keskiviikko 22. huhtikuuta 2009

Proton gun job. Day three, part two.

Ok, here is the works for to day.

As you can see, I sanded the grips a bit more, and they are looking like they should. I still need to sand them a LOT, but that is work for tomorrow..


After this coat of gray dries, I can see a lot more work to be done.. Still, they do look nice..

I also sprayed the guns with their new parts on with the same gray.. Mine's is in the center, Veka's on the left, and Nixu's on the right. I need to make some tags on them to distinguish them from each other from now on...

Proton gun job. Day three, part one.

Well, here we go again... This day was a bit of a disappointment, as I woke up late, MUCH too late for any serious work to be done. And most of the afternoon went without further planning, causing me to rush to places, where I could have gone with leisure, if I had planned more thoroughly my ventures... Still, I got a 25x25mm aluminum pipe for the guns, making the boxes nearly redundant..

Still, they did provide me with some use, as I needed some wood to fill the ends.

I cut and sanded three pieces like the one here..

Inserted them (I actually had to use a hammer here) to the aluminum pipes I already had cut out I also have cut the opening on this part..

And before long, I had three identical pieces. The wooden blocks were so snug and thight, that no glue was needed to hold them in place.

I then marked the side boxes to be drilled open, so as to get the screw through. I'll need to fill this afterwards..

I then screwed the parts together, at the correct angle, with woodglue. The opening is for the electronics..

And as usual, with no time, I had three parts ready..

And I began to attach them to the gun bodies. As usual, the self drilling screws were handy here..

And the guns really are looking like business...

tiistai 21. huhtikuuta 2009

Proton gun work, day two.

Well, on retrospect, yesterday's rant was a bit unwarranted.. Still, this project has taken up more money, time and everything else than I anticipated. Still, I am going to get it through, even if not the guys wont pull through.. Today's work concentrated on the grips, and some other little boxes on the gun.

I cut out parts for the grips, they are going to be constructed from several pieces, but the overall result will be sturdy, as the major parts that are exposed to wear are birch plywood.

I made these slots for each handle, six in total. These will be in contact with the handle bars. At this point, they are still glued.

As they dried, I went to work on the trigger boxes (or what they are called) luckily I had only to make two of these, as I had made mine months ago.. The box is layered from three layers of MDF, with the middle one being hollowed to allow for the switches and wiring to be added.

When the boxes were drying, I went to work on the top parts of the handles. They are 9mm plywood, with 4mm strips on the top. Here they are, too drying..

And I worked on the rear boxes, but as I went on with these, I remembered seeing a 25x25 square aluminum tube, I will make these out of it, rather than from the MDF here. the aluminum allows for a better grip for the components, and allow additional room for batteries and wiring..

After the tops of the grips were dry, I cut them apart, and glued them to the bottoms..

Which, after drying, looked a bit like this..

The sides were roughly trimmed, and then I proceeded to mark the areas needed to sand out...

Yes, sand.. I went forward on this part of the project with my trusty Dremell, and his sanding drum...

And after a lot of sanding, I had them all roughly cut to this shape..

And with even more sanding, and after I was covered from head to toe in dust (luckily I was wearing a breath mask) I had the grips on somewhat recognizable shape..

I pulled aluminum foil on the handles, to protect them from the next part of the job..

I smeared a healthy dose of wood filler in the bottom of the grips, where they meet the handlebars.. After A while I could remove them, leaving the foil still in there, just to secure any un dried filler.

I then went and sprayed the grips with gray primer, just to see how much work still needs to be done.. Not much, and VERY much, I'd wager... Still, that is a job for tomorrow..

maanantai 20. huhtikuuta 2009

Proton gun job.

Ok, we have been building our GB gear for two years or more now, and I got fed up on the total lack of progress. I know that real life must prevail, and the guys wanted to build their packs, but come on.. One building day every two to three months!! I can't wait to get this project over. It has, since the beginning, taken up my storage facilities, and free time, even without any progress. I have not been able to get any real work done on my own gear, because I needed to do the work on the same time as the guys, so they would know what to do. Well no more..

This was the start of today's work. Even though I detest the idea of doing all the work, something must be done.. The black tubes are from a lamp someone donated to the trash, which happen to be just the diameter for the handles, they are metal, and there are three of them in perfect lenght..


I had done this four way diagram for the Proton gun, just to see it from every angle in building process. It really, REALLY helped when I had no really good pictures from this piece.

I started to make the Gun Tracks for our guns, I just had the proper thickness plywood, enough fot three tracks, although two needed to be made in parts.. Still, when painted, it will not be noticeable.. For the record, the time that went into doing these was about thirty minutes, drawing and cutting them..

I then traced the openings on the gun body roughly in to the other guns.

Both front and rear..

And then proceeded to dremel the openings to proper size, I was a bit dusty after this...

I inserted a wooden peg into the body for the rear handle, it will help to keep the handle in place, and gives it much needed structural strenght. This was then replicated on the other boxes as well.

The rear handle in place. At this moment, it is still unattached. I am checking the allignment..

The peg is screwed in the gun body, I will hit it with some woodglue as well.

The handles will be attached with self drilling screws, which can be screwed directly through metal. Two screws should be enough.

I then drilled two holes on each rear handle for the wiring. I dremelled the two holes into oval shape, filed and sanded the edged smooth.

Then I screwed them on the gun bodies. The Screw will be hidden by the knob on the top.

Hmm.. There will be very limited space for electronics and tip activation... Still, I'll cross that bridge when I get to it..

I screwed the front handle on, and at this poitn the gun really took shape.

And with no time at all, all three were in the same shape.

The screws do bulk out somewhat on the bottom, but this will be covered by guntracks later on.

At this point, I just had to play wit the gun a while... I could not help myself..

I then reluctantly went to work again. I marked out the paces where I needed to cut grooves for the screws. And then dremelled the guntracks to fit the body.

I then glued the tracks together. I have allready given them a base coat, filler and sanding.

While the tracks were drying, I tested the Clippards. They are nick-a-tron's resin ones, if you wonder.

The tracks dry, were then smeared with more filler, and left to dry.

I then bolted the Clippards on the guns, just to see how they fit.. Looks good.

I then removed the clippards, and took the whole bunch outside with a can of gray spraypaint. Here are the results..

After this dries, I can be sure my guntracks and the gun bodies are ready for black paint..


My own gunbody, although really needs filler, as I had not had sprayed it as of yet... Well, tomorrow, or even tonight.. All in all, nice work, if I might brag, for one evening.... More than in the last two months..