DL-44 Greedo Killer - start to finish (almost)

I am going to start posting the build log of my Greedo killer that amazingly i started just over two years ago. In between i have had two kids and moved which has really made this a slow burn build. This is my first attempt at a real prop and i learned a lot along the way, both things that worked extreamly well and things that were complete failures. I docummented a lot of the process but unfortunately there are some gaps. Lichtbringer was extreamly generous in sharing his knowledge when i was first starting out so a big thank you to him, one of the best blaster builders on this site. Onwards.


Here is a shot of where i started out. I had a real m9 flash hider, a CE resin grill, and a resin compac from adamata. I was convinced i would scratch build my own mount as the one from CE looked wrong to me in terms of the metal thicknesses so i used Lichtbringers great GK build as inspiration. I also wanted to make the c96 look a little less like a denix so i filled all the pin holes with apoxie sculpt, got rid of the denix logo, and just overall smoothed out the rough areas. Of course now comes the dilema, now that i have filled the holes i cant reblue the gun, what to do? we will get to that.



First i wanted to tackle the most complicated part, the upper bracket. i looked far and wide for an angle with the correct thickness but it was impossible to find here in the states. Finally i found some european drawer pulls that had the perfect thickness so i chopped one down to a rough blank. I very carefuly used my chop saw to cut the aluminum drawer pull. It was scary as hell but it worked.



Next i printed out a templated of the upper bracket and used a drill press to drill many holes close together to cut it to the right shape. then i used my dremel and files to clean it up. This was Lichtbringers method and it worked out perfectly, i was very pleased. I cleaned it up more than the last picture here and in the end it looked like it came right from the machine shop.



Yes, one part done!!

The grill. I thought about going with a metal grill after i had the resin one in hand but a couple of things were troubling me. First, the aluminum CE grill has the wrong number of fins while the CE resin one is correct. Very starnge but important. Second, after test fitting the resin grill i knew that there were some major gaps to be filled in order to fit perfectly. I was afraid that if i got the metal grill i would still have to fill those gaps and then i would have a metal/apoxie sculpt grill. So in the end i stuck with the resin grill.

The first step to get a better fit was to take the lower half of the c96 and wrap it with cling wrap so that the apoxie sculpt would not stick to the gun. then i placed the grill in the correct location and just started jambing putty in the huge gaps at the top and bottom. after the apoxie sculpt dried i removed it from the cling wrap and i had a perfect impression on the c96 which i could then mount to after painting.



After filling the gaps and all the tiny air bubbles (thanks CE) i primed the grill with filler primer then painted it with buffing metalizer which is AMAZING stuff. out of the bottle its qutie dull, but after you scrub a soft brush over it the finish looks exactly like metal. Its bad lighting in my garage but in person the results are incredible. I also build scale models so i use some painting techniques from that hobby as follows. After the metalizer i sprayed the piece with hairspray and then with tamiya gloss black. after the black dried i got a stiff brush and went to work chipping the paint so that the metal paint was visible below, this is called the hairspray technique. I dont have any shots of the results here but later i have some as the gun is assembled. I used gloss black after looking at reference and seeing lots of reflection on the grill. Also, i liked the idea that there would be different tones of black so that the gun did not appear too monotone and boring.

On to the c96 painting. I did decide to paint the gun rather than try and reblue it, i just could not think of a way to hide all the body work i did. so i sprayed all of the parts in a few coats of filler primer (grey) then sanded it down to a smooth finish. After that i sprayed on my favorite duplicolor sandable primer (maroon) which is like silk.



At about this time i was having a crisis because i really wanted a blued finish and was unsure if i could capture exactly what i wanted in paint. I heard rumors of being able to blue zinc spray paint ( used to touch up galvanized metal). I started experimenting and whoa! it actually works!! the problem is that the zinc paint goes on so thick and is really gritty, so one has to do a ton of sanding and it has to be almost perfectly smooth to take the blue. here was a test piece of pvc pipe that i spray painted then blued. I decided not to go this direction for the gun but this technique may have uses for future projects .

That zinc paint trick is great! A little labor intensive, but those test results are really promising [emoji1417]


Also which brand metalizer are you using? I might use that on my pulse rifle, as my shrouds aren't buffing up to where I'd like them to be.

First coat of paint. After i chopped the barrel to the proper length it was time to get the metal base coat on the c96. For this i used the same stainless steel buffing metalizer that i did on the grill and it was a long process. it was a contstant switching between painting and buffing but after a couple of days i had the whole gun covered and ready for the next layer. It was really cool to see the gun looking like i had just stripped it down to a steel finish.

