Rubies DDC Defender Mod Thus Far

[Fettbat]

Been in kind of a building lull, so to get to work on a new project I -finally- got around to purchasing one of Rubies DDC defender blasters off Amazon. The goal of this project was to have an all metal barrel assembly (save for the sight and the revel engine piston bit) and have the whole front bit removable leaving just the margolin. Here's the progress so far!

First the Rubies toy needed to be hacked apart.



I wanted the barrel to be metal, it turns out that piping of various diameters is not very easy to find around me. I did find what I think is rod of an old lamp that fit the barrel diameter however and cut that down to size. It even had a threaded bit so I could mount it more easily into the margolin.





Then the sight was bored out (very cautiously)



Since I wanted the front bits to be removable, the bore of the margolin needed to be threaded on the inside, so I scoured around the hardware stores for a while and found a compressor junction (I think?) that almost fit, but nothing a dremel and a sanding bit can't fix.



This is then fitted into the barrel, using a metal dowel as a stem and fitted with duct tape.





Now for the front, I found an old optics kit from an old job and took it apart to find a nice aluminum assembly. I wrapped that in some old charger cord (not quite the right size cable, still on the hunt) and mounted that into the revel pistol.





Nothings been attached or glued yet, but here is what everything will look like together.



So yea. That's where I'm at with it right now, still a lot of work to do but before continuing I was wondering if anyone could help me out with a couple things. First, I know the cord is wrapped like 10 - 11 times, but what's the length of that section? Second, on some of the margolins and on parts of SW there's this little screw under the trigger. Here it is on the MR version but I don't know, I don't like to use them as a base for total accuracy.



I have no Idea what it's for but It seems to be present sometimes and not others in reproductions, is it on the version of the real DDC? Or is more of a preference?

 

[Drac]

I can't offer any advice on this one but wanted to say nice work so far, interested to see how it comes out


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[penabled]

That piece you have circled is what's known as a trigger stop. It's to prevent the trigger from traveling past the point at which the striker is released to fire the gun. There are various reasons for these to be used, some more arguable than others. Commonly found on target firearms.

 

[VioletSun]

Some very nice upgrades so far

 

[Fettbat]

Hey thanks for the feedback! Got some more work done this weekend.

Made a new base plate for the magazine, a new magazine catch, and weighted the grips to balance how heavy the all metal barrel is.







Now here's just the Margolin all painted and ready to go. I also filled in the slide where the hammer is, added the trigger stop, and added the pins in the trigger and rear sight.







It's only a few steps away from being done now!

 

[Inquisitor Peregrinus]

Ack! I'm not often in the General Props section so I had missed this thread. It's probably too late now, but I present for your consideration my thread on the subject. If you're still looking for any info or pointers let me know.

--Jonah

 

[Pedro]

Great work on this so far! I'm doing something similar right now, I should get some pictures. I especially like the work on the mag plate, very cool! The fit on the front sight is impressive too, I'm worrying a bit about that piece on mine.

 

[Fettbat]

Thanks Pedro, that front sight is an odd shape and not the same diameter that it should be to just slide over the barrel so I found it easier to just step down to a small diameter for that part then fill it in with epoxy puddy.

And thanks Jonah! Your build was awesome and I was actually referencing it a ton for ideas. I came to learn that brass tubing is -stupid- difficult to find near me. I'm still working on it (being really lazy) but it's almost done. The only thing that's confusing me is the chord and how long that segment should be, could you offer and insight on that?

 

[superjedi]

Really cool conversion!
I have the MR, and I just measured the section that's wrapped with cord. It is 2 1/8 inches long.

 

[Mara Jade's Father]

The only thing that's confusing me is the chord and how long that segment should be, could you offer and insight on that?

The length of the chord is going to be based on the diameter of the cord and the diameter of the barrel it is wrapped around. The only thing you can do is trial and error based one what the actual prop looks like.

Using the photo above as a guide, you need to make the cord so that from the LEFT side, you see 10 rows of cord. You should also be able to see the blunt end to the chord at the 12 o'clock position on the muzzle end and at the 6 o'clock position at the barrel sight end.

Once you achieve this, it will dictate what the length that your barrel extension should be.