QuartZ

Hey JawaJoe, Would you mind answering a quick question about the newer helmet kits? Are the screws used for the ears the correct type/size now? Or do they still need to be replaced to be accurate to the screen used helmets? I have a full armor/helmet kit on pre-order and justjoseph63 reminded me that I should look into whether Anovos has improved that aspect at all. Thanks, -Dana

Thanks for updating your thread with more information about the belt changes. I'm certainly happy that they made that change so new builders like us won't be cracking parts trying to take the belt apart. Like you, I plan on building my armor so I can properly measure myself to place an order for a Kittell belt. Again, thanks for the great post about the changes! I don't know what to expect with the holster, so I'm gonna check back on your thread and see if you post more about your experience with the Anovos holster. Although when I ordered my Darman neck seal, he also offered to sell me one of his holsters...I chose to wait until I could examine the Anovos holster. Maybe I should have took him up on it. We'll see. Keep up the progress/info posts! -Dana

Thanks for the ordering info! I really appreciate it. I placed my order December 22 2016. So I missed the December 18 cutoff for the wave I think your order was in. Glad to hear you got your kit and that you're happy so far. I didn't read about the belt pieces being separate so if that's the case that would be a plus. Again, thank you for that information it's somewhat reassuring that I'll get my kit "Summer 2017" as they now call it on their shipping calendar although I'm not holding my breathe. -Dana

Oh cool! Congratulations on your kit arrival. Are there any differences with the 2017 kit that you have noticed? I've heard some talk of helmet tweaks... I ordered a kit late last year as well. If you don't mind me asking, what was your order date? It might help give others who are in a similar situation some idea of how Anovos is doing with order fulfillment. Thanks, I'll be stalking your thread to learn more about your journey! -Dana

I saw it at SDCC and handled some of the parts with one of the reps present. I'm not an expert on this particular blaster so I can't give you any information on the accuracy. What I CAN offer is a tiny bit of information about the materials used. The rep said it was a lightweight rubber kit. Sure enough, it was light and had some flex and give to it when I played with the pieces. I would say it is much more rigid than my HFX B-Grade E-11, but felt as light. A strange combination honestly, but it felt good in my opinion. It seemed like their goal was to keep trooping and carry weight in mind, only time will tell if they succeed. As for the color, I don't know why it was orange and I didn't ask. It was not hollow and I don't think it was designed to receive electronics kits based on the prototype/sample I was shown. Not to say that it couldn't be done... just that there were no voids/cavities in the parts I saw. Hope something was useful in this post. -Dana

SLA/DLP printers are great. We have one at work and it's really nice for small detailed objects (like most of these I'm making). The resin is a bit expensive, so I think my method of PLA printing and iterating makes sense for now. Although I am tempted to run the final set of parts I've designed on a nice printer to avoid the cleanup... I might still kick it "old school". Who knows. Speaking of prints, here's the main part of the rear sight I printed to compare with the real part: It looks pretty good. I might tweak one dimension. -Dana

I'm glad you're enjoying it. Thanks for your continued interest and support Chris! I couldn't agree more about having the real Sterling parts to use as reference. It helps tremendously but it also puts more responsibility on me to get it right given I have them (I really am trying to the best of my ability to create good 3D models for this project). Ok, so I did get around to more of the rear sight pieces. Below you can see the aperture with the 2 peep holes. This one was really interesting and featured some tricky details. Of note, from the hole that the aperture part pivots (used to select which hole you want to look through) the two "sides" are not equal in height. As you toggle back and forth, you'll find one lower than the other. Almost tripped me up And here is the spacer that gets used on either side of the aperture and rear sight guard (requires 2): Finally, I wanted to post a picture of how all of those parts go together in the assembly: So, parts wise, there's 2 parts I haven't created yet, luckily these are pretty simple. There's a small flat spring piece that is bent into an upside-down "U" under the aperture that creates a detent functionality. And of course the pin/rivet part that goes through the whole rear sight to allow the parts to pivot hasn't been modeled. I'm not sure how I want to do these pieces yet since they aren't ideal as plastic... I think I'll do them anyway in an effort to eventually have all of the pieces of the entire Sterling completed. That's all for now! -Dana

OK, I got a little bit of desk time today so I worked on that rear sight. Most of the measurements were straight forward, and reference images of the disassembled parts on this site helped answer some design questions. So, here's how my model for the outer part turned out: I chose to chamfer the sides of the notches on the rear curved edge because they really don't look like 90 degree edges on my part, research on other examples also seemed to indicate the edges are kinda beveled or something. Anyway, it's one operation in the history stack, so I can easily remove it if I don't like the way the print looks. I'll try and pop out more of the rear sight parts tonight. Enjoy! -Dana

