Spat was offering a discounted MT kit just before DragonCon and I jumped at the chance. I don't mind putting in a little extra effort and honestly I like a challenge.
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As Seth B. just did an excellent build thread (
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=13538) on a pristine Spat kit I didn't feel the need to document every step of this one. Here you can see some of the filling I had to do, but honestly this kit was still pretty easy to throw together. The bottom half of the Hama slide viewer had the only significant air bubble (shown here partially filled). Note that I used Seth's idea for the plug from the Hama viewer to the drill body. It makes the thing much more sturdy. In fact I just left the cable long that threads into the front so if I want I can detach the whole viewer without much fuss.
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A coat of paint shows where I need to sand more. I built this thing over the weekend as I had a spare moment, so I'd say the hardest part was just figuring out the best order of operation.
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So this is how it looked as of this morning. I need to add the bottom switch, weather and seal the OD, attach the black parts and the keypad graphic. I have some mesh and a real Vivitar coming from Joneseythecat so I'll be upgrading some areas once they arrive. I decided to paint the area behind the mesh black instead of drilling it out as I'd already attached the two halves of the body before I remembered that I wanted to do that. Oh well! I think it will still look good.
Not having a photo reference in hand was a huge mistake as I somehow got it in my head that the cable from the Hama viewer went into the bottom of the pump widget. I sawed and drilled the widget before realizing my mistake. I've since rebuilt the bottom bit on the widget, but that could have been avoided pretty easily
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My calculation panel is just a printout of the actual found item Photoshopped to match the screen used version, and then covered with a bit of clear plastic from a NECA blister pack. Looks pretty good to me!
The Hama viewer is the roughest part of the entire build so at some point I will probably buy a cleaner cast from Spat. I have an idea for a simple electronic display, so having two viewers (one static, one electronic) wouldn't be bad at all.
Later today I'm going to swing by Wal-Mart for some sling attachments ("Uncle Mike's #1311-2 swivels", thanks Filandrius for the heads up!), and then I'm just watching the Post for the missing bits.
Here's a question: does the Vivitar LED light up/blink in the film?