Bronze Webley -> RotJ EE-3

Wow! Excellent blaster. It looks like it will turn out very well. I'm going to have to keep an eye on this thread.

man....good thing my HS webley doesnt have to be cut up...but Brian....your rifle is gonna rock....bout as hard as mine...but it will rock for sure

Originally Posted by Gilmore of OK

man....good thing my HS webley doesnt have to be cut up...but Brian....your rifle is gonna rock....bout as hard as mine...but it will rock for sure

yeah, taking a sawz-all to it hurt a bit. but after the first cut it got easier.

Looking good!

Brian, I'll be sure to take that off your hands for free if it's bothering you too much to cut into it.

Originally Posted by webchief

Brian, I'll be sure to take that off your hands for free if it's bothering you too much to cut into it.

hahahah! i think i'll be ok.

i went down to my basement workbench this morning to grab the ipod that i left there yesterday.

just about every surface is covered in metal dust from grinding the base to fit.

that's gonna be fun to clean up!

Awesome! I think that's the first HS ROTJ conversion I've seen to date and it's coming along beautifully. For an ASI check out "kurtyboy" over at RPF as he sometimes has one, or seems to find 'em easier. Be sure and specify the rings too as they are also a pain to get too. I picked up both from him a couple years back.

Steve

Originally Posted by DL44 Blaster

Awesome! I think that's the first HS ROTJ conversion I've seen to date and it's coming along beautifully.

Thanks!

I'm not surprised this doesn't happen often... I really wasn't so sure about the sawing off the barrel part of things. But it will be worth it in the end!

the barrel is now permanently attached! and, the tasco scope is on. aside from the scope rings, the tasco actually does look really good.





and when i say permanent... i mean PERMANENT! i coated the inside of the bronze with JB weld, then fitted the aluminum barrel in. i lined everything up straight and let the JB weld set. once it was secure i drilled 2 holes through the bronze and aluminum and set 2 rivets in. this is NOT going ANYWHERE ever again!

the collar then slips over this area and a small set screw holds it in place. the heads of the rivets stuck up enough to make it a really snug fit anyway, so i didn't bother to epoxy this. i'll trust to pressure and the set screw.

the 2 scope mounting blocks came identical. this ended up with the scope out of level with the barrel. i carefully ground away the underside of the rear block with a dremel, test fitting often until it sat right.

the front block screws into a tapped hole in the front that ken did for me. the rear is a nut and bolt. i put a bit of jb weld on the underside of the rear block to make up for the fact that it didn't sit perfectly flush with the surface of the gun.

now i need rubber track and greeblies!

I got to hold this bad boy on Friday night and I wanted to take it home with me. Awesome piece!

Looking great. I'm drooling!

today i ordered the rest of the greeblies and the fins for the barrel. so once they come in, the buildup part of this project will be done, and it will be on to painting!

well, done until i replace the scope (rings at least!)

the t-track from http://blast-tech.com/ came in, as did the greeblies from sidewinder.

and here it is, my assembled blaster!



sorta funny looking being all different colors. and like the cleverly layed out TDH shirt? i needed something to make the gun stand out against the black box, and what could be more appropriate than that?


closer shot of the front:


closeup of the stock:


straight on side shot:


next up, primer!

Whew ... that is really starting to look very nice! Is it heavy?

it's a lot heavier than the hyperfirm, but much lighter than my demiled sterling E-11. it's also balanced better, since i'm holding it in the middle rather than the back end.

the barrel is aluminum, with walls about 1/2" thick. substantial, but still pretty light.

the E-11 i carried for about 20 minutes before i wanted to cry. i think i'll be ok with this one for an hour or so before needing a break from it.

here's where i show off just how lame i am.

i went to bed, but something felt not right.

i got back up and looked at it again.

i realized that the short fins here:


were too short, and that the gap was thus too large.

fortunately, i got spare t-track, just in case!

so i went down and cut more of it, and replaced the bits that were too short with a better length.

Umm, you've got the grips positioned wrong in relation to the scope block.

See here, posts #70-74
http://www.thedentedhelmet.com/f20/rotj-recipe-12449/

SAS

Sweet Jesus that's smooth!!! Good job, Brian!

Originally Posted by Sidewinder

Umm, you've got the grips positioned wrong in relation to the scope block.

i'm not seeing it... what part isn't right?

mom / where science meets imagination pics:



my blaster:



what am i not seeing?

