Re: Looper Blunderbuss Shotgun - WIP pics begin on Page 3
Updates!
While both the right and left side grips are getting completely smoothed out, I started work on the rear endcap.
The rear endcap is made out of 4 components: First, a ring closest to the gun, which features a weld line. After a small inset gap, there's another ring with what looks to be the break-action mechanism on top. A third ring sits flush against the second ring. This third ring features a tab that slides into the break-action mechanism on the second ring and a weld line on it's outside edge, and it's where the grip frame meets the gun.
Since I was essentially working from the grip up at this point, I decided to start with the third ring. I started with 1 1/2" PVC coupling, cutting out 3 rings, 2 rings of identical thickness and a third ring that was about 3/8" thicker than the other two. On the prop, the three rings all have nearly identical thickness, but there's a reason why I made one larger.
The rings, while close, still fit a bit loose on the aluminum tubing. The coupling I used to make the rings was the same coupling I used for the front endcap. With the front endcap, I dealt with the loose fit by sculpting a shim out of Apoxie Sculpt to take up the slack. I couldn't do the same with the rear endcap because I wanted to make sure I could still take the gun apart for upgrades and molding.
The plan I have is simple...I would make the endcap out of four separate pieces (3 rings and small gap), glue them together, and then mount the endcap onto the end of the aluminum tubing with two wood rings cut to the exact diameter of the aluminum tubing. These wood rings (cut out of basswood) when affixed to the first and third ring would account for the missing 3/8" of thickness. After Supergluing the wood rings to the PVC rings, the gap was filled with Bondo Spot Putty and sanded smooth.
For the third ring, I sanded off a bit of the wood ring and replaced the gap with Apoxie Sculpt to sculpt the rear weld line. Y'know, for all my complaining about having to sculpt the weld lines, I gotta admit...it wasn't all that bad. It was a bit tricky, but it only took about 30 minutes to get it to a point I was happy with (or at least satisfied enough with, knowing that I could fix it up with Spot Putty and sandpaper after it cured). Let's just hope the other two weld lines are just as easy.
If all goes according to plan, the rear endcap will be joined to the grip frame and then the whole shebang will slide seamlessly into the aluminum tubing and affixed with bolts (that can be removed for future work). I know this all sounds a bit confusing, but trust me...if I do it right, it'll make sense.
So that's that for now. I'm off to the garage to finish up the grooves on the grips and possible get started on the second ring of the rear end cap. Have a good night, folks!
-Jonaas
