Now that i've sourced the vest and arm for my Smartgunner's rig i've finaly started on the gun itself.

I've got most of the parts required, still need to get some bits from Matt when I get a spot of spare moola.

Parts thus far are:
Matsu MG42
Real ammo drum
Real feed tray
Real charging handle
Real AR125 hangers
Real GPz switchgear

I haven't fully decided what working features I want - light/sounds etc. but what i did want was a 'working' charging handle, so that's where I started.
As M's receiver casting is solid (so i thought) i decided to drill down one corner to accept the long flat rod which is part of the real charging mech - allowing it to slide fore and back. This caused me to accidentally split open the casting gahh!

However this was a blessing as it was a clean break exactly where i wanted and allowed me to mill out a proper channel for the rod. I could glue the piece back and fill any gaps later.

I then milled off the ratchet plate on the side of the receiver (acts as a guide) and replaced it with a piece of trimmed ally angle as the resin would not have stood up to the abuse.

Found a couple of tension springs and used those to retract the handle.
Pic shows the current state. The handle snaps back and forwards with a satisfying clack.

Oh yeah, "Frederica" cos its German (Mg42) and means 'peaceful ruler'

SAS

_________________
Alan T. Alien
1st Lt Smith, SA "Sidewinder"
A13/TQ1.4.19720EX CMA
Founder of UKCM 13th Regt. 1st Batt. Freebooters
Founder of Special Armaments Section (Heavy Weapons)
"People don't understand. people like me"

Nice!

_________________
"Awww, someone tell me that's a boot!

It's a boot!"

III drops

Looking good! :3

_________________

Any pictures of the arm and the vest?

Cheers,
Stefan

very nice, although the peaceful part of 'peaceful ruler' seems kinda... contradictory, if you know what I mean!

_________________
Squad Leader, 58th Regt., 2nd Batt., "Morse's Marauders" - U.S.S. Azuera
Primary MOS: Rifleman
Secondary MOS: Combat Demolitions

"When the going gets tough, the tough call on the Colonial Marines."

Yeah, that break you mentioned is precisely why I chose not to try the same thing Nice to see you were able to make it work, though.

What are you using for your vest and arm?

Great to see another M-56 coming along, keep us posted!

*edit* There's a wiring tutorial here if you decide you do want to put special effects in yours.

_________________

CPL Sean Maio A01/TQ2.0.72156E1
Public Relations Division (Temporary Cross-Assignment)
M-56 Smartgun Operator, A/3Btn, II CMEF, USS Sephora

Awesome! Yea I wanna know about your arm and vest too. The cheapest one that looks close to the Aliens prop I've seen that are actually functional are the glidecams...

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/5 ... t_Arm.html

Awesome, I am soooo jealous.

_________________
~Jay

Awesome! Keep it up!

HUMVEE Driver

Maverick - its a sort pf play on the phrase "peace thru superior firepower" - Smartguns rule, and keep the peace with firepower

My vest and arm are from an Indian company that make camera gear: http://www.thecinecity.com they also have an Ebay shop. I got their DV vest and Indicator arm - these two aren't meant to be used together so a few mods are required.
Expensive, (about £1000 for both) but they saved a lot of work, function properly and are realtivly cheap compared to real steadicam stuff. Ok, they aren't accurate but the basic shape is there and once Aliens'ed up should look the part.

SAS

_________________
Alan T. Alien
1st Lt Smith, SA "Sidewinder"
A13/TQ1.4.19720EX CMA
Founder of UKCM 13th Regt. 1st Batt. Freebooters
Founder of Special Armaments Section (Heavy Weapons)
"People don't understand. people like me"

I vote that we officially put the term "Aliens'ed up" into the board venacular!

_________________
"Awww, someone tell me that's a boot!

It's a boot!"

III drops

Sidewinder...Did you buy the vest and arm separately from the other parts they sell, as I can only see just the "set" with vest, arm and various camera mounts and tripod ect..

_________________
Flight LT PERRIN C.. Flight school graduate.
Callsign: "SharK"

Qualified to fly:
AD-19D Bearcat C.A.S fighter
UD4-L Cheyenne and CS-14 Briareos Dropship/Heavy lift.

Currently aboard the U.S.S SWIFT for post graduation training.

Hear, hear! I second that vote!

And I get it now, Sidewinder.

_________________
Squad Leader, 58th Regt., 2nd Batt., "Morse's Marauders" - U.S.S. Azuera
Primary MOS: Rifleman
Secondary MOS: Combat Demolitions

"When the going gets tough, the tough call on the Colonial Marines."

Fame at last.

Pez - I bought the vest on Ebay (its available on its own, search "DV Vest") as the exchange rate was good and i got a discount code that got me £70 off!
The arm I ordered direct from cinecity website later on; paying $774 shipped, If you email them asking for just the parts you want they will give you a quote.
Note: the DV Vest will need the arm socket modding to work with the Indicator arm using a part u get with the arm itself (was how i did it).

