Jump to content

Addertime

Imperial Attaché[TK]
  • Posts

    488
  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    1

Everything posted by Addertime

  1. And yeah, if you noticed that I didn't bend the tab, you're right. I went back and did it a few minutes later but didn't document it.
  2. Magazine Housing - Part 1 Time to create: 1/2 hour Cost of materials: €0.40 For the magazine housing, I used ZeroRoom's plan and modified it a little bit. I built a mock up from poster board and decided to add a tab on the back side and moved the fold lines a bit as I used 1.5mm aluminum instead of the 2mm substrate recommended. In all fairness, I tried making one from 2mm aluminum and the added thickness made it impossible for me to get a sharp corner using the level of technology available in my little basement workshop. I spray glued the plan to the substrate and then scored and broke the piece from the larger material. I'm a big proponent of scoring and breaking any thin, flat material whenever possible. It's just so much faster. A few strategic saw cut aid in the breaking the scored pieces loose. Cut the arcs and we're ready to file and sand the edges. Sanding the arcs and then deburring with 220 sandpaper. And a shot of my favorite sheet goods tool, the hand punch. This affordable little punch easily pops holes up to 7mm in materials as thick as 16ga mild steel. And now, we start bending. I used a piece of wood as a ghetto brake press and it worked pretty well. More bending... Some of the bends require creative clamping... and a short time later, we have all the rough bends done. Pretty cool for just a half hour of work. A little more finishing and we'll use JB Weld to close up the shape.
  3. Thanks Tino! This has been my favorite part of the build so far. I guess I failed to mention that I used JB Weld to fill that gap. It's hard to see in the pics. I'm hooked on JB Weld; it sands an paints well and is easier than mixing up automotive body filler although it probably costs a lot more gram for gram but hey, these pieces are tiny. I shot a little primer across one side to illustrate what it actually looks like:
  4. Power Cylinders Time to create: 4 hours Cost of materials: €2.00 And now for something completely different. I'm changing gears from the tube to the power tubes because I have a short attention span and like to jump around in projects to keep them fresh. I was perusing the copious amount information here on White Armor and happened upon PlayfulWolfCub's epic Power Cylinder Research Thread and I was further inspired by T-Jay's How To: Make your Power Cylinders more accurate thread. I don't have the attention span to create a perfect replica and I'm still trying to create something from nothing here but I was rolling and ready to give it a go. I used some of the images from PlayfulWolfCub's thread to draw a scale pattern on the bracket in CorelDraw and then then created the piece from 1.5mm aluminum sheet. The lighting makes it look kinda golden but it's aluminum, you'll see. I pulled some pieces of hardware from my jars of random stuff and cut the pieces of aluminum tubing (€1.98 for a 1m length) I then cut a thin strip of 1.5mm aluminum and cut it into four sections the circumference of my tubing, bent it around a piece of tubing to make the arc and finished the bend with pliers. These bands are the sides of the end caps. I also added slots for detail. As I was building the end caps on the tubes, the cylinders needed to be inserted into the bracket prior to assembly. The bands were attached using cyanoacrylate. It had the advantage of being thin and thus drawn under the band via capillary action as the band was clamped in place. Then came the washers with the screws and nuts. Now, it would have made my life easier if I had a threaded rod to span the length of the tube but that require another trip to the hardware store and I went with screws instead. Next I epoxied the tubes to the bracket and began work on the capacitors. A piece of wooden dowel from my infamous "box of sticks" as the movers labelled it 13 years ago The name was appropriate and stuck. It holds all manner of longish pieces of wood, tubing, panduit, metal rods, etc. We still call it the "box of sticks" in our house. Anyway, back to our program, I cut three lengths of dowel and drilled the ends fir the wires. Some floral wire from the craft box became the wires. To make bent wire perfectly straight, stretch it. Put one end in a vise and pull the other end with pliers until you feel it stretch just a little. It will be straight and slightly work-hardened making it perfect for lots of applications. Add a little white Milliput and some epoxy and let cure overnight. The fauxpacitors were then epoxied into the bracket. I clipped a few centimeters of cloth-covered wire from an old lamp in our guest room, pulled the copper wired out of the insulation and stuck is onto the fauxpacitor wired which protruded through the rear of the bracket and then painted the brown cloth insulation with red acrylic to match the originals. The final addition is the resisters underneath the cylinders. I used a length of brass tube I bought for this purpose and cut three old-school resistor-length pieces. Filed and sanded. I filled the brass tubelets with Milliput and pushed them onto the wires. Two of the wires were too short so I had to add some dummy pieces to complete the look. And here is the assembled power cylinder piece:
  5. The Tube - Part 3a Front Sight Guard Texture Time to create: 30 minutes hands on and 4 hours drying time Cost of materials: €0.10 I wasn't sure I'd like it but I'm glad I took the time. I considered remaking the piece and pounding the texture into the aluminum but maybe on my next build. Here is the guard clamped in the vise ready for action and the slathering of the JB Weld: I smoothed the JB Weld with a piece of aluminum to create a uniform film depth and smoothness. It wasn't perfect but we were walking out the do to go to the theatre so close was good enough. Four hours later, the JB Weld was set enough to roll a texture into it. I did a test earlier and found that two hours was not quite enough whie lead to a bunch of clean up of the ratchet handle. After letting the piece dry overnight, I cleaned up the excess with an Xacto knife and gave the whole thing a light sanding with 220 grit sandpaper to add a more worn appearance. The finish came out much more distressed than I intended but I think it works as and it has character.
