Then I repeated all these same steps on the bicep for the other arm. Making sure to glue the 2 inner cover strips on opposite sides of the bicep or else you could end up with two inner cover strips on the same side when you go to put the two halves together. After waiting 24 hours for the inner cover strips to cure it was time to join the two halves together, only one edge first because gluing both sides at once could be a pretty tricky balancing act. This way you can align it perfectly, tape, and clamp it without worrying about the other side as it wants to flex apart from the opposite side being joined. After the E-6000 cured on that side I removed the clamps, magnets, and tape. then cleaned off the excess glue. Here you can see how the opposite back side flexes apart once this front side is joined. This can be counteracted with a hot water bath or a heat gun but that's not really necessary here in my opinion. The tape, clamps and magnets hold just fine until the glue dries then the two halves will eventually conform over time. Then I glued and joined the other half using the same technique with tape, clamps, and magnets to hold it in place while it cured. I then repeated all these same steps on the bicep for the other arm and waited 24 hours to cure. This photo shows both biceps with completed inner cover strips but no outer cover strips yet. The next step was to mask the outside of the armor for sanding in order to prep for gluing. I placed one piece of painter's tape exactly 7.5mm on either side of the center cut line then sanded only the exposed area with 220 grit sandpaper. I repeated this technique with all other seams. After cutting 4 outer cover strips to size I sanded one side of each of them to prep for gluing. Then using the same method of applying tape to hold the cover strips in place first, then immediately clamping the outer edges and then putting magnets along the rest of the cover strips to hold while they cure. And after waiting 24 hours my biceps were finally done, complete with both inner and outer cover strips. Using the FSID Photo Reference Gallery I determined that the bottom of the armpit opening is not cut straight across but follows along the contour of the armor and in some cases even has no return edge at all! They turned out good in my opinion, they have perfect 15mm cover strips all around and they fit me perfect! They feel really sturdy and structurally solid with the added inner cover strips. Some people think their armor feels kinda flimsy and thin when they first get it in the box, I know assembling it obviously adds lots of rigidity but somehow assembling it actually makes it feel thicker too. I can't really explain that maybe its just the added cover strip in the butt joint area, I don't really know why but it just feels thicker and stronger now. UPDATE: Since completing and test fitting my armor I have added the optional bicep hooks, some armor in the film had this and some did not. Harrison Ford's suit had them if you look at Han-Solo in his Stormtrooper disguise. They are meant to hook onto the elastic strap inside the bottom of the shoulder bell. I believe these may have been meant for taller troopers to prevent the biceps from popping out under the shoulder bells. But I could be wrong, they also prevent the bottom of the biceps from swaying outwards if you're skinny. To make these I simply marked the bends I wanted to make on a 25mm strip of ABS, then using the edge of a heat sealing iron I heated the surface of the plastic along each line I drew until I could bend and shape it into a hook.

Great Build, and a very nice kit you have there! Can I ask where you managed to find that DLT-19 in Canada?

