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jf
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Joined: 21 Sep 2007
Posts: 22

PostPosted: Fri Sep 21, 2007 1:04 pm    Post subject: Blaster Dimensions? Reply with quote

Hi folks-
I just caught this bug so I've been looking into various blasters and quickly realized they're mostly out of my current wasteable income budget...
However, it seems to me that if the original prop could be made out of 2 existing guns, some resin grips and a few other doo-dads, and one can acquire airsoft versions that are quite like these two guns, one could create their own blaster from "scratch".
So I'm on my way. I picked up a used UTG M324 sniper rifle, which has an all metal receiver/bolt that's very like the Steyr (notably larger and with a different cocking lever, but that will change...). Now I'm looking for a used gas revolver and experimenting with resin grips.
If anyone happens to have dimensions on the blaster I would sure appreciate it...I've been able to develop some decent sense of scale from the Hartford box cover blueprint and the WorldCon pics, but anything else would certainly move this along more accurately. Thanks for any help you've got, and keep up the spectacular kit builds!
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amish
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PostPosted: Fri Sep 21, 2007 1:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

JF,

Welcome to the community! Wow, you are taking the adventurous way of getting the blaster! I wish you all the luck in the world and hope you will post pictures.

Unfortuantely, I do not have the dimensions of an accurate blaster, but a few here probably do. I hope they will chime in and help you with your quest.

Good luck and please keep us updated!

Tom
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Noeland
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PostPosted: Fri Sep 21, 2007 8:36 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

We're big on pictures. Smile



The real problem you are going to face with this is finding a substitute revolver for the charter arms bulldog, because presently no one is making them as an airsoft gun, or even anything close.

Hartford had to alter their smith and wesson 5 shot "chief's special" for the job, and it's not even close to being accurate, but they made it work.

The bulldog was chosen for a good reason. It has an easily removed trigger guard, and once the trigger guard is gone, the rod holding it in place is gone too, and they just used the existing hole to mount the second trigger.

The second problem is gutting that UTG sniper rifle. While the exterior does resemble the steyr, while the stock is attached, once it's off you notice this:





Unlike the real steel gun, the airsoft rifle is closed along the bottom of the receiver. That's going to have to be cutaway, or milled away.

And you don't get the magazine or magazine housing either. You gotta buy those elsewhere, somehow, nobody makes and sells just the mag and housing.

I figured if I gotta do all that work, and buy extra stuff anyhow to make it work, and not have the same revolver inside anyway, I might as well just spend the money on a metal kit, like sidkits, and slap a real bulldog in there (which a decent used one can be had for less than $200 in the US)



ALL that said, I hope you can engineer a decent airsoft scratch built version, and I hope you keep us updated with pics!!
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jf
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PostPosted: Sun Sep 23, 2007 3:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Noeland-
Excellent and accurate points all. Thanks for taking the time to try to warn me about this project but at my peril, and hopefully to the benefit of everyone else, I intend to proceed.
As to the revolver, I should have originally made clearer that, although stylistically and in terms of color I hope to get at something like the Worldcon pics, I'm prepared to compromise some visual accuracy for the sake of a functional airsoft gun. That being said, it seems fairly clear that Hartford used an existing Tanaka revovler of a similair style (military or police issue) for their 2019, so I'm content to do the same. I don't really need a tremendously nice revolver like a Tanaka, so I was looking at something like HFC's FBI .38, which has a lot in common. Whichever revolver I wind up with (again, this will depend largely on what turns up used), I may need to do any number of mods to get a facsimile of the blaster, trigger gaurd being not the least...
I had knocked down the UTG and seen it's need to have material relieved to accomodate the revolver beneath; this was something I was counting on. What I hadn't observed was that the UTG's receiver forward of the cocking lever is cylindrical in cross section, while the Steyr is more of a horseshoe or tombstone shape. So once I have a revolver and know where to make the slot to receive it, I'll probably be using body filler to get the flat sides.....Immense and foolhard project, but wish me luck.
by the way, how does one get pics posted to this thingy?
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andy
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PostPosted: Sun Sep 23, 2007 5:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

We have an upload button at the top where you can host your pics. Then you can copy and paste them into the message. To make them visible highlight just the image url and click the Img button above your message post. 1.2.3. easy.

Also if you have already downloaded Karl's Worldcon pics, you will see he had a reference card in there for scale in many of the pics. I believe that can be used to recreate the scale in a new gun.
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Noeland
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PostPosted: Sun Sep 23, 2007 7:39 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Actually I was kind of just explaining why I didn't go that route myself.

By the way, hartford doesn't use a Tanaka revolver. They produce their own airsoft, and plug fire cap guns in house, and they built their blaster on one of their own guns, and to that end created a custom made frame that could accept the second trigger.

The charter arms has an old school frame built from two slabs of steel instead of one slab of steel with a small removable side plate.

I'll post some pictures to explain that challenge visually, because you will have to deal with it in your build and it may help you in some way, or perhaps you've already engineered a solution.

