silverboyd
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Posts posted by silverboyd
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i might be able to figure a way to have the files to download. They are mostly printed on 11x17 paper as well as some 8 1/2X11" (letter) paper.
is there a way to upload them here for download?
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Thanks. It feels very cool to finally se it all completed. I have an E11 and T21 but this is now my most favorite TD blaster. Hopefully someone can use my build for a future build
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Well, after two months of obsessing over this build...it's finally completed. Here are some pictures of the final piece...
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After 3 coats of semi-gloss paint were applied I finally attached the (stationary) bipod I assembled last week.
Started off by pre-drilling screw holes into the 1" dowel pieces that are part of the bipod assembly. I wanted to make sure that the dowels did not crack while attaching it to the DLT barrel. This part was very tricky since I was installing 1 3/4" wood screws around the bolts that connect the bipod together.
After I pre-drilled holes in bipod attachment points, I gently laid the piece onto my barrel and lightly drilled pilot holes into the barrel. This way I could ensure that it fell exactly where I wanted it to.
Before I put the actual screws into position I added a small amount of E6000 for insurance.
I used a little of the spray paint on a Q-Tip to paint the screw heads. -
Here's a shot of the other end of the inner barrel that is inside of the "flash hider". The end is wrapped a little bit more w/ duct tape since it fits inside a 1" PVC piece rather than the other end which is inside of a 3/4" PVC piece.
I measured the barrel sections to figure out the lengths needed for the T-Track. There are (12) T-Tracks total. Turns out I needed (6) @ 9 1/4" & (6) @ 5 1/4".
Before installing them, I used a utility knife to shape the ends of all of the tracks pieces. E6000 attached them to the barrel quite nicely.
The T-Tracks were installed following the pattern below.
Once they were set and dried...I used a small cutting wheel on the Dremel to add notches to the ends of the T-Track. This is to help hold the wire that wraps around the barrel and tracks.
The wire used to wrap around the T-Track was found in the jewelry-making section of WalMart.
The wire was the perfect gauge and was easy to work with. After setting it around the T-Tracks I used needle-nose pliers to twist it and to clip the excess wire off.
Now that the build is completed..it's time for the final steps that really bring it all together. The paint / weathering process. I begin by adding (2) coats of grey primer.
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Began installing the inner barrel. My inner barrel is a piece of 1/4" pipe made for water line installation. Very lightweight too. I wrapped duct tape around the bottom of the end that will be installed inside of the 3/4" diameter PVC pipe coming from the main body. I call this 3/4" PVC piece the "connector barrel". The duct tape wrapped around the 1/4" pipe gives it a nice snug fit inside the "connector barrel". I actually had to use a hammer to knock it into place. Even though the inner barrel is hardly visible, it gives it that extra depth of realism. I know it's there. That's all that matters, right?
I will do the same thing to the inner barrel end that will be inside the "flash hider". No pics of it yet. Haven't gotten that far. The inner barrel has to be installed before the main outer barrel though. -
Not a lot of time to do much this evening, but I got the "flash hider" assembled to the barrel end-piece. I started out with a $3.50 funnel (tall and skinny type) because it will give me a better shape for making the flash hider from scratch.
Measured twice the depth that the funnel will insert into the barrel then marked and made a few cuts.
The piece measures around a total length of 3 3/4" long. Only 2" of the funnel "flash hider" will actually be visible.
I used Epoxy Resin (Gorilla Glue brand) to make sure it doesn't go anywhere in the future. -
Began work on the bipod (finally...after putting the barrel fabrication on hold for 2 weeks). I have to get this piece fabricated before I can get the barrel sections fastened together.
I started out with (2) 12" long support brackets from Home Depot. (Lowe's has these too).
http://www.homedepot.com/p/ClosetMaid-12-in-Shelving-Support-Brackets-2-Pack-76606/100143993?N=5yc1vZc89l
They resembled the bipod shape close enough. I could have opted for an airsoft bipod but I love building stuff from scratch.
After getting the 12" support brackets. Using a Dremel, remove the small hook ends (tabs). Cut an approximate 1 1/2" section out of each bracket, 1 1/8" from the curved end of each bracket tip that you cut off in the beginning.
I used a hammer to make the edges as flat as possible. Cutting out a small slit on the sides will help you achieve making the ends flat.
After drilling out some new 7/32" holes in the brackets to receive the machine screws I bought to hold it all together.