Well I decided I should probably upload some pictures and update everyone on my current progress. I've also been keeping really busy with my blaster build as well lately so it's been a balancing act between this and that, but variety is always a good thing with these big projects. Here are some shots of my two-piece under suit, no logos or zippers anywhere on them. /;lmil;jiljl;i Here are some photos of me wearing my new Neckseal from Veedox, these are the absolute best neckseals that money can buy IMHO. They are beautifully tailored to fit each individual trooper comfortably. My favorite thing about this neckseal is not the quality or durability which is quite impressive, but the glossy looking shine on the ribs; The only part of it we really see, it looks screen accurate and it's absolutely beautiful. I ordered the dickie style neckseal not Hero as I'm building ANH Stunt. Veedox's customer service is top notch too! And here's a photo of me wearing my imperial boots with the under suit. As I said earlier I was going to start with the ABS hand guards just to get used to cutting the plastic, seeing as how I won't actually be using these for my Centurion application which requires Rubber or Latex hand guards. It was easier than I thought to trim, as long as you have the correct tools. There was no major catastrophe trimming the hand guards which helped give me confidence to dive head first into my Big Brown Box. Also TK6093 hosted a local armor party recently which I attended, I got to meet some other troopers both old and new and I learned about trimming and assembly which also helped build confidence in me. I attached the ABS hand guards to the rubber gloves using adhesive velcro, black on the gloves, white on the guards. Here are the white rubber hand guards I ordered for my Centurion application. I ordered two sets for backup, the top pair is from Karin Sonnenschein they are awesome, solid white silicone rubber, nice and thick, perfect color. The bottom pair are from the same guy that made the rest of my armor; AP (Authentic Props) these are also pretty awesome, solid white rubber, very clean castings. they are the exact same size as the original ABS handguards where as Karin's are a little smaller. These Thermal Detonator Clips are also from AP (Authentic Props), good quality clips however they did not come with the correct Black Slotted Pan Head Machine Screws. I had to purchase those separately as the AP clips came with inaccurate Square or (Robertson) black coated dome head screws (not shown). Here are the Black Slotted Pan Head machine Screws I bought, unlike the ones that came with the Thermal Detonator clips from AP these are not coated. They are made of a Black Oxide Steel so no paint or coating is needed and no chipping to worry about. I have way more than I need for my build so I may end up posting a sales thread for all these. Here's a photo of my TrooperBay order as it arrived; S-trim, Paint Stencils for Helmet and Ab buttons, Frown Mesh, Dark Green Lens Material. Here is a photo of my Canvas Belt from AP (Authentic Props), these are great quality! Here's a photo of the inner drop boxes I ordered from Kevin at KW Designs, they fit inside the AP drop boxes perfectly! They're a pretty close color match too, not that anyone will ever really see them. The AP kit already comes with inner drop boxes included however for some reason or another they're a bit small and don't fit the outer drop boxes as well as these ones do. I have some photos of actual armor assembly I just have to upload them so I will be posting another update in the very near future. Hope you enjoyed this for the time being and stay tuned for more to come soon. Please don't hesitate to leave a comment, I look forward to your feedback.

