Spartan 161
Member
MA5K build ver2 Part 1
After my success with my first MA5K build I wanted to make the other version pictured on the cover of ghosts of onyx. Specifically the MA5K held by the Spartan III who is kneeling as pictured below.
Lucky for me Garland created some great Pep files located here. If a link in this thread doesn't work please copy and paste it into your browser.
http://405th.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=14687&hl=
My goals in this build were simple. To make a durable pep build with materials I had laying around my workshop but without Resin or bondo. Being winter here resin and bondo work is very limited due to the temperature. This thread is a result of a lot of experimentation. I hope many of you find the information I present here useful in your own Pepakura weapon builds. I have arraigned this post in a tutorial format and I hope it helps many members.
The Items you will need to for this build are listed below with a small explanation of what each one is and where to get it.
Cardstock. If you don’t know what this is please read the stickies in the pepakura section on the site. A thick paper used most commonly for business cards and available at office supply stores.
Sculpy, A polymer clay that remains clay like until it is baked. Its great for making small parts. It can be purchased at art and craft stores in a wide range of colors.
Sheetrock Lightweight joint setting compound 45 minute formula. Used in Drywall work. Can be purchased at lumberyards and home improvement stores. A 18lb bag was $8.50 US dollars and will go a long way, you can get smaller bags I just had half a bag laying around. For a Picture check out the link below.
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh155/S...61/IMG_7791.jpg
NIOSH approved dust mask. A dust mask used in mixing and sanding dry wall. Lets be safe ok. You don’t want to breathe in the dust while mixing this stuff. I mix mine outdoors with a mask on, and then come inside once it’s all mixed up. The 45 Minute formula gives you plenty of time to work with it before it starts to harden.
Bowl to mix up the joint compound in. Note anything used to mix joint compound with should only be used for that never use an item that has been in contact with this for a food purpose.
Self adhesive drywall joint tape. A fiberglass like tape used in dry wall work. Usually available at the same place where you got the Sheetrock Lightweight joint setting compound.
Sandpaper. Available at any hardware store and your new best friend.
Plastic for-sale sign. A large plastic for sale sign available at any hardware store. The thicker the plastic the better. I noticed some of the signs are very thin avoid these, look for the thicker ones.
3M General Trim adhesive. This spray adhesive is extremely strong and is used to glue trim and emblems on cars. Can be purchased at most Auto parts stores. Check out the link for a picture of the product.
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh155/S...61/IMG_7778.jpg
Bulls Eye Spray Shellac. A traditional finish for wood and paper. Can be purchased at most hardware and home improvement stores.
Flavor Injector. A large hypodermic needle looking thing used in cooking. Available at department stores and most places that sell cookware. Click the link below for a picture. Note anything used with joint compound with should only be used for that never use an item that has been in contact with this for a food purpose.
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh155/S...61/IMG_7828.jpg
Egg Wisk. Nothing more than a small Wisk generally used to Wisk up eggs. Available at most places that sell cookware. Note anything used to mix joint compound with should only be used for that never use an item that has been in contact with this for a food purpose. Available at any place that sells cookware.
Expanding foam insulation. Used in and around homes available at lumberyards, hardware stores and home improvement stores.
Super Glue. If you don’t know what this is then you have led a sheltered life. A super strong fast setting glue that has a tendency to bond together fingers of the unwise. Available at a wide variety of places.
First I printed out the pep minus the barrel, flashlight, trigger, ejection port indent, barrel indents, charging handle and one overhead rail. Score and cut out the pep pieces for the lower receiver ONLY. Many of the pep pieces in my build were modified for my special build. So if you wish to do the same just be patient and read on I will show you what you need to know. After scoring the lines and cutting out the pepakura pieces I then cut out several templates for this build from extra pepakura pieces. The first piece we will need is an extra side of the lower receiver like pictured below.
Then we will remove this 3/16” inch (Roughly 5mm) area like so. This makes our Template. The 3/16” I removed is to leave room for the tabs to glue on. I then used this template to layout on for sale sign plastic (back side of sign, is white and free of paint). As shown below. Then I cut out these plastic pieces. Note you should cut just inside your lines. This will limit how much you need to trim to make the plastic pieces fit perfectly. Also flip your template over so you have to opposite pieces.
