Props Spartan Laser Metal & Fiberglass Airsoft Prop (Fully Functioning Electronic Replica)

[Redshirt]

Snazzy sir, looking good

Thanks! I hope to have the cosmetics done by Halo-ween. Won't shoot, but that feature won't be far behind.


Work this week has focused on fitting the vents into the upper receiver. The cutouts were all oversize and several cut pretty close to the edges or corners of the receiver, creating weak spots. In fact, these have cracked and been repaired a few times. I set out to shrink the enclosures for the vents to improve the overall strength of the upper receiver.

Here I have marked out what areas are oversize, and where the opening needs enlarged. I really don't need the vents to run behind the mid shroud as it weakens the fiberglass structure.

Here's the front left are of the vent everything right of the vertical marks gets a fiberglass patch. Notice the rough area to the right. I decided to continue that horizontal rib that goes above the vent back to the rear of the receiver with an extra layer of glass and resin. It actually adds quite a bit of strength.

Same area on the right side. The horizontal line means the opening needs to be lowered slightly.

Here's the left front area patched and in the process of getting cut to size.

Making the cuts with the air saw. This baby makes short work of fiberglass and many other materials with the added benefit of not being that good at cutting skin!

As always, Bondo covers a multitude of sins as I blend in the patches and tidy the cuts.


I'll get an update in next of fitting up the metal vent work. I'm pretty stoked about getting back into making good progress again.

Redshirt

 

[Redshirt]

Finishing up the vents this week.

To fit the vents into the upper receiver, I needed very precise openings with no slop. To do this, I cut solid bars of aluminum into the exact shapes of the final vents and liberally coated them with mold release.

Here are the blanks drying with their coat of polyvinyl alcohol mold release. I cut these from bar stock. My vent pieces were machined to match this bar stock.

I then press-fit the blanks into the openings. Though all the openings had slop, they also had enough interference to stay in place.

Here is the setup on the left side.

I needed a thin material to fill all the way into the gaps, but be very hard--Rondo. This was about a 2/3 to 1/3 mix of Bondo to resin. For the small gaps being covered, I didn't worry about needing glass-fiber reinforcement. Here I've worked the material into the gaps around the right rear vent.

A few minutes later, out comes the blank and a perfect hole is left behind.

I used the same blanks again to set the cuts on my vent ladders.

Beautiful! After dressing down the excess Rondo by wet sanding, the vents fit perfectly.

The left side fully fitted. I'm happy with the result. This should still give adequate air flow to the gear boxes when firing.

I'll set the vent pieces aside for now. They will get Cerakote black finished along with most of the metal parts shortly.

Redshirt

 

[Redshirt]

Fibrondo

Back for more.

I wanted to declare a couple of pieces complete and ready for paint so I got the last work done on the front shroud and the mid shroud.

I'd swear this piece was done, but apparently it needed a patch as well as some more sanding.


The main update today is for the two pieces of the upper receiver. I needed to get a good finish on the bottom edge where they fit against the metal lower receiver. I needed to close any gaps, make the edges straight, and add some strength to the upper receiver as a whole. Some ares had pretty sizable gaps or the material had been sanded thin as I straightened the piece.

Bondo was too thick to push into some areas and adds no strength

Resin was too thin and adds no strength

Rondo is brittle and adds no strength

Fiberglass wouldn't go into the seams and would still need bondo

I got busy and combined the fill of Bondo, the flow of resin, and the strength of fiberglass . . . .

Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you FIBRONDO! My enduring gift to the prop and costuming community


Right then.

I coated the entire metal lower receiver with mold release and installed the upper receiver, leaving out all internal parts to ease my access.

I worked the Fibrondo into everywhere the upper receiver met the lower receiver. I applied it to the interior surfaces as well, adding lots of strength.

Here's a closeup of the gap filling

After it cured, I removed the bolts and popped the upper receiver off without too much trouble. Perfect edges!

Here are both parts, now perfectly matched to their metal counterpart. I wanted to get this work in so I could level the excess at the same time I do the final detailing--and because I like saying Fibrondo.

I've set this aside to do more metal work. I don't think I'll have all the cosmetics by Halo-ween, but I've been loving the progress.

Redshirt

 

[Sepheus 13]

Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you FIBRONDO! My enduring gift to the prop and costuming community

Which hardening agent did you use? It looks like the fiberglass hardener due to the colour, or is it a mix of all three?

 

[Trando434]

Fibrondo huh, I feel sorry for your sense of smell buddy, but interesting mixture to say the least, did it work as well as you thought?