Njc------------
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Serafino
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PostPosted: Mon Sep 24, 2007 2:36 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Measurements of a Steyr and Bulldog would be extremely useful in general for comparison to multiple-generation castings and so on.
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jf
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PostPosted: Tue Sep 25, 2007 11:56 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I think I take your point about the Bulldog's frame; I'll just have to find a way around the problem when a revolver materializes. In the meantime, here's a couple pics of my first grip casting experiment. I used liquid latex to take a mold from my 1911 and poured polyester resin. The penny is embedded because I failed to mix a proper amount of resin so since I had to pause and mix up some more I decided to throw something in there and the penny was nearby, so....Anyway, I learned alot abou the process so now I'll start sculpting some grips in plasticine. Also, some pics showing the UTG receiver on a scale printout of one of Karl's pics. Here you can see the ejection port and consequently receiver length are clearly oversized, but I have a deranged plan to deal with that, of course....onward, and crazyward...



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jf
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PostPosted: Tue Sep 25, 2007 12:05 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

errg, sorry about the repeat posts. i took me a few tries to get the pics up. i'll make them smaller in the future.
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andy
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PostPosted: Tue Sep 25, 2007 7:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Took care of the extras for you.
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pulseriflefan
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PostPosted: Sat Sep 29, 2007 1:23 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
The real problem you are going to face with this is finding a substitute revolver for the charter arms bulldog, because presently no one is making them as an airsoft gun,


Did you see that one ?

http://www.ne.jp/asahi/tao/so-sui/bulldog.htm


Quote:
The charter arms has an old school frame built from two slabs of steel instead of one slab of steel with a small removable side plate.


my bulldog frame is made of one slab of aluminium not steel

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jf
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PostPosted: Mon Oct 01, 2007 11:25 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks pulserifleran-
I had not seen that airsoft Bulldog...pretty interesting, but I think I'll go for one with a turning cylinder. Tell me about your picture; is that a real Bulldog in a homemade blaster? The back strap of the grip looks like it was cut by hand...
jf
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Noeland
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PostPosted: Mon Oct 01, 2007 4:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

To my knowledge they don't make those bulldogs anymore, and haven't for some time. Those were made years ago. Andy sent me scans of an article where someone used that model of airsoft to build a blaster.
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andy
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PostPosted: Mon Oct 01, 2007 8:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

It was in the Hobby Japan EX from autumn 1993. I recognized it as well.
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pulseriflefan
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PostPosted: Tue Oct 02, 2007 9:11 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Cool scan !



Quote:
Tell me about your picture; is that a real Bulldog in a homemade blaster? The back strap of the grip looks like it was cut by hand...


Yes, it is my real steel blaster which I am working on. The bulldog is modified as "LEP" gun to make it legal. LEP = Airgun. You can load the cylinder with air-compressed special bullets, so the function is still alive.

The alu grip frame & butt plate are indeed done by hand.

Here are some images :





I finished the Steyr receiver end cap but it`s not on the image yet.

Stephan
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steevy
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PostPosted: Tue Oct 02, 2007 9:38 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Geesh I can't even put a model together you guys embarrass me..... Very Happy
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andy
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PostPosted: Tue Oct 02, 2007 10:30 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Magnificent!
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jf
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PostPosted: Tue Oct 02, 2007 11:39 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Wow Stephan-
I can only hope to get a fraction near what you've already accomplished. Right now I am plugging the ejection port from the UTG sniper with some galvanized pipe. The pipe has an ejection port I cut into it that better approximates the Steyr port. If the plug comes out OK I'll epoxy it into the reciever, if not I'll redo it as body filler or abs.
Now I better look into that bullet type you described...great work man!
jf
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Noeland
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PostPosted: Thu Oct 04, 2007 9:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

AHHHHHHH that's just frikin' awesome man. AWESOME!!!!!



I can't even wait until I get my hero blaster built up. It'll be a while, but pics like yours really get my pumped up to work on it.

Noeland-------------
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jf
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PostPosted: Wed Oct 17, 2007 4:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well, my scratch built blaster inches towards more completeness...still lacking a suitable revolver, but i have faith something will turn up. I've cut the UTG receiver down and roughly squared up it's sides (it was perfectly cylindrical to begin with). Then I plugged the ejection port, which was far too big, with some 1" galvanized pipe and cut a more Steyr-like ejection port. I had thought the great big port would look cool but it looked crappy compared to the original .223 port. I'm now taking a little material off the rear cap, which is a tad pointier than the Steyr's, and beginning to shape the "muzzle".
I'm nearly done with the clay models for the grips, but I'm having trouble sourcing large, flat expanses of diamond pattern without screw holes to copy...I think I remember reading Rich had the same problem. I'm waiting on some resin casts I took from the UTG stock to cure now; we'll see if they solve that problem...
Also in the pics you can see the quick release lever I took from an old bike seat post; I'm hoping to convert it to a cocking lever, of course...yeah, a little too muich time on my hands...






Last edited by jf on Thu Oct 18, 2007 10:56 am; edited 1 time in total
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