Back with another quick update. I was able to quickly bang out the folding stock pivot and associated rivet-like retaining posts. These were pretty simple compared to some of the previous parts. I'm definitely not complaining! Here's the main part that is normally soldered to the receiver tube: And here's the model of the "rivet" which features the through hole that allows that thin metal pin to keep it from backing out. 2 of these are obviously needed to hold the folding stock in: I'm moving on again, I think the rear sight would be fun to do next. Gotta finish everything that mounts to the receiver tube first. Getting closer....I think! -Dana

I forgot to post this yesterday, but here's where I ended up on the lug model. I resolved all of the concerns I had with the earlier version. Here it is from a different angle: And here is a new print for comparison. It's hard to compare exactly due to it sitting above the tube OD and not in the tube as the real one is mounted. But hopefully you can see how close it is (if you disregard the 3D print layer stepping): -Dana

Snapped a shot of the bayonet lug test print: I already spotted 3 differences that I'd like to correct. The shape of the rear/top curved feature is too wide on mine and too flat at the rear. The front/top triangular cut needs to be widened a bit. And you can't see it in this picture, but the front face/profile needed some tuning (very minor). I think after that I'll add the under side post that's missing and figure out what I want to do for the weird piece that goes inside the receiver featuring holes that match the outside. Anyway, new bayonet lug test print in going on the printer... -Dana

I think half the fun of this build for me is really getting to know all of the parts to a degree that makes me really appreciate the design and craftsmanship behind the Sterling SMG. It's such a simple open-bolt design but there's so much beauty in the execution. On to the progress. Today I sat down for a bit and worked on the bayonet lug as I had mentioned in my previous post. This is another really complex piece. Nothing is a normal shape and much of it was created with careful measurements and a good number of splines were used to get arcs I wanted: I'm pretty happy with it and I think it's time for a test print so that I can refine the model if necessary after examining a physical part. Time to fire up the printer! -Dana

Thanks for the kind words Chris. Your E11 build thread is pretty epic! Thanks to everyone cheering me on...let's get back to some more parts. I managed to complete the 3D work for the flash guards. It's a deceptively simple little piece. Really the shape of this has curves from all sides and I also wanted it to feature a curved profile on the bottom that matches the 38.1mm tube. So here's the final model: I printed it out and drilled that tiny little hole that the pin fits in (again I went a bit larger than needed here). Here's a photo I snapped with all of the parts I've made for the muzzle end roughly in place: It's starting to look pretty good (despite all of the printed parts being in desperate need of sanding/filling) I finally recognize that signature Sterling muzzle area. I think the bayonet lug on the other side will be next. How it mounts seems odd (I don't know too much about it yet) but since it impacts the front end of the receiver tube I may as well look into it and get this area all wrapped up. -Dana

Alright, I've got some more progress to share. In my last post I was preparing to drill some small holes to help position some of the detail parts that get mounted to the receiver tube. What I didn't think about is that I should probably model those part first, measure them to make sure they are accurate AND work together with the receiver tube and muzzle assembly printed parts before drilling into the aluminum tube. So, I started with the front sight guard. I measured off my real part again, and was able to come up with the following in Fusion 360: It doesn't have the knurling, I still gotta try to create that pattern and use it on some of these parts. I don't think my printer will handle that fidelity, but I learn something in the process I'm sure. Ok, so once I had that piece looking pretty good, I went back to the muzzle parts and checked how they aligned to each other. Here's one view: And here' the reverse view. Things looked good so I ran off a print of the front sight guard. When it was done I was able to double check where I was drilling this little hole and then I went for it. I made it a bit too big, but when I mount the part here it will get filled in anyway so I'm not worried. Below you can see what it looks like with the guard part sitting in place temporarily. I haven't used any adhesive to mount this yet, the little locating pin and hole allow it to stay put like this. I just have to do the front flash guard piece and then I can drill that little hole as well. That will wrap up the front end of the receiver. I'm currently working on a model for those little "C" shaped guards right now. See you soon, -Dana

Thanks again! I figured if I was going to model it I may as well try and get it right. In other news, I finished the dovetail slot for the front sight block and was able to test fit the whole muzzle assembly in the receiver tube and get the front sight block to slide in and out from the side as originally designed. Here's what that feature looks like finished: Next up, I think I'll start drilling the little holes for the front sight guard and flash guards (for those little nubs that act as locator pins to align these pieces correctly. Then I think I'm going to move on to the end cap area of the receiver to drill the remaining holes back there (end cap and clip related). -Dana