 

[Redshirt]

Which hardening agent did you use? It looks like the fiberglass hardener due to the colour, or is it a mix of all three?

In this case, I did use the cream hardener for the fiber reinforced filler. In reality, it doesn't matter. All three items are polyester-based, so they use the same active ingredient in their catalyst--MEK.

Fibrondo huh, I feel sorry for your sense of smell buddy, but interesting mixture to say the least, did it work as well as you thought?

It worked fabulous. Just the right combo of strength versus flexibility. I was able to work the fibers into tight spaces to avoid any brittle spots. I was surprised at how much strength it added to the pieces. With so many cutouts along the top and sides, the major portion of the upper receiver has no strengthening bands that run tip to tail. In a way, the pair of Fibrondo bands that now run along the bottom fill that void.

Redshirt

 

[Chainsaw ninja]

Dude this is awesome! U sure u wanna use it for airsoft tho? It'd b a shame if you tripped

 

[Redshirt]

Dude this is awesome! U sure u wanna use it for airsoft tho? It'd b a shame if you tripped

Thank you. I don't worry much about tripping. It's been over two years in the planning and building because it's not prop grade, but weapons grade. It's 18 pounds of welded aluminum and reinforced fiberglass that I could fairly well fall on and still pick up and shoot. I'm not saying it's indestructible, but it really is solid when it is fully bolted together.

My conundrum is how much to weather it when I paint it versus letting it earn its patina on the field. The answer is probably a little of both. I'll shoot some photos of it as a factory-fresh Splaser, then weather it a little bit before letting time in the field do the rest.

There has also been talk around the Redshirt household of doing arctic and desert variants before giving it its permanent paint. I already have the decals ready to print.

Redshirt

 

[Roceifin]

you could put one of these in
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/180937129646
and itd have a real GOOD red laser in it.

 

[Mstruvmgc]

LOL fibrondo... Thats a fun word to say. Looking good red, I dig it. Keep it up

 

[Redshirt]

you could put one of these in
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/180937129646
and itd have a real GOOD red laser in it.

Nice! I've looked at some 1+ watt red lasers before and not gonna go that route for now. Whole lotta money to pop balloons, but still would look way cool. I really hope the combo of glow BBs and massive red backlight will make a pretty cool effect.

LOL fibrondo... Thats a fun word to say. Looking good red, I dig it. Keep it up

We're going to use a thinner version inside a helmet instead of Rondo this winter. Should be interesting.



OK, I didn't get the cosmetics done in time for Haloween, but I did get a lot done as I stopped working on every other project to move this down the field. It wasn't hard to do, the motor seized in my vintage bike and I've grown tired or degreasing and electroplating parts for my Jaguar restoration. I finished a ton of metal work on this thing and a bunch of fiberglass work as well.

Just looking at the metalwork for this update:

I reworked some bad/failed welds in the lower receiver. After determining that I wouldn't have to put high heat on this beast anymore, I started bonding on the aluminum details with JB Weld beginning with the interior of the hand grip.

I applied the JB Weld to the inside of the lower receiver and slid the grip insert in from above.

I wedged and clamped it into submission until it cured. It looks and feels great to have the grip installed. It really makes everything more solid.

Using JB Weld thinned with acetone, I brushed a layer onto the back of every detail piece and positioned them.

With every part perfectly flat and the thinned epoxy ensuring no air gaps, clothes pins made satisfactory clamps in most areas

I did have to use some massive clamps to reach deep areas. I did one side at a time, so two days to get all the details on.

Using USC All Metal, I filled every gap and void. I ran a bead along ever bonded detail piece as well to ensure no undercuts. All-Metal is an aluminum powder based automotive filler. Not sure what the resin chemistry is exactly, but does not smell like Bondo. It can take higher heat than Bondo and sands and files like lead. NOT cheap, but right for this project as I will have to get it fairly hot (but not too hot for the JB Weld or All Metal) for the ceramic firearms coating that will go on soon.

100 grit wet sanding along all the fillets blending in the details. You can see finished details in the lower left of the picture. Building this entirely from metal has been an epic pain, but WOW, I have a metal prop at the end of the day!

Other metal parts sanded and ready for coating.

This shows some of my process. 'X' shows areas I'm happy with while circles show what needs revisited with more All Metal.

When I have every part sanded just right, I will lightly sandblast everything to remove any sanding and file marks to ensure an even finish beneath the Cerakote ceramic firearms coating. I'm still a few detail parts away from being ready to apply the coatings, but I think the community will really like how this product works out. I plan to coat every metal part inside and out except the outer barrel and other polished parts. This will really turn my collection of welded scrap metal into a professional job.

