The creation of the E-11 blaster rifle
To make the E-11 blaster rifle, I used the templates made by Iambubby from the PVC Blaster Builders Club to make the parts for the blaster out of sheet metal and various materials myself, rather than buying a blaster which usually costs hundreds of dollars. Also by doing so, I got an interesting project while waiting for my Stormtrooper armor to arrive, and in the meanwhile got to learn more about prop replica building.
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After downloading the templates, all I had to do was to print them out and cut the shapes out, then glue them onto the sheet metal that will be used for this blaster rifle.
The first parts I wanted to make were the parts for the clip, using the templates for the standard clip of the Sterling sub-machine guns that they made the E-11 blaster rifles for the Star Wars movies from.
To make the clip as close to the original as possible, I had to draw a series of extensions and extra parts.
To make the clip as close to the original as possible, I had to draw a series of extensions and extra parts.
Here you can see all the extensions and extra parts that I made on the templates.
The template with the text saying "Side detail - Scallop pattern" was meant to be placed in between the two halves of the clip, but the original clips had the scallop pattern coming from the top and bottom parts of the clip, having a metal plate behind the scallop pattern, so to make my clip look the same, I made extensions on the top and bottom of the clip where I used the scallop pattern template as a guide later on.
All the parts were cut out using a tin-cutter, and the edges were cleaned off with some sort of metal chomping tool.
The small part in the middle of the photo and the part next to it to the left saying "Inside scallops" are the parts that I custom made to get my clip as close to the real clips as possible.
The small part in the middle of the photo and the part next to it to the left saying "Inside scallops" are the parts that I custom made to get my clip as close to the real clips as possible.
To make the grooves on top of the clip bodies, I used a large screwdriver bit that I hammered around on the lines of the templates.
The line with the crosses over it was the original line that was on the templates, but I drew another line on the other side of the middle line as the line I crossed over was actually on the wrong side for the clip version I was making.
The line with the crosses over it was the original line that was on the templates, but I drew another line on the other side of the middle line as the line I crossed over was actually on the wrong side for the clip version I was making.
The parts were bent in a small vise where they were meant to be bent.
Come to think of it, it was pretty much just my own designs that needed bending.
Even though I had a big blue sheet metal bender at hand, it wouldn't have worked that well on smaller bends anyway, so by bending them in a small vise instead, I got much sharper bends than if I had used the big blue sheet metal bender.
Come to think of it, it was pretty much just my own designs that needed bending.
Even though I had a big blue sheet metal bender at hand, it wouldn't have worked that well on smaller bends anyway, so by bending them in a small vise instead, I got much sharper bends than if I had used the big blue sheet metal bender.
This is what the parts for the clip looked like after having been bent to the right shape.
The sheet metal that I used to make the clip parts was about 0.7 millimeters thick.
The sheet metal that I used to make the clip parts was about 0.7 millimeters thick.
After having bent down the extensions that I made on the clip bodies, I cut the scallop pattern template in two and glued it onto the clip bodies.
After cutting and grinding away all the excess metal from the scallop pattern, I bent the extra part that I made to fit inside the clip behind the scallop patterned opening.
Here you can see most of the parts after having been cleaned and sanded for a better primer grip for when I am to spray paint them.
All the parts of the clip were glued together with super-glue, and the extensions for the clip top were adjusted for the clip top to slide onto the clip body.
A block of blue foam was added to the inside of the clip to make it stronger incase some moron squeezes it too hard when fiddling with it.
The mysterious groove on top of the foam was made to make room for something you will see in the next photo.
The mysterious groove on top of the foam was made to make room for something you will see in the next photo.
This is the mysterious part that was mentioned above, mine does nothing, but the real part was used to hold the clip top in place without glue or bolts or anything else, just push it down and slide the clip top off, but do that to mine, and it will do less than nothing or probably break off.
