M1918A1/A2 B.A.R.

[grasshopper257]

Why cant you just bring it to college

[2nd Bat]

Educational institutions tend to frown upon firearms real or pretend. Unless he lives off campus an airsoft gun is a definite no go. Tommy have you weighed the gun? Id; be curious about it's net weight once done. Also will be curious to see how well you're able to camouflage the seams of the Cushman mold. What will you do if you have to access the base gun for repairs and such?

[TommyGunner]

Well if I have to repair the gun..............hah well lets just say Im gonna have to do some extensive cosmetic work after I go inside her and fix what ever the problem is. I have yet to ever have a problem with my AEGs though. I keep my weapons very clean and take good care of them in the field.

Also Grasshopper257, my workshop is at home I live in a dorm room. Plus Airsoft guns on campus HELL NO!! we jsut had a shooting threat here at Northern a month or two ago and they shut down the campus for the whole day.

TommyGunner

[burke]

How did you get into model making (from scratch) is there any schooling or something? The bar looks really great. Im thinkin bout getting a cushman now to build me a Pulse rifle.

[TommyGunner]

Sratch building simply comes with the territory of being a model builder. At some point you have a need for parts that are not available and you have to end up making them yourself. So I simply started doing alot of scratch buildign as the subjects that I choose to model require a vast ammount of modifications to the base kits (I build 1/48 WW2 aircraft) So I simply got good at it. Its all self taught and comes from experiance. I love the medium of Styreen and find it very easy to work in (others may say otherwise) I also had the pleasure of working for the model company Revell Monogram for about a year when I was 17. I did some builds for them too.

TommyGunner

[2nd Bat]

Like you Tommy I have been blessed and though I have owned dozens and dozens of AEGs and have rented them out, loaned them out and used them extensively have had only one repair requirement which was a broken tapet plate on a very well used rifle. I had a TOP M-60 which ate it's young often and horribly but given the bizarre design I don't consider that as counting. I really wouldn't woory too much about that sspect of your build. The M-14 clones have been very very good and quite reliable from my experience.

[TommyGunner]

Then I shouldnt have too much to worry about. The grease Gun will also be made in this fashion. I hope that maybe I can make mounts for the gearbox to be glued onto and the mounts then screwed into the body of the grease gun so I can have the ability to disasemble it if I need too. But i may end up glueing those internals in as well.

TommyGunner

[2nd Bat]

The Grease gun should be buildable in a fashion that you can readily disassemble it. I know doing so with resin paste or glue is easier but infinitly less desireable. I made my Bar in that fashion and felt a little weird selling it that way (although the customer was fully aware of it) If something went wrong I'd feel okay busting it apart but I couldn't imagine others taking it on and assured the fellow that once in his hands the gun was his problem. Thus far he's been delighted and I suspect he will continue to be.

[m5a11943]

I wish we had some of this talent 10 - 20 years ago
in the WWII blank-burners.
We had to just make do with what was available.
The laws really stand in the way. You would have to be a
class 3 dealer or class 2 manufacturer with real guns.
You guys need to see how lucky you all are.
When I see guys like Tommygunner doing this he gets my
thumbs up!
Now I know why I'm in WW2 airsoft!!!

[TommyGunner]

Well I did some work on the BAR tonight, I got alot of the small imperfectins on the seam lines and some other areas taken care of and the rifle has only one last major component that I want to actually replace until I can put the final coat of primer on and the finally apply the gun metal finish. (I am however experimenting with a very flat gunship grey as WW2 BARs have a very grey parkarized finish while WW1 BARs have a gun metal type/blued finish, I may convert mien to a WW1 BAR for my Marine Imp....only time will tell)

I built the forward assembly with the gas tube that came in the cushman kit. I have decided that I do not like the look of it and have deciced that I want to replace it with a slightly smaller diamiter section of PVC pipe.

TommyGunner

[migmadmavis]

Cant wait to see it done!

