PatrickM

Hi all! Although I'm fully aware that I still need to finish my first build (based on a DoopyDoo's kit), I finally managed to obtain some really cool parts for another build: the legendary Phoenix Props E11 kit with aluminum pipe a fully functional aluminum replica folding stock from Warmachine Paintball the excellent T-jay's completion kit, including aluminum scope rail and a real Hengstler 400 counter First of all a picture of the aluminum parts (including a self-made trigger guard): 20200203_223055 This is the unfolded folding stock: 20200203_223528 Here are all resin parts, drying after the initial washing: 20191223_145354 Note that some of these (folding stock, Hengstler counter, trigger guard, power cylinders, etc.) will be replaced by more accurate parts. My first more elaborate job on this build was adding details to the 3D printed power cylinders. Here I am cutting the "resistors": 20200202_162359 And here's the result after lots of fiddling (Obviously it still needs to be painted black) 20200202_232144 20200202_232205 That's it for now, cheers mates!

Very interesting thread, great looking results already Brian! Looking forward to very accurate folding stocks without all the hollowing out and reconstructing/shaping effort! Judging by the quality of your scope casts these sterling parts are going to be nothing short of awesome!!!

Thank you!

TK29312 requesting 501st access: https://www.501st.com/members/displaymemberdetails.php?userID=31324 Thanks in advance!

Great progress Marko, those real metal parts look awesome! Almost ready to paint now?

I know, progress is slowing down. Lots of other things to do in my spare time, but don’t worry I’ll get there! Hopefully temperatures will rise so that I can start painting the Hengstler counter black and hotglue the display, speaker and switch in there. The frosting hides the LEDs from direct sight and spreads their light. The main power LED will be mounted at the front of the barrel, so its light output is not affected by the frosting. Glad you like the result! Cheers mates!

Hi Dan, yes the switch has a very nice ‘click’. And the angles of the 3 positions match the ‘A R S’ printing on the grip very well. I’m very happy that Paul included this switch in my BlastFX kit!

Since the video section of Flickr is still not accepting new video's, here's a YouTube link instead: Fortunately everything survived the build-in process! Cheers

Great result as always! What kind of automotive filler putty did you use? I also noticed that green stuff is not ideal for smoothening out air bubbles and stuff.

Sorry for the non-functional video guys. It appears that Flickr is currently performing planned maintenance on their video section, causing all new video's to be queued up until after the maintenance: Flickr temporary video down time

If only Flickr would finally process that video... It fits in the receiver tube, but I will have to cut a piece out of the acrylic tube where the scope rail enters the receiver tube. I frosted the tube because I didn't like how you could see the individual LEDs from outside the barrel. Thanks for the feedback guys!

Finally another update. LED strip housing The BlastFX LED strip will be placed inside an acrylic tube that I sanded down a bit to make it “milky white”. I will place the LED strip between two half-round rods, one of which I hollowed out with the Dremel: 20190310_141652 The selection switch Today I worked on the rotary selection switch, which will be fully functional in my blaster. I started by recreating the shape of the lever from an aluminum strip, and filed a notch on both sides such that it could slide into the actual switch (knurling pattern will be added in a later stage, using a thin layer of green stuff): 20190310_164145 Then came the nerve wrecking Dremeling of a hole big enough to fit the rotary selection switch without damaging the grip. I drilled a hole from the top of the grip to the hole for the switch to guide the cables: 20190310_212650 I used green stuff to fill up the hole and keep the switch in position: 20190310_203912 Trigger switch As you probably already noticed in the previous pictures, I had also mounted the trigger switch in the same way (Dremeling a hole, insert the switch, fill up with green stuff). Here’s a short video of testing the trigger switch: 20190310_142015 That’s it for now, cheers mates!

Great result Jesse! Your power cylinders look awesome.