After the stainless steel under color i airbrushed on patchy areas of gunmetal buffing metalizer with lots of stainless showing through. I was working off of mauser images i saw online and really wanted the finish to look authentic and worn. To me the black and white photos from the chronicals book make the GK look as though the body of the gun is much lighter than the grill (black) for instance so i didnt want to go really dark for the main body of the gun, again keeping some contrast. after the gunmetal i sprayed on really light patchy areas of black. I went back and forth a number of tims adding either stainless steel, gunmetal, or black until i was happy with the finish.



next it was time to weather with oils, anther scale model thing. I did a number of brown and black oil washes which really gave it some depth. I start with dots of oils then blend them in with a a brush and turpenoid.



also you can see that i finished the scope (in the background) with satin black and polished it with tamiya polish. it was then drybrushed with silver to show some wear.

Here is where the gun ended up after the paint up and i am really happy with the finish that was achieved. you can also see where i drilled and tapped the body to accept the scope mount. Also you can see the painted grill with the hairspray technique chipping.



The grips are pine which were offered by a menber here specifically to match the denix grip frame (i did not modify the gripframe as some do). I painted them with oils to look old, worn and darkened with age.

After the base paint and overall washes i got down to the details by further weathering the hammer and the back of the grip frame to match some reference i had. this was done with multiple thin oil washes. I really like how the stainless hammer contrasts the rest of the paint.

At this point the GK body was pretty much done but i still needed to build the rest of the scope mount. Originally i cut the rest of the pieces out of plex but i really wasnt satisfied with how the countersinks worked out in the acrylic and i just wanted MORE METAL.



Because i have very limited knowledge working with metal and i almost killed myself trying to cut the knobs on my chop saw i decided to do a craigslist post to see if someone could do some quick machining for me. the knobs he made for me came out great but the lower bracket was an absolute piece of garbage. I asked if he even looked at my cad plans and he just said it was easier this way. WTF!?!?! so now i was on my own to fabricate the lower mount the same way i did the upper and it came out great.



Now i could put all the pieces together and it was ready to paint and get onto the c96. I painted the bar and the upper and lower brackets gloss black then sanded them down a bit to reveal the metal below. The knobs i aluminum blacked and clear coated, again for contrast. the painting is not shown here but will be evident in the final pics. The bracket screwed nicely into the body and is super solid. i used a cut down section of scope rail which was drilled, tapped, and mounted to the upper bracket. finally the scope was installed, you can see the assembly below.



that pretty much wraps it up. i will post some pics of what the GK looks like right now fully assembled then will post a couple more once the stand is done. hope you enjoyed.

That looks awesome. Great job on the painting, I really didn't think it would come out that well when you said you were going to paint instead of reblue it, but you did a great job!

Thanks! Ya i know what you mean, most painted guns i see are really disappointing. for me i had to remind myself that you cant do one coat of paint and call it done, you really have to layer it up to get a believable finish.

JaxAndTheMoon said:

That looks awesome. Great job on the painting, I really didn't think it would come out that well when you said you were going to paint instead of reblue it, but you did a great job!

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Ok the final pics, again ill post nice one when the stand is done as these are just with my phone in fairly bright light.

I really enjoyed this project and think it turned out pretty well for my first build. let me know if you have any questions or comments.

cheers

I really like it, you did a great job. :cool

This us been a fantastic ride today. Thanks for posting this build!


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Looks great!

That came out really well!

Excellent! Subscribed and dying to see more!

I'm doing a resin version and have been after a decent paint technique for ages. I think you've just solved my issues! You echo so many of the thoughts I've had about this as a project too. glad it came out so well. Where did you get the grill? Mine came pre CA'd on and debating cracking it off for a better one or filling my room with dust trying to get it even close to accurate!

I've been using Humbrol Metal Cote up to now with reasonable results. Also the AK True Metal tubes aren't bad.. I think i'll be getting some Metal Master Buffing Metalizer to add to the mix! Does it need airbrushing on?

When you did the weathering, did you have to seal the metal finishes first? previously i've made up a wash with artists Oils, thinners and some weathering powders to get a good grime but the thinners and oil attacks the metal finishes and basically strips it all off!

Great stuff man, thanks for posting!

that came out really really well!! u should be proud of your self tackling the brackets!


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Lichtbringer said:

I really like it, you did a great job. :cool

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Thanks Lichtbringer, massive compliment comming from you. And thanks for the support years ago when i started this project.

veektohr said:

This us been a fantastic ride today. Thanks for posting this build!


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Thanks for following along. I had no idea it would be as long, or take as long, but it was worth it to get the process down on record.

matty matt said:

Looks great!

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JaxAndTheMoon said:

That came out really well!

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thanks guys!

halliwax said:

that came out really really well!! u should be proud of your self tackling the brackets!


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Thanks halliwax. The bracket was a real learning experience and the end result was worth the litterally months of planning, sourcing material, and actual construction...I work reeeaaalllyy slow. Really gave a nice heft to the gun as well.

You´re to kind. I need to ask, the 3 discs are still made of acrylic?

No, they are aluminum now. The only usable thing from my craigslist "machinist"

Lichtbringer said:

You´re to kind. I need to ask, the 3 discs are still made of acrylic?

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Ouch, he seems to be a true master of his trade. Good that you at least could use a few parts.