Well, it has been over a year since my last update so I thought I would post...
something.
I last showed my hyperfirm Lewis gun with upgades in 2016. It had some added blued steel parts, but was still looking pretty bland:
Next thing I did (probably prematurely) was the layered wood effect (thanks once again to
Sidewinder for the master painter's tips):
Final result:
I then chopped the top of the receiver off so that I could add some more detail and moving parts.
Drew up templates for the parts and had them laser cut from acrylic (of course if I was to do it again I would model and 3D print).
Make way!
Plastic parts grafted on, still some seam work to do:
Lasercut steel feed arm added:
But still, this wasn't enough realism. I also wanted to improve the radiator side fins as they had lost their depth from being puttied up for the molding process:
Poor Lewis underwent some more major surgery at this point. It was one of those "Should I do it or leave it? What if it goes horribly wrong... Aw screw it, I've started so I might as well continue!"
The fiberglass supporting rod that runs the length of the casting now fully revealed! Any added parts would have to be designed to fit around it.
Test fitting a tube where the new steel gas tube will go.
New machined steel gas tube (compared to real one). It was done like this with a split in it so it would fit around the fiberglass supporting rod.
Also added a plate to the roof of the cavity to make it look neater. It should look much better once it gets a complete repaint. I dremelled a few inches into the barrel casting and added a matt black plate there as well.
Add on parts: 3D printed radiator fins, barrel tube stump, and gas tube.
It's a very tight fit in there but they fit like a glove.
Final result. Now the radiator looks like a separate part which disappears into the barrel casing, and the gas tube disappears into the receiver.
More to come...