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

[Dark PWF[Staff]]

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?)

LoL, Ian. As Kellan Stormtrooper is just beyond 2.5 years old, I don't yet have concerns about stepping on Legos in my bare feet. I DO, however, have to be very aware of the likelihood of stepping on Thomas and his Friends. LoL

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Loving the details, nice work

[TrainWreck[501st]]

+1 Tim!

[Dark PWF[Staff]]

Thank you Q, and Brian!

 

I've managed to get a little bit of that "next" batch of work done since my last post, so let's just get right to the pictures:

 

The first thing I did was to attach the inner barrel. Here you see the barrel as it looked before the attachment of the inner barrel.

 

Here you see the blaster with the inner barrel. Towards the rear of the inner barrel, you can see the opening cut into it, to serve as the lock for the scope rail. When assembling it, I want to be sure to put that opening towards the top of the blaster, so I don't have to try to spin the barrel inside of the blaster and risk scratching the finish on the inner barrel.

 

Clearly, the scope rail cut-out is in the proper location.

 

I now put the scope rail in place to keep the inner barrel in place while I secure it with a screw from underneath in the trigger group area.

 

Another look at the underside of the barrel with the inner barrel in place.

 

Screw and drill (with screwdriver bit) are ready to get to work.

 

Screw is in place and the inner barrel is going nowhere now.

 

The trigger guard is the next piece to be attached. To do this, I will go back to my old friend, the two-part, five minute epoxy.

 

After mixing and applying the epoxy, the trigger guard received a few minutes of manual pressure.

 

Once I stopped applying manual pressure, I wrapped three rubber bands on the trigger to keep pressure on it until the glue had plenty of time to set.

 

One of the things that I kept (conveniently?) trying to forget was that I needed to make a bracket to mount the Hengstler Counter to the blaster. Here, I have laid out my supplies for the creation of the bracket.

 

After using the sharpie and my ruler to mark the shape and size on the sheet of metal I was very excited to get it cut out and get it ready to mount the counter. After I got the cutting-out underway, I realized that it would have been better to draw it with the counter tab to the outside of the sheet, because it would have been easier to cut out. You'll also notice that I have two lines drawn across the tab that will be used to mount the counter. The reason for that was to ensure that I had enough sheet metal available to mount it at the right height on the blaster.

 

I will be using the tin snips to cut out the bracket.

 

Half-way through the cutting process, I bent the end of the bracket down to assist with cutting it out. Because, as I mentioned, this was a little challenging - but only a little bit, in the grand scheme of things.

 

Here it is - ready for a bit of filing on the edges.

 

Filing is about to take place. Just a little bit to remove the teeth marks from the snips.

 

Some painter's tape to assist with a test fit of the bracket to the scope rail, and the counter to the bracket.

 

Looking at the counter from the front, during the test fit.

 

Looking from the top, down, during the test fit.

 

The left side of the blaster, with the counter still attached to the scope rail with painter's tape.

 

Here, the scope has been added to the test fit.

 

I used the Sharpie to mark the location to drill the holes through the brackets. Note to people following along - take a measurement of the distance for these holes from the feet of your scope, instead of trying to eye-ball it like I did. You'll see why before too long now.

 

Since I don't have a vise (or a workshop, even) I improvised here and taped the rail to the bottom of a cardboard box, to keep it in the right spot while drilling.

 

The holes have been drilled.

 

I put the socket head screws in, through the brackets for a test fit, and they worked out just fine as you can see here.

 

After my initial attempt at this test fit, I cut some of that extra metal off of the counter tab, so it wouldn't be pressing into the blaster's barrel.

 

Looking down the barrel during the test fittings. You can see the two socket head screws, which are still through the bracket and the scope rail.

 

I put the two other socket head screws onto the counter mounting tab, to ensure that they would work for the purpose of mounting the counter, and they look good to me.

 

Taped the scope onto the rail, to get a better feel for how everything was going to fit together, and mark the locations for drilling the holes in the feet of the scope.

 

At this point in time, I'm feeling really confident about my process, so I simply took a spot of silver paint to mark the drilling location. But, since I had that arrogant confidence about what I was doing, I opted to leave the scope attached to the rail while drilling the holes in the feet. I advise you to NOT do that - much like measuring the distance between the feet before drilling the holes in the rail.

