My 3D printed DLT-19

Volksjager · October 11, 2018

Though I would post the build up of this blaster since this one is now mine to keep and I will be painting another in the future. This is one of the 3D prints Plunk has done and I was given the opportunity to paint.

So to start, as with all 3d prints, time to sand away the print lines as much as possible. Be careful of heat buildup as this type of plastic doesn't like the heat and it will just come away in clumps. Here all the parts are after an initial sand:

Once I am happy with the surface its time to use some spray putty. I went through many layers of this to get the surface smooth with harder areas getting some modeling putty. All sanding was done with Wet/dry sandpaper and all in the sink with water (my wife loved me for that Y&@@& )

Once smooth it's time for primer and then a coat of silver. I like to metalize everything first, I feel it give a better look and colour density. Here are some closeups of the surface once it was silver & shows the texture I got out of the surface.

Onto initial painting. I did a lot of research on the MG34 and rather than going with just a black stick, I wanted to replicate the original gunmetal look and show the gun was made up of different parts that could be exchanged with other guns in the field. In most cases the parts have all aged differently and there was quite a lot of tone & colour difference. So here is the first colour being added, it look light but trust me it's going somewhere

Because of the silver layer underneath I can add natural scratches to the surface and it again adds to the realism. Next stage was getting the butt stock finished. I was going to go a chocolate brown but decided on black as it adds more contrast. The stock & grips were made of Bakelite and black was also the most common colour. Here it is after a coat of black, then semi gloss clear.

Next was the barrel & cooling jacket. As this part was removed often I wanted the cooling jacket to show very patchy colour due to wear with the barrel to be different again. Was happy with the look of the paint finish once I was finished

Nice worn look

Flash hider is a different colour and more solid in density

And lastly I did the bipod. No pictures of this really as its much the same as everything else. I did re enforce the legs though and add a couple of greeblies that should be there from the real gun.

Next was the T-Tracks. These were also 3d printed so after a little work I was able to paint them a rubber black for contrast. This is a more green black colour and really does give a rubber look

Then after final assembly it was ready for handover. Really proud of this one and was sad to hand it back. Still happy to have been part of it.

Sooo... I was given the opportunity to keep this blaster the other week and paint a second for the owner. I was more than happy to accept and this lovely girl came back with me from a recent troop. I had a couple of things to repair and while I was there I decided on a small upgrade. While I was researching the MG34, I found some details on the print missing & I was looking to upgrade the belt feed section as it was pretty bland (not that it needed to be anything else, I am just being picky z--3 )

Here is what I started with:

I added a back to the internal section of the port (which I left black) to block out light coming through from the other side. I then made a flange for the feed as per pictures I found online. Heating the plastic to had it bend it in a number of directions which was hard but it came out ok. I also made a T piece that attaches to the top of the cover (again found on pictures of the real MG34 and will probably help explaining its a fake gun & nothing can be put into the chamber) and small piece to the left of the feed. A bit of paint and weathering and I think it came up a treat.