Episode II - Attack of the Caps The second most inaccurate part of this Airsoft gun is the Rear End Cap and then the Muzzle Cap. As I explained in the introduction they both have their inaccuracies and I will be correcting all of them in this chapter. I will be replacing the Airsoft Rear End Cap with a real Sterling Rear End Cap, and I will modifying the Airsoft Muzzle Cap to better replicate a real Sterling Muzzle as the real thing doesn't have a "cap". The rolled edge on a real Sterling muzzle is actually part of the receiver so it is not easily removable. I found a cast of a real Sterling muzzle but it's made of plastic, and I want a steel blaster so I will be modifying the Airsoft Muzzle Cap to make it more accurate. This mod took some time and patience, I've actually seen this exact mod attempted on this exact gun but not successfully. The other option is to alter the original Airsoft End Cap to look more realistic but that one sits too far back I feel, plus this option will be more authentic. You can't beat the real thing so why not use real parts whenever possible. Here is the inside of my modified Rear End Cap from a real Sterling MK4 L2A3 Sub-Machine Gun. Using only the tools below I was able to file out the inside of the Rear End Cap to fit the adapter on the back of the Airsoft Receiver. The Rear End cap nearly fits but the 3 pegs inside are just too tall & wide, so I made them a little shorter and skinnier using some needle files. The edge of the pointed file has one smooth edge and I utilized that to file small detailed edges while preserving adjacent ones. The inside wall of the Rear End Cap has three areas or "rings"; The outermost ring in the front, the middle ring which is where the 3 pegs are located, and the innermost back ring which is the deepest at the bottom of the Rear End Cap. The middle ring between the pegs is actually wide enough to fit around the adapter on the back of the Airsoft receiver, so the 1st outermost ring and the 3rd inner most ring just needed to be filed down with really heavy grain sandpaper until the depth matched that of the middle ring. This took some patience, time and was a little hard on the fingers, I pressed the sandpaper against the inside wall really hard while spinning it. A Dremel or rotary tool with a sanding drum would do the job quicker, I just wanted to go slow to make sure it remained perfectly round. Here are some different angels of the real Sterling Rear End Cap installed on the Airsoft gun. Here you can really see how a real Sterling Rear End Cap tapers toward the front of the gun, I'm so much happier with this now. Here are some profile views of the modified Sterling rear end cap on the Airsoft gun. Here are some Before & After comparison shots of my Airsoft Rear End Cap mod. Before on top, After modification on the bottom. And here are some comparison shots of a real Sterling MK4 L2A3 (top), and my modified Airsoft with real end cap (bottom) The first thing I corrected on the Muzzle Cap was the size of the center hole which was done by simply removing the internal barrel and barrel sleeve, after doing this the center hole is now much more accurate. The next problem with the Airsoft Muzzle Cap was it's lack of a rolled edge, it wasn't that sharp of an edge before but it wasn't nearly as rounded as it should be. To correct this inaccuracy the Muzzle Cap was put into a lathe and very carefully machined to have a rolled edge, this had to be done without making the diameter any smaller whatsoever. Here are some initial shots taken of the Muzzle Cap after being machined in the lathe. As you can see there is still a small ring of paint left around the outer edge, so the outer diameter is still the same size. It is still bolted to it's backing plate here, this was bolted together while being machined in the lathe just so there was more material to work with. Profile View, unbolted from backing plate. To give you a good picture of how it fits here are some photos of the Muzzle Cap installed before paint, this way you can clearly see where the receiver ends and the muzzle cap begins. The front end of the receiver tube comes with a very small taper on it which helps the rolled edge appearance a bit, once I fill this in and sand and paint it you won't see the seam line. The hex bolts in these photos are still the same incorrect ones that came with the gun. The accurate hex bolts with the correct diamond cross-hatch knurling pattern are somewhat difficult to find. Tino (T-Jay) provides a completion kit which includes the correct hex bolts and the threads even fit the Airsoft gun, however they are about 4 threads too long and they bottom out in the threaded hole. No problem at all, I just took them into the shop and grinded them down to size. Before (top) After (bottom) Here are some photos I took with the hex bolts after a prelminary paint test, this is NOT the finish I will be using. Profile Views Here are Before & After comparison photos of my modified Airsoft Muzzle Cap. Before modification on top, After modification on the bottom. And finally here are comparison photos of a real Sterling MK4 L2A3 (top), and my modified Airsoft Muzzle Cap (bottom) I hope you enjoyed this chapter of my blaster build, please feel free to leave any comments or critique my work. I always enjoy reading your all of your feedback. In the next update I will correcting the accuracy issues with the folding stock and the front and rear sight guards. to be continued...

Thanks Matt! I appreciate that. And yes I agree the Airsoft Sterling is a great base for a blaster build only first I want to make it more accurate to the real thing.

Actually it's an electric motor that's inside the grip, the battery goes inside the back of the receiver by removing the rear end cap.

Thank you Sergiu, I'm glad you think it's cool. I had to get a bit creative with some of the modifications I'm planning so I hope it turns out as good as some of the other builds I've seen. Very inspiring stuff on here, I will try my best to reach the bar that has been raised so many times. Well there was a fair amount of meticulous cutting and grinding. The original mag well actually had to be removed from that piece of the grip section too. Fairly precise work. The most precision required was filing the edges of the original Sterling receiver tube or the "plate" as you refer to it. You need a nice straight tight seam between the edges of the original Sterling grip section and Airsoft receiver tube. There is some detailed welding involved in the mounts on the front and rear of my modified Sterling grip section. This also requires some precision.

Actually No, I did not weld the grip base to a plate, that "plate" or piece of pipe if you will is part of the original Sterling grip section. I simply cut the Sterling grip section to size and filed the edges until it fit the opening in the Airsoft receiver tube just right.