Ok Now we make a template out of a side piece of the magazine well and cut pieces of for sale sign plastic like below. Note we keep this template full size no trimming.
Ok now we assemble the lower receiver and magazine well like shown below.
Now before you assemble this part of the pep here are a few field notes. On each side of this lower receiver are some fold lines that are unneeded, don’t bother folding them. If you look these fold lines are on different places on each side. Plus if you pay attention you will note which ones I am talking about because you can clearly see them in my photos. They are the only ones I didn’t score with ink pens.
Right side
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh155/S...61/IMG_8388.jpg
Left side
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh155/S...61/IMG_8386.jpg
Secondly the magazine well spacing is uneven in the pep model. Click this link below to see a screen cap of the pieces. As you can see one piece is way out of whack.
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh155/S...agazinelips.jpg
To even it out I measured 1/8”inch (roughly 3mm) on the pep pieces and ended up with an assembled magazine well like this below.
Ok now onto the next step of this build. Take the for sale sign plastic pieces you cut out and attach some self adhesive drywall joint tape. Next I used a few drops of super glue on the plastic to permanently fasten the joint tape to the plastic like pictured below.
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh155/S...61/IMG_8298.jpg
After the super glue has set up trim the excess away and continue on with the other parts. Like this side receiver piece click below.
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh155/S...61/IMG_8301.jpg
Now we take these plastic joint tape pieces and we flip them over (joint tape side down) on some newspaper or cardboard and spray them down with some 3M General Trim adhesive. And put them in the lower receiver like shown below. The adhesive dries fast so don’t fool around, emplace it quickly. I only spray one piece at a time. The adhesive should be used in a well ventilated area as well. Try not to get the adhesive on your hands; I use a set of tweezers to pick up and emplace the pieces.
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh155/S...61/IMG_8300.jpg
Now for the straight pieces like the back top and front of the magazine well we just use a ruler and cut strips and cut pieces as needed. You will note that I have included a magnet in the top of the magazine well.
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh155/S...61/IMG_8302.jpg
Here is the handle area with the plastic in place.
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh155/S...61/IMG_8303.jpg
Here is the lower receiver and magazine well pretty much complete. You will note that at each fold it’s an entirely new piece cut and glued in place. Also you need to start thinking a few steps ahead because you don’t want to glue a piece in place and then find out later you have a tab that needs to be glued in there. The key is to add the pep as you go and then glue in for sale sign plastic over the cardstock tabs and all. This increases the builds strength.
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh155/S...61/IMG_8305.jpg
Next we want to pep and glue in plastic to this center pistol grip piece as pictured below.
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh155/S...61/IMG_8306.jpg
Then we glue this part into the lower receiver as pictured below.
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh155/S...61/IMG_8307.jpg
Then we assemble the next upper part of the receiver and part of the butt plate. You will note that the Butt plate is not completely attached. This is deliberate and the reason for this becomes apparent later on. It should go without saying that you should attach for sale sign plastic and joint tape on these new places except where tabs must be glued. But I said it to drive home the method of this build.
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh155/S...ppersection.jpg
A close up of the rear of the magazine well.
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh155/S...61/IMG_8304.jpg
Take the pep outside and give it a light coat of spray on shellac, then set it aside someplace warm to dry.
Now we take a step back from the pep and for sale sign plastic and we take the flavor injector and modify it. I used a Dremel with a cut off wheel and cut off the tip as pictured below.
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh155/S...61/IMG_7835.jpg
Now a note on the mix ratio of the sheetrock lightweight joint setting compound. I did up a series of mix tests in 1”x1” cardstock cubes. The picture of these tests are below and I think they speak for themselves about the shrinkage rate. These cubes were filled level to the top with there mixtures. The tops of the cubes are open and marked with a red sharpie on the cured compound to highlight the shrinkage. 1.75 parts compound to 1 part water barely shrinks at all. However this mixture is thick like cake frosting and has to be spooned and pushed around. 1.5 parts compound to 1 part water has very little shrinkage and can be used in a flavor injector. It has a consistency like a nice milkshake, not to runny not to thick. One part compound to one part water has more shrinkage and is like a runny milkshake in consistency. But the amazing part of this test is the sides of the cardstock maintained there shape well with minimal warping. That’s why we add the plastic, to maintain the shape perfectly.
