Judge Dreed Lawgiver Mark II (SD Studios)

some progress. Converging quickly to the final thing... Nice, after a year :unsure

Side leds. White SMD leds, low profile enough to fit under the gun even with the PCB.
Those white leds have a large beam with the additive that produces the white light. The whole yellow area becomes white with a large angle.

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and they are SUPER BRIGHT (even at 10mA)
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diffusion test with 7-segment display filter
as expected, too close = beam / spot
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at a few mm of distance, you start diffusing.
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Assembling some side panels PCBs for those leds
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let's start the assembly / wiring. I frosted the clear styrene backing with 240 grit sandpaper to improve initial diffusion. I also inclined the PCBs to avoid a direct light beaming thru the windows. Board is secured with double sided foam tape. You'll notice the flashing PCB extension so that I can keep working on the firmware without disassembling anything.
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tidy wiring :045:
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with the gun installed
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Rear lights. Assembled on some perf-board that I also use to install the hall effect sensor of the trigger (those are part of my customization, SDS full builds will use switches which isn't worse or anything). I just love those sensors, but they for sure complicate the install an require some more wires to be routed.
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Made some more space on the trigger mechanism, as the magnetic sensor a the perf-board + wires were eating up a couple of precious mm.
I also drilled the rod to install the magnet.
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Second panel on the left half of the gun
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I made the install at 99% on the right side of the gun. This way it's easy to disassemble.
The aux. switch (ammo selection) is at the top of the grip. The magazine sensor is also a magnetic sensor with a small magnet installed in a recessed area of the mag. It will be painted "gun metal" later to have it merely invisible.
To activate the aux. switch, you just need to squeeze the handle in a certain way.

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Almost there. Missing the red windows. Off to the hobby shop today to find some alcohol based inks to dye the resin.
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The bullet view with the slide locked is what made me choose the model gun for that prop.
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lights
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Battery setup. Works for both 9V battery and 2 x li-ion cells (14500)
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switch isn't final, not happy with the placement of this one, I'll fix this today
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Slide rear mod : the second screw of the rear block can't go deep in and as the slide is fibered plastic, no way the threading can resist to the blow-back on the long term. I don't like to epoxy parts that might need service, so I placed a M3 self threading insert with JB weld.
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then moded the 6/32 screw with a M3 insert, to keep the look of the original screw.

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Time for filling the side windows (ammo leds)...
scary operation for me as I'm a resin NOOB

I found some good alcohol based inks, which mixes well with resin : alcohol evaporates and leaves just the pigments, compared to the glass stain/paint which has some transparent resin/linker which doesn't harden like the glazing resin itself. The result of my first try was nice but I needed too much glass paint to get the right shade and transparency, the resin took ages to cure and isn't hard enough.

Those are aquarelle (watercolor) inks for illustration, comics etc. Lucky me the magenta has the inflammable logo which means it's alcohol based but not ALL colors have the sign so I'm not sure they would all mix well with the resin.
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first minute of mixing gave a chewing-gum pinky look to the mixture and I freaked out.
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After one night of curing, the color was a nice signal red, still a little too magenta for me (but hey, that's what was written on the canister).

For my final attempt I decided to add also the crimson red glass paint to darken the color and it ended very well. I prepared more resin too, which helps for stirring and mixing.
Rule is hardener first, then resin. It cures over 24h, so no rush, take your time to mix, grab what's on the sides of the cup.
Added the color, mixed again, let sit for a while to have bubbles climbing up. The color with thicken the mixture, so leave the clear mix sit for a while to get rid of bubble, then mix the color, let sit again (10 minutes). Transfer the mix to another cup without shaking, that helps removing bubbles too and ensures you don't have any unmixed resin or hardener left in your new cup.

then use a 2D level to have your work on a perfectly horizontal plane. That resin is VERY THIN and will go everywhere (thanks for the warning, SD). You'd better have everything under (the clear styrene, if you remember) perfectly sealed. In any case, any hole / cavity will be filled up, so be prepared for the next 4-6 hours to monitor how it goes and refill when needed (I couldn't source glazing resin with 90 min curing time... and I don't feel like playing with additives yet)

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testing the lights and the shade
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So far so good. I had to make some resin again cause reaching the gel time took forever and the basement is barely at 19°C (not complaining but a bit low for resin curing). Gel time is like 4-6 hours. You need at least that time to make sure you won't have a window that will almost totally empty during the cure time.
You also need working lights to ensure you don't have a dirty color or mix.
Mine isn't perfect as it's not pure pigment but looks ok if you're at 20 cm of the prop.

The diffusion is AWESOME. Less crazy than on the pics but really diffused, you don't see a single spot but really a lit window.
 
thanks a lot. I would not have thought this resin brand was distributed over here, I was pointed to that very brand. Awesome !

EDIT : I actually got very nice results with the Pebéo. The dye mixed very well, no bubbles, and windows look awesome this morning. It will need several days more to cure but I'm good, now I can make the rear blue square.
 
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I received my new carts. They are longer than the M84 ones that were supposed to act the same (I was told) and ended up not working most of the time.

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*WAY* too short. Now I understand. The pin in the barrel isn't pushing the piston far enough and it's not maintaining the pressure between the piston and the firing pin.
Those new ones are reverse fed compared to the M84 and they will fire each time :thumbsup
I got some other sort of PFC caps that produces more sparks, it's awesome.

The new cart. fills up differently, and stores more pressure in the chamber so that blowback is spectacular and my beretta will slide-lock empty every time now !

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Final stage :)

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I'm really pleased how the dyed resin ended. Mixing isn't as perfect as with dedicated pigments (that I've bought in the meanwhile) but it's really nice and it diffuses the light very well.

Full demo

In included a slow motion sequence, I'm impressed by the insane SPEED of that model gun mechanism (I was new to them). The blow-back feeling is of course less than on a real gun but it feels like the real thing, sparks, smoke :045:

Lawgiver MkII Final Demo - YouTube

Thanks for reading and watching !
 
Amazing, love it!

Very nice indeed. Great work.

Just need the electronics and i can get started on mine. I've got a full auto Dolphin to put inside.

Love the video, not the empty shell hit the camera at the end!

Look forward to buying the electronics soon!.

Lewis
 
FYI: On my build-ups and kits, we are using a mini-pressure-switch attached to the grip frame, which is actuated by the Beretta's transfer bar when you pull the trigger. That sets off the sound and light effects in connection with firing the airsoft when you pull the trigger.

So you have the option of firing the replica WITH BBs and sound and light FX OR with only BBs, OR only sound and light FX. Your choice...

Erv installed a magnetic sensor in his, but he had to do surgery on the transfer bar to get it to all fit. I am simply not that brave... Micro switch and glue...problem solved! :lol

I sent out a mass e-mail yesterday to all of the customers of my build-ups or the kits.

Erv has started production on the kits for me and I have started taking official orders. But NOT HERE...

I have also already purchased a ton of of the micro switches, magnets and hall-effect sensors (for the magazine loading), batteries, battery clips, and speakers and have them all here. I just need his boards to arrive and I am all set...

If you did NOT receive the e-mail, please e-mail me at sdstudios@aol.com

If you are in Europe (or thereabouts) you can contact Erv directly for info on how to save on shipping and customs fees!

Thanks to Erv for his tireless efforts and marathon work over the last month!

These are going to be amazing!!!
 
Thanks Steve for the info, i didnt receive an email from you, but since Im in Germany I will contact Erv directly.

Kostas
 
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