Redshirt

 

[Brandon McClain]

This had better go in the elite section when finished...

 

[blackout11c]

This had better go in the elite section when finished...

I agree. Anything of this quality (i.e. metal, fiberglass, and actually fully functioning) is quite rare. Just from the details on the [W/AV M6 G/GNR] and the detailed photos and descriptions, this should more than qualify for Elite status.

 

[foxleader]

wow this just keeps getting better by the week.

 

[Tyvern]

Awesome man, this really is just too good!

 

[Redshirt]

This had better go in the elite section when finished...

Thanks Brandon, that means a lot given your outstanding weapons resume'. Love to compare notes sometime.

I agree. Anything of this quality (i.e. metal, fiberglass, and actually fully functioning) is quite rare. Just from the details on the [W/AV M6 G/GNR] and the detailed photos and descriptions, this should more than qualify for Elite status.

Thanks! I don't think I would have taken on something this ambitious if I'd known that two more Halo games would be released before I finished! I don't count ODST since it used the same Splaser design.

wow this just keeps getting better by the week.

I'm happy it's gaining momentum. Here's hoping I can carry this rate of progress to the finish.

Awesome man, this really is just too good!

Thanks Tyvern!


Short update.
I've grown tired of the upper receiver cracking in the narrow spots surrounding the vents. These thin areas take the brunt of flexing when sanding or installing the upper reciever. Some of the rear joints have been repaired five or more times!

I finally broke down and cut deep grooves through these areas to inset sections of welding rod for strength.

This spot on either side in the rear has been the most fragile. This section of rod will help distribute the stress.

Here's the repair to both wear areas in the back of the upper receiver.

No Fibrondo this time. I used straight fiberglass filler to keep as much strength as possible in these areas. I made the same patches on the inside.

More metal updates soon.

Redshirt

 

[foxleader]

okay this made a little turn what has been a long road of wow and balm. now are you modding it to halo 4 look or just keeping it halo reach look?

 

[Redshirt]

okay this made a little turn what has been a long road of wow and balm. now are you modding it to halo 4 look or just keeping it halo reach look?

Wow and balm. Couldn't have summed that up better. I'm not doing any mods. This is pure Halo 3 / H3: ODST. They are the same weapon. The Reach and H4 Splasers are too narrow to accommodate three airsoft systems. I've always loved the look of this weapon. The later versions just don't have the same appeal--though the flip out sight is cool. The H3 version doesn't have that so I just had to buy a brighter sighting laser
Yes, this last update was a bit of balm, but I'll have more WOW metal work pics together in a day or so. I had to get these reinforcements added. With each addition to the mechanicals, it was getting harder to stretch the fiberglass upper receiver around everything without cracking.



Full metal skeleton: Coming soon


Redshirt

 

[Redshirt]

As promised, here's more metal.

I have bonded on most of the details to the lower receiver using JB weld and the result is breathtaking--mostly. I have a couple of details that will have to come up for recut because they don't properly align with the fiberglass upper receiver. Go figure, that's been reshaped about eight times since I designed and welded the lower receiver. I also started to brainstorm the final layout of the three feed tube winder mechanism in the back. For that I needed all the metal pieces in place. I realized that I'd never taken any photos of the WHOLE metal skeleton. You might find it interesting to see it naked. Here goes:

This is the whole metal structure. I only have a couple of details to add just above the grip.

First person shooter vision! That shroud lift is like an Erector set gone bad! This view shows just how massive the outer barrel tube is.

Another look. The structure at the back is for the fiberglass to bolt to as well as for the electronics box to mount to. In the middle is the cage that holds the three airsoft gear boxes in alignment. The front is the shroud frame and lift with the outer barrel inside that encompassing the mountings for the airsoft barrels and chambers.

I then bolted on the fiberglass to ID areas that needed reshaped. Here the very front of the upper receiver doesn't quite lay parallel to the lower receiver details, so it will receive a visit from the belt sander.

Not all problems are with the fiberglass. There should be a gap between this metal detail and the upper receiver. Both parts will get reshaped slightly.

Here's the current configuration of the Spartan Laser.

Up next: Adding 'metal. details to the shroud stabilizers.

Redshirt

 

[foxleader]

holy energy sword on Johnson's hip that is sweet! this is what you need if you want to be a pro at a cost play. plus once every thing done what's the first con our you going too?