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Halo Spartan Laser Metal & Fiberglass Airsoft Beast

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Howie
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Post by Redshirt 6th October 2013, 11:56 pm

OK. So lots of sanding and redoing of old parts is not wowing the crowd. I know, I promised more hard to see progress from sanding and filing of the front shroud this week, but I under catalyzed some of the fiberglass-filled Bondo and it took forever to set up. Instead of doing nothing, I made some progress on a perennial crowd favorite material:

METAL!

That's right, once again we are making metal parts.

This week I decided to machine the side vents out of aluminum plate. I've known I wanted them in metal since early in the project, but kept kicking that can down the road since I didn't know how I wanted to go about it. After realizing I could never hope to weld up anything tidy or low profile, that left milling. Again, I have no mill. I have a milling table for my drill press. It is not the same. Mills handle side loads all day. Drill presses don't. They burn out. Mine did this week because I asked too much of it. I got it rebuilt and back in the game to finish up this project.



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Here's the vent I'm making on the game-model along with my planned cut line on the aluminum plate.



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I cut two sections of plate to machine. I'll cut each into two parts later to make the 4 vent pieces.



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All lined up on the drill press and starting to cut down the edges.



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Here I'm cutting the cross grooves into the plate sections. Eventually I cut the grooves all the way through to complete the vents. These vents have to be functional to get air to the mechboxes for compression and cooling.



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All cut! I have some cleanup to do, but not too bad of a job for non-precision machinery.



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I plan to back the vents with a black cloth to hide the internal parts from view and keep dirt from getting inside the gun. My choice is landscaping cloth, designed to keep weeds from growing in flower beds. Dense, black, and tough--perfect for my job here. After the metal is painted, I'll hot glue the cloth onto the metal to complete the vent assemblies before installing them inside the upper receiver.

Next is to get the upper holes in the upper receiver resized and ready for vent installation.

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Post by Redshirt 14th October 2013, 11:12 am

I hope to have the cosmetics done by Halo-ween. Won't shoot, but that feature won't be far behind.


Work this week has focused on fitting the vents into the upper receiver. The cutouts were all oversize and several cut pretty close to the edges or corners of the receiver, creating weak spots. In fact, these have cracked and been repaired a few times. I set out to shrink the enclosures for the vents to improve the overall strength of the upper receiver.



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Here I have marked out what areas are oversize, and where the opening needs enlarged. I really don't need the vents to run behind the mid shroud as it weakens the fiberglass structure.



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Here's the front left are of the vent everything right of the vertical marks gets a fiberglass patch. Notice the rough area to the right. I decided to continue that horizontal rib that goes above the vent back to the rear of the receiver with an extra layer of glass and resin. It actually adds quite a bit of strength.




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Same area on the right side. The horizontal line means the opening needs to be lowered slightly.




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Here's the left front area patched and in the process of getting cut to size.




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Making the cuts with the air saw. This baby makes short work of fiberglass and many other materials with the added benefit of not being that good at cutting skin!



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As always, Bondo covers a multitude of sins as I blend in the patches and tidy the cuts.


I'll get an update in next of fitting up the metal vent work. I'm pretty stoked about getting back into making good progress again.

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Post by Guest 14th October 2013, 12:06 pm

Very Happy

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Post by Redshirt 20th October 2013, 8:28 am

Finishing up the vents this week.

To fit the vents into the upper receiver, I needed very precise openings with no slop.  To do this, I cut solid bars of aluminum into the exact shapes of the final vents and liberally coated them with mold release.




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Here are the blanks drying with their coat of polyvinyl alcohol mold release.  I cut these from bar stock.  My vent pieces were machined to match this bar stock.




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I then press-fit the blanks into the openings.  Though all the openings had slop, they also had enough interference to stay in place.




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Here is the setup on the left side.




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I needed a thin material to fill all the way into the gaps, but be very hard--Rondo.  This was about a 2/3 to 1/3 mix of Bondo to resin.  For the small gaps being covered, I didn't worry about needing glass-fiber reinforcement.  Here I've worked the material into the gaps around the right rear vent.




