A Small, Slightly Beat-up, Brown Box Arrived Recently. Doopydoos Full Resin ANH E-11 Build.

[usaeatt2]

Tim, nice reasoning on "replica E-11, not replica Sterling".  I LIKE IT - seems so simple that it should be a no brainer.

 

I've also had the internal strapping debate.  Although it works well, it seems like there's a lot bigger chance to damage something using the original strapping system.  If I went this route, I would definitely use reinforcing strips behind the brackets (AsBlondeAsLuke did a nice job with this).  The ABS is thin enough on some of those returns to be cause for concern - and I've recently seen some horrifying ABS cracks pictures.  It can be fixed with ABS paste, but why risk it if it can be avoided?  Ultimately, I think I've made up my mind - I will go with a snap plate strapping system for durability, but drill holes and glue cut off flat screw heads into the holes to simulate bracket attachments.  It will look like the original system from the outside, but have the benefits of a snapping system on the inside.

 

I know any type of "flat" paint finish is fragile, so maybe a few light coats of matte clear as a protective layer?  The problem is to achieve protection without making it satin or semi-gloss.  A flat clear would likely be just as fragile as flat black.

[Dark PWF[Staff]]

Ian, exactly.  LoL  That's what it came down to.

Aaron, thanks for the advice on the protective coating.  I'll definitely consider that.

Totally off-topic with the strapping thing  but let me explain why I'm even debating it in the first place.  It is because of a comment made by TrooperMaster to a friend of mine doing a build at the moment. 

 

What TM said is this: "You can tell a Trooper using the original strapping system from a mile away because of how smoothly their armor moves."

 

Yeah...  It's like that.  I'd definitely look into a rubber grommet or reinforcing strip of some sort to try to protect the return edges.

 

Anyway, back on topic with my next post! 

Edited May 19, 2014 by Dark CMF

[I'm Batman[501st]]

No doubt you'll do some test painting with the clear coat, but the Matt clear I had for my hasbro conversion did give a semi sheen to it. Other brands might not.....

[T-Jay[TK]]

Hi Tim, instead of adding some clear protective coats (and risking satin gloss), what about simply adding some more layers of your last used flat black?

[Dark PWF[Staff]]

Tino, it will get another coat of flat black (partial, anyway) as I've got to fix some current scratches and paint the mag clip (which has been installed now) - thanks again for the assist on that, by the way!

 

I believe I'll get the pictures posted tonight.

The flat black is VERY easily scratched/damaged.  I'll definitely be looking at some sealing type of options for the finish.

[Dark PWF[Staff]]

I tried this last night, and my laptop froze for some reason while I was preparing to do it. Hopefully tonight will go a little more smoothly.

 

Here come the pictures:

 

Once again, into the fray that is my "paint lab" for a quick coat of flat black on top of the VHT Crinkle Finish.

 

Fast forward by about two days, and everything is awesome! Well, maybe not, but it is flat black! It's still masked, too! As I mentioned, the spray paint definitely fills the texture a bit. If you want to absolutely maintain the texture, you should use an airbrush.

 

A glimpse into the future of the E-11. It has been un-masked. The stock is "in location" and the inner barrel and scope rail are sitting above it.

 

Earlier in the build, I made mention that I had drilled out the front of the scope a "bit" too large for the lens aperture that I intended to put in it. Here, I have the correction for that: Black E6000 and the parts to be glued!

 

I put some E6000 about halfway down the lens piece all the way around it, so that it will have a good seal, and then I let gravity (and a little bit of pushing) settle the lens piece to the correct depth.

 

Here is the correct depth, and it looks pretty good to me!

 

I then turned it upside down to dry. I did this to allow the lens piece to sit "higher" in the scope which will allow more light to pass through it, since the ends are uneven but drilled all the way through.

 

Preparing to install the magazine clip using the same black E6000. I got the magazine clip from Tino (T-Jay) - once again, I greatly appreciate the assist there, brother!

 

A little dab will do ya! About to put the clip in place.

 

Now, instead of watching paint dry as I have done so many times recently, I'm watching glue dry. LoL

 

Total wait time will be about 24 hours for the E6000.

 

About to insert the hex set screw into the repaired part on the side of the magazine well - again, I'll be using the black E6000.

