BaneLives85

Having now crossed the finish line, I owe thanks to everyone who's chipped in with their help and opinions, so many thanks to you all. And special thanks to Dan, Jesse, and of course Tino, really couldn't have done it without all your input Sent from my SM-G925F using Tapatalk

Hell yeah! Cheers buddy! Can't wait for the armour now Sent from my SM-G925F using Tapatalk

Pew Pew! Sent from my SM-G925F using Tapatalk

More pics! Sent from my SM-G925F using Tapatalk

Mega update: it's done! The last few days have easily been the most exciting. Having all the bits painted, it's been a matter of assembling the bits systematically, getting things in the right spot (which I hope I've done lol), and waiting days and days for glue to dry haha. I've used the Gorilla Epoxy for the final assembling, recommended a 24hour dry time, a bit like the e6000. Probably could leave it less, but never can be too safe Assembling went pretty smoothly really, though there were a couple of issues. Firstly, for the end cap clip, the glue had squished out from under it a little which was then shiny when dry. A quick little spray with the Clear Matt worked like a charm covering that. Next was the inner tube. Where the far end of the scope rail bends into the hole, it was blocking the inner tube from going the whole way in. I had tested this before, so I'm not sure how it happened haha. Solved this by cutting a grove out of the inner tube so it misses that part of the scope rail that pokes into the barrel, obviously being careful to only cut a section that wouldn't be visible when fully assembled. This worked! Haha, not sure if it was the best solution but got the job done Lastly, and again, something I checked before (not very well apparently) was the clearance of the stock as it folds back. It seems to scrape along the selector switch a little, so care is needed when folding the stock out. You can kind of just pull the stock in that direction to clear the switch, not the best thing really, but I can't bring myself to start shaving a bit off the switch having just finished everything! Lol Sent from my SM-G925F using Tapatalk

Thanks mate! Good to know it's been even a little inspiring haha The folding stock I got from apexgunparts. A quick Google for the l3a2 sterling folding stock should pull it up near the top of the list. It was pretty cheap really, think about $40. I don't know where you're based, but they only deliver in the US, and can only be purchased with a US registered card. Luckily I have a friend in the states who paid, got it delivered, then forwarded it to me using "costume accessory" for the customs declaration. A bit of effort, but well worth it, easily one of my favourite additions! Sorry for the late reply by the way, Tapatalk didn't seem to notify me of the message... Sent from my SM-G925F using Tapatalk

Bracket done! I actually went for a combination of the 1/3 cut (probably less actually) and a clamp with a flat edge and some pliers to bend it, bending it veeery slowly haha. Got a couple of coats of paint on the bracket yesterday, now it's time to go for the clear coats! Woop! The end is nigh! Sent from my SM-G925F using Tapatalk

Awesome, thanks Tino! Wish me luck lol Sent from my SM-G925F using Tapatalk

Ok, maybe I can give that a try. Did you still get a nice 90 degree angle with the table top? I've got enough to allow for a few screwups now which is good haha Sent from my SM-G925F using Tapatalk

Replacement aluminium finally arrived! Now to cut it down to size for the bracket For the bending part... last time I cut about half way through and it snapped :/ will aim to cut about a third through this time and hopefully it will be alright. Would heating it before bending help at all? Sent from my SM-G925F using Tapatalk

Ahh ok, I didn't realise that! Will leave that black then, Cheers! Sent from my SM-G925F using Tapatalk

Here we are! The last pic of the exposed bolt is actually silver under the masking tape, just haven't taken it off yet. Will probably leave the tape on until I decide weather that part is gonna be gloss or matt. The clear gloss on the grip should give it a nice shine Sent from my SM-G925F using Tapatalk

I've used the silver as an undercoat, and then sprayed black over the top on all parts (masking off only the bits that will stay silver) so the grip is actually black now. I can then sand through a bit of the black to expose the silver underneath... I hope I've been doing this right! You've got my worried now haha. I'll go grab a couple of pics... 2 secs... Sent from my SM-G925F using Tapatalk