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A few minutes later, out comes the blank and a perfect hole is left behind.




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I used the same blanks again to set the cuts on my vent ladders.




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Beautiful!  After dressing down the excess Rondo by wet sanding, the vents fit perfectly.




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The left side fully fitted.  I'm happy with the result.  This should still give adequate air flow to the gear boxes when firing.

I'll set the vent pieces aside for now.  They will get Cerakote black finished along with most of the metal parts shortly.

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Post by Guest 20th October 2013, 10:24 am

Can you put a mesh behind it to keep out debris, or did you think of that already and/or there is no need to worry about that?

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Post by Redshirt 20th October 2013, 6:17 pm

Che Chuy wrote:Can you put a mesh behind it to keep out debris, or did you think of that already and/or there is no need to worry about that?
Yes, the black mesh will go behind it to act as an air filter.  I won't add the mesh until the high-temp ceramic coating is done to the aluminum.

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Post by Howie 20th October 2013, 8:43 pm

Looking good
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Post by Redshirt 27th October 2013, 9:32 pm

Howie wrote:Looking good
Thanks!  Getting there.


Back for more.

I wanted to declare a couple of pieces complete and ready for paint so I got the last work done on the front shroud and the mid shroud.



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I'd swear this piece was done, but apparently it needed a patch as well as some more sanding.


The main update today is for the two pieces of the upper receiver. I needed to get a good finish on the bottom edge where they fit against the metal lower receiver. I needed to close any gaps, make the edges straight, and add some strength to the upper receiver as a whole. Some ares had pretty sizable gaps or the material had been sanded thin as I straightened the piece.

Bondo was too thick to push into some areas and adds no strength

Resin was too thin and adds no strength

Rondo is brittle and adds no strength

Fiberglass wouldn't go into the seams and would still need bondo





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I got busy and combined the fill of Bondo, the flow of resin, and the strength of fiberglass . . . .



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Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you FIBRONDO! My enduring gift to the prop and costuming community


Right then.

I coated the entire metal lower receiver with mold release and installed the upper receiver, leaving out all internal parts to ease my access.




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I worked the Fibrondo into everywhere the upper receiver met the lower receiver. I applied it to the interior surfaces as well, adding lots of strength.




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Here's a closeup of the gap filling




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After it cured, I removed the bolts and popped the upper receiver off without too much trouble. Perfect edges!




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Here are both parts, now perfectly matched to their metal counterpart. I wanted to get this work in so I could level the excess at the same time I do the final detailing--and because I like saying Fibrondo.

I've set this aside to do more metal work. I don't think I'll have all the cosmetics by Halo-ween, but I've been loving the progress.

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Post by Redshirt 3rd November 2013, 9:32 am

OK, I didn't get the cosmetics done in time for Haloween, but I did get a lot done as I stopped working on every other project to move this down the field.  It wasn't hard to do, the motor seized in my vintage bike and I've grown tired or degreasing and electroplating parts for my Jaguar restoration.  I finished a ton of metal work on this thing and a bunch of fiberglass work as well. 

Just looking at the metalwork for this update:

I reworked some bad/failed welds in the lower receiver.  After determining that I wouldn't have to put high heat on this beast anymore, I started bonding on the aluminum details with JB Weld beginning with the interior of the hand grip.




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I applied the JB Weld to the inside of the lower receiver and slid the grip insert in from above.




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I wedged and clamped it into submission until it cured.  It looks and feels great to have the grip installed.  It really makes everything more solid.




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Using JB Weld thinned with acetone, I brushed a layer onto the back of every detail piece and positioned them.




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With every part perfectly flat and the thinned epoxy ensuring no air gaps, clothes pins made satisfactory clamps in most areas





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I did have to use some massive clamps to reach deep areas.  I did one side at a time, so two days to get all the details on.




