Scratchbuilt Sten MkII - The Eagle Has Landed

[Nick K]

I then worked on finding out what to make the Bolt from. Firstly, I had a steel one turned, but the weight was too heavy for the other materials the gun was being made from. Secondly, I thought about plastic, but the stuff I got was too stringy and would not finish and paint very well. Finally,I settled on Aluminium, which when turned and painted, looked very good and lite as well.
The bottom pic is the steel one.

 

[Nick K]

The Magazine was next. This took a bit of time to do, but with the help of some pine that I had shaped at a local Joinery Factory, I was able to laminate plastic sheet to it and shape the feed end as well.

 

[Nick K]

Feeder lips were added from plastic and the rest of the "plug" laminated as well. Filer was used to finish off the "guide rail".

 

[wtac]

I have several real deactivated Stens in my collection and your replica looks really good.

 

[Nick K]

Thanks wtac, I try to do a good job.

 

[Nick K]

Then came the addition of various bits of plastic sheet to finish the look, and a brass screw cut off, rounded, and put into the hole in the base.

 

[Nick K]

After adding the stop tabs? I sanded the whole thing down with wet'n'dry sandpaper and then test fitted it into the mag housing. Looking good so far.

 

[BornKilr]

Wow! I've made numerous prop guns but none with this level of detail. I swear that looks like it could actually fire! Incredible work.

 

[Nick K]

Thanks Bornkilr.
Here are some pics of it assembled and painted.The only thing I need to do now is make a Compression Spring for the Bolt.

 

[Nick K]

I'm thinking of doing a silenced barrel and a skeletal frame stock for it as well. Any other suggestions?

 

[Megamicrofish]

My only critique (very small one) it looks too clean to be a Sten, needs weathering!

 

[Nick K]

Correct and you are right, it is still clean, but I plan on giving it a worn used look at some stage when everything is done.

 

[webby]

Really really great, i'm building a sten for a friends film your project been a great help. Thanks ,keep up the good work

 

[Nick K]

I see now that Denix have produced one, so I might have to get one and compare them. mmmmmmm.....

 

[Raiders March]

This is one of my favourite war movies, along with kelly's heroes, Gun of Navorone and Force 10 from Navorone.
Very nice work on this replica!

 

[Broilermaker]

Very nice work, museum quality!

 

[Nick K]

Thanks guys. I enjoy doing these kind of replicas, and yes it will be weathered soon. Will post some pics when it is done.

 

[Caldwell]

I've been building props similar to this one for a while now and always run into the same problem, which is once I paint the PVC the moving parts (i.e. the cocking mechanism and the trigger) don't work. The paint makes the parts "crunchy" and inhibits anything I make that's supposed to be pulled or ****** or whatever.
I was wondering what you did to keep the parts from gumming up. Any help is much appreciated.
Thanks

 

[Nick K]

Hi Caldwell. The important thing to remember when making moving parts, is to allow for paint buildup. I always try to make things a little "sloppy" in the fit so the paint thickness will build up the rest of the tolerance. Then I sometimes put a bit of 3 in 1 sewing machine oil onto the part to help lubricate it. In your situation at present, try putting some fine oil onto the parts and see what happens. If you need to repaint afterwards, then clean up the areas to be painted with white spirits.
Also, are you using aerosol paint, which goes on thick, or airbrushing the paint on, which you can control the amount of paint going on?
White Spirits doesn't hurt the plastic and dries very quickly. Hope this helps.