, I proceeded to cut out the 1 1/2" section from the total length. It is then fastened back together using an epoxy.
here's an updated dry-fit of the barrel on the main body
Last week, I also tracked down some T-Track from Georgia. It should arrive this week. Getting so close to being finished.
finish my bipod. I'm pleased. Not much to explain. You can see how it goes together from the pictures. Next thing I'll do before attaching to the underside of the barrel is trim down the bolt length now that the nuts are placed.
Painted this piece using enamel spray paint to give it a durable finish. Less chance it will chip off as much.
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One more greeblie added to the left front side of the main body. I carved out a strip of the body with my dremel and sanding wheel so that I could recess it rather than just attaching to the body. I like it.
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Thanks...it's a fun build
worked on this thing quite a bit this weekend...lots of greeblie work as well as getting the bipod ready to fabricate.
Got the inner barrel cut to length, primed and painted black....not too exciting
Mainly worked on the "right side" greeblies on the main body
(TOP-DOWN VIEW)
I looked at pictures and tried to find the closest thing. The grip has (4) "bolts / rivets" of some sort. I mimicked this by finding typical flat pushpins. Using a cutting wheel & a grinding accessory on my Dremel, I was able to take off the pointed part of the pushpin. These turned out to be the perfect size. They are held on via E6000.
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Was searching for something to resemble some sort of bolt heads that are found on the DLT-19. After a trip to Hobby Lobby, I found a perfect solution. For $1.99 I found these great furniture plugs. Once i used a pair of needle-nose pliers and my Dremel, I was able to sand the nubs flat on the back and glue them to my greeblie using E6000. I'm pleased.
Started fabricating my "charger box" for the left side of the main body. I didn't want to have to E6000 a bunch of styrene piece together to make the box so I came up with a template. I studing the size of the actual charger box and used those dimensions. In order to do so, I had to convert mm to inches. I decided to make mine out of a metal FOR SALE sign. It was the perfect type of aluminum and was easy enough to cut and bend into the right shape. I'm very happy with the end result. (NO FINGERS WERE HARMED IN THE MAKING OF THIS PIECE)
I tried getting the piece to hold via E6000 but it was a bust. My only solution to hold it together...good 'ole 1/8" rivets x 1/4" long. They worked perfect.
started my day by fabricating yet another greeblie. this one was an odd one that involved some carving (for detail). Not sure what this piece is though, but it sets on top of the "charger box". But I have it. I made this using scrap Styrene (1.5mm) and a little E6000.
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Had a busy day today...but managed to get a few details on the blaster. I was given a few small plastic pieces that I believe were from a hardhat. With a little work, I was able to make these pieces look like the "screws" or "bolts" that are on the real blaster.
I was also able to crave out and sand smooth the "trigger". I wanted to give the illusion that there was a separate trigger on this blaster.
I was able to get a small "greeblie" fabricated on the back of the main blaster body.
Here's an example of the piece I was trying to resemble on the DLT-19. I think I got it pretty close.
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The DLT-19...a blaster I've always wanted. Since it will be awhile since I can afford to do another full costume / armor, I figured I could build some Star Wars props / weapons. So far I have done a few weapons from the Star Wars universe: E-11 Hasbro modification (Hasbro mod's + Doopydoo's add-on kit....that I really like), Gaffi stick (from scratch), T-21 Heavy Repeating Blaster, a DL-44 Rubies (w/ slight mods and new paint job for my dad's TIE Pilot) and now a DLT-19 as a 3rd weapon for my Sandtrooper.
This is a work-in-progress so I'll add pics and "how-to" as I go on.
First, I started with a rough copy of the "Wizard of Flight" plans. From there I brought it into AutoCAD, re-scaled and sketched a new design. Slightly simpler but with detail.
I also sketched new template for the barrel holes as well as custom sketches for detail greeblies and parts.
The proper width of the blaster can be achieved my utilizing (3) sections of 3/4" board glued and screwed together. I chose white pine. It's lightweight and also not too expensive. I transferred my custom templates, used my jigsaw and glued the together. I decided to attach the grip / trigger separately for various personal reasons.
If you look closely at the above picture, you will see I made a "groove" in the center piece to "countersink" the grip / trigger. Once the wood glue set overnight, I sanded for about 2 hours to give the overall main body a nice finish and to round out and square off any uneven planes or edges. (2) 2" wood screws were sunk to make sure it was held together firmly. The screw holes and gaps were hit with some wood putty and sanded smooth. Turned out very smooth. I'm very pleased.
