Thermal/chem-formed BR55-HB airsoft replica (Photo heavy)

[Redshirt]

I don't get to play in the Midwest, I'm west Florida, south Alabama mostly. As far as car parts go, you can never overcome localized pockets of incompetence. I'm running a '67 BSA 650 Lightning. What's your cafe' bike. I'll check out DoTheTon. '65 Tempest is also a gem. Revisit my thread and see if you can sort out what my current project is. Jeg's backordered a set of tires for over a year on me, so I won't ever give them the time of day.

Back to the topic at hand, the Icing is polyester-based, same as bondo or resin, so it does bite well to plastic. The toluene-base red spot putty does leave plastic soft for a long time if applied heavily.

Redshirt

 

[Redtail]

Don't laugh, it's a 1975 Yamaha DT250. BUt it's got a heavily customized engine and suspension (currently biding my time away from home by learning how to do the math necessary to design my own tuned expansion chamber), and I've got some finishing touches to put on a new front fender for it, before making a custom seat. FOr an off-road bike by design, it's very, very streetable, and with the right tires I'd put money on it being able to outmaneuver the venerable Buell XB9.

SHame about location; I'm from about 60 miles west of Chicago and travel a fair bit for games, though I don't play all that frequently because some of the local hosts are aggressive mooks with serious issues regarding respect for independent game operators, going as far as to blatantly violate their own rules on forums regarding game placement and timing, and ban anyone who calls them out about it.
Though strangely enough, I'm currently stranded in Volusia County for the next two weeks. This is entirely too weird. If you tell me your family's planning to retire in, say, Peoria, IL, I'll tell you that we're the mirror image of one another.

But yes... Topics, topics. topics.
I won't be using much of the stuff. There are a few little voids and gaps between the panels that I'd like to fill. Stuff that would be *mostly* hidden by a couple coats of sandable primer, but would still show through. Given what you're saying, if I was patient with the body filler stuff with the toluene solvent, I could PROBABLY do an okay job, but I'll probably bug the guys at Napa for some body icing in a couple weeks, because... Well, suffice it to say that I came here asking for advice, and now I look like I'm just blowing a big ol' raspberry at it. XD

I've been creeping on your Spartan Laser some more. Every time I see that thing, I'm even more impressed. I just hope this thing stands up to the comparison one or two of the vets have suggested.
I have a problem getting too big of a head on my shoulders. So I'll get this out of the way now. THis BR55 is kid stuff compared to that SPLAS. XD

 

[Redtail]

ENded up using Bondo grazing putty, as I was utterly unable to find body icing anywhere at all, even at the JC Whitney outlet. I got a variety of confused looks, and a couple of the better guys took me back to the waxing and buffing products and showed me Turtlewax Liquid Ice.

The red-colored spot putty did okay, aside from its propensity to crack if you apply it more than about 1/16 thick (despite the claims of "low shrinkage"). Sands down smooth, worked perfectly with the second application. Filled in all of the plate-joint imperfections I had.

I actually split the top half open trying to rewire the thing, that was aggravating. Fortunately it was along an original manufacturer seam, so I sealed it back up with a bit of ABS cleaner, which caused minimal damage to the paint. The metallic finish looked great, too, until I clearcoated it. Now it looks kinda fake. XD

But, form follows function. The real-live AR15A2 looks *and* feels like a toy, my toy has the upper hand in that regard. Even with all of the plastic here, it's incredibly heavy and solid and there's just no creaking or rattling.
It took maybe 45 minutes to find a safe and clear place to run the wires to the front of the gun, without interfering with the bolt mechanism, the backspin generator, the barrel or barrel trunion, the takedown lock, the trigger, or basically the rest of the gun. I was in the end able to do it without drilling any new holes. But it's just so heavy, I think I need to figure out how to add a sling without detracting from the look too badly. With as heavy as it is, it'll have to be a properly hardcore mounting lug.

It's field-ready as of now.

Here's some photos!

 

[Redtail]

I've just picked up a couple of stainless steel U-bolts that I will attempt to re-shape and mount as slung lugs. THe placement of the rear lug will be where it appears to be in the game imagery, but the front lug will be a little more tricky. The size and weight of this beast makes it impractical to mount it to a more modern one-point sling, and a traditional two-point sling is far too old-fashioned.
I will be engineering some way to mount a three-point style sling to the gun, because those are very comfy and don't look Call of Duty tacti-cool.

Any feedback, guys? C'mon.

 

[Redtail]

I wanted to post another update real quick here. The gun has survived its first combat drop, a weekend-long airsoft game called COdename: THUNDER held in the Midwest. This year it was at a brand new field called Legacy Paintball in Lockport, IL, featuring mountains of giant rocks, treacherous forest floors covered in giant rocks, sheer cliff faces made of giant rocks, and swamps, marshes and grassy prairies intermittently strewn with giant rocks.

I tripped and fell no more than fifteen minutes into the game and destroyed the gun's magazine release. This was a problem.
A lesser man may have taped the magazine into the gun and went on with it.
I engineered a repair for the gun that fixes a critical vulnerability here, the fact that the factory mag release design is too damn fragile for field use. I've since replaced it with my own engineering, a chunk of brass set into the front of the control lever that shouldn't wear-out magazines too quickly.
Beta model might receive additional redesign of the magazine release and even the magazine itself. I'm still not happy with the bolt, one of these days it'll fall right out, and it has to be pulled just the right way or it doesn't come back. That needs to be fixed.

The high weight proved not to be an issue with the gun's short length and excellent balance. I suspect smaller individuals may benefit from a sling lug though. Otherwise the next project I work on will be a submachinegun.

 

[Redshirt]

That is awesome. I'm a bit jealous that you got to field it in a good op. I'm definitely excited to get my project into a game. How was the BR received by the other players? Any 'purists' gripe about using a Sci-fi gun? Our stuff has been well-received on ASR so far. Nice work!

Redshirt

 

[Carpathia]

Considering he won the "Coolest Gun" award, I'd say it was accepted pretty well. I got to hold this gun this weekend. It's a solid piece.

 

[Redtail]

I'd say "solid" is an understatement. I tripped and landed in a pile of giant f****ng rocks, all 280lbs of my fat ass coming crashing down right on top of this bruiser. The magazine release sheared off because I hadn't had a chance to re-engineer it to my obsessive-compulsive spec yet, but other than that, an impact that would have snapped your everyday AEG clean in half did little more than chip the paint on the foregrip and damage the weak factory magazine release tabs, which I've replaced with a much sturdier unit precision engineered from a piece of brass tube that I flattened with my car tire.

EDIT
I even teabagged a kill. On camera. It was great.

 

[Mstruvmgc]

DUDE!!!! thats righteous! OMG I love it!

 

[Ghost Bear 027]

I like it.

Interesting that you said, "The metallic finish looked great, too, until I clearcoated it. Now it looks kinda fake." as I've had the same problem too. Once I put on a flat coat of sealer over nice silver or titanium paint, it immediately dulls. I've gone to using water based acrylic paints, which are horrible to put on since the metallic color doesn't really take on the first few coats, but it seems to hold up better under a clear protective coat.

 

[Redtail]

That's fine, I generally do about two or three coats anyway. And that's on top of a primer. I may have to look into that. Are these available in aerosol cans, or is this something that has to be brushed or airbrushed on?