Kalashnikov_kid Posted September 13, 2010 Report Share Posted September 13, 2010 Evening everyone, I'm just getting into WW2 airsoft thanks to Josh at Gunman. My team got into nam softing (thanks again to josh) last year and now we wanna go one step further back in time. Due to financial reasons we're going to do a french resistance load out. For the most part the weapons are easy to source, problem is our support gunner needs a gun so we've gotta build him one. Now thing is it had to be one man portable. That wrote off anything on a tripod. It ended up as a toss up between a Bren or Lewis gun, as per the title you can guess which one I went for! Now before I start I must point out that I lack any tooling more sophisticated than a dremel, power drill and hand tools. Also I'm trying to use as much found material as possible to keep cost down. Righty, less talk more pics... Front end Slightly out of spec with regards width .5in wider and the angle of the taper is quite steep, but hey! Made from and old SIG water bottle, desk lamp head and some waste pipe Receiver Gone for an AR15 receiver as it's what I had. A g3 would look better but I didn't have one to hand and cost is an issue cut down VN high cap will provide ammo feed (more details later) Pistol grip Armalite grip sanded and spayed for the woodish look And together quick mock up with an old stock to get a feel for the whole 50" that is a lewis gun! Gonna cut the barrel bands and heat sink fins tomorrow, will have more pics soon sorry for the upside down pics photobucket's on the fritz! Comments welcome Thanks K_K Link to post Share on other sites
Hot pot Posted September 14, 2010 Report Share Posted September 14, 2010 Excellent starting work! Cannot wait until you start on the mag, as I wonder how you will design it. Link to post Share on other sites
Kalashnikov_kid Posted September 27, 2010 Author Report Share Posted September 27, 2010 Sorry for the delay, found the plastic i was gonna use had hairline cracks in it so was no good. Moved onto the mag shell... Mag is a disk 8" x 1.25" I wanted to make it out of an existing item rather than scratch build which led me to a 8" cake tin! Tin (rim removed) looks more flared in the picture than in the flesh. only about 1/4 inch between top and bottom radius Other way up Printed and scaled a engineers drawing of the 97rnd drum, mines a 47. only difference is height and addition of a leather loop. Image has been glued to some 1mm HIPS to act as a template. more to come soon... Link to post Share on other sites
Kalashnikov_kid Posted September 28, 2010 Author Report Share Posted September 28, 2010 Bit more done to the mag. Needs a trim and filler to smooth the contours and look like stamped metal. Getting there slowly..... Link to post Share on other sites
Docv400 Posted September 28, 2010 Report Share Posted September 28, 2010 Loving the drum-mag so far... Link to post Share on other sites
renegadecow Posted September 29, 2010 Report Share Posted September 29, 2010 Same here. It's given me ideas of making a Degtyarev mag . Will it be holding the bbs though? I'm guessing you're to put a feed channel between it and the hicap bits. Link to post Share on other sites
Kalashnikov_kid Posted September 29, 2010 Author Report Share Posted September 29, 2010 Thanks guy's. Means a lot coming from you two. Yes it will be a hopper and a feed chute will go to the high cap. gonna try to make it extra low profile so it doesn't stand out too much. will fill and sand it tomorrow hopefully Link to post Share on other sites
Bobbydodo3 Posted October 21, 2010 Report Share Posted October 21, 2010 This looks like a great project i'll be watching with interest Link to post Share on other sites
Kalashnikov_kid Posted October 25, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 25, 2010 Righty ho gent's got a couple more hours in on the old beast. It now fires (very loudly!) at 320fps and managed to get the front end on temporarily. Still need to expanding foam it for strength. Time for some pics... Got a JP/bush master front end thing out of the spares bin. It's perfect as a internal base for the heat shield... Sorry for the crappy pic! Added foam spacers to centralize the heat shield and my own version of the Madbull ultimate sound amp thing made from a pop bottle and a cut down M249 mk1 flash hider. Ugly as hell but is hidden by the heat shield and REALLY works. Receiver is starting to take shape with the addition of cut down tubing on each side. Heat shield added to test fit. Found out that the pop bottle needs to be longer (500ml type) to fit properly with front end dimensions. Will be changed before foaming. Dangerous end showing amplifier cone, please not that the jagged white area is in the process of grinding down, and yes that's duct tape wrapped round! Outer edge is quite beat up but the whole gun is getting abusive ride on the weathering train when it's done A few scale shots, it's huge!... Our support gunner holding it. He's 5'10" ish Against my M16 And finally some more mock ups with the un finished mag and temp stock.... Need to tweak the dimensions a little to get the length right. The front end needs to move away from the body to accommodate cooling fins and I need to start on the stock next I think and fill and sand the mag shell. She's looking pretty darn rough atm but we're getting there slowly... Let me know what you think Ta Dave Link to post Share on other sites
snowman Posted October 26, 2010 Report Share Posted October 26, 2010 Looking good, but is the barrel housing not a little too large in diameter? Easily rectified I'm sure and maybe just an optical illusion caused by the lack of the merging bit at the back and the colour. Anyway, not meaning to sound negative, great project and it's coming on well. Cheers. Link to post Share on other sites
BFOUR Posted October 26, 2010 Report Share Posted October 26, 2010 Thats what I thought. The magazine seems to high as well. Link to post Share on other sites
Kenworth W900 Posted October 26, 2010 Report Share Posted October 26, 2010 It probably just looks it guys because the receiver is also larger on the real thing too. Link to post Share on other sites
