XM8 Bullpup

[Froztblade]

 

Well this has been on my to-do list for ages, and I was actually reminded of it by another post in this forum (G36 Bullpup).

 

 

I'm intending to make moulds for the stock, pistol grip and foregrip out of Pine/another softwood, cast them in Mod Roc or something similar and then build them up using Fiberglass. I'll take the ISU of the original off and put a RIS rail further down the Carry Handle which can take red dots and I'll mount some sort of red dot.

 

For a safety I'll put a manual switch either onto the body of the gun or onto the pistol grip or foregrip (if I end up making one) which will be linked into the main ciruit, I'll have a microswitch for the trigger OR Aug-Style trigger with an A-Stable (Assuming I'm remembering the right circuit =| ) for the semi auto-fire.

 

The main difference I'm intending at the minute from the picture above is that where the old pistol grip and trigger assemley was will be a less acute angle, and therefore look a little less unnatural and making the entire stock look less.... Fat.

 

I'll be doing the first stage of the mocking up for the pistol grip and stock later this week and this weekend.

 

Main idea is, this is what the XM8 always should have been.

 

The original gun used for externals is the DE XM8, along with it's internals, however if the externals work out I will be bodging a standard barrel, hopup and V3 gearbox into it since the DE XM8's internals are a little (Read very) meh.

 

Please note, all criticism or advice is welcome, even if it is just "Don't waste your time"

[AceOfSkulls]

nice project should be good to see, but that stock is way too fat

[Froztblade]

You read my topic before I finished editing it.

 

My bad *facepalm*

[ollie_ty]

Take material Off from the top of the stock, so it comes diagonally down then straight. Like an SL8

[Pkekyo-Nor]

Or rather, have the lower of the stock align with the diagonal angle of the magwell, should make it alot sleeker looking.

[my_plague_666]

Or rather, have the lower of the stock align with the diagonal angle of the magwell, should make it alot sleeker looking.

 

yeah but wheres the motor going to go then?

[Froztblade]

yeah but wheres the motor going to go then?

 

The motor should be fine actually, the bit where the trigger is SHOULD be large enough make up for it.

 

That said that was part of the plan =)

[Kenworth W900]

How do you mean , the trigger is up front. What use would the motor be up front?

[my_plague_666]

The motor should be fine actually, the bit where the trigger is SHOULD be large enough make up for it.

 

That said that was part of the plan =)

 

if you re-locate the gearbox to the front of the gun it wont be able to fire

 

it would have to go behind the mag, and in order for the motor to fit, the butt would have to protrude down as low as the original pistol grip in order to house the motor. unless you rigged up a horizontal V3 motor cage, which i have seen a few people do. one of them was a custom M1919 done by a guy in new Zealand IIRC

 

edit: heres the thread. http://www.arniesairsoft.co.uk/forums/inde...howtopic=171746 cant see any other way of doing it while retaining a streamlined profile.

[Froztblade]

Guess I didn't explain myself very well Kenworth, I suppose I meant the bit where the Trigger would be.

 

And My Plague, I do know I can't (easily) move the gearbox

 

 

The part marked as A is what I referred to removing which would allow the rear to sit more flushed with the magwell. However looking at it again I probably won't be able to get it completely in line with the magwell.

[my_plague_666]

you wont be able to get it anywhere near the magwell. the motor is as long as the pistol grip, so unless you made a horizontal motor cage it would have to basically be an extension of the pistol grip.

do you see what i mean?

 

or am i misunderstanding your plan, a quick paint sketch would help.

[Froztblade]

you wont be able to get it anywhere near the magwell. the motor is as long as the pistol grip, so unless you made a horizontal motor cage it would have to basically be an extension of the pistol grip.

do you see what i mean?

 

or am i misunderstanding your plan, a quick paint sketch would help.

 

The motor actually isn't quite as long as the grip.

 

But to give you a better idea here's a very rough sketch

 

[renegadecow]

Redesign the carry handle cos that's where your face is gonna be.

