Mounted the base to the mag. Drilled and pinned it across, but this alone was a little loose, so I put a screw in from the front. Now the mag is rock solid, but the pin has a tendency to slide out. Once the base is painted, I may put a dab of hot glue on either side of the pin to keep it in. I went this route rather than just gluing the base on because I want to be able to disassemble it, much like you would a real weapon. Also, in keeping with the theme of highlighting all my mistakes, you can see where I broke the mag base and repaired it.



I also installed the front triangles on the shrouds. I went with simply gluing them on instead of screwing them on for two reasons. First, they are not held on with screws on the 10 hole hero. Second, with the SD Studios aluminum receiver, there is no room to place a battery for the counter here, so that was never an option.



I also made a new spacer for the pump grip, so I don't have to use washers to get the extra height to keep it from binding. It was a pain assembling it with the washers. I also made a new reinforcement plate for the pump. It all fits together perfectly and the action is very nice. Makes that awesome KA-CHINK! when racked.

_________________
A06/TQ2.0.92142E1

Another little update.

I started working on setting up the Lightbenders counter. I had hoped to use a 3V CR2032 coin type battery because there is very little space in the shrouds, but these little batteries don't have the umph to power the counter. It will light up, but the counting function won't work. It will work with a 3V CR123A battery, which is quite a bit smaller than a 9V, but also quite a bit bigger than the coin type battery.

Any suggestions would be appreciated. The usual place (under the aluminum triangles on the shrouds is not an option as the SD Studios receiver has an aluminum block welded to the front for mounting the SPAS and barrel that fills this space completely. Inside the shroud around the mag is extremely tight with the shotgun and clearance for the mag. I am leaning towards working it into the mag somehow as this would also make it so I wouldn't have to take the shrouds off to change the battery. This does introduce potential wiring and contact issues. I do have an SD Studios delrin contact block, so I may explore an option similar to how the SD Studios rifles are setup.



I'm thinking something along these lines: I'd put a battery holder in the mag base and run the wires up through the mag to contacts at the top which would connect to the contacts on the SD Studios block.

_________________
A06/TQ2.0.92142E1

Bummer about the coin type battery. Im no electronics whiz but any chance you can use 2 or 3 coin type batteries together? The way you have this battery in the mag base is nice also.

_________________
Wow, I got a brazilion for this?

Unfortunately no. The coin batteries don't provide enough current to power the LEDs and the microprocessor. There is a discussion about this over on the RPF right now http://www.therpf.com/f9/pulse-rifle-co ... ndex2.html

_________________
A06/TQ2.0.92142E1

Here is how I decided to wire up the battery:



I cut the contacts off a AA battery holder and glued them in the mag base. Then ran the wires to brass screws which will be the contacts. These will mate up with brass leaves in the shroud. This way, I will not have to take the shrouds apart to change batteries and the mag maintains it functionality for loading dummy rounds.

_________________
A06/TQ2.0.92142E1

Just a thought. With the exposed screws on the mag base, you could use a rechargeable CR123A........see where Im going with this? Once you get the mag assembled it would be a pain to take it apart just to replace the battery. Hook up two pig tail connectors to the pos and neg wires of the charger and your set. That PR mag base came out nice.

_________________
Wow, I got a brazilion for this?

Actually, it is no problem to change the battery. One screw and it comes apart. I decided the cross pin was unnecessary, so I took it out and filled the holes. It is a good idea, though.

_________________
A06/TQ2.0.92142E1

Such an awesome build-up! I might borrow your idea for the battery in the base of the mag.

Thanks. Go ahead and borrow away.

_________________
A06/TQ2.0.92142E1

If you go with the battery in the mag option, does this mean that when you change a mag over the counter will switch off because the battery is no longer in place?

That was the problem I had with my build so I built a housing inside the main receiver for the battery. It is a pain as it means taking the shrouds off to change the battery.

I had considered customising the grip so that the battery was in there and could be opened up to change the battery.

_________________
Cpl Dan Callaghan

"On an express elevator to hell...going down!"

Just call me Admiral....

Would the battery fit inbetween the shrouds behind the plate shown here:



with the plate on one side possibly being held on by magnets, so it's easy to remove and swap the battery?

_________________
Steve
Corporal in 69th Regt. 1st Batt. Homer’s Heroes.

"I'd like to die at the age of 80 in my own bed, with a belly full of wine and a girl's mouth around my c**k."

I don't think it would fit in there because of the aluminum block of the adapter thing that's in there.