On the end cap clip, if you read my earlier posts, I wasn't getting the full pivot of the lever when assembled with my alpha version prints. They were close... I went back and reduced the size of the pivot pin in the assembly (and then the size of the hole that goes through the outer base part and the lever itself). The pivot hole in the lever used to be centered vertically and after examining disassembled Sterling parts it became clear that the hole is actually offset toward the bottom of the lever which raises the lever slightly above flush with the base if the two parts are aligned/level. All of this in turn creates additional possible rotation allowing for the range of motion I needed but wasn't getting with the old design. So here's what the latest 3D model looks like: Here's a rough print. BTW, I say rough because I rush some prints at a higher print speed to test scale, rough fit, etc. so that I can iterate quickly. This faster print speed results in more undesired artifacts in the hard copy and when I do a more final print of the revised designs at slower speeds, the detail and cleanliness of the prints is much improved. Anyway, here you can see the angle is much better than before (hex key used as a temporary pivot pin): Older version for reference: http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/40055-my-crazy-e11-adventure/#entry539473 That wraps it up for know, I'll probably go back to working on the front sight dovetail some more until I get that area to fit with the muzzle assembly installed properly. That will be a big step toward wrapping up the receiver tube. -Dana

I'm back! As always, thanks for the kind words Chris/Brian. As I mentioned, I'll probably have to take some time later to sit down and create a few templates that attempt to correct what I've altered. I'd like to make sure that my build works out before I give anyone else advice on how they should build theirs. Maybe my adjustments are wrong and I just don't see/understand that yet. There are so many of you that I respect as "experts" that I don't feel comfortable saying that what I'm doing/discovering is "correct". I hope to be able to contribute those kinds of things as soon as I can validate my work/findings. But I do absolutely feel that I've gotta give back to this community! Brian, I'm humbled to think that this will be used by anyone as a guide. It only encourages me to be more diligent and responsible with my posts (I try my best to be already). Armor (or armour to you) first? Hehe, I think you've convinced me to keep nudging you to cut that pipe you're prepping! Just kidding, I'm jealous you've got armor!! Hope you're having fun with that! On a build related note, I just realized that I forgot to post these photos last update!? I'm slipping! Anyway, I got that hole drilled for the extractor. It was a simple hole next to the magazine opening: Here's the Sterling extractor inserted into the hole to check the fit. It's snug but not too tight. When I build the magazine well I'll come back and test the fit and tweak if necessary: In other news, I made some more adjustments to my end cap clip 3D model and the new version just finished printing. I'll post details about the changes (hopefully tomorrow morning). I think I fixed the last remaining issues with my 3D model, but only a quick assembly and test of the parts will really tell. Fingers crossed... -Dana

I know...who is this new guy who keeps posting all of this crap? I'm trying to be better at documenting my builds. So, here's the next set of steps I took. I did a bunch of measuring and marked where the dovetail cut should be for my receiver. I noticed that the larger top hole closest to the back of the rear sight will be a bit closer than it should, but that's because I relied on the templates to be correct. Here's another place where it's close but not quite right. So, with some pen and Sharpie lines, I set myself up for the next set of cuts: The tube marked up for the dovetail area. Again, I always cut to the black knowing it's a bit smaller that the final opening so that I can file my way to a good fit: After a rough drilling to remove some material, notice one of the holes didn't go so well, so I stopped and went to the router bit on my Dremel before I made it worse: A steady hand and a few minutes later had a rough cut of the dovetail area: Then it was time to break out the various files. This time I used a combination of flat and "triangular" files (not the square cross section kind) to get into the corners and shape the dovetail. This took a decent amount of time. I went slow and wanted to make sure I didn't over do it since I wanted the front sight block to fit snug: Here's the first time the rough 3D print front sight block (work in progress) fit through the opening. Once I got this to pass through I could tell that the rest of the work will be performed at the outer sides of the dovetail to continue to deepen the cut so that the sight block will pass through from the side properly (here I had to insert it from inside the tube): I probably have a couple mm more to shave off each side (maybe less) in order to wrap this up. The alignment with the muzzle assembly from the inside also looks good already so I'm pleased that it's all coming together on the "business end". I may have to make a new set of templates for the E11 if I make another one from scratch. Too many little things that didn't seem right with the ones I used. They are very close though, just not a match the Sterling parts I have in hand. Could there be this much variance in real Sterlings? -Dana