[Froztblade]

Redesign the carry handle cos that's where your face is gonna be.

 

I've been working on that today actually, I've sanded/sawed it down a ton on both sides, I'm going to build a sort of cheek rest thing out of Milliput or Green Stuff and once everything's done hit it with rubberizing spray.

 

 

I need to start taking pictures

[Jon L]

Im just going to ping in as i have had a fiddle with different stock lengths I would suggest that you have the stock out as far as the receiver part of the stock. that the rear stock piece extends from.

[Froztblade]

Im just going to ping in as i have had a fiddle with different stock lengths I would suggest that you have the stock out as far as the receiver part of the stock. that the rear stock piece extends from.

 

Thanks, I had a quick fiddle with some blocks of wood and I've got to say that I found cutting it a bit shorter would work better. But I'll look into it again.

 

Just out of interest, I have no experience with fiberglass and a fair bit with wood, however Fiberglass would really be better on the final product.

 

Does anyone have any experience with fiberglass for this kind of thing?

[halofanatic333]

Any possible pictures?

 

I also think this looks cooler than the real thing.

[Gooberz]

Anyone?

 

At any rate, you have to put an M203 or masterkey under that foregrip.

[halofanatic333]

-snip-

Anyone?

 

At any rate, you have to put an M203 or masterkey under that foregrip.

No...

And is that an underbarrel M4?

[Gooberz]

No...

And is that an underbarrel M4?

Essentially, yeah. The project split into two parts, and that underslung rifle apparently became the XM8.

 

That's actually a picture I had in my head before. Surely you can see the similarities around the stock area?

[Froztblade]

That's one messed up Aug.

I haven't seen it before but you're sort of right about the looks.

 

For manufacturing the stock/foregrip/pistol grip I'm considering using a wooden base but putting a thin layer of epoxy putty (probably milliput) on the outside of it, since that should give a nice finish and also be quite sturdy.

 

However I'm mainly doing that for the sake of ease, if anyone has experience with fiberglass and thinks this would be manageable I'll have a go at it

[halofanatic333]

PLEASE don't make the stock that HUGE.

[renegadecow]

On fiberglass:

 

Making the stock out of wood first would definitely be easier. But if you want something quicker and far easier to manipulate, use styrofoam/polystyrene. These can be bought in sheets, planks, blocks or spheres in most craft supply stores. You can use PVA adhesive (white glue) for the stuff and use a knife and sanding block to shape it. When you have your blank, cover the entire thing in paper mache, 1~2 layers just so the resin won't eat it. For applying the FG, there's plenty of how-to tutorials so I won't get into that. But I'd just like to point out that there are different gauges of matting from rough to fine. Normally, to get a clean job, you start with rough and work your way to fine on succeeding layers. If you do it right, you may not even need to use a body filler to make things smooth, though you can still use it. It's just that the putty isn't as tough as FG.

[T3CH]

If you use an M14 gear box you could make that stock a LOT smaller.

[Treadhead]

No...

And is that an underbarrel M4?

 

More of an overbarrel 20mm...

 

 

To make the the stock....

 

Get some pink insulation foam - it comes in 50mm (iirc) slabs. If you need to glue it for thickness, use a hot glue gun.

 

Carve the stock shape out of the foam (look up homemade hot wire cutters to make the job easier). However, make it somewhat smaller than the final size (about 5mm all round).

 

Cover the foam stock with a layer of tinfoil (use PVA to stick it).

 

Over the tinfoil apply car body filler (isopon, u-pol etc) to give the final shape and size. Body filler is cheaper than miliput (a large in is about £20 compared to £5 for a small amount of miliput), it also dries faster and sands much more easily.

 

When you've shaped it and filled/sanded it smooth (the resin will pick up any imperfection, so fill/sand to a good smooth 600 grit finish), give it a layer of primer. Halfords grey is just the job. If you want to give it a slight texture, you can do it now (hold the can too far from the part and give it a fine mist of paint - if you do it right it'll give a good texture).

 

Stock done!!