Oh I see, I didn't realize you were already using that muzzle cap. What about this one from eBay? it's hard black plastic not resin and it's from SWpropman he makes really accurate casts of Hengstler Counters, Hovi Mic tips and other things. I actually own one of these muzzle caps already so I have one laying around. I can measure it for you if you'd like? http://www.ebay.com/itm/Star-Wars-38-1mm-Sterling-SMG-Mark4-L2A3-Stormtrooper-E11-Blaster-Muzzle-/262324234506?hash=item3d13be290a:g:5LkAAOSwoudW3fEQ

I recommend Aaron's resin cast muzzle cap with rolled edge. http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/35572-resin-e-11-barrel-spring-cup-muzzle-runs/?p=466644#entry466644'>http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/35572-resin-e-11-barrel-spring-cup-muzzle-runs/?p=466644#entry466644

Episode I - The Fake Grip Menace The biggest inaccuracy with this Sterling replica is the one I will correct first. Here is the initial design drawing I drew up for my idea to replace the fake looking grip with the real thing. After disassembling the airsoft gun there is a rectangular hole in the bottom of the receiver where the grip was, there is also a small hole for a tiny countersunk hex screw right in front of that rectangular hole for the grip. The mounting holes for the folding stock can also be reached from inside the receiver, I will utilize this to mount the real Sterling grip to the airsoft receiver. I don't have any photos of the actual welding process happening but I will show everything that's been done in detail. Here are some pictures of the initial fitting process taken at the shop. That little hex bolt used in the pictures is temporary, this will be replaced with a countersunk hex screw for final assembly. After cutting and filing the Sterling grip section to size it seems to be a really good fit. The scale of this airsoft gun is very accurate. I will be filling in those seams along the grip base welds with bondo or something similar, then sanding and painting. Although this will not be done until after the electronics are done in Episode VII. Preliminary paint test, this is not the final finish I will be using! Fitting with the polymer grip in place. Here is a real Sterling, notice the grip placement and the small gap between the folding stock mount. Here you can see the modification that has been done to the Sterling grip base section. The original mag well actually had to be removed from this piece to cut and grind it to the correct size in order to fit the opening in the bottom of the airsoft receiver. The new custom grip mounts are both in the front and the rear of the grip which makes it nice and strong. Again the screws seen here are temporary, I'll be using a small countersunk screw in the front like the one the airsoft gun originally had in that hole, and I will be replacing the folding stock mounting bolts with the correct smooth dome head carriage bolts in Episode III. The folding stock mounting bolts are now also the grip mounting bolts so they kind of hold everything in place and it feels really solid. Grip base with the trigger group Grip base, trigger group, & polymer grip Grip base, trigger group, poylmer grip, trigger group retaining pin & grip bottom hex bolt. Thanks to the Sterling's design the folding stock naturally hides the seam lines along the grip when folded up. Once I fill these in and sand and paint them they will be truly invisible seams. Since I have removed the entire Airsoft grip containing the motor & gearbox as well as the other internals the gun is now MUCH lighter! The real Sterling grip section still weighs less than the Airsoft grip when fully assembled with the trigger group and polymer grip. This will help keep the weight down significantly! Here are some Before & After comparison shots of my Airsoft grip modification, the differences are quite obvious! Before modification on top, After modification on bottom. And the other side, Before modification on top, After modification on bottom. And finally here are some comparison photos of a real Sterling (top) and my Airsoft with modified grip (bottom). And the other side, real Sterling on top, Airsoft with modified grip on the bottom. I hope you enjoyed the first update, I'm definitely much happier with the grip now! Please don't hesitate to comment, I enjoy reading people's thoughts and opinions on the matter. In the next update I will be fixing the accuracy issues with the rear end cap and the muzzle cap. to be continued...

Thanks Art, I'm looking forward to it myself. Thanks Christian, and I've been reading your blaster build as well. I appreciate that Allan, thank you. Thanks Tino, Your Completion kit is going to work perfect for my blaster build.