For some of my top and side greeblies, I'm using 1.5mm styrene (0.059" thick) (purchased @ local HobbytownUSA). I like the styrene because it's very thin and also gives great detail once the blaster is painted, finished and weathered. I also will use some Sintra (PVC board) that I have laying around for some of the barrel greeblies. The Sintra that I have is around 1/8" thickness.
(Attack of the Clamps)
Next, I began studying pics of the DLT-19. Upon looking at numerous angles I decided I want to "sculpt" the "big details" into the main body to get it as close to representing a scaled model of it. Here's the start of the body carving loosely based on the screen-used DLT-19.
Got a little more work done on the barrel. I am using 1" diameter (Schedule 40) PVC pipe for the main barrel and a small (4 1/2" length) 1 1/4" diameter (Schedule 40) PVC Pipe for the part of the barrel coming from the main body. I have "test fitted" these PVC pipes together via AutoCAD by being able to draw them in their actual nominal diameters which allowed me to check out how they all fit together due to their actual diameters and wall thicknesses. Should be nice when all said and done.
I also spent 15-20 minutes redesigning the "barrel hole" templates. Once i got the correct lengths cut out of the pipes, I taped the templates on and they fit very nicely. Just about perfect if I do say so. I start the holes by drilling out pilot holes with a 1/8" diameter drill bit. Lots holes. Pretty boring. Next I will go back and drill those 1/8" holes with a 3/8" diameter bit to give them their final sizes.
I also began work on one of the PVC connectors that will be finished to resemble the barrel tip that has the flash hider on it. I see the DLT-19 has some sort of grooves. So...back to AutoCAD I went and designed a template for that based on measurements I took from the "Wizard of Flight" sketches. I used a small jewelers file to get them "carved" into the PVC connector.
I haven't started on this part yet, but I went to Walmart and picked up a $3.50 funnel. I went with the super tall and skinny type because it will give me a better shape for making the flash hider that goes on the tip of the barrel.
Spent an hour after work working on this thing. Having so much fun building it. It's really taking shape. Today I finally drilled out the 3/8" barrel holes and also did lots more sanding to the "stock" as well as sanded down more wood putty to cover up numerous dings and knocks in the wood body. Very nice and smooth. I also rounded a few edges that are rounded on the actual blaster. It's really starting to take shape.
(**NOTE** In the picture...the hole for the barrel doesn't look centered...but it is. It appears off-centered because part of that one side is carved away so it gives the appears of being off-center)
Barrel's freshly drilled out..PVC connector pieces added just to give myself an early look at what it looks like. Templates I made are still attached.
(Barrel not attached...just lying against the main body. I like the early incarnation of it. Beginning to work on scratch-made stationary bi-pod this week)
Started out as a busy work week for me (plus the wife being out of town so I had the kids alone for a few days). Finally had an hour after work tonight to get a greeblie made for the barrel. I scaled this piece from scratch via AutoCAD and transferred the template to 1/8" thick Sintra (PVC board). With my Dremel, a sanding wheel and a few various drill bit sizes, I was able to create this and test fit it to the middle of the barrel. It has a great fit. Here are some pics of the greeblie and the test fitting.
spent 2 1/2 hours making more progress on the barrel...check it out
I am attaching a piece of 3/4" (schedule 40) PVC pipe into the main body and it sticks out enough for the 1" PVC (main barrel) to accept it via 3" or so. In order to make the 3/4" and 1" (schedule 40) pipes to connect, I had to use my Dremel and a sanding wheel to decrease the thickness of the outer diameter until it fit. It's not pretty but it's secure and will be even more secure once I apply some Medium ABS Cement. That stuff is used when fitting PVC together. It welds (melts) the PVC to each other. Awesome stuff. Once the 3/4" PVC was installed into main body of DLT-19, I added (2) screw thru the bottom of the main body to secure the piece.
(Rough assembly)
Next I began the fabrication of my bipod. I'm making mine from scratch. I found a great metal shelf hanger @ Home Depot.
http://www.homedepot.com/p/ClosetMaid-12-in-Shelving-Support-Brackets-2-Pack-76606/100143993?N=5yc1vZc89l
I will be cutting off the "hooked" tips and hammering the ends out to be able to attach to a small 1" dowel rod piece
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Just received my coin. Looks great!