 

And this is why I've been urging you to not do it exactly how I did. You can see the crack in the front of the scope foot here. Thankfully, I had just enough space that it didn't explode like a previous part chose to do.

 

I took the drill bit, and used it to make the holes in the scope feet slightly larger, and took advantage of the opportunity to angle the hole in the front foot a little bit further away from the front of the foot. It worked out much better after that, but had I simply measured the distance before drilling the rails, this probably would never have happened. As you can see here, the screws will get themselves deep enough into the scope that I'll be able to easily mount the scope to the rail.

 

That's the update for today. I've now got to put some paint on the rail again and do a bit of weathering before I eventually build the bolt. Outside of that, I've got to get the selector switch in place, and put the clear-coat on it before assembling everything. Just about done now, and barring any craziness I expect that it will be done no later than the end of this weekend.

 

As always, please leave your comments and questions here in the thread, and thank you for following along.

Edited May 28, 2014 by Dark CMF

[The5thHorseman[TK]]

The hengstler sits far too high at the moment. Keep in mind that they were glued in place to both the scope, but also to the main barrel body. Here your hengstler sits higher than the gun barrel.

 

And as you stated above, the triggers needs to be more black.

 

Your scope looks really wonderful though, i'm impressed by it. Well done on the paintjob!

[usaeatt2]

DUDE!  Another great post!

 

The rail(s) are deceptive.  There's a lot going on in a small area and positioning occurs in three different axis's.  In most rail threads I've seen, the person ends up making more than one rail.  I've got 4 rails...I've seen as many as 7, before getting it right.  I struggled a little with the counter position since there is so much variation in the film.  I used several different screen shots and came up with a "compromise" position.

 

I mounted the scope first.

Line up the rear scope foot centered on the folding stock pivot rivet (Fun to say, no?)

 

Then, I mounted the counter using the following "landmarks" for reference (looking at it from the side view):

X-axis:  I lined up the rear edge of the counter with the front edge of the rear scope foot (read that 2 or 3 times!).

Y-axis:  I lined up the top edge of the counter with the little dots beside of the number cast on the side of the scope.

Z-axis:  I wanted my counter flush to the receiver tube so it could appear as if it were glued in place.

 

People may argue any of those references, but I think they're a compromise between all the variations seen in the film.  Kind of an average position.

 

As always, nice work, Tim!

 

P.S. - Just noticed I'm the first post on page 20...I like those strawberry shortcake ice cream bars...

Edited May 28, 2014 by usaeatt2

[Sly11[Admin]]

Sorry to ask this question so late in your post, but when drilling out the holes in the barrel, did you use a drill press or just do it hand held?

This is an awesome build by the way super impressed.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Dark PWF[Staff]]

Thanks, Andrew! 

 

I did it by hand.  LoL.  The only drill press use was in fabricating the mount for the folding stock.

 

 

Aaron, I too love the Strawberry Shortcake ice cream bars.  We may have to comiserate on this one day. 

 

 

On a side note:  I received the email today.  My armor ships tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Edited May 28, 2014 by Dark CMF

[usaeatt2]

AWESOME NEWS TIM!!!!!!  Knowing how long you've waited, the excitement is palpable!  I wonder if that build thread will reach 20 pages? 

 

And I'm all about comiserating over Strawberry Shortcake ice cream bars...

[Dark PWF[Staff]]

I don't know that it will...

 

Not because I won't be thorough with it, but there really it's that much flexibility in building it, and no need for innovation to do anything with it.

[I'm Batman[501st]]

I'm sure you'll find a way Tim. You can't let us down now. There's some threads on helmets alone that are over 5. Add 3 or 4 for the boots. A couple for the belt. You'll get there 

 

And speaking of innovation - they used Duct Tape in the movies. We've progressed to ABS paste. Metal brackets to snaps and webbing. There's one guy today talking about plastic buckles instead. Heaps of room for innovation still. Just not from me   

[I'm Batman[501st]]

And then you get guys like us, who will add another post, rather than editing the previous one, just to get you to 21 pages.

[I'm Batman[501st]]

Sorry, that was off topic. Back to the blaster build...

