Build Log - Fieldmarshall E11 Blaster

[zjunlimited]

That scope looks great! It looks just like the finish on my larger scope. Great idea using the textured paint.

Are you going to do the wrinkle paint that's applied to the real Sterlings?

Whew! I hoped my efforts were on par with the numerous reference photos I’ve been studying.

And yes to the wrinkle paint >>> VHT.

 

[zjunlimited]

Stock Hinge Secured to Receiver / Bolts Shortened

I mentioned previously that I wanted to bolt to slide freely without the stock receiver bolts hindering its movement.....both in function and for assembly.

Here's what it looks like as it comes from FM.


I hoped to simply buy a shorter bolt to replace the bolt with the kit but that wasn't happening. The cut bolt I ended up with fell between shaft lengths. So that meant trimming the bolt to length with my dremel. It was good to know that I had a source of these bolts locally as well in case I messed up something.

Here's a comparison of the bolts (L-R): new cut bolt ~13mm or 17/32" shaft length, new 5/8" length bolt from Ace, stock 3/4" bolt from FM
BTW, these were 10-32 threads, not the 12-24 x 3/8" indicated on his drawing

Perfect fit and the bolt slides freely now.

Very little thread left for the bolt to grab onto but this ends up being sufficient for handling the work of attaching the stock to the hinge only.


My concern was around the security of the hinge to the receiver. I feel relying on these 2 bolts to secure the stock-hinge-receiver was asking too much and noticed even before cutting down the bolts that the hinge would wobble a bit when extending / retracting the stock. Actually, if I tightened it down sufficiently without wobble, I couldn't get the stock to fold/unfold. It was a trade off between wobble or folding.

So I decided I needed to secure the hinge to the receiver in a more permanent way.....using E6000 and JB weld original.

Masking/Prep

Then first, some E6000 to the underside of the hinge to properly locate it to the receiver using the screws to assist and ensuring the bolts will be aligned properly afterwards. I consciously avoided applying the E6000 near the holes since I didn't want the bolts to be glued in.

After waiting a full 24 hours (a bit overkill but I really wanted it to be fully set before moving on) I mixed up some JB Weld


Did the best I could to smooth it out and keep things relatively clean and contained.

Removed the tape before the JB weld starts to set.

After waiting another 24 hours for the JB Weld to cure, I sanded everything down using round mini files and a maroon 3M scotchbrite pad to smooth everything out afterwards.

Some reflections....

• From previous work creating a internal mount on my PG Falcon and some tests with scrap aluminum bars before this, I noticed that just simply using one adhesive component may not be enough....especially in this type of connection where one part sits on top of another.
• The E6000 helps create the initial bond between the parts.....and while E6000 can be flexible after curing (this is a good thing for what it is and honestly it seemed quite secure afterwards), I wanted something a bit more to lock the hinge down so a 2-part epoxy putty of some sort was considered.
• JB Weld Steel stick - no way, too little working time and not easy to manipulate given the parts to be bonded [Pass]
• CA/baking soda - surprisingly effective, super strong and sandable; but messy, difficult to control application and not sure how the CA would interact with the E6000 [Pass]
• Milliput - great working time, easy to work with especially with a bit of water, I really went back and forth between this and JB Weld but ultimately felt JB would give me a better connection since it was a bit more fluid during application [not this time but a viable option]

 

[Kwc271]

Great build and attention to detail. I have one of FieldMarshal’s E11 kits as well but I don’t know when I’ll be able to finish it, life is getting in the way. I do have it painted and assembled but it lacks the scope, counter, and t-tracks. I’m considering letting it go, hate to, but it isn’t doing any good sitting in a drawer. I used flat black on mine.

 

[zjunlimited]

Great build and attention to detail. I have one of FieldMarshal’s E11 kits as well but I don’t know when I’ll be able to finish it, life is getting in the way. I do have it painted and assembled but it lacks the scope, counter, and t-tracks. I’m considering letting it go, hate to, but it isn’t doing any good sitting in a drawer. I used flat black on mine.

Thanks. I would suggest keeping it and displaying it as is for the time being. Without those Star Wars specific bits, it does show well as a replica SMG....if that's your fancy. Otherwise, seems like FM will have a continual stock of these so you can always come back later when you are ready. Best of luck.

 

[zjunlimited]

Front Sight Guard

Not sure if others experienced this but when assembled, the guard wobbles/rattles a bit. No matter what I do to tighten the muzzle against the barrel, it was still loose. Maybe it was the result of my previous adjustments but whatever the case may be, I needed to fix it.

So taking a similar approach as with the hinge, I applied some E6000 on the underside of the guard where it contacts the receiver and assembled the front end together. After drying I removed the muzzle and barrel.

Next I taped off the front end focusing on the area where the front sight would slide into.

I could have stopped with the E6000 since that stopped the rattle but I wanted to give this connection a bit more stability and support so this time I decided to use Milliput instead of JB Weld. For one, I didn't need the strength of JB Weld and this is a much tighter area so it required a cleaner, more controllable method of applying the putty.