Kalashnikov_kid Posted October 26, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 26, 2010 Hi guys, heat shield is approximately 10mm wider than real steel if my scaling is correct. It seems worse because of the lack of fins at the rear and the slightly steep angle at which the barrel necks down. It'll look a lot neater after the fins are installed and barrel bands put in. As for the mag placement it is only a mock fit for peeps to get an idea of where I'm at. The mag needs to be recessed slightly to allow for the taller profile of the AR receiver. To grind the body any more will loose to much strength. Keep the criticism up. It keeps me focused! just remember this is a tight (no) budget build Ta Dave Link to post Share on other sites
faramon Posted October 27, 2010 Report Share Posted October 27, 2010 The fins missing that's what's messing the look around so much I thinks! (as you said) Good luck on finishing it looks like it will be pretty nice and worth while, no budget plans coming together always feel the most satisfying. Link to post Share on other sites
Docv400 Posted October 29, 2010 Report Share Posted October 29, 2010 Getting everything spot-on dimension-wise is probably the trickiest part of any custom build like this one, especially when you're on a tight budget and don't have access to machine tooling, and are working purely from photos. I think it's coming along really well. Once it's finished and painted/weathered, it should look close enough. Remember, hardly anyone that sees it 'in the flesh' will have seen a real one, or even a picture in a lot of cases. It's easy to see little differences on here, when you have pictures readily available, but once it's out 'in the field', no one will care about (or even notice most likely) any small errors in scale. The WWII Airsofters aren't too critical when it comes to it, they tend to just be happy that people have made an effort to get the look of their weapons/gear close, particularly so with the rarer weapons. Link to post Share on other sites
Kalashnikov_kid Posted December 17, 2010 Author Report Share Posted December 17, 2010 Cor it's been a while! Bit of an update for you gents.... Got the mag back from the fiberglasser (my mate Matt) and got my support gunner Rob to fill and sand the mag to give it a more pressed steel look. Then I got some 1mm HIPS sheet and started to make the barrel bands Strips are screwed at the join underneath and glued on. After 2 coats of primer and the first of 3 colours (Black, Pewter, Silver) applied Started on the feed channel for the top mounted mag. 2mm polycarbonate epoxy'd in place. Quite proud of the receiver but it shouldn't look to bad when in play. Also note it stops in line with the split body. Want to keep the tip up feature of the AR for cleaning and repair. Started the case that the hicap internals will sit in. Trying to replicate the "hump" on the Lewis as closely as possible. The Allen bit is there as part of the wind key I have planned. The cut out lines up nicely with the receiver and is 40mmx10mm for reliable feeding i hope Also made a start on the fore sight. It'll be disguised nicely with body filler and plastic sheet Choppy chop That's all for now folks. Comments welcome Thanks Dave Link to post Share on other sites
Docv400 Posted December 18, 2010 Report Share Posted December 18, 2010 Keep it up KK, good work so far. I'm really itching to get back onto my RPK now, but people keep handing me stuff to fix/mod/upgrade, and I'm too polite to say no... Link to post Share on other sites
Kalashnikov_kid Posted December 18, 2010 Author Report Share Posted December 18, 2010 I'm in the same boat as you Doc. Too many other guns getting in the way. But I will do this if it kills me Link to post Share on other sites
Docv400 Posted December 18, 2010 Report Share Posted December 18, 2010 I have someone wanting to buy my RPK (when it's finished), so mine may well actually end up 'killing' me at some point! Link to post Share on other sites
Kalashnikov_kid Posted December 19, 2010 Author Report Share Posted December 19, 2010 I repair and upgrade all the guns for my local site, Don't worry, it's only embarrassing the first 10 or so times Update to follow Ta Dave Link to post Share on other sites
Docv400 Posted December 19, 2010 Report Share Posted December 19, 2010 Same here really, just about all the regulars at my site (GASS) have had at least one of their guns through my hands. Link to post Share on other sites
Kalashnikov_kid Posted December 19, 2010 Author Report Share Posted December 19, 2010 UPDATE Added the sides to the wind mech. Need to put a small winder on the Allen bit. gonna leave a small length of it exposed for quick winding in the field (electric screwdriver!) Inside the mag well. just to show the ammo chute Upper chute and polycarbonate receiver top. Using m4 pan head allen bolts and glue where permanent joins are needed and just Allen bolts where access is required. And with hicap in, may pack out the walls with plastic for extra width. Inner mag shell. This will form the body of the hopper, the tin shell is just a lid. The base of it is made from 2mm polycarbonate with 1mm HIPS as the ramps. Rough cut base mounted on the receiver for measuring, Added a gas tube and lower bracket. This acts as an anchor point for the outer barrel. Removable with 3 screws for easy take down. Mag internals now all in place. Two shallow ramps act to funnel rounds into the chute. First tests are good. shot ~1000rounds in one hit and didn't have any feeding problems. Only a few rounds remained in the hopper at the end With the lid on lid is held in place with a split pin. Works really well So far I'm really pleased with the progress, saying that it is at the crappy looking stage atm. It NEEDS a damn good painting soon but I still have loads of receiver details to add first. Off to town today for paint glue and expanding foam. Will add more later today if possible Comments welcome as always Ta Dave Link to post Share on other sites
Kalashnikov_kid Posted December 19, 2010 Author Report Share Posted December 19, 2010 Double post Link to post Share on other sites
Bane Posted December 19, 2010 Report Share Posted December 19, 2010 epic double post is epic, but its a nice double post Great work, how are you going to do the cooling fins? Link to post Share on other sites
snowman Posted December 19, 2010 Report Share Posted December 19, 2010 Nice work - It's really coming together now and looking the part. I'm intrigued by the mag feed details. Cheers. Link to post Share on other sites
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