Some more updates, because apparently I can't stop myself from sprinting into the workshop the second I finish work.
I had previously come into acquisition of an airsoft PPsH-41 submachinegun replica several months ago and held onto it through the rapid switching of living locations in March:
After several days of searching (seriously, it's amazing how difficult reference pictures can be to find), I finally found a reference pic from what I believe is Solo (dunno, still haven't seen it) for a Swarzified PPsH build:
Now, I really dislike this particular conversion. It’s not anywhere near as clean as other blasters in universe, there’s some kind of cloth wrapping around the magazine housing for no discernable reason, there’s a pair of dials for some purpose on the stock and the plugs filling the heat guard look absolutely ridiculous. BUT, it’s still an example of what can be done and at least means that there’s already an in-universe example of what I have in my mind right now and also what I can do in the future, so...time to do some gentle deactivation!
Deactivation was not gentle, as I forgot to remove the quick-change spring plug and the mainspring decided to send the contents of the gearbox into low-earth orbit upon opening. Still, my eyesight is no worse than it already was so I once again escape the inevitable consequences of my forgetfulness.
The next steps afterwards were threefold:
1- chop the magazine down
Dremel was very helpful here; chopped the magazine right where it met the locking collar, then ground two new slots to reattach the baseplate. After that I hammered the baseplate on, popped a piece of aluminum in to close it off, and then poured an entire tube of JB Weld into the magazine to make ABSOLUTELY SURE that nothing would be falling off
Now, this isn't actually going to be the powerpack for the rifle; while it's going to stay as-is for now (tibanna gas canister maybe?) I might buy a couple sets of heat sinks to install on this instead if I think it needs it.
2- do something about the barrel that doesn't involve installing those disgusting plugs along the heatshield
After....probably three years I finally found a use for the rebreather I had bought from Dresdon Acacin
the rubber hosing was an almost perfect diameter
3- swap the rear sight out for a rail to mount a scope.
Not much to say here. Bought a piece of Picatinny, used a milling bit for my Dremel to open one of the screw holes out slightly, and stuck it in the same place the rear sight used to be.
The next steps are going to be slightly out of order chronologically in favor of what the pictures show and how the workflow SHOULD have gone
While discussing with Dresdon whether to do something to the magazine or not, I realized that if I turned it into a heat sink then that would make for an EXCEEDINGLY uncomfortable spot to hold in a firefight if this was a real blaster. Being an absolute sucker for making things appear practical, I decided to add a handguard using the pump from another broken airsoft gun:
It was chopped in half, the interior ground down, and the original locking ring up front cut down so that it would sit perpendicular to the barrel as opposed to at an angle. Around this same time I decided I didn't feel like waiting for a picatinny scope mount to arrive, so I ground down the rail enough that the dovetail mounts of the BB scope I'd purchased would fit:
And that's where she sits now! I'm extremely satisfied with how it looks and will probably keep it as-is, honestly. MUCH later down the line I plan to add some LEDS and other things along the side of the receiver (probably where the wood is right underneath the bolt) but that won't be until I have enough practice with them to not be terrified of messing up (this will likely be the only PPsH base I will ever have to work with after all)
But Shurik, what's that on the stock I hear you ask in my head?
Well, them's the powerpacks:
I acquired an enormous quantity of brass plugs that were defective from my previous job, and realized they fit extremely nicely into the chamber area of the gun without any rattling whatsoever. So, being gorgeous hunks of shiny shiny and figuring "Hey why not since these are much sexier and easier to carry than 2" square chunks of metal that would cost me like $25/ea to make more of?" I decided to make my own version of a shell carrier!
Skipped a few steps before I realized I should be taking pictures, sorry. Base is 7oz leather, while the two loops are 3oz. I just cut some slots in the base, stuffed a rectangle through, and then glued and sewed it into place.
Two layers of range tan, back to back without letting it dry. This is what it looked like on the stock:
Decided it was too light compared to everything else leather I currently have (including the rifle's sling) so I hit it with the Ol' Reliable of mine -- dark brown Antique Gel
And thus we return to the final result; the Bhar'vani Industries P4-PS1 "Ba'Buir," because I can't seem to not name any custom design I come up with like some kind of egotistical maniac
also fun fact for the day; the PPsH's nickname in WW2 among Soviet troops was
Papasha, or "Daddy." That is all.
For anyone interested, overall build time was about...five days give or take? If I'd had everything from the start, knew what I wanted to do, and had a six pack and some metal music I probably could have completed it in two.
Until next time. Which will probably start sometime tomorrow. Because I can't control or pace myself.