[TommyGunner]

Its damn near done now. The next pics you will see of this baby will be with it in my hands while I am in my USMC BAR Gunners gear!

So I decided to go with the gunship grey parkarized finish instead of the more WW1 blued/gun metal finish. I also went with a black stock to replicate a composite WW2 one. The next step in the finishing process is to go and put a wash down on the wood part to darken it up a bit and give it a wood grain look. Im going to take steel wool the the painted Parkarized parts to give them a slightly worn look and also to lightly sand down the black on the stock so it looks a bit grey and washed out.

I have also taken some very close up pictures, I dare you guys to find seem lines on this baby. Also I worked really hard on blending in the barrel with the reciver and I think it came out great. I also finished the Mag well and I think that came out very good also. At this point I can basically say the BAR is finished and could in reality glue the rear sight on now, paint that and skirmish with it.

Now just to recap the thread. This is what I had started out with





And this is what I have ended up with!!!

























Well what do you guys think, you all wanted pics of it painted so I stayed up till 2:30 painting her up.

So there you guys have it, an AEG BAR airsoft replica built for under $200.

TommyGunner

[Smith]

OMG!


THAT IS TRULY AMAZING! Working for that model company sure payed off, eh?!

CHEERS!

[CharleyNovember]

definatley a sows ear into a silk purse there Tommy. Excellent modeling skills as usual with you.

[jaeger]

Very nice job!

[YankeeDiv26]

wow. that before/after is just...wow.

[migmadmavis]

Damn!!! That is amazing!!

[lollipops hunter33]

Beautiful job, its tempting me to try my own hand at a custom gun.

[TommyGunner]

Here are two pics of me in my BAR Gunners imp with my newly finished BAR. All equipment is original and WW1 dated or 41-42 dated. Even the Jacket (the pants are reproductions)





TommyGunner

[Ersatzjack]

KIRBY!! Is that you? ;D

Looks nice. I hope it holds up for you. That's the test.

[TommyGunner]

Oh it will, I have no doubt about that. Its rock solid and nothing budges on it, I put alot fo thought into the structural integrety of it. Also I screwed down the rear sight assembly so it wont break off.

TommyGunner

[spitfire740]

that thing is a lollipops !!!!! One piece of constructive criticism, the wood looks like kinda fake. I dunno how, but see if you could make it more wood-like, if that makes sense?

I love it!

[2ndranger]

Oh...crap...it lives!!! Good job Jer, shes a beaut.

Franz

[TommyGunner]

spitfire740 said:

that thing is a lollipops !!!!! One piece of constructive criticism, the wood looks like kinda fake. I dunno how, but see if you could make it more wood-like, if that makes sense?

I love it!

Dont worry I will be putting a dark black and brwon wash over it and adding wood grain texture to the paint job. I just wanted to get the anxious public some pics.

Also I will be ageing the finish of the gun to make the finish look less painted with soem washes and dry brushing. Basically the gun has all of its base colors down now and looks good enough to skirmish with. I nwo have to add those awsome little paint touches that will make her shine.

TommyGunner

[2nd Bat]

Thanks for the upgrade. I really had my doubts as to how good one could make a cushman flimsy styrene shell look but you have truly done a superb job. It looks great and with the minor additional touches mentioned above is going to look truly outstanding. I'm very very impressed.

[Sgt Bloomfield]

SWEET!

[click]

Wow, I really like how it turned out! If I may ask, about how much did it set you back both thime and money wise?

Click

[2nd Bat]

As mentioned earlier in the thread his total net cost in materials was around $200.00 but of course his investment in time constituted pretty consistent effort of his free time spread out over a couple months.

[click]

2ndbat said:

As mentioned earlier in the thread ....

Ooops I dont remember seeing the cost in the thread, but thanks for that little hint for me not be lazy

Click

[Capt. Zak]

VERY NICE JER!!! All you need now is a minty 1918 USMC conversion BAR belt. I know where you can get one for $100.00. ;D