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh155/S...61/IMG_8389.jpg
With the shellac for sale sign plastic and joint compound used in concert we create a hard model with no warping. This is the build methodology I have come up with and it works great for pep weapons. For those of you who have a harder time visualizing this here is a simple diagram.
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh155/S...61/Layering.jpg
Next step is to mix up some Sheetrock Lightweight joint setting compound. I mix only a Dixie cup at a time (3oz 85grams) to keep the batches small. I use a mixture of 1.5 parts compound to 1 part water. Then I fill my flavor injectors and take the rear receiver as pictured below.
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh155/S...61/IMG_8311.jpg
Then we gently pull back the top rails and inject the joint compound into the narrow space between the magazine well and receiver as shown below.
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh155/S...61/IMG_8312.jpg
After you have a good amount injected into each side of the magazine well lightly tamp the receiver on the table to drive the compound all the way down into all the nooks and crannies. Don’t over do this a little tamping goes a long way. You should end up with the inside of your receiver looking like this in the afore mentioned areas.
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh155/S...61/IMG_8314.jpg
If you have any mixed joint compound left over (I always do). Then take it and just pour some of it into the back behind the magazine well. Then take the rest and pour it down the pistol grip. Then lightly pick up the receiver and roll it around in your hands. The goal here is to get the compound to cover as large as an area around the inside of the receiver as possible. Don’t let the compound go beyond the plastic for sale sign joint tape prepared surfaces. You should then end up with some views like this.
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh155/S...61/IMG_8313.jpg
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh155/S...61/IMG_8315.jpg
Now take the receiver and place it someplace warm where it won’t be knocked over or otherwise disturbed to dry. To be on the safe side I let my parts dry at least 3 days in the furnace room of my house.
Please read this carefully. If you have questions please do not quote this entire post. Just copy and paste the relevant area. I will do my best to clear up any questions you may have before continuing with this tutorial. Let’s keep this thread as orderly as possible. Thank you for your cooperation.
After my success with my first MA5K build I wanted to make the other version pictured on the cover of ghosts of onyx. Specifically the MA5K held by the Spartan III who is kneeling as pictured below.
Lucky for me Garland created some great Pep files located here. If a link in this thread doesn't work please copy and paste it into your browser.
http://405th.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=14687&hl=
My goals in this build were simple. To make a durable pep build with materials I had laying around my workshop but without Resin or bondo. Being winter here resin and bondo work is very limited due to the temperature. This thread is a result of a lot of experimentation. I hope many of you find the information I present here useful in your own Pepakura weapon builds. I have arraigned this post in a tutorial format and I hope it helps many members.
The Items you will need to for this build are listed below with a small explanation of what each one is and where to get it.
Cardstock. If you don’t know what this is please read the stickies in the pepakura section on the site. A thick paper used most commonly for business cards and available at office supply stores.
Sculpy, A polymer clay that remains clay like until it is baked. Its great for making small parts. It can be purchased at art and craft stores in a wide range of colors.
Sheetrock Lightweight joint setting compound 45 minute formula. Used in Drywall work. Can be purchased at lumberyards and home improvement stores. A 18lb bag was $8.50 US dollars and will go a long way, you can get smaller bags I just had half a bag laying around. For a Picture check out the link below.
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh155/S...61/IMG_7791.jpg
NIOSH approved dust mask. A dust mask used in mixing and sanding dry wall. Lets be safe ok. You don’t want to breathe in the dust while mixing this stuff. I mix mine outdoors with a mask on, and then come inside once it’s all mixed up. The 45 Minute formula gives you plenty of time to work with it before it starts to harden.
Bowl to mix up the joint compound in. Note anything used to mix joint compound with should only be used for that never use an item that has been in contact with this for a food purpose.
Self adhesive drywall joint tape. A fiberglass like tape used in dry wall work. Usually available at the same place where you got the Sheetrock Lightweight joint setting compound.
Sandpaper. Available at any hardware store and your new best friend.
Plastic for-sale sign. A large plastic for sale sign available at any hardware store. The thicker the plastic the better. I noticed some of the signs are very thin avoid these, look for the thicker ones.