This diagram shows the fins laid out flat, note the scope block is 'between' two of the fins:


The below is how you have placed the fins in relation to the block (I think):

aw crud! i see what you mean now.

pics of the MR EE-3 back that up too.

looks like i'm getting more rubber track!

Sorry bud.
All you need is another 4" strip and reposition the others and its done!

SAS

Originally Posted by Sidewinder

Sorry bud.
All you need is another 4" strip and reposition the others and its done!

SAS

hey, better to catch it now than after i start painting it! thanks for the catch

and of course, i don't have 4" left. cuz that would be too easy. on the flip side, i won't have time to work on it til next week, by which time rubber part 2 should be in hand.

I hope I can check this out, when I hit Boston!

Originally Posted by Ripcode

I hope I can check this out, when I hit Boston!

absolutely!

heck, we could just have a cookout at my place or something.

i pulled the ribs off tonight and repositioned them. i came out 1 8" piece short, so i sent another order in to blast-tech. this will delay the painting a bit, but i have plenty of other stuff to work on!

Ummm... Ripcode... you're coming to Boston and I don't know about this? Ummmmm HELLOOOOO????

finally another update!

after my little "oops" with the t-track, i had to wait for more to arrive.

it came yesterday, and this morning before work i put the final piece on and primed the gun.

one thing i didn't mention was how i cut the beveled corner of the track for the nozzle end of the barrel. end nippers! work great, super easy to get consistent angles, etc...





here it is all primed.








it's got 2 coats of primer. one thing i do with my primer is i alternate colors. i did a coat of dark grey, followed by a coat of white. the reason i alternate is because it makes it really easy to see if your coats are complete. spray it all grey, then spray it all white. any grey spots? looks like you didn't get enough primer on!

so, based on the exhibit photos i've seen, i'd call the base coat of the gun more of a dark grey than a black. any thoughts on that?

i'm mostly done with the ee3. the weathering isn't complete, but since i'm trooping on wednesday with it, i wanted the paint to have a good amount of time to dry. it needs more rust, and will probably get it later this week.



the base paint is rustoleum satin black. the greyish muck is a mix of black and grey acrylic. i poured out a bunch of each of them onto my little palette. instead of blending them together, i just dipped the brush into them both at random, and daubed it on. this led to the mottled effect you see in that pic.

there are tiny bits of rusty brown here and there, but not much yet.

and here it is next to my sci-fire one:


close up of the barrel:


i started off trying to be really exact with weathering, but then i realized that this is going to get beaten and repainted many, many times... so that would sorta be pointless. instead i'm going for similar in style to the movie, rather than 100% accurate.

the hyperfirm used to be pretty detailed in its weathering, but over time it devolved into just that misty brown color, due to numerous touchups.

I love it. Fantastic work as always Brian.

Originally Posted by tk7602

absolutely!

heck, we could just have a cookout at my place or something.

I think that would be pretty cool!

Originally Posted by webchief

Ummm... Ripcode... you're coming to Boston and I don't know about this? Ummmmm HELLOOOOO????

Sorry WC! :o

I was going to fill Brian in on when we'll be in Boston and then plan a way to meet all you NEG guys!

Originally Posted by tk7602

and here it is next to my sci-fire one:

Wow!

Love it!

TK,
That looks awesome! Fantastic work. :thumbup

OT here but, is that an autographed pic of Summer Glau in the background of some of your shots??

Originally Posted by superjedi

TK,
That looks awesome! Fantastic work. :thumbup

OT here but, is that an autographed pic of Summer Glau in the background of some of your shots??

yup. my love for firefly is second only to star wars. summer and jewel staite are right next to each other on the wall.

Looking good man. Sorry to come in late with this post, but I think your F-4 greeblies are backwards (they just need to swap sides).

If you were using the Hyperfirm for reference, that might be why since all the Hyperfirms are backwards too.

http://www.blast-tech.com/products_rubberStrip.asp

SAS

The blaster is looking great! But it appears to me that the stock is a little too flat? Not sure, it's great though I'm sure it would be encumbering after a while though!!

well, the stock is what it is... orginal webley stocks are hard to come by, and replicas aren't much easier.

it's shaped a bit differently from the hyperfirm, but not hugely.

.edit post withdrawn. carry on.