  6. After much self-deliberation, I decided to add the knurling as Tino suggested. I didn't want to do it, I wanted to move on but in the end, Kev's words kept haunting me.
  7. Amazingly authentic. I'm still in awe at the weathering and aging techniques you used.
  8. It's the nature of armor. I used to do medieval reenactment and very few people could put on their armor without help.
  9. I thought orange peel was screen accurate... Enamel is tricky stuff. It will not blend flawlessly as it doesn't melt the layer below once cured. This makes it hard to to spot touch ups since you can't really feather the edges. As you have a light area to cover also, gently sand the orange peel until it's no longer obvious and evenly respray the whole area.
  10. Stormy's favorite piece is the sniper knee. Sorry for the couple of blurry shots. I didn't have my glasses on when I took these photos and they all looked great on the 1" camera monitor.
  11. After I posted my BBB photo last night. I put it aside. It was late and I was dead-tired after a trying week. I puttered around and did a few things and then, as I was heading downstairs to bed, I decided that I needed a "win". So I went back up and sliced the tape on my BBB. Now, I fully intended on doing the whole ceremonial unboxing thing but I was too beat and just wanted to see my new kit. Opening the box, I recognized Paul's packing from other TM build threads. It felt instantly familiar having seen it numerous times here on Whitearmor.net. I carefully cut the tape and unwrapped the first bundle. As the pieces emerged, I began to get very excited and by the time I finished the bundle, I felt very emotional. I sat there on the floor, looking at the formed plastic arm I was holding and thought, "Wow. I've waited for this moment for 40 years." I really didn't know I would feel that way but it was an unexpectedly powerful moment for me. I continued through the unpacking and in the end sat there marveling at how cool it all was. The workmanship and attention to detail even in the packing were very impressive. I went to bed a very happy guy. In the morning when I awoke, I wished I had documented the unpacking. I felt like I missed out on being able to relive those moments... but then I also wondered if the documentation might has made the process more clinical and less of a visceral experience. We'll never know but I took some photos tonight as I repacked the box to have room for my ongoing blaster build, among other projects, and will begin the build in earnest very soon. So, here they are, the bits and bobs that will become the TK.
  12. Thanks Tino! Your 2014 thread was part of my inspiration.
  13. Today was BBB day! It was unexpected as I had picked up a package earlier in the day and was told by the mailroom that there was nothing else for me today. Near closing time, the secretary who usually picks up my mail IM'd me and said the mailroom told her I had a large box waiting and it was too big for her to carry. I went back down and was again told there was nothing for me but I was invited in to look around for myself. I poked around a bit and then I saw a pile of courier packages which needed signatures. I saw a large box with a few smaller ones on top and as I moved them, was ecstatic to see my name on the tag and Paul's as the return address. I then noticed that it had arrived last Friday! Still, I was riding high so I let it go but I was really glad I took the time to look myself. So, now it begins, my first armor build, and I can't wait until I have time to dive into it!
  14. Good stuff! The rear sight came out nice and the mag housing is similar to my own as I used 1mm aluminum and needed to add thickness too.
  15. Yep. They're big. I get tired just watching myself lug them around in SW Battlefront. Looking forward to seeing your build.
  16. The second attempt looks great! I'm at about this same point in my scratch build and find this inspiring. I went all aluminum on the mag housing and was planning to leave the top blank since the power tube assembly covers it almost completely but I may rething my plan now that I see what you did here.
  17. This is such an epic build. Not only was this thread the primary inspiration for my scratch build, but the plans were invaluable. Thanks for this, ZeroRoom!
  18. Interesting stuff Tr00per. The finish examples I've seen online are all over the map and this explains a lot.
  19. Thanks, and yes... er... no... um... Heh! I have a great knurled, steel knob which I was thinking I might use to create the effect after-the-fact using putty like I saw in a few other builds but after I finished this piece, I realized I probably could have used a soft hammer toe tap the knob at I rolled it along the flat aluminum piece. I like this idea a lot and may have to redo this piece for that reason. We'll see. I'll think about it and move on to something else for the moment.
  20. The Tube - Part 3 Front Sight Guard Time to create: 45 minutes Cost of materials: €0.40 After making a couple of plastic versions as tests, I decided to create this piece from 2mm aluminum for durability and really, because I find aluminum far easier to manipulate than plastic. I bought a piece of 30cm x 50cm x 2mm aluminum at the hardware store for about 8 euros and it's been a great material with which to work. I spray glued my plan piece and adhered it to the substrate, as always, and then locked the piece in the vise. I cut the shape using a cheap jeweler's saw I got from Amazon. I tried a few different cutting methods and the jeweler's saw proved to be the best way to cut very close rough cuts with no deformation and I love the narrow kerf. After cutting, the fine shaping was done with small files and sandpaper. I spray-glued some sand paper to a dowel for shaping inside cuts. The shaped piece was bent with care while locked in the vise. I made a balsa form when I shaped the plastic prototype and used the form as a guide for my aluminum guard. A few times back and forth from the vise to the form and the piece was pretty close. The sight is next but I'm still waffling on whether to build it like a real one and cut a slot in the tube or to cut a semi-circle out of the base block. ____________________
  21. Yeah... the end cap is a piece I'm still debating for my build. If I only had a lathe again. Anyway, digging the build and your work on the folding stock has given me hope as I've been losing sleep over how to create it.
  22. Thanks. I drilled a small hole where the lug will be to help with the attachment.
×
×
  • Create New...