3M General Trim adhesive. This spray adhesive is extremely strong and is used to glue trim and emblems on cars. Can be purchased at most Auto parts stores. Check out the link for a picture of the product.
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh155/S...61/IMG_7778.jpg
Bulls Eye Spray Shellac. A traditional finish for wood and paper. Can be purchased at most hardware and home improvement stores.
Flavor Injector. A large hypodermic needle looking thing used in cooking. Available at department stores and most places that sell cookware. Click the link below for a picture. Note anything used with joint compound with should only be used for that never use an item that has been in contact with this for a food purpose.
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh155/S...61/IMG_7828.jpg
Egg Wisk. Nothing more than a small Wisk generally used to Wisk up eggs. Available at most places that sell cookware. Note anything used to mix joint compound with should only be used for that never use an item that has been in contact with this for a food purpose. Available at any place that sells cookware.
Expanding foam insulation. Used in and around homes available at lumberyards, hardware stores and home improvement stores.
Super Glue. If you don’t know what this is then you have led a sheltered life. A super strong fast setting glue that has a tendency to bond together fingers of the unwise. Available at a wide variety of places.
First I printed out the pep minus the barrel, flashlight, trigger, ejection port indent, barrel indents, charging handle and one overhead rail. Score and cut out the pep pieces for the lower receiver ONLY. Many of the pep pieces in my build were modified for my special build. So if you wish to do the same just be patient and read on I will show you what you need to know. After scoring the lines and cutting out the pepakura pieces I then cut out several templates for this build from extra pepakura pieces. The first piece we will need is an extra side of the lower receiver like pictured below.
Then we will remove this 3/16” inch (Roughly 5mm) area like so. This makes our Template. The 3/16” I removed is to leave room for the tabs to glue on. I then used this template to layout on for sale sign plastic (back side of sign, is white and free of paint). As shown below. Then I cut out these plastic pieces. Note you should cut just inside your lines. This will limit how much you need to trim to make the plastic pieces fit perfectly. Also flip your template over so you have to opposite pieces.
Ok Now we make a template out of a side piece of the magazine well and cut pieces of for sale sign plastic like below. Note we keep this template full size no trimming.
Ok now we assemble the lower receiver and magazine well like shown below.
Now before you assemble this part of the pep here are a few field notes. On each side of this lower receiver are some fold lines that are unneeded, don’t bother folding them. If you look these fold lines are on different places on each side. Plus if you pay attention you will note which ones I am talking about because you can clearly see them in my photos. They are the only ones I didn’t score with ink pens.
Right side
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh155/S...61/IMG_8388.jpg
Left side
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh155/S...61/IMG_8386.jpg
Secondly the magazine well spacing is uneven in the pep model. Click this link below to see a screen cap of the pieces. As you can see one piece is way out of whack.
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh155/S...agazinelips.jpg
To even it out I measured 1/8”inch (roughly 3mm) on the pep pieces and ended up with an assembled magazine well like this below.
Ok now onto the next step of this build. Take the for sale sign plastic pieces you cut out and attach some self adhesive drywall joint tape. Next I used a few drops of super glue on the plastic to permanently fasten the joint tape to the plastic like pictured below.
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh155/S...61/IMG_8298.jpg
After the super glue has set up trim the excess away and continue on with the other parts. Like this side receiver piece click below.
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh155/S...61/IMG_8301.jpg
Now we take these plastic joint tape pieces and we flip them over (joint tape side down) on some newspaper or cardboard and spray them down with some 3M General Trim adhesive. And put them in the lower receiver like shown below. The adhesive dries fast so don’t fool around, emplace it quickly. I only spray one piece at a time. The adhesive should be used in a well ventilated area as well. Try not to get the adhesive on your hands; I use a set of tweezers to pick up and emplace the pieces.
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh155/S...61/IMG_8300.jpg
Now for the straight pieces like the back top and front of the magazine well we just use a ruler and cut strips and cut pieces as needed. You will note that I have included a magnet in the top of the magazine well.
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh155/S...61/IMG_8302.jpg
Here is the handle area with the plastic in place.
