If I didn't know any better I'd say you have actually built a Thompson by hand before.

 

Definately gonna paint the tip orange or red. I chose the Thompson because it was the more simple one to make. The guys at work are already asking me to make their kids one. I'll post picks of the finished product after I stain the wood and weld up and close off all the open parts. First thing my son said was' "I wanted the round magazine". Never happy. I should have said shut up and go play Xbox and your brother can have it. And sumone, I did look into making an AR15 but settled on the old Thompson.

 

Very nicely done. Simple but definitely a Thompson.

 

Here's the trigger and trigger guard I made today. A 1/4" huck was perfect for it to pivot on. It's hollow with the mandrel pulled out so I can flare the opposite side to hold it in. A spring will connect to the small hole at the top to give it a more realistic feel.




Now here's the breech. Not exactly the same as a real Thomson but something so my son can pretend he's cocking it. The pieces it slides in will be reversed to what is in the pic and again a spring will help it "snap" back. Just gotta do the cut out for where the shells would normally eject from and the slot for the bolt to slide. Really don't think a 9 year old appreciates the effort I've put in. He'll probably leave it outside in the dirt but hey, it's fun to make.

 

Haha, I was going to say, you're probably the one having the most fun with this. This is awesome though, the spring loaded trigger and slide are very cool touches.

 

90% complete. Not happy with the crappy welding with my crappy gasless mig piece of **** that has only a high and low setting. I'll post pics of the finished product soon. My son took it to bed tonight. He cant put it down.

 

Here it is, finished. Not happy with the orange peel paint job. Realised I loaned my brother my spray gun after I had already mixed the two part epoxy primer. I used a bloody piece of sponge to apply it (couldn't even find a brush). Makes the top coat look crap. Could have given the primer a light sand but got impatient. Next job is to finish the muffler I started that's in my locker at work.

 

The linseed oil didn't seem to make much difference to the colour. Still need to do a bright orange tip on the barrel as to not confuse our trigger happy Aussie coppers. We're out of town on acreage so shouldn't be a problem.