 

Three parts, one 24 hour period of glue drying to wait for.

 

I put this rubber pad into the end cap to prevent the spring from rattling around and to keep a little more tension on the end cap so it will not rattle around on it's own.

 

Simply remove the backing, and put the sticky side inside of the end cap. I got the rubber pad at Lowe's. It is for furniture legs. To stop them from scratching floors.

 

Here it is: In place, but out of focus.

 

So here's where it sits: I need to paint the face of the counter, and make a counter mount. I need to finish the bolt assembly. I need to paint the trigger guard. I need to paint some details in the trigger area. Once that stuff is done, I've got to hit it with some sort of finishing coat and assemble it. Nearly done!

 

Which is good, because my first piece of armor arrived today:

 

Expecting the shipping notification on the rest of the armor any day now!

 

Thanks for reading and following along. The journey will be ending soon, and the bittersweet reality of it is starting to settle in for me. Please as always, feel free to leave comments and/or questions. Thanks!

Edited May 21, 2014 by Dark CMF

[usaeatt2]

Really inspiring work, Tim!  I truly look forward to reading every one of your updates.

I'll be really sad to see this thread end, but I'm excited to see your armor build start.

I'll be sandblasting my receiver tomorrow and I painted the grip yesterday - it's so glossy I'm afraid to touch it for fear of scratches.

 

I had another thought for protective coating - clear matte fixative for pencil or chalk drawings.

You should be able to find it at any Michael's or Hobby Lobby.

One more option that's not semi-gloss or satin.

 

Curious, I can't identify that piece of armor?  And why does it arrive separate?

[The5thHorseman[TK]]

Hum, i can't identify this piece neither... And that bugs me! It's hard to tell without any clues about the scale. Could it be Hero belt Stuff, like grappling hook?

 

About the blaster, i think it's going to look really nice once finished

[I'm Batman[501st]]

I had another thought for protective coating - clear matte fixative for pencil or chalk drawings.

You should be able to find it at any Michael's or Hobby Lobby.

One more option that's not semi-gloss or satin.

 

 

Good idea - Is that similar to basic hairspray? I hear a lot of people using hairspray to protect drawings

 

 

Curious, I can't identify that piece of armor? And why does it arrive separate?

 

If we're going to start a guessing game, my entry is an iComm thingy - the white plastic square could be what mounts it to the inside of the chest/armor.

[usaeatt2]

Germain:  Good guess on hero belt parts!  I hadn't thought of that and I think I remember Tim talking about doing hero armor.

 

Ian:  I thought about hairspray too, but figured it would be a sticky mess if it got wet.  I think fixative is a "paint" version of the same thing.

 

Mystery item:  A test pull for final approval on gloss and color?  Matching hardware tray for your build?  Giant chicklet gum?

Edited May 21, 2014 by usaeatt2

[Dark PWF[Staff]]

LoL... That was a short-lived guessing game.

 

Germain is correct. That is a Hero Grappling Hook box, made by Trooper Master.

It shipped separately because my armor is coming from RT-Mod.

 

I will be "in town" this weekend, so I will be on the lookout for that fixative, Aaron. Thanks!

[Dark PWF[Staff]]

[quote name="The5thHorseman" post="346700" timestamp="1400664408"

About the blaster, i think it's going to look really nice once finished

 

Thank you, Germain. We'll find out soon enough!!

[PGHtoolman]

Nice job on the blaster,  I think you are using your experience from seeing a lot of the real thing over the years to get the details spot on.

[gazmosis[501st]]

This has been an incredible ride. I will miss not seeing updates from "slightly beat up"

[Dark PWF[Staff]]

Thank you everyone, for the kind words. Alas, we aren't quite done with this ride yet, but I believe that we're caught in the tractor beam and being hauled into the Death Star as far as the thread goes.

 

SURPRISE!! AN UPDATE THAT ISN'T ABOUT WORK DONE DURING THE WEEKEND!!!

 

Tonight's update: 20-ish pictures of about an hour's worth of work tonight (if you want to call spray painting stuff work).

 

Here we go:

 

What I'll be dealing with tonight: Scope rail, trigger guard, counter face, counter button, a drill bit (there will be some other things to show up tonight, too).