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Using USC All Metal, I filled every gap and void.  I ran a bead along ever bonded detail piece as well to ensure no undercuts.  All-Metal is an aluminum powder based automotive filler.  Not sure what the resin chemistry is exactly, but does not smell like Bondo.  It can take higher heat than Bondo and sands and files like lead.  NOT cheap, but right for this project as I will have to get it fairly hot (but not too hot for the JB Weld or All Metal) for the ceramic firearms coating that will go on soon.




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100 grit wet sanding along all the fillets blending in the details.  You can see finished details in the lower left of the picture.  Building this entirely from metal has been an epic pain, but WOW, I have a metal prop at the end of the day!




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Other metal parts sanded and ready for coating.





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This shows some of my process.  'X' shows areas I'm happy with while circles show what needs revisited with more All Metal.

When I have every part sanded just right, I will lightly sandblast everything to remove any sanding and file marks to ensure an even finish beneath the Cerakote ceramic firearms coating.  I'm still a few detail parts away from being ready to apply the coatings, but I think the community will really like how this product works out.  I plan to coat every metal part inside and out except the outer barrel and other polished parts.  This will really turn my collection of welded scrap metal into a professional job.

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Post by Redshirt 5th November 2013, 9:04 pm

Short update.
I've grown tired of the upper receiver cracking in the narrow spots surrounding the vents. These thin areas take the brunt of flexing when sanding or installing the upper reciever. Some of the rear joints have been repaired five or more times!

I finally broke down and cut deep grooves through these areas to inset sections of welding rod for strength.




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This spot on either side in the rear has been the most fragile. This section of rod will help distribute the stress.



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Here's the repair to both wear areas in the back of the upper receiver.




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No Fibrondo this time. I used straight fiberglass filler to keep as much strength as possible in these areas. I made the same patches on the inside.

More metal updates soon.

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Post by Guest 9th November 2013, 6:24 am

Two steps forward I step, crack.

I feel ya.

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Post by Redshirt 11th November 2013, 7:04 pm

Che Chuy wrote:Two steps forward I step, crack.

I feel ya.
This wasn't too bad.  I regret that I didn't make this mod a year ago.


As promised, here's more metal.

I have bonded on most of the details to the lower receiver using JB weld and the result is breathtaking--mostly. I have a couple of details that will have to come up for recut because they don't properly align with the fiberglass upper receiver. Go figure, that's been reshaped about eight times since I designed and welded the lower receiver. I also started to brainstorm the final layout of the three feed tube winder mechanism in the back. For that I needed all the metal pieces in place. I realized that I'd never taken any photos of the WHOLE metal skeleton. You might find it interesting to see it naked. Here goes:




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This is the whole metal structure. I only have a couple of details to add just above the grip.




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First person shooter vision! That shroud lift is like an Erector set gone bad! This view shows just how massive the outer barrel tube is.




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Another look. The structure at the back is for the fiberglass to bolt to as well as for the electronics box to mount to. In the middle is the cage that holds the three airsoft gear boxes in alignment. The front is the shroud frame and lift with the outer barrel inside that encompassing the mountings for the airsoft barrels and chambers.




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I then bolted on the fiberglass to ID areas that needed reshaped. Here the very front of the upper receiver doesn't quite lay parallel to the lower receiver details, so it will receive a visit from the belt sander.




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Not all problems are with the fiberglass. There should be a gap between this metal detail and the upper receiver. Both parts will get reshaped slightly.




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Here's the current configuration of the Spartan Laser.

Up next: Adding 'metal. details to the shroud stabilizers.

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Post by Redshirt 16th November 2013, 6:37 pm

Today's update is the detailing of the stabilizer parts that run between the front shroud and the upper receiver. These parts are metal and need metal details added to handle the ceramic coating as well as be tough enough for the field. I don't have a mill or any means of cutting the details into the aluminum. That means I had to get creative. Again.



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In this Bungie file photo, you can see the stabilizers sticking out of the side and that they have some detailing. Upon closer inspection, the details show as a pattern of horizontal grooves. Since I started this project, I've been trying to figure out how to do this. The arrival of the USC All Metal filler finally gave me some inspiration. This high-temperature filler made principally from aluminum powder has lots of possibilities.




