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PostPosted: Fri Jul 11, 2014 1:45 am 
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Minor snag that I could use some advising on: the rubber ribbed sections on the tank didn't dry. They are extremely tacky and will happily pass the paint off to whatever touches them. Is there an easy fix for this?

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PostPosted: Fri Jul 11, 2014 2:18 am 
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retrogarde wrote:
Minor snag that I could use some advising on: the rubber ribbed sections on the tank didn't dry. They are extremely tacky and will happily pass the paint off to whatever touches them. Is there an easy fix for this?


Awe man that sucks and I didnt even think of it. There is a chemical in the aerosol paint (and several other model paints) that doesnt like rubber. I Forget the exact ingredient at the moment, but if the paint has a "flammable" warning then it will not like rubber at all (and get 'tacky' at best while never drying).

In small portions, you might get away with several layers of 'dull coat' as the dull coat on top of the paint might dry. I got away with that on some early head sculpts on 1/6th figures, but they were never "handled".

You may need to use brush on acrylics to avoid the issue all together on a fresh set of 'ribs'.


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PostPosted: Fri Jul 11, 2014 2:02 pm 
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Makes sense, thanks man. I'm trying a few coats of matte finish to see if that cures it, otherwise I'll start over and use an acrylic OD paint.

My second tank is almost ready for ribbing too, so I want to resolve this ASAP.

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PostPosted: Fri Jul 11, 2014 2:16 pm 
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If that doesn't work, brush on some epoxy and paint on that.

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PostPosted: Mon Jul 14, 2014 1:13 pm 
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My second tank has come together very quickly and reflects a lot of improvements I learned from making the first one. Note for example the narrow-necked bottle that will --gasp-- actually fit inside the funnel and tube (the top needs to stick out as the cap will be permanently attached to the body of the flame unit).

Attachment:
twotanks.jpg
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I'm making the first tank a sling to hang from the bottom back brackets on my armour, and slapped a military sticker on the side for fun. I'm imagining they would be stored with markings to let folks now they're combustible, and the Marine would then peel the sticker off before going into a combat situation (otherwise it's kind of a big bulls eye for Watanabe snipers). I still need to put a cap on the end but I misplaced the piece I intended to use.

I also found a better funnel for the second tank. With the first one I winged it a bit on where the ridges would go, and my spacing wasn't perfect. This one actually has lines *exactly* where the ridges need to go, so that will take all the guessing out of it!

Attachment:
betterfunnel.jpg
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 14, 2014 4:01 pm 
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The cutouts were waiting for me at work today! I have a set in both wood and plastic. I'm a jerk for making my friend cut everything out in both materials when I'd decided pretty early on that I wouldn't need the wooden handle and trigger, but as I've said before, I wanted options.

Attachment:
cutouts.jpg
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The trigger just needs a bolt and some springs...

Attachment:
triggertest.jpg
triggertest.jpg [ 154.86 KiB | Viewed 24350 times ]


Now I can really get to work bolting this whole thing together!

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PostPosted: Fri Jul 18, 2014 6:02 am 

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Looks mint. Nicely done so far.


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PostPosted: Mon Jul 21, 2014 12:45 pm 
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Sorry for the lack of updates on this, I've reached a stage where every move needs to be planned out in advance to make sure I'm not forgetting anything.

Here's a quick (and rough) layout of how the bits are going to fit together in this side. The back nozzle needs to be cut down and blended in so know that it isn't really going to be that long.

Attachment:
quicklayout.jpg
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The trick is that the trigger section, carry handle, and front barrel all need to be secured inside the sandwiched wood and plexi sheets, and I really only want to mess with it once. Every time I screw and unscrew the pieces it'll get a little less sturdy.

There are currently three layers of plexi and two layers of wood (at the thickest point), but I see now that another layer of thin wood will be needed on each side under the forward assist and orange track piece, as that section is higher and blends down into the M203 piece on the original. Right now the M203 and wooden piece are at the same height. I'll use another set of printouts to make a pattern and then cut it out.

More progress soon!

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PostPosted: Tue Jul 22, 2014 7:02 pm 
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I've brushed on a coat of silver acrylic paint to see if I can defeat this stickiness issue I'm having. I'll clear coat it, then when it's dry I'll try another coat of OD spray paint.

Attachment:
silverpaint.jpg
silverpaint.jpg [ 121.79 KiB | Viewed 24222 times ]

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PostPosted: Wed Jul 23, 2014 1:23 pm 
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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...

Attachment:
startfront1.jpg
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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.

Attachment:
startfront2.jpg
startfront2.jpg [ 53.31 KiB | Viewed 24193 times ]


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.

Attachment:
heldinplace.jpg
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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.

Attachment:
copperpipe.jpg
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PostPosted: Wed Jul 23, 2014 2:20 pm 
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Please excuse the janky image quality, but I just needed to make sure I was still lined up with the original. Using the flange on the left side of the M203, the vent holes and the front and back of the trigger I think it looks pretty good.

