TD1009 Posted November 19, 2005 Author Share Posted November 19, 2005 The leather strap is the longest 1" belt they sell at Tandy leather 60" I think, dyed dark brown and secured on the butt end with a painted and weathered large self-tapping screw. The wrap around section was secured with a bolt and nut that looked right, I'll get some more detail pics that will show the strap specifically this weekend. I'll write up a tutorial once I get the rest on the WIP pics from my buddy who made his at the same time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hpdblues Posted November 19, 2005 Share Posted November 19, 2005 Too kool dude! Thanks amigo! Guns Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TD1009 Posted December 2, 2005 Author Share Posted December 2, 2005 Strap attachment details: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TD1009 Posted December 2, 2005 Author Share Posted December 2, 2005 These are what I used to attach the ribs, worked great with the cheap vinyl tubing. Bought these at Lowes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TD-1536 Posted December 2, 2005 Share Posted December 2, 2005 ****... after looking at your progress pics, that's got to be the best 'from-scratch' Lewis Blaster I've ever seen. Awesome!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanL Posted December 2, 2005 Share Posted December 2, 2005 I just started my Lewis, and I think I'm gonna steal your cooling ring idea there. Very clever. How does the tube attach within the brass couplers? Is the tubing glued all the way around or does it just rest on the barrel? I will update with pics of mine as I get further along. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TD1009 Posted December 3, 2005 Author Share Posted December 3, 2005 IanL: I just glued them into the couplers and it rests on the barrel but you could probably use a good contact cement all the way around. I needed about 21ft (if I remember correctly) of the tubing. I used a dullcote spray on the tubes after attaching them to remove the shine. The dullcoat does have a tendency to rub away on my armor when I troop with it but overall it still looks better than with it all shiny. Thanks Mike, your praise means a lot, before I got armor and then after too, your site was a massive influence on what I wanted my Sandtrooper to look like. We know when we made this we were just standing on the shoulders of everyone that had made Lewis guns and posted tutorials and had sites like yours. The biggest achievement on our Lewis guns IMO was using the 3" pvc as the barrel end diameter and using 3" pvc couplers for the wider main barrel circumference. Then using an epoxy putty to create the taper. This does make the gun slightly bigger than a real Lewis but it allows for the same scale of taper to the barrel end. Painting variances with flat black and gun metal add to the look seen on most real Lewis including the one seen in ANH. There's a nice one at the Udar Hazy Air and Space Museum in Northern Virginia: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TD-1536 Posted December 3, 2005 Share Posted December 3, 2005 oh wow... I was at that museum the first week it opened, don't recall seeing that. Looks like another trip is in order! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TD2802 Posted December 3, 2005 Share Posted December 3, 2005 Those pics really help for reference. Almost like when building your own pack, another rite of passage would be a scratchbuilt BFG. This really helps when building my lewis. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tk0600 Posted December 5, 2005 Share Posted December 5, 2005 Hey all, I have posted my set of the pics when tk1009 and I built the lewis guns. One warning with our design, when complete, they weigh in at about 30lbs. Just keep that in mind when building yours. You may want to drill some holes in the wood within the barrel to bring down the total weight. We will be making another, so mine may be up for sale to cover the next build. Here are my pics from the build. http://photobucket.com/albums/c400/tk0600/ tk0600 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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