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I smeared fresh Bondo onto a piece of scrap aluminum.




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Rounded up the small miter saw blade and fixed it to the protractor guide on the band saw. I used this to guide the blade uniformly across the Bondo. This took a couple of tries.




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Here's the end result. Not straight everywhere, but enough areas were perfect for what I had in mind. I painted the whole thing down with mold release.




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I cut a square piece of a very thin, but hard grade of aluminum and roughed up the surface on both sides for good adhesion. I coated one surface with catalyzed All Metal.




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I then pressed the All Metal surface against the Bondo mold put the whole thing between to thick metal plates and compressed the assembly in a vice overnight as it cured.




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The next day I peeled of my new part away. Ta Da! Tough aluminum grooved surface!




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I cut out the shapes I needed. Here they are before I tidied them up and bonded them to the stabilizers.




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Here are the detailed stabilizers. I bonded the parts on with JB Weld. After this photo, I came along with more All Metal to fillet in the edges and make the details look machined rather than grafted.

One more project wrapped up. I'm afraid the final stretch of fiberglass work is next. The upper receiver is almost paint-ready! I'm also working on the BB feed mechanism. Getting close!

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Post by Guest 17th November 2013, 6:11 am

What's the weight like so far?
How does it handle?
Given the 'in game' and airsoft stats, how do you figure this compares and/or lives up to expectations?

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Post by Redshirt 17th November 2013, 9:02 am

Che Chuy wrote:What's the weight like so far?
How does it handle?
Given the 'in game' and airsoft stats, how do you figure this compares and/or lives up to expectations?
Che,
I'm still figuring at 19 pounds with batteries and no BBs.  I doubt it will make it to 19 pounds, as there's not much I'm still adding to it weight-wise.

My design brief was to make the airsoft equivalent of the Spartan Laser.  In airsoft, that's just beyond a high-end squad weapon.  Since I'm still limited to 6mm BBs and under 450 fps, my only variable is rate of fire.  At an estimated 2400 BBs per minute using 11.1V/1800+Mah batteries on three unmodified V6 gearboxes, I think I'm there.  That's well above a typical M60/M249 squad weapon.  Only a minigun should outdo it in rate and field 'presence'.  I expect to feature it at night games where it will shoot 2400 red glow BBs/min backlit by a massive red light.  That's a lot of 'red laser beam' moving down the field.  I hope it will have a substantial psychological impact by the second time I pull the trigger.  Mainly though, I just hope it looks cool when firing.

I'm test fitting my feed mechanism components right now.  Due to work, this week is a write-off, but I'm hoping to start fabricating next weekend.  I'm certain it will be test firing by mid December.

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Post by Redshirt 3rd December 2013, 9:03 pm

Time for another update!

The truth is, I just couldn't bring myself to post the boring work of filling-priming-sanding-priming-filling-priming-filing endlessly to bring the upper receiver into perfection. That project is close, but photos don't show the progress well.

Fortunately, there's real progress in metal. I've reworked the magnetic latch on the foregrip. I've also been busy (finally) on the BB feed mechanism.


The fore grip just didn't stay open as solidly as it should. It would knock partly closed very easily. This would be more than a minor annoyance because the fore grip actuates the master power switch and the shroud actuation circuitry. This would cause the shroud to open and close randomly, possibly during firing (very bad).



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I wedged the grip in the milling vise and patiently, if not precisely, enlarged the hole to fit two stacks of rare-earth magnets side by side. If these are so 'rare-earth', how come they are so cheap at Harbor Freight?




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I did the same thing with the frame for the fore grip.






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After getting the holes set, I added side by side stacks of magnets into each side sunk into JB Weld.






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I let the epoxy partially set to a thick gel consistency and shaved away the excess.






