Sorry for the fuzzy pictures, I was rushing to get this part done (which of course came back to bite me). So first I drilled out a hole in the resin front piece for a threaded rod to fit through. If you look carefully you'll no doubt notice that the horizontal vents in the front are not level with the length of the rod. Oh if only I had noticed this early on...
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But no, I kept going and started puttying the whole thing together. I inserted a 12" thin copper pipe to hide the threaded rod and to add visual interest as it will show through the holes in the M203.
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So then as the putty was quickly setting up nice and hard I realized the angle I'd drilled into the resin piece was wrong and making the whole tip droop. No one likes a droopy tip, so I pulled it apart as much as I could and bent the rod right where it met the resin (it had already bonded inside the piece too much to free it without risking breaking it). Luckily, this seems to have fixed the problem. The rod doesn't go through the center of the plexi body in a straight line (it angles up toward the back of where the carry handle will go), but who cares? Once it is screwed and puttied in place it won't matter. The plexi also continues up under the back of the M203, so that will be a second area of support for the front, and then finally the back (including the last few holes) of the M203 is encased in putty, creating a third support. Here's a test fit with "fuel tank 2.0" held up for comparison.
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And a closeup of how the pipe looks inside the M203 (this was a lazy shot and doesn't reflect the exact placement of the pieces). My plan is to leave the bottom open until the front section is done and painted. That way I can sneak a shield inside the M203 to protect the copper pipe during painting. I'll then pull it out and finish off the bottom with some plastic sheet.
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