Alright, I might get some more work in on this tonight but I'm not sure. I went back to my Sterling parts and took some measurements off the ejection port area and found that the templates are off by a good deal when it comes to the "height" of the opening. So I used my calipers to measure and route out some more material in the right areas to get it closer to the real deal. I also completed the minor filing of the charging handle slot to hit the clearance of the real receiver as well. Here's what the ejection port looks like now. Much better shape (bonus you can see I'm starting to pilot holes on the other side for the magazine well opening): Oh and when I remeasured the ejection port, I also thought it best to double check the magazine well opening before i started cutting. Well, it turns out the template isn't perfect there either. It's location is a bit off AND it really only tries to indicate where the outer edges of the well attach to the receiver. So with my trusty calipers again, I marked out a much more accurate set of lines to indicate where the hole should be: Below you can see the rough cut after some drilling and Dremel cutoff wheel work. I try to get as close to the line as possible, knowing that the line still is inside the final dimension I'm looking to hit and that some additional filing is required to get the proper fit: And here's what the hole looks like when I stopped filing. All nice and clean with a quick sand paper pass as well: I've been using that 10-round magazine to check the fit. I kept filing a little bit at a time until the mag passed through the opening. Here's a shot that shows the magazine fully inserted (probably too far since I don't have the well which stops the magazine with the notch/catch. Anyway this let me know I had it good enough: I've marked the proper distance for the center of the extractor hole. I know the diameter too, so I've just got to find the proper position with regards to centering it with the magazine feed hole I just finished. That should be pretty straight forward. Hope all these posts and pictures help someone (like Brian hehe). -Dana

Ok, here's some close up photos highlighting some of the strengths and weaknesses of my B-Grade. I'll call out what I like and don't like about each image to help draw attention to why I took each photo. Below, I don't really like the filled in front sight, but I know they probably do it to make it easier to mold and stronger than a hollow part. The molded in screws in the muzzle are the wrong knurling type (straight not cross) but that doesn't bother me for a "stunt" blaster. Also the front of the stock has a pretty chunky looking seam that I'm not sure is present or as rough on their higher grades: Others have mentioned how short the magazine is, this photo shows how sharp some of the edges are. Look at the Hengstler! Even though there are some small bubbles here/there overall the cast counter is pretty sharp: The end cap is pretty good despite a few little holes. Obviously it's missing a D-Ring. The slot that the charging handle slides in is filled in and the spring is not present, again this makes total sense from a solid casting standpoint: I like that the T-Tracks are bent nicely into the Sterling receiver holes. I think I read that earlier versions of their blaster had them terminating before bending. So cool! You can see some little "warts" in the crease of some of the T-tracks. This is the worst side and the other side of the blaster does not have this issue: The detail on the grips is fantastic, really pretty sharp. However there are also a few damaged/scuffed areas where the checkered pattern is gouged/missing. Not a big deal. I imagine their master pattern part exhibited these real signs of wear and tear. Makes it look more real/used. The trigger looks pretty clean and the way they connected it to the trigger guard is pretty minimal and really most people will never notice it while you carry the blaster around: This shot of the top near the magazine well shows a nasty seam with some offset problems (see the screw that mounts the rail). But, look at the Sterling mag well detail! That's nice. There's some goobers near the magazine release button. Looks like there is a tear in the mold in this location. And as expected, there's some more small holes around this area: I like that the muzzle is a separate cast piece that has been glued in, but this one was glued in crooked when viewed from directly overhead. Luckily, it's also loose on mine and I think it will tear free easily so that I can re-glue it in straight. slavefive was good enough to tell me that they use CA glue to assemble these, so I'll do the same when I fix this spot. Again, you can see the seam on the top of the center T-Track here as well: Below is another angle of the scope rail and the front of the scope itself. There's another goober present in the front bezel of the scope: And the last image that I took shows the butt of the grip (and some of the underside of the trigger guard/folding stock area. You can see a bit of a gnarly seam on the grip bottom and an ugly screw/offset. Of note if you didn't know is that they filled in the cavity between the side arms of the stock and the grip frame area. It's actually pretty well executed and definitely provides structural integrity: As I mentioned before, I am absolutely happy with my purchase. I also can't wait to try to fix most of these issues. The purpose of this thread is not for me to complain or point of flaws to be a troll. I really just want to contribute some more to this community as I had trouble finding enough info on the B-Grade when I rolled the dice. Especially images that canvas the whole blaster and show what you should expect if you "pull the trigger". I want to say thanks again to slavefive and HFx for this great option! -Dana

