Obviously, I missed my self imposed December 1 deadline, but that's not too surprising. the real deadline is Wednesday, and right now I'm on track to have the project wrapped by Monday.
...if everything goes well.
Here's whats gone on since last update:
Every part was weathered, than got a coat of clear to protect the grime and rust (man that sounds stupid to say) before assembly. I spent some time putting in all the ornamental screws that don't do anything on the main body...
...as well as putting together some of the sub-assemblies.
LEDs were mounted into the center barrel
And at this point I had a bit of a concern about the view down the barrel itself. The way things were going, the only thing back there would be the bolt holding the rear handle and drum assembly on. The solution, obviously, was more LEDs.
I tossed this guy together with some scraps and parts I had laying around. It makes a nice glowing ring at the back of the gun, and also allows me to fit my socket wrench through the hole in the middle to assemble things as well as remove the rear half for maintenance if needed.
Then assembly began. There were a lot of wires that needed soldering.
The gun turns on and off with this switch mounted on the underside. I wanted to use the button on the handle, but couldn't find a on/off pushbutton switch small enough to fit in the housing.
The ardiuino peeking out from its corner...
I skipped some documentation, but who cares because the next pictures have GLOWING LEDs!
And the view down the front with the glowin' donut in the back. I also added some screen mesh in between the circuitboards to give the interior of the barrel a little more dimension.
I have some small light leaks in between the crystals and the main barrel that I'll need to address, but otherwise things are looking good. Should have the rest of the assembly finished tomorrow, with time for small touch ups and additional weathering accents on Monday.