So I rolled up the Milliput in thin sausage-like rods and using a clay carving spatula, applied it to the relevant sections....shaping and carving it as I went. Sorry no pictures since I had to manipulate the putty and water with my fingers and was just too messy.

Once applied and the tape removed, I let it dry and cure for a bit over 24 hours. Afterwards, shaped, carved, sanded it using an xacto knife and the same round mini-file. Final result...

And similar with the hinge, once I have a couple layers of paint, the putty seam shouldn't be that noticeable

 

[Kwc271]

Thanks. I would suggest keeping it and displaying it as is for the time being. Without those Star Wars specific bits, it does show well as a replica SMG....if that's your fancy. Otherwise, seems like FM will have a continual stock of these so you can always come back later when you are ready. Best of luck.

I don’t know, I’m just tempted to sell it.

 

[zjunlimited]

Painting Complete

Finally that is... so time to pause and reflect a bit. I promise to keep this short. So starting off I knew I wanted layers in the paint to give it more depth and interest. I started with AB and was fairly successful in creating a base dark patina on most of the parts. The receiver, on the other hand, was simply too big and required too much AB to make it worthwhile so I simply applied a few thin layers of Rustoleum Self-Etching primer to the raw aluminum followed by a layer of black ultra flat primer. Since I knew this layer of black would coat the insides of the receiver, I wanted it to be as dull/flat as possible.


After that all of my parts were ready (primed receiver and AB on all other parts) and I decided to jump into the crinkle paint....and I quickly encountered 2 errors on my part.

• 1st mistake - I sprayed multiple parts at the same time instead of working one part at a time
• 2nd mistake - I started with a partial can grossly underestimating how much was going to be used
  • In short, because of these two combined issues, I only had enough paint for barely 2 coats and the since it was an older can, the nozzle started to clog and the paint spray was very uneven.
  • And because of this, it led me to my third mistake...
• 3rd mistake - did not use heat to dry the paint, I only let it sit for 48hrs
  • In all of the previous times I used VHT, I used a heat gun to accelerate the drying to create the wrinkles before setting it aside 48hrs to finish drying. Why no heat this time? In part because I rushed into this (really got too excited) I forgot to setup how I was going to heat all of the parts.
  • So in short, after 48hrs, no wrinkles, just a nice black slightly textured finish.

What to do now?? I didn't want to fully strip and start over since it was too much work and I simply didn't have the wherewithal to go through that effort. So I hunkered down and proceeded as follows:

• First, I left the cylindrical rod in the stock assemble as-is as I thought the non-textured look in contrast to the other parts was interesting. All other pieces (receiver, stock handle / arm, mag well, muzzle) was repainted.
• I dulled and knocked down the previous finish a bit using some 300-400grit dremel sanding pads to level and smooth everything as much as possible.
• Tracked down a new can of VHT at Autozone (and basically used the entire can)
• Set up a heat box lined with aluminum foil with my heat gun nearby
• Used Maskol in key areas to create variation / depth / weathering / distressed / overall a not new look
• Sprayed one part at a time...3 coats as directed (wait 5 min in between; vertical, horizontal, diagonal)
• Immediately applied heat (heat gun on low, 6-8" away from the part, constantly moving) and within 5-10min, the wrinkles appeared. Set aside for 48hrs to allow the paint to finish drying.
• Afterwards, as I learned previously, using the dremel sanding pads in a very light application followed by some 0000 steel wool, I was able to remove the shiny gloss of the cured VHT into a duller more realistic finish. A coat of Krylon matte was applied over everything.

Here's a look at my heat box


My $5 portable Walmart closet turned paint / drying booth


And the end results...

 

[zjunlimited]

Power Cylinders - Shape A

I decided to get FM's kit instead of his finished cylinders since I really do enjoy the overall build process. And while I decided to go with the shape A variant, all of the other variants would be installed in the same way since those differences are all cosmetic to the tube support shape.
Overall, it was a straight forward build with the usual sanding, cutting, bending, soldering, gluing, fitting, etc.. that you would expect in a kit but the overall design and kit contents were superb.

Here's the kit as it comes from FM

Prior to the actual assembly process I had to complete the following:

• Opened up the 3 lead holes using a 1/16' drill bit. If I had something smaller, I would have used it as it didn't leave much of a wall between the holes but it still held up.
• Bent the tabs on either side of these holes and aligned with the tubes
• Opened up the support holes where the tubes sit in
• Painted the base, tubes, and caps with Rustoleum self-etching primer and Krylon satin black.

Other materials used:

• E6000 for the metalmite capacitors
• CA glue and accelerator for the tubes and resistors
• Loctite green for the tube cap nuts
• Solder + Soldering iron @ 600°F for the capacitor leads

Various finished build photos

Sorry I don't have more in-process photos but I was using the camera to film the build process which you can see here...