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Well, the 6th Annual XCON World '13 - Comic Book, Sci-Fi, Anime Convention has come to an end. I have to say this was an amazing event and the Carolina Garrison made lots of attendees happy posing with them. Saturday, May 18 was the busiest and most exciting day of the CON I believe. From the time the doors opened @ 10AM until they closed later in the evening, it was a constant barrage of pictures. Which I know we all love to pose for. At one point I know that I was held up in one spot for at least 45 minutes. I think we came into contact with just about every sci-fi species, zombie, super hero, villain, video game, anime and abstract cosplay character you could imagine. That was half of the fun. This convention was some of the most fun at an event that I've had in some time.
Alongside the many costumes there were many actors. To name a few we saw: Garrick Hagon (Biggs from Star Wars: A New Hope, Dr. Who and Batman), Deep Roy (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Return of the Jedi, Never-Ending Story, Star Trek: Into Darkness), Lee Arenberg (Pirates of the Caribbean films, Seinfeld, Once Upon A Time) as well as actors from the ever-popular, The Walking Dead (Michael Rooker, IronE Singleton, Addy Miller, Travis Love and more).
Enjoy some pics from the convention...
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Hey thanks....Murrell's Inlet is about 1 1/2 hour drive north of me...pretty close
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Despite the rain the day before and the weather being pretty cold (43 degrees for the first 2-3 hours) this was a great event. This was the 5th year for the Wonderfest in Charleston, SC and I believe that this was the biggest turn-out for them. The Wonderfest is the city's biggest FREE Family Event of the year with over 7,000 attendees showing up. Everything at this event was free: rock climbing walls, live music, obstacle courses, hot dogs, Chick-Fil-A sandwiches, and lots of national toy companies were on hand to give out free toys to all children that attended plus lots more.
Setting up our tent's display table turned out nicely. Especially since I got to finally show off my 501st Legion / Carolina Garrison banner that I finally had made. The table setup we had was pretty full in displaying brochures, upcoming Garrison events, info about R2KT, Detachment info as well as a nice collection of hand-made props (2 custom lightsaber hilts built myself and the rest of the props were made by Chris Gould...Vader chest armor & partial resin helmet, RotJ Thermal Detonator, resin Biker Scout blasters, Lobot headset, KS Biker Scout helmet as well as a Gonk Droid which doubles into an armor storage bin).
The event started @ 11 am and around 1230-100 the sun finally came up and the temperature climbed to a comfortable 63 degrees. Once the clouds parted and the blue sky came out, so did the crowd. What started out as a slow first few hours turned into an overwhelming (but very welcoming) crowd of attendees. We posed for lots pictures, both with attendees as well as plenty of local mascots, and we were treated to a nice array of snacks / food throughout the event as well. We had such an impressive presence with our armor / costumes that the coordinators have told us that they want to see us back again next year.
Troopers in attendance were:
Jason Boyd (TD-5945)
Gene Peacock (DZ-10073)
Brad Lee (TI-8568)
Natasha Cox (guest // local Mandalorian Merc member)
Chris Gould (guest // upcoming CG - 501st member)
Taylor Seay (guest // upcoming CG - 501st member)
Here are a few pictures from yesterday's troop....enjoy.
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Got back from the Comic and Toy Expo a few hours ago and it was a success. The guys at Captain Comics who organize the Expo each year welcomed us with opened arms and treated us like family. We were set up in a very large area just before you walked inside of the main hall room where vendors & artists had their wares out for sale. It seemed like everybody there had a great time. We must've posed for 200+ photos. Which are always more than welcomed. The comic shop hired a wonderful photographer who was very nice and great with the fans. She will be posting pics on her Facebook site from the event soon. I believe the Expo pulled in around 550+ attendees. Pretty solid crowd. Last year they had around 425 attendees. They said every year it gets bigger and bigger. Hopefully more CG members can come down next year.
The only Imperial presence was myself (TD-5945) and Ronnie Boyd (TI-19538). A local upcoming CG / 501st recruit (Chris Gould) was kind enough to let us setup his Death Star walls backdrop along with his Gonk Droid and Jawa that he built. The Jawa looked great. It was a static mannequin but looked great alongside of us. Little to our knowledge, a local R2 Builder here in Charleston used this Expo to unveil his R2 build he's been working on for 2 1/2 years. Needless to say, R2 joined us for most of our day. Which was more than welcomed. We also took some pictures w/ some cool Cobra Viper friendlies. Nothing like the Empire and Cobra teaming up. Captain's Comics also had a sign made up for us to collect donations (however much someone wanted to donate) for MUSC Children's Hospital. At the end of the event, we had raised $136. Not bad. People were pretty generous in dropping something in the jar after taking pictures with us. Here are a few pictures from today's event.