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I then joined the two components together separated by a piece of masking tape. With the epoxy only partially set, the magnets could move vertically and laterally to find their natural orientation with each other to ensure the strongest latching. The result was incredible. The fore grip locks into the open position with a solid thunk and won't break lock without considerable effort. This upgrade really raised the quality feel of the whole project, just like the difference between shutting the door of an economy car and a solid luxury car. The brown sheets are automotive gasket material. Pieces of this material will be glued to the sides of the grip frame after they are coated. The gasket material will shim the play in the assembly and keep the metal parts from rubbing against each other.



The next project was the BB feed mechanism. I've been fretting over how to do this for years going all the way back to the beginning of the project. In the end, I cobbled together the basics in half an afternoon! I originally conceived of this system as a hand-wound mechanism consisting of three cannibalized M-4 magazines with a common shaft turned by the large round disks on the rear of the game model. I came to realize two things: I'd give up a lot of space and BB capacity to align the winders with the external disks and I'd be constantly winding to keep up with this beast. Thanks to Killbucket, legendary airsoft customizer, I switched to an electric winding system using a modified RC aircraft servo. This will either be switch activated or automatic whenever the sighting laser is energized.




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I started with cutting an aluminum frame for the servo that will mount low in the rear of the Splaser turning a cogged belt to drive a pulley on a common shaft running through all three winder mechanisms.




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I cut off the excess components of the M-4 magazines and modified the internals by removing an existing plastic shaft and widening the hole to allow the transit of a sizable allen wrench. Each mechanism was already molded to fit an allen wrench on one side. I simply modified each magazine assembly to fit the allen wrench on the winder side and pass through the other side without interference. The top example is modified and the bottom is as original.





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And just like that, I have three feed mechanisms operating from a common shaft. I'll add a pulley in the middle somewhere, align it with the servo and I have an auto-wind, three-tube, high-capacity feed mechanism.

Still a ways to go, but progress on the final bits of the airsoft system!

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Post by Guest 4th December 2013, 11:24 am

China. It's all China: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] Of course, you can wiki-walk a lot of the issues starting with [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Excellent work. Smile

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Post by Redshirt 21st December 2013, 11:49 pm

Che Chuy wrote:China. It's all China: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] Of course, you can wiki-walk a lot of the issues starting with [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Excellent work. Smile
That WAS an interesting read.  Enjoy an actual airsoft-related update.


Sorry it's been so long. Inspections, travel, and work crises have kept me out of the shop. I was finally able to get busy today and make some progress on the airsoft bits. I did just a little more work on the winder mechanism before going whole-hog on the BB feed assemblies.




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I found a smaller cog belt and needed to determine how far the winding servo had to be displaced to do the job without slipping the belt. Looks like this will work out well.




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I drilled out a hole for a setscrew to secure the BB feed tube.




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Tapped! Ready to test.




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Here's the completed setup with the feed tube locked in place.




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Here the test. BBs feed through without binding. I'm excited about this, I think it's going to work in an outstanding way.




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I also cut a slot down the spine of each BB feed assembly to accommodate the Madbull hop up tracer unit. Once the assemblies are coated, these tracer units will get mounted up permanently. I'll use red glow-in-the-dark tracer BBs for night games. This unit will flash-charge the BBs just before they're fired down the barrel.




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Here you can just see the row of super intense LEDs that will charge the BBs as they pass through. The idea here is that with three airsoft gear boxes working to send 2100 glowing BBs/min while being backlit by a massive red LED taillight bulb will make a fair approximation of a ginormous laser firing.




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Done! Three complete BB feed assemblies outfitted for tracer units. I still have to add setscrews to adjust the hop-ups, but these assemblies are basically ready to go. Unit 'C' on the left is fitted together around the nylon airsoft chamber as it will assemble on the gun.

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Post by Redshirt 27th December 2013, 10:22 am

While I'm really stoked to be working on the last major engineering for the airsoft system, I had to give a nod to efficiency. Currently, all the major external components are screwed together for final adjustments to the fit between between all the fiberglass components and the metal. As the whole thing is a PITA to disassemble (someday I'll count up the number of components and screws involved), I needed to finish cleaning up panel lines and alignment before I could free up the lower receiver to build up the airsoft system. I'm happy to report that work is done, paving the way to make the final push on the airsoft components. Let's take a look:




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This is the start of the details that are on the hinge area of the front grip. If you look at the game model, you'll see that it wouldn't be able to pivot at the drawn pivot pin. As shown much earlier in the build, I had to relocate the
point of rotation lower and further aft to make this part functional. It works great with little compromise to the aesthetics. Even so, I needed to add the original details.