 

First up: Drill a hole in the counter button.

 

Marked the drill location with a mechanical pencil.

 

I drilled the hole in the center of the button, and used the round hobby file to widen it and shape it properly.

 

Here it is, just needs some paint now (and truth be told, I have to make those freaking numbers) and it can be assembled!

 

In order to secure the scope rail to the blaster's rear sight mount, I've got to mark the location to drill.

 

Marked it with that same mechanical pencil - ready to drill the hole!

 

Hole is drilled! smdh... It's also slightly off-centered. I'll have to fix that when I work on the recessed hole for the screw.

 

Lining it up to drill the screw hole into the blaster itself.

 

Blaster is ready now, too!

 

I took a larger drill bit, and "moved" the hole more towards the center as I ground in a recessed area for the screw head.

 

Screw in the rail hole. The recess appears to work just fine!

 

Another view of the scope rail with the screw in the drilled out recess.

 

Much better looking fit / location for the screw hole now!

 

Once again, Feliks is supervising. For some reason he seems to be displeased with my progress - looks like grumpycat here.

 

Off to the paint lab we go again. Here, the trigger guard awaits a coat of paint.

 

Here's what it's going to get. The Soft Flat Iron that the trigger and inner parts are getting. It will not stay this way. It will be hit with the basic flat black of the blaster, but I used this to prime it, so if it wears down, it will look metallic.

 

It has received the coat of paint and primer in one, and is now waiting overnight, to dry.

 

L to R: Counter face, Scope rail, and Counter button - all awaiting some paint also.

 

I see a white counter face and I want it painted black... C'mon, you all know the song, right??

 

So queue the Jeopardy music, we're waiting on paint to dry once again. The sheer fact that there has been so much of that lately is a testament to just how close we are to the end of the ride.

 

Finally, I took the flat black and did some touch-ups on the blaster as well as painting the magazine clip black.

 

That's all folks!

 

More to follow over the weekend sometime, I'm sure.

 

Thanks for checking in.

Edited May 23, 2014 by Dark CMF

[Sonnenschein]

So, this isn't finished yet? :D

 

J/K, of course. This is going to be a master piece. Much to valueable for trooping!

[Dark PWF[Staff]]

It's only been four months and two days in the making so far.    LoL

 

Won't be much longer, that's for sure. 

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

About time lol, did you know if your build thread reaches 20 pages you have to buy everyone icecream lol, no not really that's just in my squad forum

[Dark PWF[Staff]]

Hmmm... I'll be sure to stay out of the TAG forums altogether - just to be safe.

 

Although, I do like ice cream.

[Dark PWF[Staff]]

One of these days, I'm going to pick up my Dremel and cut out the piece of ABS I need to finish up my bolt. It is inevitable because eventually I will run out of parts to paint. LoL

 

Here's the next batch of paint work:

 

Starting out, I have the scope and the blaster here. My (original) plan is to paint the screws on the front of the scope, and paint the trigger group area on the blaster. I've got a selection of brushes and microbrushes at the ready, as well as the requisite bowl of thinner.

 

Starting with the scope and the bottle of "Steel" paint.

 

Looking right at the freshly painted screws from in front of the scope.

 

Another, slightly angled, look at them.

 

Trigger group area, which will be getting a coat of Silver paint.

 

Left side is painted. I originally planned to mask everything off and do this, but since I was using the microbrushes, I opted to give it a whirl without the masking.

 

A look at the right side of the blaster, and some of the work on the underside which is in progress.

 

Using the microbrush, I outlined the area in the trigger group area that is to be painted Silver.

 

A full coat applied to the trigger group.

 

A 3/4 view of the paint in the trigger group. The microbrushes worked quite well although they are hardly capable of taking an absolute novice painter like myself and making a pro out of him or her. Granted, had I masked it, it would likely have been at least a little better, but I'm not at all unhappy with it.

 

L to R: The Charging Handle, Selector Switch, and Trigger. All of which will receive some silver dry-brushing.

 

Which turned out slightly more like a coat of paint than I'd wanted/envisioned them, but as I have always sucked at dry-brushing (since childhood) I'm overall pleased with the effect. I do feel that I had a bit too much paint in the brush but again, like the trigger group area - I'm not at all unhappy with the look that I've achieved here.