This part was made by gluing a small rivet on top of a metal plate that was then glued onto the inside of the clip top.
This part was made by gluing a small rivet on top of a metal plate that was then glued onto the inside of the clip top.
No one will ever tell the difference other than myself and all of you who have seen this tutorial.
This is the back of the clip with parts added to make it look more like an energy clip rather than a clip for bullets like the real Sterling clips were.
One aspect of making science-fiction props is not only to add lots of cool and flashing parts, but it has to look as if it could actually work.
I don't know if this looks like something that could actually work, but at least it's better than just an empty box.
One aspect of making science-fiction props is not only to add lots of cool and flashing parts, but it has to look as if it could actually work.
I don't know if this looks like something that could actually work, but at least it's better than just an empty box.
This is the part that...
And it was custom made out of the same sheet metal as used for the rest of the clip parts and was glued onto the plate between the scallop pattern.
And it was custom made out of the same sheet metal as used for the rest of the clip parts and was glued onto the plate between the scallop pattern.
After the part had been glued onto the clip, I could then drill holes through it without it falling off or slide away from position as it would be somewhat hard to hold such a small piece in the right position with only one hand available.
Having been searching for some screws for a while, I found two small ones that fit inside the holes that I drilled earlier, so I screwed the part securely in place onto the clip.
The final step with this part of unknown purpose was to add the other part of unknown purpose on top of it with a pin.
The pin was made from a large staple that was cut to size and beaten in place through the holes on the side of the part.
The final step with this part of unknown purpose was to add the other part of unknown purpose on top of it with a pin.
The pin was made from a large staple that was cut to size and beaten in place through the holes on the side of the part.
And there you have it, one finished clip, congratulations.
To make the clip housing, I used the same thin sheet metal I had used to make the clip.
After some cutting and grinding, I finally got away all the curved excess metal pieces and the excess metal in between the folds.
After some cutting and grinding, I finally got away all the curved excess metal pieces and the excess metal in between the folds.
After cutting and grinding away the rest of the excess metal, I started bending the clip housing into shape using various vises and some pliers.
I decided not to drill out the holes where they were marked to be before getting the parts that should be on top and around the clip housing.
I decided not to drill out the holes where they were marked to be before getting the parts that should be on top and around the clip housing.
After the clip housing had been bent to the right shape, I decided to stop working on it until I got to attach it to the main body of the blaster where I could shape and modify it more to fit the blaster correctly.
Next, I started making the smaller accessory parts.
The templates for the trigger guard and the front and back sights were glued onto a 1.2 millimeter thick sheet of aluminum, having the trigger guard at the edge of it, the rear sight some distance over that, and the front sight over a small hole where the metal will later be removed from it anyway.
The templates for the trigger guard and the front and back sights were glued onto a 1.2 millimeter thick sheet of aluminum, having the trigger guard at the edge of it, the rear sight some distance over that, and the front sight over a small hole where the metal will later be removed from it anyway.
The parts were roughly cut out using a tin-cutter.
After trimming came sanding and grinding, then some bending for what ever parts that needed it.
The trigger guard was bent to the right shape using the trigger guard shape guide that came with the templates, and the holes required on it were drilled out.
The black paint you can see on the inside of the trigger guard was removed later as this would prevent any bad reactions between the old and the new paint when it will be painted again.
The black paint you can see on the inside of the trigger guard was removed later as this would prevent any bad reactions between the old and the new paint when it will be painted again.
Lots of holes were drilled through the front sight where the metal is to be removed.
All the excess metal of the front sight was removed by a grinding bit and a file, and the surface and the edges were then sanded smooth.
The front sight was bent to the right shape, theoretically and mathematically.
The tube you see in this photo will not be used for the blaster, but perhaps for a helmet stand for my Stormtrooper helmet when that arrives, or perhaps something else that could be made out of a large white tube.