[Dark PWF[Staff]]

Truthfully, Ian... You're right. LoL There is some innovation to be had, I suppose. I just don't know that I'll be doing much (any) of it.

 

Anyway, back on topic.

 

For the little that I had left to do, I've gotten quite a bit accomplished today. Weathering, and most of the assembly are completed.

I've got counter numbers inbound to me now (a big thanks to SIMpixels for those!), so once I've got them, I'll be able to assemble the counter.

I've got to get the bolt/charging handle completed.

I've got to get the selector switch completed.

 

Other than that, it's done. We'll see what happens tomorrow. LoL

 

Looks like I have even more time to finish though, as I still have not received shipping confirmation for my armor.

 

Picture update will be posted within the next 24-48 hours. They're already loaded on Photobucket.

[Dark PWF[Staff]]

Pictures promised yesterday...

 

Working to deliver them today.

 

Might be posted in several installments though, because I'm watching a VERY important hockey game. LET'S GO HAWKS!!!

 

First things first, I needed to get some paint onto the counter bracket and the scope rail. Flat black for everybody!!

 

Next, I decided that I had to get the bolt/ejection port area painted on the body. Originally, I intended to mask the area and spray it with the flat soft iron. When it came time to do it though, I didn't feel like masking it, because I had other things to do with it. Instead, I opted to simply spray some of the paint into a container and use a brush. My container of choice: A Styrofoam cup from Sonic, because I didn't want to destroy anything that we permanently own.

 

Right here, all I have to do is cut the cup to a more manageable height, and begin painting!

 

Got it painted, sometime in the next few days, I'll give it some silver highlights.

 

OH! Guess what? Spray paint EATS Styrofoam. At least this paint did. It's a good thing that Luciana was supervising today, instead of Feliks. Had it been Feliks, he and I would never have even seen that until it was too late. As it was, Luciana was upset that I was a: Laughing, and b: Stopped to take a picture of it before cleaning it up.

 

Rear sight before weathering.

 

Magazine before weathering.

 

Rear sight, after some light weathering.

 

Another look at the rear sights.

 

Yet another view of the rear sight after weathering.

 

Magazine end after some light weathering.

 

Back of the magazine well and surrounding area after some weathering.

 

Bayonet attaching area, before weathering.

 

Muzzle and front sight area, before weathering.

 

Front right exhaust vent, before weathering.

 

Ejection port area, before weathering.

 

A quick look at the left side of the blaster, after some weathering.

 

Left front of muzzle/front sights, after some weathering.

 

Front of muzzle, after some weathering.

 

Right side of muzzle/exhaust/sight, after weathering.

 

Marking hole locations to drill the holes in the counter bracket.

 

Holes are drilled, and two socket head screws are in place. Looks like it will be a good fit.

 

Using the bracket to mark the hole locations in the counter itself.

 

Holes are drilled, left one has had the screw inserted to tap the thread.

 

After tapping the thread in the right one, the bracket is attached on the right side.

 

Both screws in place, counter mounted to the bracket.

 

About to assemble the scope/counter rail assembly. The Scope on the rail, the counter on it's bracket, and both of them together!

 

All ready to put it on the blaster!

 

And it is in place for a test fit. Looking like it can crush the rebellion all by itself. (Notice that I managed to knock the trigger guard off during this process. It didn't have much epoxy on it last time. This time, it will get significantly more.)

 

Another angle, showing the mounting location. For some reason, in these pictures, the rail appears to be curved upward. It has a slight bow to it, but it doesn't look anything like this amount of bowing in person.

 

Like I was saying... Just looks quite bowed in the pictures.

 

Screw driven into the front of the rear sight to mount the scope rail to the blaster.

 

Used a paint marker to paint the screw head black.

 

Using the paint marker to mark the depth of this screw, for eventual use in attaching the selector switch.

 

Gathering the hardware together that will be used to attach the folding stock.

 

Mounting bracket is installed.

 

Folding stock is affixed to the bracket.

 

Right side hardware is in place.

 

Hardware for the left side is ready to go!

 

Lining up the holes in the blaster, the bracket, and rivet for installation.

 

Now, just a few quick, easy taps with the hammer...

