hupspring[TK] Posted June 13, 2015 Report Share Posted June 13, 2015 (edited) While waiting for a Doopydoo’s kit to become available, I decided to get a Rubie’s blaster as a test project. It's cheap and has a lot of the necessary bits already attached, so not a lot needs to be added. And since it's a test build to get my feet wet, I didn't want to spend a lot on something better and possibly ruin it. From reading some of the other posts on the forums, it can look pretty good for being so cheap (after it’s painted, of course). And I can see why it’s so cheap. The paint job is horrible - they just splashed on some orange, not bothering to clean up drips and smudges where orange shouldn’t have been. And the two halves of the blaster aren’t flush on the bottom. I recently got a rotary tool (in preparation for my armor build) and since I’ve never used one before, I figured this build would be the perfect time to learn. I jumped right in and started sanding down the top T track and when I was more or less satisfied with it, I sanded down the bottom right track a little. I should probably do this work in the garage or the backyard...I got little white plastic bits all over the carpet. It looks better, but could use a bit more sanding. I’ll probably go with sandpaper for the rest. Then I took out the screws holding the two halves of the blaster together and unscrewed the counter. I wanted to create a gap between the scope rail and the blaster (as done by Kawnr), so I tried using the rotary tool. I don’t have any cutting bits so I tried what looks like a grinding bit (I should probably learn what all these bits are for). It was going fine until I noticed that I wasn’t staying straight and that the plastic wasn’t actually coming off. Instead of shaving off plastic, the rotary tool was melting it and pushing it behind the path I was moving the tool, then the plastic would solidify again. I ended up breaking out a hobby knife and repeatedly scoring the top and bottom of the plastic that I wanted to remove. Eventually I broke through to the other side and was able to remove the piece. The right side was easier to do since it has the whole section with nothing in the way. For the left side, I had to remove the magazine which took a while since they used a ton of glue (and left a lot of glue residue on the sides of the magazine). With the magazine out, it was a lot easier to get the hobby knife in there to get the plastic cut out. I also wanted to cut out the little section between the scope and the rail, so more knife work on both sides. I kind of broke the tip of the knife blade while doing this (pushing too hard in the corners) and I do believe I’m getting a blister on my finger. But the blaster is looking much better now! The next step was to drill out the holes in the barrel. I thought a drill would do the trick, so I drilled a small pilot hole in the center of each indent on the barrel, then used a large drill bit which looked to be the right size. Not the best idea. The drill bit just pulled the blaster up and melted the plastic, leaving a couple wads of plastic on the sides of a rough hole. I went back to the rotary tool, using the same bit from before when I tried to create the gap under the rail. This wasn’t a good idea either, since the bit was too small - I tried to keep widening the holes but just ended up making bad jagged ovals. I looked back at the bits that came with the rotary tool and found a circular one that looked to be about the size the holes should be. This worked much better! I wish I looked for that sooner! The holes look a little better now, but some are still pretty bad. I don’t know if it’s worth making them all even since some are already too big. The more I look at the holes, the more I want to fix them. Good thing this is a test build! The last couple of things I need to do are to make some power cylinders and possibly add the coiled wires, although I’m not sure if I’ll do that or not. And I’m not quite sure how I’m going to make the power cylinders yet (maybe out of styrene?). I also want to shave off the D ring and put a real one there but I don’t know where I would get one the correct size. Then it’s just painting and weathering. Now I need to go out and buy some paint! -Richard Edited June 13, 2015 by hupspring Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TK bondservnt[501st] Posted June 14, 2015 Report Share Posted June 14, 2015 you can always use plastic epoxy, fill in a hole partially and after it cools you can re-dremel the parts that are not looking right! nice job! Why not replace the scope ,and get a better counter too! there are good resin replacement parts out there... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hupspring[TK] Posted June 14, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 14, 2015 you can always use plastic epoxy, fill in a hole partially and after it cools you can re-dremel the parts that are not looking right! nice job! Why not replace the scope ,and get a better counter too! there are good resin replacement parts out there... Interesting, I'll have to look into the plastic epoxy. I was thinking about replacing parts, but since this is my cheap test build, I don't really want to add nicer parts to it. I do plan on getting a DD kit someday so this is good practice. Hopefully I can do some more work on it today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kawnr Posted June 14, 2015 Report Share Posted June 14, 2015 Nice! looks good. I really wish I could have taken mine apart without risking breaking it. (All the screws were stripped when I got mine.) Would have made customizing a lot easier. But yours looks amazing. It's been fun to watch the evolution of these builds since these guns went on the market. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barclay[501st] Posted June 14, 2015 Report Share Posted June 14, 2015 Other then buying them online, what store carries these? I have checked a number of stores in my area, and have not seen one of these yet.. Just wondering... B- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hupspring[TK] Posted June 14, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 14, 2015 Other then buying them online, what store carries these? I have checked a number of stores in my area, and have not seen one of these yet.. Just wondering... B- I haven't seen these in any physical stores (I checked Toys-r-us and Target). The cheapest one I found online was Target's online store. I was able to do a little work today - I drilled out the barrel opening (I got the idea from Astyanax) with the rotary tool using the same bit that I used to clean up the barrel holes. It worked out much better than any of my previous drilling (yay experience!). Then I took everything outside and sanded it all down, washed it with soapy water and wiped it off a bit. I let it dry for a while then put on a couple of coats of Flat Black Primer. It was a little breezy so I was spraying a little closer than I probably should, but it's coated in black now. When I washed the parts, I wasn't thinking and dunked the counter in the water. It's hollow inside and has two holes for the screws that attach it to the blaster, so of course water got inside. Rather than waiting and letting it fully dry, I just sprayed it with the rest of the parts. About 20 minutes after the second coat of primer, I picked it up and some more water dribbled out of the part where the counter numbers would go. Apparently that part isn't a solid piece. So water got on the primer, but I don't know if that will be a big deal. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barclay[501st] Posted June 20, 2015 Report Share Posted June 20, 2015 Got my two today, and have started taking the first one apart.. Any hints on getting the mag out without destroying it? Seems st getting it out would make it easier to cut the rail void out. Will take some pics and post my own build as I am able.. B- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hupspring[TK] Posted June 20, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 20, 2015 Got my two today, and have started taking the first one apart.. Any hints on getting the mag out without destroying it? Seems st getting it out would make it easier to cut the rail void out. Will take some pics and post my own build as I am able.. B- I used a hobby knife to work at the glue on the top and bottom of the magazine. It took maybe 10 minutes working at it to get it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barclay[501st] Posted June 20, 2015 Report Share Posted June 20, 2015 Cool.. Thanks... Seems like the glued the hell out of it to get it in... Just did not want to break it to bad trying to get it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hupspring[TK] Posted June 20, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 20, 2015 I haven't done too much work lately other than putting a couple light coats of silver on the left and right sides of the blaster, then masking and putting a coat of bronze on the scope. I also decided to try making my own ghetto power cylinders out of styrene. I found some random parts that looked like they would work - a couple of styrene rods and parts of an old plastic flag pole. I used a black styrene sheet for the base and the back of the cylinders, cutting everything to size basically by eyeballing it since I don't need everything to be accurate for this blaster. Most of these cuts were with the hobby knife, but I did use the rotatry tool to drill holes into the back wall which the power cylinders go through (I've found that I love using the rotary tool...I don't know why I didn't buy one of these years ago). I was going to make some caps for the cylinders, but that seemed like too much work for this. I ended up just filling the cylinders with some spackling. I cut some strips from a thinner piece of white styrene which I'll wrap around the tops and see if looks at least somewhat passable as caps. So far it all looks okay, and I'm hoping that after I finish putting it together and paint it, it will look better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hupspring[TK] Posted June 21, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 21, 2015 I glued one strip of styrene to the top of one of the cylinders so far and it looks pretty good. It's just slow going gluing it on - I don't have anything small enough to hold it on all at once so I'm gluing a quarter of it at a time then wrapping it more and gluing the next section, using a clothes pin to hold it while it dries. I did paint the base with the three smaller cylinders in the middle with the flat black primer. It looks decent...I just need to finish the caps and glue the large cylinders on. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hupspring[TK] Posted June 27, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 27, 2015 I got a little more work done the last few days. I decided to use Astyanax's idea of using a 3/4" PVC pipe inside the barrel. It looks better than having the barrel empty, and it also adds some weight to the blaster. I also went ahead and shaved off the plastic D ring on the back of the blaster. I wasn't going to, but I just happened to find a decent looking ring from the shoulder strap of an old gym bag that fit fairly well. It's not perfect, but I like it better than the plastic bit that was there. To keep the ring in place, I'm using another piece of styrene, this time a small square tube piece. Lastly, I painted everything a few coats of satin black. I totally forgot to mask off the bit of the barrel above the trigger that remains silver so I'll need to repaint that area later. I also found a small hex wrench that looked like it would work as the end bits of the power cylinders. I busted out my trusty rotary tool and cut off two small lengths. I drilled a small hole at the end of each cylinder, put some CA glue on the ends of the hex wrench bits, and pushed them into the holes. I need to touch up the ends of those to make them black. Once the paint is fully dry on everything I'll try my hand at weathering. Since there are coats of aluminum (and bronze on the scope) I'm hoping I can just do some light sanding. I'm not sure if I'm supposed to use a clear coat after that or not. Probably best if I do? Then I can finally put everything together - I'm going to try out some E6000 (since I've never used it before) in addition to the screws. And since I was finally able to order a Doopydoo's kit, I have another build to look forward to now that my practice run is almost out of the way! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hupspring[TK] Posted June 30, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 30, 2015 A little more progress, and I'm getting close to finishing this project. I painted the inner barrel and glued it to the right half of the blaster, so it left a space between the left half and the PVC pipe when the blaster halves are put together. It actually might be too much space, but it isn't that noticeable. I also put the two halves together, putting back all of the screws and also using E6000 on the trigger area since the two sections did not sit flush together in that spot. And I put some glue on the top T track as well since there's a small gap caused by over zealous sanding. I'm hoping the glue will fill the area and take the paint so it looks whole. If not, I'm ordering some Green Stuff and will probably fill that area with it. I still need to stick on the magazine and the D ring, then do some weathering. After looking at it as a whole, I want to do something with the scope as I don't like how the two ends are just plastic. But that may be something for the future when I get bored. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hupspring[TK] Posted July 10, 2015 Author Report Share Posted July 10, 2015 I finally finished this build more or less - it's all assembled now and painted except for the ejection port which I still need to touch up with some silver. I tried my hand at weathering the blaster using sandpaper, but I think I was doing it wrong. At first I was using too coarse a sandpaper so it was rubbing off all the paint. Then when I used a fine grit (800) it felt like nothing was happening except making the area I was rubbing look very dull. Eventually I realized that I should just be rubbing a small spot where I wanted the silver to show through rather than a larger area like I was doing. Maybe at a later date I'll try some drybrushing. Overall I'm glad I got this blaster for testing and learning some new skills. Messing up on this one using the rotary tool taught me to go slower and use more control. And now that I've got a Doopydoo's kit to work on, I'll definitely be applying what I learned. Anyways, here are some pictures of the Rubie's blaster. Once I paint the ejection port, I'll probably put some clear coat on it and call it done. Even though they are not accurate at all, I'm proud of my power cylinders! I'm also glad I replaced the molded D ring with this one. Not accurate at all, but looks way better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astyanax Posted July 28, 2015 Report Share Posted July 28, 2015 Really nice build! I wish I had gone ahead and cut out the space under my scope rail...I wasn't too sure it would hold up. Looks like it did for you. Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hupspring[TK] Posted July 28, 2015 Author Report Share Posted July 28, 2015 Really nice build! I wish I had gone ahead and cut out the space under my scope rail...I wasn't too sure it would hold up. Looks like it did for you. Bill Thanks Bill! After looking at your build I see there is so much more I can do with mine, but now that I have a Doopydoo's to work on, the Rubie's will be pushed back to a later date when I have more time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mokujin22 Posted October 15, 2015 Report Share Posted October 15, 2015 Hi all! Been lurking for a while, but got my Rubies blaster in and starting work on it and figured I'd post a question. I want to cut out the plastic between the barrel and scope rail like the OP did (great job, btw!) and it looks like once you do, there would be a long hole at the top of the barrel where the plastic has been removed. Is this the case and if so, how do folks typically fill in this hole? I know that this is an old thread, but with so many Rubies blaster mods out there, someone may be able to help me (hopefully). Thanks a ton in advance. This site is an unbelievable resource with some really great folks! Cheers, Tony While waiting for a Doopydoo’s kit to become available, I decided to get a Rubie’s blaster as a test project. It's cheap