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A tough choice to make: Even though the bipod is articulated, the legs can't be held under enough tension to make them tight (so that they'd stay folded up) The assembly is fragile, and it would be very difficult to make a casting of this. The practical choice is to go with the bipod folded up, and the bayonet tucked inside. This means filling the area in between with putty and turning the bipod legs into a solid piece, as superficial surface detail with no bayonet at all (since it would be hidden). It's heartbreaking to undo all that work and ditch the working features, but I suppose you have to be practical... The sections are held together and reinforced with paperclip rods running through holes bored at the section ends. Accurate perpendicular drilling and alignment is essential!

11/22/98- I had a lot of fun with this, experimenting with making rivets & eyelets. Overall, I think it came out pretty good. The basic form is three pieces of styrene. I carved the trigger and area around it with my Dremel. The trigger guard is made of folded strip brass, mainly so it would be sturdy and because it could be easily bent to shape. Like the other ribbed section, the grip was covered with putty and the pattern was sculpted in... and like the other ribbed section, it looks kind of imprecise & funky. I still haven't figured out a good way to do this. One of the things I didn't try was finding this pattern on something else and transferring it here either by casting, or by making an impression stamp.

This shows how the styrene tubing on the stock was blended to simulate the stamped steel. I think I overdid the effect-- the real patterns are more defined and flatter. Once it's dry-brushed to show wear, this won't be as noticible. Most of the blending was done with the putty, but a generous coating of shellac helped to smooth out the overall finish.

At last! Here's a preliminary view, and the priming really helps. The stock's not attached yet, the bipod question's not resolved and there are a few incidental details to be added. According to the selector switch, it's set to full auto so I can detail the 'B'-side bolt in the open position with a round exposed. If it weren't a hassle to cast, I might have drilled through to show the round in the magazine.

there's more...

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