DC-15S Carbine Scratch Build

[Acrylikhan]

I did a mock assembly (no picture, sorry!) and the gun is measuring just about 56 inches long. I'm about 75" tall. This is a "frank scale" gun!

 

Another fun fact my friends have thrown at me about the DC-15L - It basically is the MG-34 except that the mid section and the muzzle are UPSIDE - DOWN. Whether it was intentional, or a mistake by the digital artists... who knows. The only think I though was weird was the scope had a "stowed" position. I think the "greeblie" on the top would be the bi-pod, which would be on the bottom for easy deploy. Otherwise you would have to do a half-twist on 2/3rds of the gun to use the bi-pod and the scope.

 

I thought it was an interesting point, and the gun doesn't look bad with the midsection and muzzle reversed. I wish I had seen that, but that's what I got my buddies for.

 

I have another modification in the works: I will be pressing in a 1/2" x 13 nut into the gun section to link up with the mid-sections' counterpart. Another idea my buddies floated to me.

 

more to come.

[Guest Skupilkinson]

Sounds good Frank. I had heard before something about the inverted MG-34 parts?? Looking forward to seeing it.

[Acrylikhan]

Still cranking on the rifle. Now it the time to start working on the stock.

 

 

First step, get some good ol' plastic, and cut it to resemble the shape of the stock, except a little smaller. Doesn't have to be too perfect. That's what bondo is for. The drawings I have calls for the stock to be at least 1 inch at it's thinnest, and 2 inches at its thickest. I will going with 1-3/4th inch thickness. I layered both sides like a cake, and then used ABS glue to set them in place. I also got the back off the casing completed and glued in place too.

 

 

Let the mixing begin! I mixed up a large quantity of bondo, and used a wallpaper tool to slather it on.

 

 

Don't forget the butte.

 

 

It took about two rounds, and it went on very quickly. I let it sit overnight for maximum cure.

 

 

Then mechanical sanding! Typically there will always be some hidden canyons and air pockets. You can thin bondo down to get it to go on a little smoother, and there are body filler projects that you can pour that cost a little more. Honestly, in my experience, there is always some little flaw that needs patching when applying this amount, even the more expensive stuff. I don't mind it at all.

 

 

Edges are always the toughest to preserve. We'll fill those in and wait.

 

 

Patching round 2! Not bad at all. I was expecting more holes, but I got lucky.

 

 

The edges got filled along with the pockets. I will smooth this side out with sandpaper rolled onto a steel rod to try to keep the edges crisp. If that doesn't work... there are other methods.

 

 

Side two isn't too shabby either. Time for some curing, so we'll leave this for tomorrow. If I've got some time, I'll try to do more sanding and shaping into the final profile. There's some other details I need to sort out.. Getting closer. Still a few weeks away. My goal date for completion is the first week of March. If things don't get too chaotic, I might be able to make it.

 

More to come... as always.

[Guest Skupilkinson]

Excellent! I can't express how much seeing this come together makes me want to start a build. I know I have too much on right now but when I do I'll be coming to you to pick your brain.

[Acrylikhan]

I'll try my best to help you out. I'm not too sure which products are available in Great Britain. But I'll see what I can do.

 

Excellent! I can't express how much seeing this come together makes me want to start a build. I know I have too much on right now but when I do I'll be coming to you to pick your brain.

 

[Lonescout]

Awseome work Frank!

[Sammy T]

To quote others..

 

SWEEEEEET!!!!

[Acrylikhan]

Thanks guys!

 

I put a coat of primer on the updated scope. Looks good! I think I should be able to get it painted next week, along with the removable muzzle.

 

Here's how I divided the rifle so that it could be disassembled for transport and storage. Section one has a pressed in 1/2" x 13 nut that links up to the threaded rod on the mating end of section 2. I had to hand make an extra long screw using a 1/4" x 20 threaded rod, and some nuts and JB Weld. The mating end on Section 2 is a pressed fit 1/4" x 20 coupling nut.

 

The front of section three is inset about an inch and a half. The custom screw will be hidden by the muzzle piece, which fits into the inset. It will be held in place with a 1/4" metal dowel pin and a rare earth magnet.

 

To make things much more complicated, Illinois law requires that all toy and non-functioning guns be outfitted with a bright orange plug on the business end. Other wise you're looking at a $500 fine, and your gun will be confiscated and destroyed. I will be making a plug that will fit into the barrel and will be held in place by a rare earth magnet. That way I can remove it for pictures, and the like. I did the same for my carbine, and it's been wonderful.

 

 

I will try (again) to get the rifle assembled at work tomorrow so you can see the work in progress as one full piece, shown in scale with me. It's been a busy week at work again, so play time has been limited to my ten minute breaks. I think after 12 hours at work... you'd want to go home too.

[Guest Skupilkinson]

Awesome, thanks for the info. I've seen a few of these split that way with the exception of the muzzle. Though with laws what they are these days it makes perfect sense.

[Acrylikhan]

Awesome, thanks for the info. I've seen a few of these split that way with the exception of the muzzle. Though with laws what they are these days it makes perfect sense.

 

Very true. I am trying to have fun with the law though... I am considering making plugs that have a metal loop at the end, that you could put a small ribbon, or streamer on. The streamer/flag/ribbon could have something written on it, like "DISARMED," or your TKID, or maybe emblazoned with your garrison insignias. For Charity walks, maybe a ribbon with teh charity name. If you travel with the gun on your shoulder, it would wave in the air. Corny? Maybe. Just an idea to make it muchj more than a plain old' "this is a toy" plug.

 

Better still, would be support for your detachment...

[Guest Skupilkinson]

I think that's a great idea! Having a bit of fun with it. It really does beat just having a bright orange cap on the end.

[Grumpy]

How about a toy gun style "BANG" flag.....

 

 

except with the letters in Aurabesh.

[Acrylikhan]

 

That would work!

[Acrylikhan]

This is how you construct a device that will incur a serious compound injury. I had to set up the 90-degree plate on the drill press table so that I could drill out the hole for the coupling nut. The table had to be swung out of position, the bracket mounted to the table and the stock clamped and centered under the quill. Thankfully, I made a target to center the quill and bit with.

 

 

And luckily, everything went okay.

 

 

The I pressed in the 1/2' x 13 coupling nut.

 

 

It was a tight fit. By tomorrow, the plastic will have relaxed, and I'll check for any bulging areas.

 

 

I did more sanding, too. Still a few craters here and there, but it is progressing smoothly.

 

 

The threaded rod in the midsection is miscued. I will fix that tomorrow. It's just under 3.5" feet long.

[Guest Skupilkinson]

Nice! You're putting a lot into this!

[Acrylikhan]

Nice! You're putting a lot into this!

 

A little too much. Just trying to make it durable.

 

Tragedy struck this afternoon. I was fixing the mid-section mating portion, so that the bolt was not skewed. If you check out the last picture on the last post, the midsection droops. I was fixing that and - CRACK -

 

The mate has broken clean off.

 

Working on a solution.

[Guest Skupilkinson]

NO!!!!!!!!!!! So sorry Frank. How bad is it? Can it be repaired?

[Acrylikhan]

Grades are in.

 

 

Lets put it this way... I know people who would have quit the project if this had happened to them.

 

It's my own fault. I wasn't thinking and look what happened. Here's the deal. I cut the mating end, and the end that fit into the PVC pipe, separately. Then, I glue the two faces pieces together. That last part, gluing to faces straight together, is a structural no-no. Too much shearing, and then *CRACK*. I know what I did wrong, so let's correct it.

 

It was an absolute clean break. The ABS detail cracked sort of along the same venue. That will be repaired in its own time.

 

Here's the mating face:

 

 

The hard part was getting this section OUT of the PVC pipe without damaging the pipe. I had used GOOP to lock this in place. I figured making a trough where I could seep some Acrylic Lacquer thinner into the seam edges, and then yank it out in one piece. I've used this method before. That's what the drywall screw is for. Lock the barrel in a vise, and get a piece of wood for a brace and use a crowbar to pry the section out. As you're pulling, use more thinner to continue loosening the glue. GOOP is almost solvent proof. It didn't work. Not even the slightest budge. It was worth a shot.

 

Since that didn't work, I got out a Forsner bit, and locked it in place on the drill press. It was pretty much the same set up when I drilled the hole in the stock grip part. Managed to get the entire piece out with no trouble.

 

 

You can see the 1/2" acrylic rod I used for the greeblie. It went fairly well, and didn't scuff up the PVC too badly. The remaining bits of the cylinder came out with little trouble. I think the new piece will be fused in place with Liquid Nails.

 

Now onto the repair and redesign.

 

The very back pieces is still good and reuseable.

 

 

The lathe chuck was large enough to fit this piece in along with the attached greeblies. I used a boring bar and hollowed out the interior to the INTERIOR diameter of the PVC pipe. More on that in a minute.

 

 

The nut will fit in flush with the backside and the front of the stock-grip.

 

 

And the remaining part of the nut will be in a cylinder that will fit in the hollowed section.

 

 

Which brings us here... The black urethane cylinder fits into the hollowed section on the mating end, and the remainder fits into the PVC tube. Now we have much more SOLID structure to work with.

 

Both of these sections are urethane, and the great stuff about this one that I use, is that it has a unique property. When the same resin is poured on resin that has already cured, it will bond to itself. These sections will be bonded together in this manner. Which brings us to the coupling nut,...

 

 

I altered the one that will be used in this section. There are gaps where the the nut does not grip into the hole in the cylinder. That area need to be filled. I will be using the urethane resin to encase the nut once it is properly positioned. The hexagon shape keeps the nut from counter-rotating. The ribs that I cut in are to prevent the nut from being pulled out from shearing forces.

 

 

And there you have it. This should be much stronger that the last one. Now to get everything lined up, and then patched.

[Acrylikhan]

 

Full assembly. Repairs complete. 90% of all details are present.

 

Hopefully, I will start painting on Monday.

 

I checked over pictures from AOTC and ROTS. Yes, my gun is WAAAAAYYYYY oversized. But it fits me perfectly.

[Acrylikhan]

 

Started painting. Flaws and all are popping out, but it will give the rifle that nice, banged up, well used, and loved look.

 

The only problem was that the cans of paint I bought were mislabeled. It wasn't FLAT black. I'll have to apply a Flat clear coat after the paint sets. Oh, well. Looking pretty good so far. A little more work to do tomorrow, and all three sections should be painted black.

 

I'll wait a few days, and then apply the flat clear coat, and then weather it.

 

I will be permanently attaching the muzzle to the front barrel. That way, it won't get lost.

[recon]

Beautiful work bro on DC-15S. you are really a acryllic master!

 

 

[Acrylikhan]

Thanks! I've got it back at work to start adding the final details. Everything seems to have worked out just great. A little weathering and some more greeblies and it should be ready to present for pictures.