and has a lot of the necessary bits already attached, so not a lot needs to be added. And since it's a test build to get my feet wet, I didn't want to spend a lot on something better and possibly ruin it. ------------------------------------------- Then I took out the screws holding the two halves of the blaster together and unscrewed the counter. I wanted to create a gap between the scope rail and the blaster (as done by Kawnr), so I tried using the rotary tool. I don’t have any cutting bits so I tried what looks like a grinding bit (I should probably learn what all these bits are for). It was going fine until I noticed that I wasn’t staying straight and that the plastic wasn’t actually coming off. Instead of shaving off plastic, the rotary tool was melting it and pushing it behind the path I was moving the tool, then the plastic would solidify again. I ended up breaking out a hobby knife and repeatedly scoring the top and bottom of the plastic that I wanted to remove. Eventually I broke through to the other side and was able to remove the piece. I also wanted to cut out the little section between the scope and the rail, so more knife work on both sides. I kind of broke the tip of the knife blade while doing this (pushing too hard in the corners) and I do believe I’m getting a blister on my finger. But the blaster is looking much better now! -Richard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astyanax Posted October 15, 2015 Report Share Posted October 15, 2015 Hey Tony, if I remember correctly, there is no cavity where the plastic under the rail comes together; I believe it joins up. I believe you should be able to cut it right out without leaving a hole in the barrel. Just open up your own Rubie's and verify for yourself if the plastic you want to cut out is flush with all the rest of the seam. If not, some green stuff or milliput can be used to fill the hole, and then you sand it gently when it cures. Hope that helps! Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hupspring[TK] Posted October 15, 2015 Author Report Share Posted October 15, 2015 After cutting out the rail area it does leave some small gaps (on the top of the barrel, the bottom of the rail, and around the area between the scope and rail if you cut that out as well). I had to use strips of styrene cut to size to fill those gaps and just glued them in with CA glue. Once everything is painted black, you can't tell there were any gaps at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mokujin22 Posted October 15, 2015 Report Share Posted October 15, 2015 Much appreicated, Bill. I've learned a whole lot from checking out your build threads since I started checking out this forum. Love the foamtrooper tutorial and even found myself the "receiver" from the clone commander build-a-blaster kit to build my own DLT-19 when I have some time. Keep up the good work! Tony Hey Tony, if I remember correctly, there is no cavity where the plastic under the rail comes together; I believe it joins up. I believe you should be able to cut it right out without leaving a hole in the barrel. Just open up your own Rubie's and verify for yourself if the plastic you want to cut out is flush with all the rest of the seam. If not, some green stuff or milliput can be used to fill the hole, and then you sand it gently when it cures. Hope that helps! Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mokujin22 Posted October 15, 2015 Report Share Posted October 15, 2015 (edited) After cutting out the rail area it does leave some small gaps (on the top of the barrel, the bottom of the rail, and around the area between the scope and rail if you cut that out as well). I had to use strips of styrene cut to size to fill those gaps and just glued them in with CA glue. Once everything is painted black, you can't tell there were any gaps at all. Easy enough. Thanks! Nice work, btw. Edited October 15, 2015 by mokujin22 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hupspring[TK] Posted October 15, 2015 Author Report Share Posted October 15, 2015 Easy enough. Thanks! Nice work, btw. Thanks! After seeing some of the other Rubie's builds, I want to do more with mine but it's been put on the back burner as I have other builds keeping me occupied. Good luck with yours! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astyanax Posted October 15, 2015 Report Share Posted October 15, 2015 (edited) After cutting out the rail area it does leave some small gaps (on the top of the barrel, the bottom of the rail, and around the area between the scope and rail if you cut that out as well). I had to use strips of styrene cut to size to fill those gaps and just glued them in with CA glue. Once everything is painted black, you can't tell there were any gaps at all. Oh my, Tony, disregard my previous post about no gaps! But the styrene covering idea is a good one. Bill Edited October 15, 2015 by Astyanax Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stratcat96[TK] Posted October 15, 2015 Report Share Posted October 15, 2015 (edited) I cut out the void between the scope and rail only on mine and there is indeed a gap between the two halves. Can it be filled with bondo? Edited October 15, 2015 by Stratcat96 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astyanax Posted October 15, 2015 Report Share Posted October 15, 2015 I think so, but it will probably take 2-3 applications. Fill, sand, repeat. Don't expect it to adhere perfectly all in one go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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