 

Here, the stock is mounted, light weathering is completed. The blaster is basically done. I have to build the bolt/charging handle, mount the selector switch, install the counter numbers after I have them and finish assembling the counter (that's why it has blue tape holding the face on), and a bit of weathering for the bolt.

 

Another look around the blaster:

Front left angle of the muzzle.

 

Bayonet area.

 

Rear of the magazine area, you can see that I have darkened the trigger a little bit during my weathering.

 

Magazine end.

 

End cap and rear sight/scope - you can see the red light reflecting off of the scope lens on the blaster.

 

Rear, right oblique view of the end cap.

 

Still need that charging handle and bolt, huh?

 

Right side, ejection port and trigger area.

 

Ejection port area from the front right-hand side.

 

Right, front oblique of the muzzle.

 

Front of scope details.

 

Rear of scope details.

 

So, that's the work that was done. Obviously there are still a few things to do, and I'd appreciate mentioning anything else that should be done that I haven't mentioned and therefore am overlooking. All of the weathering was dry brushed onto the blaster. I'm curious as to whether most of you applied a top-coat/sealant of any kind to the blasters? I bought a can, but with the last few coats of paint, the finish all of a sudden seems far more durable.

 

Thanks again for checking in/following along. Please leave comments/suggestions/questions, etc in the thread for everyone to learn from

[thederek]

Lookin' really good Tim, really good! You show off.....haha. Hey, did you ever solve your sealer coat woes? I too know the horrors of scratching. Hopefully 2 topcoats help, but any idea on sealing it?

[Dark PWF[Staff]]

LoL... Derek, if you read my very last paragraph, I asked everyone again about sealant. I have a can here, but the extra coats of paint appear to have made the finish far more durable than it was.

 

Still up in the air about it, pending the community input.

Edited December 11, 2014 by Dark CMF

[Dark PWF[Staff]]

I've got a bolt basically built. The paint is drying now.

 

I've got 17 or so pictures uploaded on photobucket for sharing here. You fine people will be seeing them soon!! Hopefully I've only got two more updates left to be finished.

 

I am having some difficulty getting the counter numbers that SIMpixels sent to me to print correctly, so that's the hang-up there.

 

Almost done, and less than 48 hours till the big brown boxes are supposed to arrive!!

[Dark PWF[Staff]]

Wow... I thought I had posted a bit more of my later work photos than I did here before the armor arrived. Looking at it, I never got the bolt build posted at all.

 

So, anyway - the bolt:

 

I was having a lot of difficulty figuring out how to attach the charging handle to the PVC pipe that I planned to use for my bolt, when a moment of inspiration struck me - wooden dowel, which I measured and cut about one inch beyond the length of the bolt.

 

After cutting the dowel, this is what I had.

 

This, is how I will get the two pieces to become one: Black E6000!

 

For a change, I was a little bit liberal with the application of the E6000.

 

Now, we'll wait the requisite 24 hours for the E6000 to dry. (yes, yes... I know it has been over two and a half months... Trust me, the glue is dry!)

 

After waiting for the glue to dry, I drilled a hole through the bolt assembly, for the screw that will hold the charging handle in place.

 

Screw, charging handle, bolt, sanding file - awaiting test fitting.

 

Test fit looks good... Seems that it will work quite well!

 

Top view of the "assembled" bolt/charging handle.

 

Pre-paint, test-fit of the bolt in the chamber.

 

I found a pack of springs at Lowe's that should work. From top to bottom, the original configuration of the springs in the package; the one that I stretched for use in the blaster; the one that I made using a coat hanger - this one is too stiff to allow the charging handle to be moved at all, when assembled.

 

Preparing to paint the bolt and spring the same color as the other "internal" parts - Flat Soft Iron.

 

Waiting for the paint to dry...

 

While waiting for the bolt to dry, I put some weathering on the exposed bolt.

 

Silver dry-brushing on the ejection port area.

 

Dry-brushing on the muzzle area.

 

Front sight assembly received a bit more dry-brushing as well.

 

So, with this post and these photos, I have only one more bit of sharing to do and that is the counter numbers and selector switch installation. They'll be coming along shortly.

