[bigi71]

Thanks, im glad you guys like it

...and now it should REALLY be finished.

I guess i spoke too soon >.<
Right after i posted my update yesterday i looked at the thread of gbrob and some reference pics and i noticed i made a stupid little mistake. Nothing major but i had to fix it anyway:


Fixed:


From now on ill never say again that im done....

[KagaSakai]

Amazing! You make this look SO easy!

[Spengler28]

[bigi71]

Thanks

So far so good...i havent got as much done as in the last weeks but i wasnt totally lazy, hehe ^^

What i started with to make the bumper was printing out Stephans plans in 1:1 scale and then i also cut a paper template of the side view of the whole piece:

Should be a good start to build the piece. You can also already see that ive drawn the outline of the template on some sheet styrene.

The next step was cutting and filing and sanding the styrene side walls of the bumper:

I used two 2mm and two 3mm sheets so all in all its 4 pieces i had to cut. To make it easier to get them all into the exact same shape i clamped them together as you can see in the picture.

Then i just cut the middle section, bent the pieces of it and glued it all together:


Already a lot of filler used on the plate in the middle but still not finished:



And thats where im at right now:


Still a lot of work to do on this but i wanted to share some progress pics anyway. I hope you guys like it so far.

More of the bumper coming soon

[Crix]

You're making me really want to try playing with styrene.

[Filandrius]

A styrene bumper. A FLAWLESS styrene bumper, I must say (I'm getting ahead of myself, but we all know how it'll turn out) That must be a first, isn't it?

Man, you're the f****g styrene MASTER. Is there anything you can't do with this stuff?

[bigi71]

Thanks guys

...but as i said really still a lot to do on the bumper, hehe

That must be a first, isn't it?

ummmm....not really...ive made one for my old pack out of styrene too ^.^
You can find it here: http://www.gbfans.com/community/viewtop ... 9&start=90

[nick-a-tron]

Moulds need to be made of that bumper!

[bigi71]

Thanks for your comment, im glad you like it Nick...but one mold would be enough i think

All i have to say besides that is that i never want to make a bumper again >.<
Here are the pics:

[Vincenzo330]

There is a God and he lives in Germany!

[Crix]

I would pay international shipping for a cast of that.

Mother of God.

[kind2311]

All i have to say besides that is that i never want to make a bumper again >.<

All the more reason to mold it my friend

[pchrisbosh1]

That bumper is utter perfection.

[bigi71]

Thanks for the kind words, that coming from you guys means a lot

Maybe you have been wondering what i did all the time...cant work on the bumper for ages (although there is a little issue with the paint on it )

Anyway...time for a big update now........ummm....yoghurt anyone ?

For this mold i decided to go the cheap, quick, dirty and ugly way of not doing the clayup method. If i make one again ill go a different route tho, the clay thing is much better i think.

However...today i got up very early to start demolding. Aaaaaaand.....success !

As you can see the buck is still intact too. Sure there are a few little cracks and such but its amazing that its in such good shape considering how hard i pulled on it to get it out ^.^

The mold turned out very well too, i mean ive never done this before and there are a few airbubbles like in the next pic but nothing that a file or sandpaper cant fix on the shells


The important details came out nice and crisp:

Thats no airbubbles in the corners of the fins...its water (like there is also some water in the pic before this). I put the whole thing into the bathtub this morning and sprayed water between the buck and the mold to help me release it. No need to mention it caused a flood and i was soaked in water too after that, lol

One last detail pic:


Im looking forward to make the first pull, but before thats going to happen ill let it rest for a couple of days.

[kind2311]

that is amazing. especially for someone who has never done this before

i cant wait to get my hands on one of these babies!

[Filandrius]

This is going to be the shell to end all shells.

And you have to make a mold of that bumper! Pretty please?

[pchrisbosh1]

Came out great! See Big I told you, you would do great at molding that beauty. I am now highly anticipating owning one of these awesome shells and please mold that perfect bumper.

[Vincenzo330]

More pics!!!!!

[bigi71]

Thanks

Im sure the bumper will be available somehow...after i fixed the paint issue . The problem is that last coat doest really dry, even after waiting for a few days. Not sure whats wrong, i used paints of the same brand. The last coat was only really thin and the thicker coats under it are fine and hard as rock. I guess ill just scrape it off or something and then sand it smooth again.Oh well...some additional work but it should be worth it.

More pics!!!!!

Ok Vinny

[Filandrius]

We need to mail these pics to an encyclopedia so that they'll put it next to the word "perfection"

[Vincenzo330]

bigi, I hereby bestow upon you the highest honor currently available on GBfans...

[wm6929]

So many questions to ask.
But I cant think straight......pictures..........pack...........work of art.........awesome

[ThrowingChicken]

Thanks

Im sure the bumper will be available somehow...after i fixed the paint issue . The problem is that last coat doest really dry, even after waiting for a few days. Not sure whats wrong, i used paints of the same brand. The last coat was only really thin and the thicker coats under it are fine and hard as rock. I guess ill just scrape it off or something and then sand it smooth again.

Is the whole bumper evenly wet or are certain areas staying tacky?

[bigi71]

We need to mail these pics to an encyclopedia so that they'll put it next to the word "perfection"

Thanks i would never say its perfect (which is totally ok for a first try i think). But its not horrible either and im really happy with it. It was fun to do this and i learned a lot. If you want to see real perfection you have to look at the molds of the gentleman who posted before me, hehe.

Is the whole bumper evenly wet or are certain areas staying tacky?

Its the whole bumper, not only a few areas on it. I can scrape the paint right off and expose the coat under it with a fingernail. Maybe i didnt shake the can enough ? ..or maybe the can was too old ? no idea ^^

[ThrowingChicken]

I find that early on improper shaking doesn't seem to hurt the coat, but as the can empties out the last bit goes on weird.

[Filandrius]

And it splutters a lot. You would have big drops, but they would dry normally. That's not it.

[nick-a-tron]

It's so beautiful im gunna die.

[bigi71]

Oh no, dont die Nick...im gonna throw all this out the window if it makes you feel better..................i hate fiberglassing so much that i might do that anyway, haha. Its really the worst bs kind of material ive ever worked with >.<

But at least i could chill out today while dry fitting parts to my gun which arrived in the mail this morning. That was a good motivation to continue with the mess in the other room tomorrow.

More Pics coming soon

PS: the grey paint i used on the bumper was probably really close to the point where it would have started to splutter....and it was at least 3 years old too ~.~ ...very wise decision to use that one, lol

[Filandrius]

Oh no, dont die Nick...im gonna throw all this out the window if it makes you feel better..................i hate fiberglassing so much that i might do that anyway, haha. Its really the worst bs kind of material ive ever worked with >.<

OK guys, just in case you're looking for me, I'm going to Germany and I'm camping out under Big's window.

[bigi71]

Just let me know when youre there, ill bring you a tea

So today i took a break from the fiberglass stuff and had some fun with my brand new gun box. It was really great fun to attach all those nice and shiny parts to it
I know the picture is a bit dark but i kinda like it (and there will be more anyway):

Only problem i had was that the clippard didnt fit the predrilled holes, but that was a quick fix. Im very happy with this awesome piece of metal Chris put together.

Lots of room for electronics and an extending barrel mechanism in there:

I will probably have all the electronics in the pack tho, just to have a more clean looking inside of the gun. I mean there will be lots more room inside the pack, why waste it then.

I love this gun already....now i can understand why Filandrius took countless pics from all angles, haha
Now im just waiting for the front handle from Jason to be able to work more on it but it could be here any day.