- Member DIN
- S024
A little late but better late than never!
Sometimes its nice to have 343i right in your backyard, and other times it's nice for 343i to have PacReg to come help out when they need it!
Late last year a few of us members in Pacific Regiment visited 343 during their Veterans day event. We even had a few of us kit up so we could take pictures with guests and such! The staff there were thrilled to have us around. During the tour of the Halo museum, a few of the staff members discussed with Lukavago and I that the Statue of Jun was damaged after HCS a few weeks prior during transportation. Discussions continued and Lukavago and I volunteered to help repair our beloved member of Noble team.
Fast forward to post holiday season, we made our way over to 343i and found out that there were more props that needed a little TLC including one infamous Nornfang. So naturally we got to work.
Lukavago got started on repairing the damage to Nornfang. There was several pieces that got broken off or damaged over the years. Most parts were 3d printed and nothing a little 2 part apoxy and gorilla glue can't fix. There was also some damage to the scope which was a little more difficult to repair. The scope was actually a resin cast and had cracked INWARDS so we had to get a little creative. Ended up using some super glue and a small dowel to apply to the lip of the crack and then wedge a metal dowel in between the dial and the scope to prop it up and keep it from opening. Luckily I brought my paint kit and could try to color match the scraped off paint as well as I could.
Lukavago getting his hands dirty. (or stuck with glue)
Repairs to the scope.
As far as Jun's rifle was concerned, that took a little more effort. Not only did the barrel need to be reattached, but their was some major cracking and some sections that had actually broken off that needed to be rebuilt. First I used a power drill to remove the leftover wooden dowel and gorilla glue from a previous repair and make some room for the piece of allthread that Luka had brought with him for the repair. After a short debacle about forgetting to charge my drill battery we got the material out and ready for the next step. Using a combination of E6000 and some green stuff(a two part molding plastic used in miniature sculpting I got the allthread dowel in place.
Since time was a factor during this repair, I decided the next step had to be done in a way that cure time would be relatively quick. I mixed up a batch of bondo with extra hardener for a shorter cure time and stuck that on the threaded rod. Next while it was till wet, I slid the rest of the barrel onto the dowel. Now that the two parts had been joined together, it was time to fix the rest of the joint on the barrel.
I mixed up some more bondo to build up the material around the support strut on the barrel to start shaping the piece, again adding a little extra hardener to shorten the cure time. Once enough material had been added and it was dry, I started to shape with my Dremel. After roughing out the shape I got to work with some sandpaper and an exacto knife to clean it all up .
Once the shape was good, I busted out the paint kit again and attempted to color match the gun.
And like that, in about 6-8ish hours of us working and taking breaks to venture into the museum to oogle at everything it was done! Staff was very exited to see the repairs done and started to point out more items that might need repairs at a future date. We were very exited to have such a positive interaction with the folks at 343i and continue to foster the relationship between them and the 405th.
I also managed to get a bunch of close up reference pictures of some of the assets from the museum that I will share in the near future.
Well done Luka!
Start of the repair look at the barrel or lack of one to be more precise.
Reconnecting the barrel
Starting the reconstruction of the support strut.
Finished product after paint.
Happy to have Jun back in action!
All in all we were thrilled to hang out at 343 for the afternoon and make some small difference. Can't wait to visit again!
Sometimes its nice to have 343i right in your backyard, and other times it's nice for 343i to have PacReg to come help out when they need it!
Late last year a few of us members in Pacific Regiment visited 343 during their Veterans day event. We even had a few of us kit up so we could take pictures with guests and such! The staff there were thrilled to have us around. During the tour of the Halo museum, a few of the staff members discussed with Lukavago and I that the Statue of Jun was damaged after HCS a few weeks prior during transportation. Discussions continued and Lukavago and I volunteered to help repair our beloved member of Noble team.
Fast forward to post holiday season, we made our way over to 343i and found out that there were more props that needed a little TLC including one infamous Nornfang. So naturally we got to work.
Lukavago got started on repairing the damage to Nornfang. There was several pieces that got broken off or damaged over the years. Most parts were 3d printed and nothing a little 2 part apoxy and gorilla glue can't fix. There was also some damage to the scope which was a little more difficult to repair. The scope was actually a resin cast and had cracked INWARDS so we had to get a little creative. Ended up using some super glue and a small dowel to apply to the lip of the crack and then wedge a metal dowel in between the dial and the scope to prop it up and keep it from opening. Luckily I brought my paint kit and could try to color match the scraped off paint as well as I could.
Lukavago getting his hands dirty. (or stuck with glue)
Repairs to the scope.
As far as Jun's rifle was concerned, that took a little more effort. Not only did the barrel need to be reattached, but their was some major cracking and some sections that had actually broken off that needed to be rebuilt. First I used a power drill to remove the leftover wooden dowel and gorilla glue from a previous repair and make some room for the piece of allthread that Luka had brought with him for the repair. After a short debacle about forgetting to charge my drill battery we got the material out and ready for the next step. Using a combination of E6000 and some green stuff(a two part molding plastic used in miniature sculpting I got the allthread dowel in place.
Since time was a factor during this repair, I decided the next step had to be done in a way that cure time would be relatively quick. I mixed up a batch of bondo with extra hardener for a shorter cure time and stuck that on the threaded rod. Next while it was till wet, I slid the rest of the barrel onto the dowel. Now that the two parts had been joined together, it was time to fix the rest of the joint on the barrel.
I mixed up some more bondo to build up the material around the support strut on the barrel to start shaping the piece, again adding a little extra hardener to shorten the cure time. Once enough material had been added and it was dry, I started to shape with my Dremel. After roughing out the shape I got to work with some sandpaper and an exacto knife to clean it all up .
Once the shape was good, I busted out the paint kit again and attempted to color match the gun.
And like that, in about 6-8ish hours of us working and taking breaks to venture into the museum to oogle at everything it was done! Staff was very exited to see the repairs done and started to point out more items that might need repairs at a future date. We were very exited to have such a positive interaction with the folks at 343i and continue to foster the relationship between them and the 405th.
I also managed to get a bunch of close up reference pictures of some of the assets from the museum that I will share in the near future.
Well done Luka!
Start of the repair look at the barrel or lack of one to be more precise.
Reconnecting the barrel
Starting the reconstruction of the support strut.
Finished product after paint.
Happy to have Jun back in action!
All in all we were thrilled to hang out at 343 for the afternoon and make some small difference. Can't wait to visit again!