_________________
Alan T. Alien
1st Lt Smith, SA "Sidewinder"
A13/TQ1.4.19720EX CMA
Founder of UKCM 13th Regt. 1st Batt. Freebooters
Founder of Special Armaments Section (Heavy Weapons)
"People don't understand. people like me"

CHEATER!

Wish I had a couple grand to throw around on an actual professional vest and arm. Congrats on your purchase, hehe!

You're going to want to modify the back of that vest somewhat, but it should work just fine. I'll go digging around and see if I still have those reference photos I took of Jesse's vest lying around somewhere.

_________________

CPL Sean Maio A01/TQ2.0.72156E1
Public Relations Division (Temporary Cross-Assignment)
M-56 Smartgun Operator, A/3Btn, II CMEF, USS Sephora

Heh heh.

I have front/back pics of a real vest so know its a bit different, but i'm not gonna mess with the integrity of it to make it more SA. Alter a couple of details and slap a breastplate and lamp bracket on and i'll call it good.

SAS

_________________
Alan T. Alien
1st Lt Smith, SA "Sidewinder"
A13/TQ1.4.19720EX CMA
Founder of UKCM 13th Regt. 1st Batt. Freebooters
Founder of Special Armaments Section (Heavy Weapons)
"People don't understand. people like me"

Feed tray, top cover and trunion parts modded to mate together and test fitted in place.
Also done the barrel connection stub - I intend to make this so it can be split in half for easier transportation/storage.

SAS

_________________
Alan T. Alien
1st Lt Smith, SA "Sidewinder"
A13/TQ1.4.19720EX CMA
Founder of UKCM 13th Regt. 1st Batt. Freebooters
Founder of Special Armaments Section (Heavy Weapons)
"People don't understand. people like me"

This is looking great Si, thanks for the in-progress shots.

I can't wait to see the finished results too!

Harry

_________________

http://www.facebook.com/TheHHACA - @TheHHACA

Lookin' good, lookin' really good. I'm interested to see how you tackle the front grip tower. Any plans on that yet?

_________________

CPL Sean Maio A01/TQ2.0.72156E1
Public Relations Division (Temporary Cross-Assignment)
M-56 Smartgun Operator, A/3Btn, II CMEF, USS Sephora

Thanks. Not yet - i'm making this up as I go along!

Also i'm gonna be making this as a (gasp!) left handed version.

SAS

_________________
Alan T. Alien
1st Lt Smith, SA "Sidewinder"
A13/TQ1.4.19720EX CMA
Founder of UKCM 13th Regt. 1st Batt. Freebooters
Founder of Special Armaments Section (Heavy Weapons)
"People don't understand. people like me"

Thanks for the info Si!...got me thinking now!!

_________________
Flight LT PERRIN C.. Flight school graduate.
Callsign: "SharK"

Qualified to fly:
AD-19D Bearcat C.A.S fighter
UD4-L Cheyenne and CS-14 Briareos Dropship/Heavy lift.

Currently aboard the U.S.S SWIFT for post graduation training.

Moved on to the barrel section, cut the rear part off Matt's barrel casting and drilled it out to accept a metal tube. Also drilled out the seperate front barrel socket to accept said tube.

Needed a metal tube as its a more positive fit on the receiver barrel stub also for strength (heavy footrest hangers etc.).

Pics show the parts slotted together to test the fit.

Outcry, re the front grip tower i'm going to make a metal block (1" long?) to fit inside the resin barrel jacket with a hole for the barrel to go through. The vertical tower tube will then bolt to this block thru a hole in the resin jacket. I'll prob also bolt the rear of the hangers to this block also. That way the weight is taken by the metal parts not the resin.

I've ordered two pairs of sponge grips, need three so will have one spare.

SAS

_________________
Alan T. Alien
1st Lt Smith, SA "Sidewinder"
A13/TQ1.4.19720EX CMA
Founder of UKCM 13th Regt. 1st Batt. Freebooters
Founder of Special Armaments Section (Heavy Weapons)
"People don't understand. people like me"

Here's the barrel/hanger/grip post support block of which i spoke.

SAS

_________________
Alan T. Alien
1st Lt Smith, SA "Sidewinder"
A13/TQ1.4.19720EX CMA
Founder of UKCM 13th Regt. 1st Batt. Freebooters
Founder of Special Armaments Section (Heavy Weapons)
"People don't understand. people like me"

Looking very nice Si.

With this and Alan, a lowly marine could get jealous

_________________
A11/TQ1.0.32150E1 Murphy, J - Covert recording headcam. There is no flashing red light when you are on Kona-Cam
Weyland-Yutani: Their projects are intentionally full of bugs. Avoid!

Just... wow. That's awesome!

_________________
CPL Conley, D. A06/TQ2.0.72147E1



"To err is human; to forgive, divine... Neither of which is Marine Corps policy."
"In Onoraigh Ar Marbh" ~ We Honor Our Fallen