TD-4242

I have a few guns cast and working on scopes. This weekend I'll be hanging out with Karen Travis so I probably wont get much else done. -Bill

More to come soon. I am actually making parts now.

Even more important, it adds an air of mystic to the helmet when it is all dark inside and you can't make anything out on casual glance. Always keep'em guessing.

Sorry life kinda happened. Again. I'll be back on this project in the next couple of weeks. I do plan to have all the ones that want them for C4 done for sure.

good idea, I'll swing by the paintball shop on my way home and see what I can find there. -Bill

another update to the first post. At this point I am going to be welding up teh initial 5 scope mounts, and waiting on a shipment of resin to finish up the ammo drum and receivers. Otherwise the first run is almost ready to go. I am also trying to find the right length of braided steel line. Most I've seen so far have been 12" or longer when I need it closer to about 8" -Bill

updates to the first post. It's getting close.

I am currently just waiting on a delivery from smooth-on for RTV and I'll cast up this new mount. Once that is complete I'll be spending some time at home depot trying to find the best way to fabricate the rest of the mounting bracket and then the first 5 will be up for sale. -Bill

I just got a parts kit that I paid about $600 for. I started welding it back together as a non-functional replica and found that about a 2"section of the reciever tube is missing. Luckly I can get one from here http://www.sksparts.com/receivertubesAN ... DDTUFF.htm for $20 and cut off the 2" I need and weld it in place. I also got one of their high dollar 80% cut tubes. I am going to use it to asseble a really nice resin parts kit onto. -Bill

soon as I get a shipping total from him I'll pp the money. After I get it cast I'll post it back up on ebay in hopes of getting some of the money back. -Bill

Wish me luck on this one guys last auction I was bidding on got canceled due to loss or damage: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... &rd=1&rd=1

I found a full WWII rifle that had the bracket on it at one of the gun auction sites but I don't really have $2500 to float. As cool as it would be to have the full rifle it just isn't quite $2500 cool.

I finished up the mold for the single point and cast up 5 of them for the first run of MG-15s. I now have all the parts except two. There is a custom mount for the night vision scope and an extremely rare mount for the sniper scope. I am calling out for any help to find one of these. They sell between $200-300 on ebay but are very rare. It is known as Enfield, No.32, mkIII, and/or mkII, scope mount. The one pictured is a newer replica/reproduction while the one used on screen was an original WWII item. They are only very slightly different and either would work. Thanks, -Bill

I've done some scopes in smooth cast 325 and while strong it is also brittle. I am useing a combination of feather light and smoothcast roto. Both are a little bit softer and more flexible. I also use a silica additive to add strength. -Bill

My plan is to put the first 3-5 up on ebay in order to get the most that I can with out asking. This is in hopes of recouping the, now several thousand dollars I have in this project. I think it will be somewhere's around $350 for a complete kit with everything needed and $400 for a completed painted and weathered version. There are just a lot more parts to this gun than any other I have made. After I get the first 10 sold I'll evaluate the process and see if I can do them for cheaper but I don't want to sacrifice quality either. -Bill

bunch of updates to the first post.

I think it is somewhat of a luck of the lottery. I'm sure they probably only inspect maybe 5-10% of the packages. Just get insurance and make sure it is set with the appropriate return address. Even if you only insure it for $10 or so at least it will require some tracking. Then don't leave feed back until you hear that it has arrived and the buyer is happy. -Bill

Yes, the cocking leaver was removed. It can rather easily be cut off. In fact without reinforcement they break off pretty easy. They are made of a slightly flexable resin and hollow cast. They are very light weight and easy to carry. -Bill

Ok I figured rather than hi-jacking Tyranus's thread I should start my own. (Pictures are on a non-standard internet port. If you can't see them try browsing from another location such as home. Most office internets will block access to these pictures) My first part was to mold up the receiver secion: then I molded up the ammo drum section: Then I had to build up the barrel mold which of course I forgot to document. I'll get some pictures of it and post them up here later. Then I started working on some castings: and now I have gotten the final ingredients: Here is the progress on the scopes: Can you spot the casting? I've got the mounts for both the single point and the sniper scope. I have now molded them up and started casting. I now just have to fabricate the film fabricated portion of the sniper scope and figure out what to do about the snooper scope. First 99% complete one. I now can make all the needed parts. The front sniper scope mount is made from steel tube and a screw all welded together. Only thing that is missing is the braided steel line going from the night scope to the receiver section. to see all the pictures I have taken of these you can browse the full gallery here: http://24.251.127.62:8088/gallery/mg-15 My goal is to make sure that I get enough of these out that there will be plenty of time to have them at C4. I do think the first run will come just prior to X-mas. -Bill

still a bit expensive but it is a complete suite nuts-to-butt. with speaker system, snap system, undersuit, boots, the works... probably about $1100-1200 worth of stuff. -Bill

The funny thing about this argument is as a Sandtrooper I couldn't give an f less if they want to wear pauldrons. When it really upsets me is when I wear my clean set of armor. I am trying to set an image of a bunch of exactly like troopers. And these people with the pauldrons are trying to set them selves apart by wearing this and it really screws up the image. Clean white Troopers were ment to all look the same. Just my 2 cents worth.

Yes, I've been searching for about a year now off and on. I have yet to see one for sale at any price. -Bill

Yes ABS glue works well. You do want to make sure to pick up the clear kind otherwise it will be dark black and almost impossible to use without making a mess of your armor. Specilty plumbing shops and Walmart are the only places I've found good clear ABS Cement. -Bill

You're trying to take away the best part. Is it bad that I get to thinking about that smell sometimes while at work, and not in a bad way but just imagining the smell. AA joke: "Hi, I'm TD-4242 and I am an adict." everybody, "Hi TD-4242" Airplane joke: "I picked the wrong day to quite sniffing glue"

I'd really like to get an original that I could cast and sell with the guns as a complete kit.