Attachment:
M240_linedup.png
M240_linedup.png [ 125.72 KiB | Viewed 24186 times ]


Cripes, I can't believe THREE vent holes get covered up. Seems like a waste to me, but that's what they did so I'll follow suit.

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 Post subject: Re: DIY: making an M240 Flamethrower
PostPosted: Wed Jul 23, 2014 10:33 pm 
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It's nice to see more exclusive weapons builds come out on this forum. I know the M41A is the most iconic and all the rage, but it wouldn't hurt to have a few more flame units walking around! Obviously a complicated build that you've put a lot of time into already. Hope you sort out the vents and finish this bad boy up!


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PostPosted: Thu Jul 24, 2014 6:09 pm 
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I finally got (nearly) all of the black rubberized paint off the M16 carry handle, and with a little help from a friend with a grinder I got it down to just the part I need:

Attachment:
carryhandle.jpg
carryhandle.jpg [ 72.61 KiB | Viewed 24142 times ]


Securing this thing well enough for it to actually be used will be interesting, but I think I can make it work.

Next up I need to put a few screws through the bottom of this piece, two more through the bottle cap, and then drill the hole for the pin that keeps the trigger from falling off. Once those things are done it will be time to putty the plexi pieces of the body together with all the screws imbedded. I'll then screw the wooden pieces in place through the plexi to really make it strong. But that's still quite a few steps away...

Baby steps...

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PostPosted: Fri Jul 25, 2014 12:03 pm 
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The hole is drilled for the trigger pin. I decided it would be much easier to paint and seal the pieces before they were assembled (duh), so that was my big project last night. Here they are painted up:

Attachment:
triggerpaint.jpg
triggerpaint.jpg [ 142.35 KiB | Viewed 24112 times ]


The clear coat created a small patch of rough texture on the bottom of the handle. That area will be getting a second coat later when I've puttied up the back, so I'll sand it down and not use the same clear coat going forward. The can was almost empty anyway!

Next is adding the spring so that the trigger slides back out when squeezed. I took a piece of surgical tape and marked where the trigger becomes visible when not squeezed. So everything to the right of the tape is fair game for imbedding the spring. My plan is to cut a notch in the trigger piece so that I can secure the spring inside the trigger with some putty. The other end of the spring will then be imbedded in the putty that will be used to seal up the back edge of the handle. That way it has some give, but isn't going to "spring" on me as I *really* don't want to have to take this thing apart to fix a sprung spring...

Attachment:
triggerspring.jpg
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 Post subject: Re: DIY: making an M240 Flamethrower
PostPosted: Fri Jul 25, 2014 3:20 pm 

Location: Derby
Country: United Kingdom
really coming together now.

good work


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 Post subject: Re: DIY: making an M240 Flamethrower
PostPosted: Fri Jul 25, 2014 3:26 pm 
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Not sure if this will help, but the carry handle was filled in on the real one (the sight channel was NOT preserved). So its possible you can drop a screw right down the back pillar from all the way up top and use some kind of elongated washer or something in the channel to try and add stability/strength and fill in over the top of it.


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PostPosted: Sat Jul 26, 2014 11:37 am 
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So I took a little time to get this thing banged together properly. Here's a shot of the inside before I started sealing it up:

Attachment:
internals.jpg
internals.jpg [ 130.7 KiB | Viewed 24074 times ]


Once I had the trigger spring in place I was able to move a lot faster. I put three wood screws through the center to make sure the wood and plastic base pieces were going to stay solid.

Attachment:
puttyandwood.jpg
puttyandwood.jpg [ 133.29 KiB | Viewed 24074 times ]


I then took advantage of some screw holes in the M16 pieces to screw these in place on each side.

Attachment:
screwedonbits.jpg
screwedonbits.jpg [ 126.7 KiB | Viewed 24074 times ]


The M16 pieces above the trigger still need to be attached. I'll need to carefully predrill the holes in the plexi before screwing them on as I really don't want to risk cracking it at this point.

As the front will be covered in bondo anyway, I decided to add a pair of zip ties to really secure the pipe/rod combo to the plexi base.

So this is where I am currently!

Attachment:
onedaysprogress.jpg
onedaysprogress.jpg [ 145.29 KiB | Viewed 24074 times ]


The top section and carry handle will be my next area of focus, along with sling loops.

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PostPosted: Fri Aug 08, 2014 11:57 am 
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I'm loving seeing all the recent threads on people's flame unit builds, Shawn Morgan has really done our community a huge favor!

Anyway, it has motivated me to push on with my own build. Not much to report, but I did get the carry handle secured to the top.

Sorry for the blurry picture:

Attachment:
carryhandle.jpg
carryhandle.jpg [ 112.36 KiB | Viewed 24017 times ]


The red part is the wooden roof of a Thomas the Tank Engine train station. It gives the right taper from the peak (where the M16 piece is firmly screwed and puttied in place) down to the sides where it will be blended in.

