Coyle Blaster #28 Build diary. Pic heavy.

[jinxed]

I thought it might be nice to have a visual diary of sorts, start to finish. Being my first kit I expect to make mistakes, learn from them, and proceed. My goal is a worldcon weathered example. Some parts I will go for screen accuracy, some I will do as I enjoy. Like all of you this firearm has been an icon in my head for the majority of my life. It is amazing to have the parts in my hands with the prospect of holding the thing in the near future.

Thanks to Rich for the kit and continued support. Thanks to the forum for the passion.

Here are the major pieces out of the box. I will update with pictures as I progress. Grips and handles will be first up.

































This is the only part I have started cleaning. I figured I would start with the inner frame to get a feel for the material. If I botch it, it's mostly hidden!

[propsjonnyb]

As your shots show it's a rough cast ( straight out of the mold) , I would always recommend building it from the inside out , starting with the gun frame - that way you have something to affix your parts to as you go along - I'd repeat the same thing with the bolt assembly as that fits inside the upper receiver and ditto the handle .
Lots of filing and sanding is needed to get all the parts smooth , concentrate especially on the gun frame, barrel , upper reciever and outer handle as they are the more visible parts on the gun.
From your photos , you need to finish all the parts to at least the same finish as the inner handle - if not more so, and especially smooth the bolt as you don't want it to snag and stick inside the receiver .

If I could offer one piece of advice - don't cut the back part of the upper receiver until the last possible moment, and when you do be extra careful in filing and sanding it down as it exposes the weakest point in the whole receiver , the small piece where the bolt handle rests.

Eventually you'll end up with four main parts , the handle , the gun frame and the upper reciever ( plus the ammo box which will be connected to the left hand shroud , as that's where the sight rod's LED's mounted). Bolt the handle on the gun frame and check for alignment, then on goes the grips , bolt the upper reciever to the barrel and gun frame adding the RHS shroud. Now bolt the ammo box to the barrel ( front Screw bolt) bolt the LHS shroud to the ejector rod pivot and slot the ammo box base into the magazine , it's a friction joint, so don't force it in to hard , as at some point you'll want to change the battery .
Members ask me "when do you 'weather' the gun?", well it all depends on how realistic you want your gun, I electroplate and parkerize (gun blue) all the parts after the final 'mirror' polish , then add the 'weathering etc , once the gun is built - if you've followed Rich's photo album you can paint and 'weather' the exposed pewter part's with 'pewter black' which should be sufficent for most .

As to what I use - Tamiya weathering powders as they are only a surface addition & I can always remove them at a later date , if I want a 'pristine' new look.

Bondo or P38 filler is your 'best friend' when it comes to fixing anything on the ammo box - ditto on both the shrouds as well, as you'll just sand smooth , prime and paint.

Now you've finished - polish and admire your work !! Clean with a soft lint free cloth and a light polish, every so often, will keep you blaster in good condition. Remember if you haven't sealed or painted your gun , Pewter will oxidize in the air and will go black eventually , so you must clean and polish regularly to keep it looking good.

[racprops]

PropsjonnyB is 95% of the time: right.

BUT I will say that I have found that the fine pewter which is mostly tin, does not blacken as it ages, I have phaser parts that are 10 to 20 years old that are still bight and shinny and still look like polished aluminum.

Old pewter that had lead would blacken, without the lead it does not.

My 2 cents.

Rich
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I never have enough time to do all I want to do!

[joberg]

Good stuff jinxed. As you can see you'll have plenty of help here as you continue your build.

[propsjonnyb]

Rich is of course quite right , I keep forgetting that his alloy has a higher tin content , I use a UK British Standard alloy which has a higher silver content for the same reason. But I see so many 'white metal ' cast parts of low quality pewter , eventually all pewter will oxidise only the material content determines how slowly that takes place - my apologies Rich , I did not mean to imply your casts darkened with age.

[racprops]

Some of my Phasers from the 80s had such pewter and I learned if I got Fine Pewter, lead free pewter then it will not blacken.

I made sure this is lead free.

Rich
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I never have enough time to do all I want to do!

[jinxed]

Well, I am moving painfully slow.

But since I am learning on the way I am trying to be methodical. Plus with all the recent discussion and pictures it's just more to work with I suppose.

Since I got my inner and outer grip frames aligned and fitted, I wanted to have a go with the grips. I am fairly pleased so far and got it pretty clear. I may do a little more polishing before final assembly.

Before:



After:



Big thanks to Mark Raats for the moolah.



I have been working to fit the rear bolt nice and tight to the upper receiver. It's coming along...but not yet where I want it.



Worked on cleaning and shaping the cocking lever.



Kind of where I'm at.



I am going to try and sand the left side of the upper receiver to even up its profile next.

Bolt is assembled.
My ammo housing is awaiting sanding of the bondo. Back side was cracked so I need to figure a fix. Thinking a small metal strip with super glue.
Right cylinder cover is sanded and cleaned. Might do a bit of smoothing with bondo on that too.

This is fun.

[jameth]

Excellent work so far. I think your doing great. I was lazy and a little more flush with cash back then so I was one of the five who got the Deluxe.

I think yours looks great so far.

Marsattacks has a real detailed thread here about his kit build that would probably be of great help. I think that one has a lot from propsjohnnyb about his builds as well. Plus he has built several and is always happy to help. Although he should be busy building our VK machines

[Staar]

[Noeland]

Nice build you have going! Pics like these make me want a stainless steel blaster!


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I don't have enough blasters!

[racprops]

I too am happy to see it going well.

Looking very good so far.

Let me know if you need anything.


Rich
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I never have enough time to do all I want to do!

[propsjonnyb]

Yes I agree, make doubly sure you check clearances and alignment when fitting parts together , especially when you fit the cylinder drum as you want that to spin freely with no wobble, and also remember when you fit both shroulds, you still want the cylinder to spin and not touch on the sides , but all in all a good build so far , I would suggest some finer grit sanding is required on the upper receiver, just to get rid of the last spots and make it a real 'mirror' shine surface, you really want the same finish as the bolt handle . Well done so far !

[Photech]

How finer grit do you need to go?
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No! 4, 2 - 2, 4.

[jinxed]

[propsjonnyb]

The grit types you've used are great although the finer you go eg 1200 the better the finish , and again I would compliment you on hand polishing the parts , you do get a better finish and have greater control.
I would suggest drilling and tapping all the holes before you try to 'blue' any part and again I would strongly suggest hand drilling and tapping ( use a cutting compound), use the upper reciever offered up to the barrel in final position, to mark the barrel drill points then drill each side and bottom, you may find it better to use a bench press drill and a vice to secure the barrel, but whatever you do, tap the holes by hand that way you'll be able to 'feel' when the tap bit goes through, clean, file and polish all the holes before proceeding. I do drill all the way through , but tend to drill out or file down the screw and bolts so that when looking down the barrel it looks clear & therefore real.

Tamiya weathering powders , particularly aged rust are good for the pits , but weather as a final resort

As I have said many times before, some pewter alloy's do not take a true gunsmith's 'blue' or 'parkerization' so I would suggest using ' Pewter Black' as Rich does available from most hobby or art stores . Wear adequate eye protection and use gloves and an apron to protect yourself, as most chemicals are irritants. Degrease the parts well and allow to dry , then apply the Pewter Black following the instructions that come with the product. Be very careful when handling the parts as you don't want to leave finger smudges even with gloves on. You can repeat the process , to get a slightly darker finish , but you will quickly reach a point where it willl not darken any further and the chemicals will start to deposit a residue on the surface , if that happens polish off the surface lightly with scotchbrite or a slight abrasive cloth , if you remove too much don't worry you can re-dip , allow the piece to dry and then use jade oil or any gun treatment oil to seal the surface and allow to dry completely before handling again. I prefer to use jade oil, as professional gun smiths do, as it makes the surface water repellant. Since you are only adding a surface treatment, do not use any abrasive polish after you blacken the parts ever , as you'll return the part to the pewter polish stage and will have to repeat the process all over again . A rub with a slightly damp cloth and a polish with a lint free cloth is all that'll be needed in the future to keep it pristine.

[joberg]

So far it's looking good! Don't worry, the title of this topic is not: "how fast I built my gun") Take your time, as you can see you have plenty of experts here to help you get the results you'll want. Keep up the good work.

[BR12819]

I know you've probably been busy with the holidays. Any progress on this?
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full tilt boogie baby

[darkknight]

looks beautiful, cant wait to see more