The tube you see in this photo will not be used for the blaster, but perhaps for a helmet stand for my Stormtrooper helmet when that arrives, or perhaps something else that could be made out of a large white tube.
The rear sight was sanded smooth around the edges, and the holes needed on it were then drilled out.
The rear sight was bent to the right shape by using the big blue sheet metal bender, and the small slots were also made on it with a small file.
The template for the folding stock was drawn in a way that it was not meant to become a functioning folding stock, but instead become some thing that just hangs there, looking like one, but having stared at some photos of the real folding stock for a while made me realize that all I had to do was to add two small extensions at the front of it and a tube, so I drew the extensions onto the template myself.
Here is the template for the folding stock body after having drawn the two extensions at the front of it.
Here is the weird looking template for the folding stock butt.
The reason why you can see my hand holding a sharp blade is because I decided to remove the paper where the excess metal is to be removed as I noticed that when grinding at something with paper on top of it, the paper would fold backwards, covering the end line of the template so that I couldn't even see where I was to grind it to in the first place.
The reason why you can see my hand holding a sharp blade is because I decided to remove the paper where the excess metal is to be removed as I noticed that when grinding at something with paper on top of it, the paper would fold backwards, covering the end line of the template so that I couldn't even see where I was to grind it to in the first place.
All the folding stock templates were glued onto an aluminum sheet as aluminum is lighter than some other metals and will prevent the whole thing from falling apart from its own weight when assembled.
The body, the butt and the smaller drop shaped parts were glued onto a sheet of 1.5 millimeter thick aluminum, and the folding stock arms were glued onto another 2 millimeter thick aluminum sheet.
The body, the butt and the smaller drop shaped parts were glued onto a sheet of 1.5 millimeter thick aluminum, and the folding stock arms were glued onto another 2 millimeter thick aluminum sheet.
All the parts were roughly cut out with a tin-cutter, but the folding stock arms remained uncut for a while as the plate they were made from was too thick for my tin-cutter to handle at the moment.
After having trimmed away most of the excess metal around the folding stock butt, I drilled lots of holes through it where the extensions I made on the stock body earlier will slide into it.
The excess metal of the slots was removed with various small files and some patience.
To make the imprints, I used some sort of imprinting tool, or at least some sort of rod that looked like something I could make imprints with.
Here you can see the wondrous blue sheet metal bending device that was mentioned a few times somewhere above and the stock butt getting bent with it.
And there you have a finished stock butt after some printing, paper cutting, gluing, sheet metal cutting, drilling, imprinting, filing, grinding, bending and sanding.
To remove the excess metal from the folding stock body, I used this really neat tool that is pressed together to make a chomper at the top of it chomp away metal and is really nice for edges and stuff like that.
I also know I use the words excess metal a lot, this is because there is a lot of excess metal on these damn parts.
I also know I use the words excess metal a lot, this is because there is a lot of excess metal on these damn parts.
After having filed away the..yes.. excess metal, I drilled some small pilot holes through the part where these were marked to be, then drilled some larger holes using a larger drill bit obviously.
To make the holes even bigger, I had to use a large grinding bit because I couldn't find any larger drill bits at the moment, but this worked fine anyway.
When nothing else could be used to make the holes even bigger than that again, the metal chomper was used.
After chomping came grinding and some sanding to get the holes smooth and such.
And finally the part was bent to the right shape after a very long story about hole making.
The extensions on the front of it were also bent to the right shape and adjusted to fit into the slots of the folding stock butt.
The extensions on the front of it were also bent to the right shape and adjusted to fit into the slots of the folding stock butt.
Next to the now famous extensions at the front of the folding stock body, I made a couple of grooves on it where the imprints of the folding stock butt will slide over the folding stock body.
It appears I didn't have to use any cutting wheels or angle grinders to cut out the folding stock arms anyway as the tin-cutter worked just fine after some while.
Never underestimate the powers of your tin-cutters.
Never underestimate the powers of your tin-cutters.