_________________
Martin 'Victim' Victory
A86/TQ3.4.49421E3
UKCM 13th Regt. 1st Batt. Freebooters


you can't take the PUNK outa Spunkmeyer

That is unfortunately what it means. This is actually something that I hadn't thought of (it's always the obvious things that get overlooked). I will have to think on this, although I believe I will stick with the battery in the mag base, as I am already pretty far along with it. But, now that this has been pointed out, I'm sure it will bug me to no end.

_________________
A06/TQ2.0.92142E1

Aah, couldn't tell how big the battery is, so thought it might fit to one side.

_________________
Steve
Corporal in 69th Regt. 1st Batt. Homer’s Heroes.

"I'd like to die at the age of 80 in my own bed, with a belly full of wine and a girl's mouth around my c**k."

I think it's a good solution given the way you have it set up and not wanting to open the shroud every time the battery needs changing.

Tragedy!

I hit a bit of a snag while working on the PR today. I was working on making room for the counter wiring and...



Out came the JB Weld to fix it, but unfortunately it put an end to the work for today.

Here is an idea of how I am going about routing the wires. I wanted all of the wiring to be on one side of the shrouds for easier disassembly if need be. The power wires will also follow this path from the contacts at the bottom of the mag well. I still need to work on the contacts as they are not quite right to mate with the contacts in the magazine. Also, there may be some clearance issues with the power plug on the counter board. I may take the plug off and just solder the power wires directly to the board. This should give the clearance needed. I won't really know until I get the grip frame back from being fixed (see above for that story) and am able to fit it all together. Hopefully that will happen in the next few weeks.

_________________
A06/TQ2.0.92142E1

I tell ya, JB Weld has been my best friend on this build. It is amazing stuff.

_________________
A06/TQ2.0.92142E1

Nice save!

Thanks.

Got the counter wired and working today. It is crazy tight in the shrouds with the real shotgun. Lots of clearance issues. I managed to get it in though. You can see the brass contacts for the magazine power supply at the bottom. The one with the screw hanging out screws into the other shroud half. Now I just need my Thompson grip frame back and I can get the trigger wired.

_________________
A06/TQ2.0.92142E1

Not much progress of late. Been to busy to work on the PR. Getting close to paint stage, but I want to get everything fit and working first. I have chosen Alumahyde Dark Park Grey for the metal parts and Aervoe Earth Brown (closest off the shelf match for Brown Bess) for the shrouds.

Here's a a quick shot showing the counter working with the magazine battery contacts.

_________________
A06/TQ2.0.92142E1

Looks good! Shes gunna be a beaut.

Wow. I can't believe it's been a year since I did anything with the Pulse Rifle. I got it out last night and had a look at it, to decide what should be next. Here's what I have planned:

Drill out and install brass threaded inserts to all the places where screws are threaded into the resin. With all the assembling and disassembling, some of them have been stripped.

Permanently install a spacer between the mag and base. Without the spacer, the mag base does not line up correctly with the shrouds. Right now, I've got a couple of washers stuck in there that do the trick, but I want something permanent. As can be seen in the pic, I also have some shaping to do on the mag well of the shrouds to get them to blend with the mag base.



I got one of SD Studios' new, more accurate stocks. It is really nice and more screen accurate, but it has a different pattern to the slots on top, so I have to re-drill and tap the top of the receiver for this new pattern. Luckily the shrouds will cover that part of the receiver, so the old holes will not be visible.



Once that stuff is done, then I need to do some painting. Based on the color comparisons that are floating around, I had decided to use Aervoe 999 Earth Brown, as it looks like the closest match (without mixing) to Brown Bess. I'm not 100% sure now, as in person, it looks really brown. I think I will paint it and if I don't like it, I will repaint. For the metal parts, I am planning on using Aluma-Hyde II Dark Park Gray, just to be a little different than the normal black. Again, if I don't like it, I will repaint.

_________________
A06/TQ2.0.92142E1

How much does it weigh? I remember the Official Aliens magazine saying it was 65 lbs., but that seems wrong to me.

Great job with this build, fascinating stuff!

_________________
My entry-level prop and costume tutorials: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=12751

Definitely way off, more like 18-20lbs:

viewtopic.php?p=121584#p121584

_________________
Steve
Corporal in 69th Regt. 1st Batt. Homer’s Heroes.

"I'd like to die at the age of 80 in my own bed, with a belly full of wine and a girl's mouth around my c**k."