Thanks again Brian. I keep checking your thread hoping to see you starting to cut your pipe. My armor won't be delivered until later in the year so I'm working on what I can for now. On that note, tonight I was able to make some more progress on my receiver tube. I nearly finished the last bit of filing for the slot that the charing handle (or cockling lever around here) move along. I say nearly because I think I could still shave off another 0.1mm and be within real Sterling tolerances. Speaking of real Sterling...I took my actual charging handle and put it in the rear hole (as if I was sliding it into the bolt) and below you can see how nice it fits and moves along the length of the slot using a real Sterling part to check my work. Enjoy: Fits easily with very little play (not fully dropped in just to show the clearance at the largest diameter of the handle): Here it's properly inside the receiver and I've moved it down the slot: Finally, here's the handle stopped at the end of the slot to show a good fit with the end "hole" portion of the slot: That's it, I think tomorrow morning I'll finally start cutting the magazine port opening. Then it's just a few other areas that need some holes/cuts and I'll be done with the receiver tube! Getting closer. Stay on target!! -Dana

Another small step completed. I had marked out the square cutout for the stock latch at the front underside of the receiver. I drilled a small hole in the middle of it, then used a Dremel with a small router bit to quickly box it out some, then finally I used some square and flat files (of the small variety) to get in there and finish it off. I frequently checked the dimensions against my real Sterling parts as I went. This photo shows the first step: And here's the final result: I think I'll be moving to the magazine well cut opposite the ejection port next. -Dana

I posted a review of the Hyperfirm B-Grade that I mentioned in my last post in a separate thread. You can check that out here: http://www.whitearmor.net/forum/topic/40513-hfx-hyperfirm-b-grade-e11-review/?p=541760 And for this thread, I'll just drop this photo of it: Check out the other thread for the review. I'll be adding detail shots later. -Dana

I recently purchased a Hyperfirm B-grade E11 when slavefive posted a sale thread saying they had 4 available. Let me start by saying up front that I am very pleased with the product I received. It's what I expected. And I think that's important to understand so here's a bit about why I feel that way: I had heard really good things about these rubber blasters and I was looking for something as a backup/trooping blaster since I've read some nightmare stories about precious, accurate, resin blasters being harmed while out in "the field". In researching the various HFx options available, I decided that I wanted to put the least amount of money down for one of these as possible so that I wouldn't be disappointed in case the B-Grade was really rough. Choosing this option also helped me feel OK with attempting to fix whatever was undesirable to me given the lower price point. I knew going in that there would be seams, holes, etc. and that the weathering probably would not be what I wanted. Anyway, what I'm hoping comes across here is that I had a fair idea of what I was getting and what might be involved even though pictures and details are hard to find when it comes to these B-Grades. My hope with this thread is to shed some light on what you might receive if you order one too and so that others have more information when considering a purchase. When I received my blaster I was very excited. For a rubber blaster it feels really nice. I'm sure others have written volumes on the subject, but the weight feels great. It's lightweight but solid feeling which makes it a joy to hold/carry. There is very little flex in the blaster so it actually feels hard like plastic. The details overall are sharper than I expected. There are plenty of issues scattered about that could use some tweaking (and I'm going to attempt a few of the major ones). I planned to tweak the paint as well and slavefive was helpful in letting me know which brands/colors of paint were used to make the blaster and that CA glue is used to assemble certain areas. That's good because it means I can paint match what's already there. There is a very authentic feel to the piece even though aspects may not be accurate. All in all, I think it's a great starting point. Here's are some shots showing my blaster: I took some additional photos that I'll post and write about soon. They show some areas up close so you can really see the details as well as some of the issues present in these castings. Check back here! Hope this helps someone out there, -Dana

Thanks Brian, I find it difficult to find the time as well. So I'm sure you're not alone there. I forgot to mention, but I received my doopydoos kit in the mail a few days ago. I was surprised that I didn't have to wait too long. I think the kit arrived 1 month after I had placed my order. Not bad at all! While not perfect by any means, I have purchased and built a good number of resin kits in my time and the quality of this one is pretty good. Here's a couple of photos of the parts laid out (I know the trigger and guard are backwards here, but this side up "looked" better for the photo): And here's another from a different angle: After examining the kit and thinking about where I am with my current scratch build, I don't think I'll be cannibalizing any parts from the doopydoos kit. In fact, I think I'll either build it and keep it or I'll sell/trade it here at a later date. I ALSO receive a Hyperfirm B-Grade in the mail last night. I know...I know... it's raining E11 blasters around here. I'm nuts. But, I wanted to grab one of these to check out what all of the buzz is about. And, I thought it would be an appropriate trooping blaster for some occasions. I'll report back on that with photos in a little bit. I gotta get some coffee in me first. -Dana