Merry Christmas to you too Dan! Yeh I've got a clear gloss to go on the grip, and a clear matt for the rest. I was actually wondering about the bolt though (silver parts), whether to use a clear gloss or matt on those? Or maybe neither? I've actually done all the black now too but don't have a pic yet. Just need to weather it a little and get the clear layers on. The replacement aluminium I've ordered doesn't seem to want to arrive, might have to look elsewhere. The bracket is the only bit I need to do before putting all the bits on and we're done!! Sent from my SM-G925F using Tapatalk

Hope you've all had a good christmas! Small update here, been a busy period so not much progress. Have been getting the spray painting underway. Primer went on without a hitch, the brushed nickel seemed to be a different consistency though. This might be something to do with how the metallic paint is made, I'm not sure, but I ended up with a fair bit of 'wrinkling' in places (first pic). The only way to fix this was to rub it down with sandpaper and respray :/ I don't have a lot of experience with spray paint, but it seems with that the primer and matt black can be sprayed in a thicker coat (before you get drips/tears) than the metallic ones (before wrinkling) Sent from my SM-G925F using Tapatalk

Niiiiice! It's actually quite hard to differentiate the two blasters from the pictures, without a very close look anyway. I was thinking about getting myself a second, rubber blaster too so will definitely consider Ryan's ones Sent from my SM-G925F using Tapatalk

Painting underway! Most of the smaller pieces are already done, counter, scope, rail, etc. and now just starting on the main piece Got a pic below of the paints and other sprays I'm using. The far right is Brushed nickel, far left is bronze Sent from my SM-G925F using Tapatalk

Thabks for the input Tino. I must say, I'm very tempted to leave it being so close to completion. To be fair, most of my Doopies kit was in pretty good shape on arrival I thought, and it was really just the two guards that needed fixing as the ends were broken off. There's always the next blaster though! Sent from my SM-G925F using Tapatalk

Thanks Jesse! I'm glad it paid off, could have gone very very wrong haha As for the flash/ejection guard... certainly wasn't intentional! I thought they looked pretty much the same size on first inspection, but one piece seemed to be a better fit around the ejection port than it did at the nozzle, so I placed them based on that. It was only when I installed the front sight that I thought the sight and flashguard looked awfully close together. I can see in the reference picture you sent too that there is a small gap there too. Question is whether it's worth the move. There'd be more space between the sight, but the ejection.port guard wouldn't have the nice fit... What do you think? I suppose I could try and reshape the other guard... Sent from my SM-G925F using Tapatalk

Not much progress of late as I've been waiting for some replacement aluminium for the bracket (broke my last piece), though this has apparently gotten lost in the post, and I'm now awaiting a replacement for the replacement :/ In the meantime, I've bandaged up the barrel end that I butchered. Glued it on with epoxy to start, but then had to build it back up a bit with green stuff to hide the cracks and also replace the depth that was lost through actually cutting it off. Hours of careful sanding later I've got the shape back! You can also see the reshaped slot here for the stock to latch onto, bit more of a lightbulb shape now Sent from my SM-G925F using Tapatalk

Lol thanks Tino! I'm glad it worked too! Was a bit risky but I didn't have any better ideas. And actually, your work on scopes (where you cut the end off to install the lens) was what encouraged me to go for it! In the process of 'bandaging the wound' at the moment lol Sent from my SM-G925F using Tapatalk

Lol thanks Tino! I'm glad it worked too! Was a bit risky but I didn't have any better ideas. And actually, your work on scopes (where you cut the end off to install the lens) was what encouraged me to go for it! In the process of 'bandaging the wound' at the moment lol Sent from my SM-G925F using Tapatalk

Awesome, cheers dude! Sent from my SM-G925F using Tapatalk

Thanks buddy! Yeh was wondering how well it would match up with the black, think it matched alright, though still a little hard to tell at the moment. I think I'll give the stock a coat of the clear matt along with the rest. Actually, could I ask what parts you attached before painting? Did you attach the end cap clip before? Sent from my SM-G925F using Tapatalk

So I've gone for it... and success! Chopped the end off the barrel (which I'll reinstall later) and filed out the inside to thin the area where it latches on. Also had to reshape the slot itself and widen it a bit, but all hooks on well now and feels fairly sturdy (hoping I'm not speaking too soon here lol) So having extended it I also needed thin down the sides of the end cap so the stock can cook on there too. Now just got to sort out one of the prong bolts, and stock should be done! Sent from my SM-G925F using Tapatalk