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh155/S...61/IMG_8303.jpg
Here is the lower receiver and magazine well pretty much complete. You will note that at each fold it’s an entirely new piece cut and glued in place. Also you need to start thinking a few steps ahead because you don’t want to glue a piece in place and then find out later you have a tab that needs to be glued in there. The key is to add the pep as you go and then glue in for sale sign plastic over the cardstock tabs and all. This increases the builds strength.
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh155/S...61/IMG_8305.jpg
Next we want to pep and glue in plastic to this center pistol grip piece as pictured below.
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh155/S...61/IMG_8306.jpg
Then we glue this part into the lower receiver as pictured below.
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh155/S...61/IMG_8307.jpg
Then we assemble the next upper part of the receiver and part of the butt plate. You will note that the Butt plate is not completely attached. This is deliberate and the reason for this becomes apparent later on. It should go without saying that you should attach for sale sign plastic and joint tape on these new places except where tabs must be glued. But I said it to drive home the method of this build.
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh155/S...ppersection.jpg
A close up of the rear of the magazine well.
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh155/S...61/IMG_8304.jpg
Take the pep outside and give it a light coat of spray on shellac, then set it aside someplace warm to dry.
Now we take a step back from the pep and for sale sign plastic and we take the flavor injector and modify it. I used a Dremel with a cut off wheel and cut off the tip as pictured below.
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh155/S...61/IMG_7835.jpg
Now a note on the mix ratio of the sheetrock lightweight joint setting compound. I did up a series of mix tests in 1”x1” cardstock cubes. The picture of these tests are below and I think they speak for themselves about the shrinkage rate. These cubes were filled level to the top with there mixtures. The tops of the cubes are open and marked with a red sharpie on the cured compound to highlight the shrinkage. 1.75 parts compound to 1 part water barely shrinks at all. However this mixture is thick like cake frosting and has to be spooned and pushed around. 1.5 parts compound to 1 part water has very little shrinkage and can be used in a flavor injector. It has a consistency like a nice milkshake, not to runny not to thick. One part compound to one part water has more shrinkage and is like a runny milkshake in consistency. But the amazing part of this test is the sides of the cardstock maintained there shape well with minimal warping. That’s why we add the plastic, to maintain the shape perfectly.
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh155/S...61/IMG_8389.jpg
With the shellac for sale sign plastic and joint compound used in concert we create a hard model with no warping. This is the build methodology I have come up with and it works great for pep weapons. For those of you who have a harder time visualizing this here is a simple diagram.
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh155/S...61/Layering.jpg
Next step is to mix up some Sheetrock Lightweight joint setting compound. I mix only a Dixie cup at a time (3oz 85grams) to keep the batches small. I use a mixture of 1.5 parts compound to 1 part water. Then I fill my flavor injectors and take the rear receiver as pictured below.
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh155/S...61/IMG_8311.jpg
Then we gently pull back the top rails and inject the joint compound into the narrow space between the magazine well and receiver as shown below.
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh155/S...61/IMG_8312.jpg
After you have a good amount injected into each side of the magazine well lightly tamp the receiver on the table to drive the compound all the way down into all the nooks and crannies. Don’t over do this a little tamping goes a long way. You should end up with the inside of your receiver looking like this in the afore mentioned areas.
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh155/S...61/IMG_8314.jpg
If you have any mixed joint compound left over (I always do). Then take it and just pour some of it into the back behind the magazine well. Then take the rest and pour it down the pistol grip. Then lightly pick up the receiver and roll it around in your hands. The goal here is to get the compound to cover as large as an area around the inside of the receiver as possible. Don’t let the compound go beyond the plastic for sale sign joint tape prepared surfaces. You should then end up with some views like this.
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh155/S...61/IMG_8313.jpg
http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh155/S...61/IMG_8315.jpg
Now take the receiver and place it someplace warm where it won’t be knocked over or otherwise disturbed to dry. To be on the safe side I let my parts dry at least 3 days in the furnace room of my house.
Please read this carefully. If you have questions please do not quote this entire post. Just copy and paste the relevant area. I will do my best to clear up any questions you may have before continuing with this tutorial. Let’s keep this thread as orderly as possible. Thank you for your cooperation.
Last edited by a moderator: