Constructing VERA : completed

[JOATRASH FX]

Re: Constructing... VERA! (and Jubal Early's pistol)

Sounds great! I'll be concentrating on finishing the Vera blueprints. At times it kinda becomes overwhelming. I'm actually assembling the entire rifle with the separate parts to make sure everything fits.

I brought my metrical calipers home from work cuz all I have at home are Americanal dial calipers.

Will post some sizes off my Jubal Early pistol tonight/tomorrow/Sunday-ish.

Mike

 

[JOATRASH FX]

Re: Constructing... VERA! (and Jubal Early's pistol)

All parts that will be machined are now modeled in 3D. I've been doing test fitting all day of the parts. Each piece was modeled separately after my 2D blueprints to simulate what the machinist will have to do. This is to make sure there are no errors in the measurements. I did actually find a few things that, had I not tested them in 3D, would have resulted in unusable parts! There are still a few blueprints to draw, and a lot of triple-checking to make sure everything will fit.

One thing that I can say is that the more I work on this, the more I appreciate the incredible complexity of Vera. Even though I have simplified a few parts, partly due to lack of detailed reference and partly due to the fact that I don't need certain functionality (like the folding barrel) and also to save the machinist some time, the amount of detail still makes me dizzy.

 

[Kaylee]

Re: Constructing... VERA! (and Jubal Early's pistol)

Wow.. that's right incredible looking!

Is the magazine entirely from scratch, or can a stock Saiga mag be modified with add-on plates and a cut out window or suchlike?

 

[JOATRASH FX]

Re: Constructing... VERA! (and Jubal Early's pistol)

I couldn't tell ya about a real Saiga mag since I don't have access to one. All my parts will be done from scratch in aluminum.

Actually, the only part of my magazine that will be hollow is the area around the middle where you can see a few shells. The rest of it will be solid to cut down on machining time. In all likelihood, the magazine will not be removable either. (Still counting on having a working trigger and lock/load mechanism though.)

 

[neophyl]

Re: Constructing... VERA! (and Jubal Early's pistol)

Joe the rail on top of the gun (and the sectio on the inside rear of the stock) is weaver rail for mounting sights etc. Specs of the proper cross section are available online if you wanted to 'accurise' those areas.

 

[Kadajiroth]

Re: Constructing... VERA! (and Jubal Early's pistol)

Joatrash, that looks absolutely fantastic! thumbsup

 

[JOATRASH FX]

Re: Constructing... VERA! (and Jubal Early's pistol)

My measurements on the top rail are actually pretty close to "picatinny" rails, which have 5mm slots unless I'm mistaken. The strange thing is that the rails I've seen appear to have the same sizes for both the slots and the "pegs", but the photos of Vera don't seem to match that- the raised areas seem to be much wider... 7-10mm. The scope mounts on Vera look like screw-on types, so they may have just ignored the slot sizes.

 

[pennausamike]

Re: Constructing... VERA! (and Jubal Early's pistol)

Here is a random sampling of some metric measurements taken from the resin one below.

 

[JOATRASH FX]

Re: Constructing... VERA! (and Jubal Early's pistol)

Thanks Mike! Will definitely come in handy.

Here's the latest on Vera. Not quite done with the 2D blueprints yet. This is a basic breakdown of the separate pieces I'm having machined. Quite a few details missing that will be added later (like screw holes and curved parts on the lower scope rail).

 

[oldzey]

Re: Constructing... VERA! (and Jubal Early's pistol)

Just thought I'd check for any updates on the progress of these cool projects.

Regards,
oldzey

 

[JOATRASH FX]

Re: Constructing... VERA! (and Jubal Early's pistol)

Waiting on the machinists to come back from summer vacation to start on Vera! Should have a small update in a little over a week. The Jubal pistol is still in the works... I'm probably going to try and scratch-build a master pattern first and if that doesn't work, get it RPed.

 

[oldzey]

Re: Constructing... VERA! (and Jubal Early's pistol)

Thanks for the update - really looking forward to it!

 

[ed-209]

Re: Constructing... VERA! (and Jubal Early's pistol)

Hi guys!!
Amazing undertaking. The work done is amazing!!
Unsure if these were posted before but here they are again…just in case.
Ed-209

 

[oldzey]

Re: Constructing... VERA! (and Jubal Early's pistol)

Decisions decisions...

I can either keep my wife... :confused

Naw, I'll take Jayne's offer and trade her for Vera instead!

 

[JOATRASH FX]

Re: Constructing... VERA! (and Jubal Early's pistol)

Hey guys. I'm just sittin' here, waiting for my contact at the machinist to get back from vacation and then things should get rolling again. Might have a small update early next week. In the meantime, this is a breakdown of all the parts that are being machined.

You may have noticed my sig... I've given my gal a name. "Alice", along with Vera and Flo were the names of waitresses in the old tv sitcom "Mel's Diner". (I guess ya gotta be over 30 to remember than one!)

 

[silverskyes402]

Re: Constructing... VERA! (and Jubal Early's pistol)

This is the greatest project i've ever seen, constructing vera is amazing. I was fortunate to buy jubal early's pistol from this board and absolutely love it! I cant wait to see how vera turns out!

 

[Kadajiroth]

Re: Constructing... VERA! (and Jubal Early's pistol)

This is a fantastic project. 'Alice' has a nice ring to it. Can't wait for the next update. :love

 

[pennausamike]

Re: Constructing... VERA! (and Jubal Early's pistol)

.....I was fortunate to buy jubal early's pistol from this board and absolutely love it!......

Glad to hear it 'cause, well, that was my Jubal Early!

Mike

 

[oldzey]

Re: Constructing... VERA! (and Jubal Early's pistol)

This is the greatest project i've ever seen, constructing vera is amazing. I was fortunate to buy jubal early's pistol from this board and absolutely love it! I cant wait to see how vera turns out!

Agreed - I saw it up on eBay and was kicking myself for not having any jing in the old bank account to bid on it - cool piece - glad you are enjoying it!

VERA - the most awesome gun ever!

 

[JOATRASH FX]

Re: Constructing... VERA! (and Jubal Early's pistol)

Update time guys. I am SO. GORRAM. MAD.

I had agreed on a price for all the parts with a machinist. It was a pretty good price, but it was still costing me a bundle. Parts were to be done during August. Now get this... he now wants THREE TIMES as much!!! WTF??? You don't give a price, make someone wait TWO FREAKIN MONTHS before you even start work and then TRIPLE it! Started giving me a bunch of BS about how he hadn't counted on how complex the parts were (even though he had based the initial price on some of the more elaborate blueprints).

I tried to get him to reason by explaining how everyone was following this project on the forum and all. I even offered double my initial budget... but he didn't want to listen. Add to that I've been chasing him every gorram minute of every hour all week to get some answers. Man... I guess I gotta find another machinist. This thing WILL get done somehow. Time to start shotgunning e-mails across the country.

On a lighter note... I've done some scratch-work on a master pattern for the Early pistol. It's looking good so far.


I gotta go let this stew for a while guys. I know it's just a "thing" but I've been SO caught up in the "Alice" project that this really got me down.