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I decided to use part of two giant pop rivets.



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I used a hollow gasket punch to grab the rivet and hammer loose the stud.




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I'll grind these down later, but for now they will align align other parts.



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Here are the parts for the hinge details. Up on the frame, the left hole is for the rivet and locating these details. The hole on the right is the actual pivot point of the front grip.




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Here are the details JB Welded into place. At this point they are only cosmetic, but I'm going to drill all the way through the solid billet front grip and use this detail to install a safety locking pin. Remember, rotating the grip from the stowed position turns on the master power switch and activates the weapon. A locking pin here holding the grip stowed will serve as the master safety.



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Mission complete. Here is everything temporarily assembled in the stowed (safe) position with the allen wrench serving as the safety pin. Later, I'll come up with a more pro-looking pin and 'Remove before firing' streamer.





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Here's some of the final Bondo work on the upper receiver assembly. This area is where two major fiberglass pieces mate up and has resulted in significant hair loss trying to get just right.





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Same work on the front.





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Here's a pair of the 'switches' shown on the side of the lower receiver. I've waited to build these until I decided if they needed any functionality. There are two of these on each side. I may make one on each side functional. One would dim the external LEDs and the other would be a momentary on switch to actuate the BB feed winder mechanism. We'll see if there's room on the inside for the switches.





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Here's how they look in place.





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Finally, I added the details above the switches. No functionality. I waited to add these until I was done reshaping the fiberglass. The black Sharpie line shows how crooked this are used to be.


Today I'll disassemble the whole thing and start reinstalling the airsoft components that are finished so I can finish the feed system and hop-up systems. Unfortunately, I'll need to make time to overhaul the brand new gear boxes as they have accumulated a lot of shop dust and metal flakes while waiting their turn to shine during countless test fittings and just knocking about on my bench.

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Halo Spartan Laser Metal & Fiberglass Airsoft Beast - Page 7 Empty Re: Halo Spartan Laser Metal & Fiberglass Airsoft Beast

Post by Redshirt 31st December 2013, 1:40 pm

As promised, I've been busy working on the airsoft components.  In fact, I may be well on my way to the most awesome box mag ever. 



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At the end of the day, here's approximately the location for the three cut-down winder mechanisms from some airsoft M4 magazines.





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Here are the initial welds for the BB hopper.  The holes on the sides align with the large knob details on the outside of the Splaser.  A strong spring will run through the hopper to pull the knobs into place.  The right knob (aligned with the small hole) doesn't serve any function.  The left knob will pull aside to allow me to refill the hopper.





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Here are the winders in place.  The common shaft and sprocket have yet to be added.




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Here's the ramp that goes over the winders to keep the BBs out and feed them to the lowest point in the hopper.  I'll cut down the allen wrench serving as the shaft later.  The sprocket will align with a servo to be mounted below this assembly.  A cogged belt from an RC car will drive everything.



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Here's everything from above.  The three feed tubes will join the winders through the front of the ramp and be secured by setscrews through the top of the ramp (not yet drilled).  The feed tubes will exit the hopper through the front wall (right side in picture).  These holes are also not drilled yet.





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A secondary ramp will guide the BBs into the pickup mechanisms.





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Looking in the side, here are the holes for the feed tubes into the winders.  Also visible is the secondary ramp with the teeth leading into the pickups.





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I took a section of 4-inch PVC pipe and cut it to make a lid that conforms to the outside shape of the Splaser.  This will maximize the BB capacity.





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The lid is all glued and drilled here.  I used .060 inch styrene to make the ends and sides.  The colors are ugly now, but when it's finished in black wrinkle paint, it will be BA.