[Dark PWF[Staff]]

Well, this is finally going to be (as far as I can tell or imagine) the last progress post in the build thread.

 

After a long while I was finally able to get my printer to cooperate, so the numbers that I received from SIMpixels are installed, and I have a stroke of inspiration about installing the charging handle.

 

Here's the last bit of photo work for this E-11 build:

 

The numbers are printed and test-fit looks good. Time to get rid of that tape, and make this official!

 

Clamps, black E6000, and some sandpaper - the tools that I believed I'd need for this step. As you'll see soon enough, I needed to add painter's tape to that list also.

 

Numbers taped in place.

 

Sanded the gluing surfaces a bit, to allow a better bond.

 

Black E6000 to minimize any extra work at the end, since it will dry black.

 

Most liberal application of E6000 I've used to date. I had to ensure that it was not going to adhere to the button and make it un-pressable.

 

Clamped in place! But it was here that I realized that the faceplate itself wasn't clamped, just the rounded Plexiglas window was clamped... Time for the painter's tape!

 

There we have it... Painter's tape in place to ensure that the faceplate has pressure on it while the glue dries.

 

My epiphany about the selector switch was that the "post" to hold it to the blaster does not have to have threads on it. It in fact, could just be a tightly fitting smooth post which would support moving the switch, and not be a pain in the backside to install both parts. Here's what happened:

 

I spent a lot of time digging through my TK build drawer unit until I saw these microbrushes that I got at Hobby Lobby. For some reason, the end of them breaks free very easily, and to me, it looked like the solution I'd been looking for!

 

With the birth of Luke at the end of July, Feliks has taken up a new posting in the house: Baby Guard. That left Kellan to provide me with some quality control here on the finishing touches of the blaster.

 

I started by using a hobby file to try to remove the threading from the hole, and to make it slightly larger for the new switch post to fit.

 

I quickly abandoned that idea for the drill bit. It was much faster.

 

After a quick adjustment to the switch itself, I was prepared to proceed with assembly.

 

Loctite gel super glue is what was used to assemble the selector switch and the switch post.

 

I cleaned up that excess, and gave it a few hours to dry.

 

Last moment before assembly, fingers crossed that it works as expected.

 

Switch is in place. Looks good and flush from this angle... Now, to test the functionality.

 

Works...

 

Like...

 

a charm!

 

Final look at the counter numbers, in place with the working counter button.

 

Left side, blaster complete!

 

Right side, blaster complete!

 

Folding stock extended, just to show that it can be done, because in all reality there is no other time that it will ever be extended like this.

[I'm Batman[501st]]

Looking good Tim. What prevents the selector switch from falling out?

[Dark PWF[Staff]]

Looking good Tim. What prevents the selector switch from falling out?

Thank you Ian, as for your question:  In a word, Science!! 

 

 

The yellow "peg/post" that I used to install it is some variant of either hard rubber, or soft plastic, though I'd lean towards the "soft plastic" variety.  Additionally, the hole is drilled ever so slightly smaller than the post itself actually is. 

 

I had to put a fair amount of pressure on it to install it, but it moves quite freely when you intend to move it, and not at all on its own.  If needed, I could intentionally remove it with a very limited amount of force but it will not fall out, if that makes sense.

 

I guess, in reality, I may go back and add some wires to it, but unless I do it is now finally, complete!

Edited August 26, 2014 by Dark CMF

[The5thHorseman[TK]]

Congratulations Tim, very nice looking blaster! You finally managed to finish it 

 

I would personally don't bother adding wires as no screen-used blasters had some.

[I'm Batman[501st]]

Thank you Ian, as for your question:  In a word, Science!! 

 

 

The yellow "peg/post" that I used to install it is some variant of either hard rubber, or soft plastic, though I'd lean towards the "soft plastic" variety.  Additionally, the hole is drilled ever so slightly smaller than the post itself actually is.

The high tech solutions are often the best.

[matty8393[TK]]

Tim, What a fantastic E-11 build thread! You did a fantastic job and your blaster looks awesome. I staterd out yesterday just scoping out threads because it is time for me to get my blaster and I ended up enthralled with your build. I just now finished reading it and am looking forward to building mine. Thanks for taking the time to post all the photos and how you did things. Troopers helping Troopers.