 

Slightly different angles on the pieces, after the dry-brushing.

 

As I said... I had an "original" plan and I have what I did. I decided that I needed to paint the brass screws on the Hengstler counter too, so I went and got the counter and the brass paint.

 

Top screw is now brass.

 

Side screw before paint (Left side, before paint, as it turns out in a moment)

 

After painting the screw brass (while looking at SorenM's finished paint job) I decided to weather the Hengstler counter a bit as well. The flash makes the effect stand out a bit more than it does in natural lighting. I really do feel that I got this piece to look quite good with the dry-brush weathering, even if it looks a little overdone in this picture.

 

Both of the sides visible here have been weathered similarly, but as the flash isn't hitting them head-on, it doesn't stand out as brightly. These ones look a little MORE weathered in natural lighting. LoL.

 

The bottom - which I modified heavily to get the detail work on - has been weathered as well!

 

Since I was sitting around, surrounded by paints, and feeling motivated by the counter's successful weathering, I decided to put the gloss black on the pistol grip, too.

 

Rear-Left view of the pistol grip with the gloss black applied.

 

Right side, with gloss black applied - and again, I'm waiting for paint to dry.

 

I'd say that's it for tonight, but I've got a few more photos to post, from a bit of work just a few minutes ago.

[Dark PWF[Staff]]

I said that I had a few more photos to share from some quick work I did tonight (literally, about ten to fifteen minutes worth of work) so here they come.

 

These first few photos are simply to show the pistol grip's new gloss black finish after it had 24 hours to dry.

 

Another look at the pistol grip after 24 hours.

 

Here, we have the blaster, the trigger, the trigger retaining pin, and a spring from a pen. You've all seen the video of the trigger in action already, so there won't be a video tonight, but the trigger will be installed.

 

I started by putting the spring in the hole drilled into the trigger group area.

 

Next I made sure that the other end of the spring fit into the hole drilled into the back of the trigger.

 

Finally, I put the trigger retaining pin into the blaster, and it is installed. It is not the right color though, so that has to be addressed too.

 

You can barely see it, but there is a yellow microbrush with a bit of flat black paint on the end of it. That paint is about to be applied to the trigger retaining pin.

 

The final thing I did tonight was give the T-Tracks a quick rubbing. I discovered while painting the scope, that rubbing the flat black paint would give it a bit of a sheen. Since the T-Tracks are of a different material than the blaster itself, I wanted them to appear to be made of a different material - even if they are the same color.

 

That's it for tonight. Tomorrow, I may go ahead and install the inner barrel and the trigger guard. I'm working to figure out exactly how my selector switch will be installed, but that might be happening tomorrow as well. I've got to pick up a couple of screws for the scope to be mounted to the rail, and cut out the counter bracket too. I will probably go ahead and put a little bit of dry-brush weathering to some of the areas on the blaster, too. I'll be putting a protective sealant coat on the whole thing before I install the folding stock, and I do keep forgetting that I've got to paint the bolt that is visible in the ejection port, too. LoL. I may get that done tomorrow as well.

 

Anyway, that's it for today, so as always thank you for following along and please leave your questions and comments. I still haven't heard anything from Rob about my kit getting shipped, and I'm starting to get antsy about that, but I suppose that I've got a little bit more time to finish the E-11.

[usaeatt2]

Looking GREAT, Tim!  Nice work with the micro brushes and yet another innovation with the "rubbed" flat finish.  Along with many other troopers, I'll definitely be using your build thread as a guide when I start my Doopy build!

[ShavedWookie[501st]]

Damn! Another bit of excellence that I need to live up to - very impressive (and useful)

[Dark PWF[Staff]]

Thank you, Aaron. It is amusing sometimes, to look at the little things that one figures out, completely by accident isn't it?

 

(and useful)

THIS, is exactly what I'm hoping to provide, Sam. Thank you for checking in. Your build is looking quite nice in the early going. Great work!

[I'm Batman[501st]]

I actually just LOL'd. Thinking of "Tim the very useful engine". Sorry, young kids, watching a lot of Thomas the Tank engine at the moment. (I assume you get Thomas in the states?)