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Last night the Carolina Garrison had the privilege of trooping the SC Stingrays Hockey - Nerd/Con Night alongside a local students robotics team who were there to show off their "frisbee-throwing" robots. It wasn't your average R2-Unit but they were impressive. It wasn't a sell-out crowd but the local Charleston, SC team won 5-2. But enough about hockey.
Members of the Garrison came together and displayed a great 501st Legion table in the Main Concourse of the North Charleston Coliseum where we displayed an impressive amount of props as well as freebies from the Empire. Some items on display were: Biker, Stormtrooper and Clonetrooper helmets, Imperial propaganda, LEGO Star Wars stickers, 501st Legion temporary tattoos, action figure display and more. A local comic shop who were set up down from us brought over some Star Wars comic book to place on our table too for attendees to take. It was a great display. Unfortunately, I don't have a photo of the display.
A few things the Garrison did during the duration of the hockey game:
- stood @ 501st table and posed for pictures
- went on ice during 1st Intermission to play games
- rode the Fan Zamboni, walked on ice with visiting robots and threw out t-shirts during 2nd Intermission
One not so great moment of the evening:
- I dropped my T21 blaster and the grip broke completely from the main body. Needless to say I was annoyed since I spent 4 months building it from scratch.
A few cool moments for myself:
Besides getting to bring smiles to faces...I got to troop with my Dad who just finished his ANH Tie Pilot armor and whom has just submitted his app to join the 501st Legion/CG. I also had the privilege of holding a Cad Bane-style blaster made by Woodchuck. Very high quality build using mostly wood. Very fine craftsmanship indeed.
Needless to say it was a night filled with fun and some of us had the opportunity to see some familiar faces of the CG as well as some welcomed new faces to the Charleston-area whom took the time to drive a few hours down from the Upstate SC-area as well as Charlotte. It was a pleasure trooping with everyone and hope to do it again in the future. Nothing better than BIG trooping events. The night couldn't have ended any better than continuing to enjoy everyone's company for a late-night 10:30 pm dinner at the local Chili's restaurant.
In attendance for this event were:
TD-5945 (Jason Boyd)
TD-4734 (Greg French)
TI-8560 (Brad Lee)
TB-933 (Larry Press)
TK-0976 (Cher Lambeth)...who decided to wear her ANH Princess Leia
TK-5940 (Tom Gardner)
Ronald Boyd (TIE Pilot / ANH...submitted 501st app...awaiting approval)
Chris Gould (upcoming 501st Legion Biker Scout)
Jennifer Lam-Koronkowski (upcoming 501st Legion Mara Jade)
Natasha Cox (visiting member of Mandalorian Mercs)
Here are the photos....enjoy, there are a bunch.
And here is a clip from a local news channel covering the local sports and you can see (TD-4734 // Greg French) interacting with a hockey fan.
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I scraped and scraped at the paint left on my bubble with no luck
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Very cool. That's an early troop.
Some sort of wrangler badge or lanyard would be cool. I've attached a link to a tshirt on Trooperbay for wranglers...pretty cool
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Yeah, I'm able to get the paint off with a razor but it just takes so long. I have already made my own card backs and I plan on doing a few more for some friends. Here is my bubble. I got it off cleanly but the paint needs to be scraped off still. Are these what yours look like?
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@Sand Devil -- your son's Fett card looks awesome! Especially the custom ones you mocked up for the other outfits. Great work. I made some myself (no photos of them) but the only thing stopping from finishing them is cleaning the bubble up from another card before re-gluing. I took a Sandtrooper figure....cut off drop boxes, painted pauldron and "dirtied" the figure using the actual paint I used on my armor. Only problem is when I carefully cut the plastic bubble from the existing figure...the paint from the image on the existing card back is on the underside where it was glued. I tried soaking in nail polish, water, etc. Tried scraping it off with Xacto knife and that doesn't really work either. Any suggestions? Or do you know where I can buy un-used action figure bubbles?
[CLOSED] MEPD 10" Large V3 Patch
in Closed Merchandise
Posted
Patch received. Looks amazing.