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Finally, here's the work so far as it fits into the Spartan Laser.  The lid sides keep any BBs from ecaping.






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Here's the left side.  This larger hole will be used to refill the BBs.  A quick check shows this hopper will hold about 3,500 BBs.





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Here's the front wall.  The 3 feed tubes will exit somewhere near the top (around where the arrow pointing up is drawn).  The bracket on the right side of the picture will hold the electronics box.  I need to do a test fit of the electronics before I determine the final routing of the feed tubes.  The area in front of the box mag will be extremely congested.


What do you think?  I just need to add on the mounting underneath for the servo and drive belt to complete this project.  After that, some finish work on the hop-up chambers is all that stands in the way of the first test firing!

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Halo Spartan Laser Metal & Fiberglass Airsoft Beast - Page 7 Empty Re: Halo Spartan Laser Metal & Fiberglass Airsoft Beast

Post by Guest 9th January 2014, 5:51 am

Sorry. you'll have to give me that one and make a new one - this one has too much work on it. You need to do it over and faster.

Smile

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Halo Spartan Laser Metal & Fiberglass Airsoft Beast - Page 7 Empty Re: Halo Spartan Laser Metal & Fiberglass Airsoft Beast

Post by dino 9th January 2014, 1:12 pm

Lol

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Post by Redshirt 11th January 2014, 1:22 pm

Che Chuy wrote:Sorry.  you'll have to give me that one and make a new one - this one has too much work on it.  You need to do it over and faster.

Smile

Too much work?  You'll love this update.  Also, thanks for the commentary.  I was beginning to think the site was a ghost town.

dino wrote:Lol

Dino,
Good to hear from you.  Thanks for watching.


Alright, more big progress. I'd hoped to report that I'd actually fired the beast yesterday, but educational setbacks held me down. Maybe today is the day (maybe not). Here's the post-Christmas work:





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Drilled and located the feed tubes into the feed mechanism. The black dots indicate where the set screws will go to hold the tubes in place. The feed tubes offset to the right to avoid the electronics package that sits immediately forward of the BB hopper.




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Side view of the feed tubes.




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Front view. The tubes exit the hopper near the top to travel above the electronics and gear boxes.



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Here's the servo mount and belt drive mechanism in place. Black line to the left indicates additional cutting that's needed. I'll use shims to adjust belt tension.




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Here go the first BBs in for a feed test. The hopper easily took over 3500 BBs to reach capacity.

Unfortunately, the feed test was only partially successful. One tube fed flawlessly, the other two became jammed by escaped BBs that got out of the hopper and into the winder bay.
They got caught in the mechanism and played hell with the feeds. It was all easily fixed and the feeds now work! I should mention that I've only tested this manually as I need to buy and modify a different servo to complete the auto wind system. The servo in the photos is the front shroud retractor pulling stand-in duty.




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With the BB feed sorted, I cut my feed tubes to length. They are still oversize, but I will cut them down further once I sort out the final routing to the barrels.




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I also cut the winder shaft to length while I had the cutting wheel out.




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Here's the happy place we were looking for, hop-up/chamber in place with the feed tube connected. But wait! The first one took up all the room and there's no room for the other two chambers to fit! Needless to say, there was a lot of cursing in the Redshirt household, sending the little Redshirts running for cover and earning stern looks from Mrs Redshirt. How could I be so stupid as to not foresee this problem? OK. If I cut this down to its narrowest width at the back, recess the screws, and modify the other two chambers, it all should fit . . . . . The Sharpie marks indicate the planned mods.




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Here's one of the other assemblies held up for comparison to demonstrate the interference. This also has planned cut lines drawn as well.

That's where I am. I'm headed out to make those cuts. If they work, I'll shoot it today or tomorrow!

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Post by Redshirt 11th January 2014, 10:13 pm

IT WORKS!!! For the first time ever it fired. I did a night test with the glow BBs and all three boxes fired. Pictures and daytime vid tomorrow!

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Post by Guest 11th January 2014, 10:24 pm

Awesome! Awaits patiently.

Hurry up!

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