Thanks to the pioneering work of you and the other contributors of the E11 reference guide these awesome mods are now available to all of us, greatly improving the realism of our blasters. Can’t thank you guys enough for that! BTW: I bought some cheap bulldog clips, but unfortunately the metal is even harder to get through than the pen clip. Beginning to doubt the quality of my metal drill... Thanks Andrew! I’m also looking forward to seeing the finished product. It will probably take some time before the weather over here is suitable for starting the painting in my unheated garage, so in the meantime I can make up my mind about where to place the electronics and continue to add details.

This evening I added another important detail: the dovetail front sight block, using the 3D printed part by Suitcase props. Before: 20190204_223905 After: 20190204_222507 Cheers!

Good progress on the power cylinders! That metal folding stock looks great but I already spent so much time on the resin one that I think I’ll stick with that. I hope that one of Tino’s suggestions will solve your front sight guard problem.

Thanks Brian! I had no idea that those things were called bulldog clips, needed a Google picture search for that. I thought that these used springs. Will look if I can also find them with spring plates!

Thanks! So far putting the electronics in the pipe still seems to be the best solution in terms of accessibility. That would mean sacrificing the recoil spring though (why would a laser blaster need that anyway? ). But I haven't really made up my mind yet so I decided to simply work on something else today...

Today I worked on some small details again. New end cap clip Made a new end cap clip with a smaller axle diameter to ensure sufficient strength around the drill hole. Since the 3D printed part did not come with the knurling pattern, I applied some green stuff and pressed the pattern into that. I initially tried to use a clip from a pen as spring mechanism, but my metal drills just wouldn’t go through. So I used some aluminum instead, but that bends back too easily. Any suggestions..? 20190127_214058 Thou shalt not look like a toilet After reading Jesse’s build thread I had to agree that the DoopyDoo’s end cap looks a bit like a mini-toilet. Tried to replicate his reshaping of the bottom side of the cap: 20190127_220553 Magazine clip release lever At least I think that’s what this part that is completely missing from the DoopyDoo’s magazine is called. Feel free to correct me on that if needed! I used some leftover aluminum parts to recreate this based on pictures I found on the web. Due to the small size of the magazine I could only fit this “cut-off” version: 20190127_204609 Cheers!

Yes I can imagine, it’s not cheap. After reading your story I will make sure that all glue has dried before powering the electronics! I’m also struggling somewhat to maintain the momentum from the Christmas holidays. Life does get in the way of living sometimes, but we’ll get there.

Hi Jesse, didn’t realize you were also still running a build thread. What a ride you’ve had so far! Did/will you install a new BlastFX module? What an incredible mods you performed!!! Some of those I wouldn’t even dare trying with my limited mechanical skills... But certainly a great source of inspiration! Looking forward to the next update.

Time for a test fitting of the main components: 20190120_214645 Might try pointing it at the moon tonight to see if it will make it turn red... Cheers!

Even diagonally it won't fit. The gap between scope, counter and receiver tube is also too small, and would expose all the wiring which I'm trying to hide as much as possible. Perhaps if I move the battery to the Hengstler counter instead and replace the magazine with a bigger one, it might fit in there...

Oops, looks like I’ll have to rethink my strategy once more. I just realized that the BlastFX electronics has not just grown in functionality, but apparently also in size. As a consequence, the main PCB no longer fits in the custom Hengstler counter: 20190120_141918 The most obvious alternative I can think of is to place it inside the main tube, but then I’ll have to close the charging handle slot and can’t have a visible recoil spring. The whole thing will also be more difficult to access... Any bright ideas anyone?

Scope electronics Today’s update is all about the scope electronics. After receiving the BlastFX kit I had to rethink my strategy, because the miniscope no longer comes with a separate PCB. That means not 2 wires with battery supply voltage, but 4 wires going straight to the display. Fortunately, 2 of those carry a 3.3V supply voltage and Paul confirmed that I could draw the additional 20mA required by my red LED from this supply. Since this voltage is regulated I decided to go with the classical series resistor approach to limit the current through the LED: 20190119_144453 The 5mm LED housing fits nicely into the front of the scope: 20190119_153917 Almost ready: 20190119_195036 Here’s a video of the result: M38 scope with miniscope + LED Cheers!