I still need to fill in the top part of the handle (thanks Terran for that tip!), and I'll putty over the screw tops to hide them. There's also a small rectangular box that I need to fabricate on the side. I'll have to look in my model parts boxes to see if I have anything that will fit the bill.

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 Post subject: Re: DIY: making an M240 Flamethrower
PostPosted: Sat Aug 09, 2014 2:33 am 

Service Number: A06/TQ1.0.72129E1
Country: United States
This is an amazing build! I like the working trigger.


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PostPosted: Sat Aug 09, 2014 10:57 am 
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Thanks man! I really like a little functionality in props, especially weapon props. When I'm done this will have the working trigger and the "safety" switches from the M16 parts. Not that they'll make a ton of sense, but they're still cool as little field adjustments.

I'm noodling the possibility of adding a blue LED to the front to simulate the pilot light. I have some ideas on how to make it look more like a flame, but it has to fit in the existing space as I'm not about to mess up the resin bit I got from Shawn.

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PostPosted: Sat Aug 09, 2014 12:13 pm 
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I got the sling points in place last night. I used SteelStik as it makes a damned permanent bond. For the front I drilled right through the M203 piece, and then puttied up the inside as well as the top. This photo looks pretty damned rough, but remember this whole area will be covered over with bondo. The black sharpie line on the M203 piece shows where the "high water mark" is for the putty. It's the reason the eyelet is set so high as well, a good portion of that will be covered over as well.

Attachment:
frontpoint.jpg
frontpoint.jpg [ 118.19 KiB | Viewed 23975 times ]


The back is much more straight forward (bad pun). I used a nut on the eyelet to firmly wedge it between the two sheets of Lexan, and then puttied with SteelStik all around it and under the existing structure beneath the eyelet to secure it in place.

Attachment:
backpoint.jpg
backpoint.jpg [ 117.91 KiB | Viewed 23975 times ]


I know eyelets aren't exactly screen accurate, but I wanted to be sure these things would really hold up (and my more screen accurate options seemed either flimsy or hard to secure), so I chose function on this one.

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PostPosted: Sat Aug 09, 2014 3:09 pm 
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I also took some time on a break from work to start sanding the trigger handle. The original prop had a rounded grip, so filing down the Lexan (and evening out the putty at the same time) will give me the same look. At least I took it outside but I REALLY should have worn a mask while doing this.

Attachment:
sandedgrip.jpg
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PostPosted: Thu Aug 14, 2014 3:11 pm 
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In preparing to add the rounded bit where the back M16 piece blends into the handle I found the easiest thing to do was cut out the handle from a 1:1 printout and hold it up as a stencil. I left just a little bit of the top and then penciled in the outline once I had the stencil lined up.

Attachment:
curveonhandle.jpg
curveonhandle.jpg [ 154.11 KiB | Viewed 23922 times ]


I went ahead and built up this side using tinfoil as filler and then WoodStik putty. I also filled in the top of the carry handle and covered up my screws from attaching that part, but my hands were too gunked up to photograph any of that, so I'll have to post an "after" shot. Today I'll go back and give it a good sanding, and then I may give the back end a test coat of olive drab to see how well things are blending.

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PostPosted: Fri Aug 15, 2014 4:39 pm 
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So as promised, here's a shot of the back curve made up in putty and lightly sanded. I've taped over the trigger in preparation for painting.

Attachment:
backcurve.jpg
backcurve.jpg [ 131.04 KiB | Viewed 23866 times ]


Then I hit it with the OD.

Attachment:
firstcoat.jpg
firstcoat.jpg [ 65.02 KiB | Viewed 23866 times ]


Once it dried I was able to see how well I'd blended everything. I see a few areas that still need some sanding, but overall I'm happy with it. I've learned a lesson about taping things off for painting though, look at that damned outline from the paper and tape! Luckily there will be more opportunities to fix this.

Attachment:
backm16.jpg
backm16.jpg [ 118.76 KiB | Viewed 23866 times ]


The light is throwing the color off, but man I'm happy to see this thing exit the "sausage factory" phase if you get my meaning.

Attachment:
comingtogether.jpg
comingtogether.jpg [ 167.43 KiB | Viewed 23866 times ]


You can also have a peek at my insanely cluttered workspace in this photo. Having two rug-rats keeps me from spending the time organizing things as I'd like (every free second is spent on creating stuff instead). My workspace is also something of a mystery to my kids: why does papa have toys on his shelf? Why can't I play with the toys? My six year old informed me the other day that he's like to have this Flame Unit "when I'm done with it". I really need to get to work on a SmartGun for that kid...

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 Post subject: Re: DIY: making an M240 Flamethrower
PostPosted: Sat Aug 16, 2014 1:28 am 
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Looking GREAT! That is awesome. Can't wait to see it finished


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