More lego pieces

The stock and buffer assembly that came with my M16A1 parts kit are in pretty good shape.  However most, if not nearly all of these M16A1 parts kits come with a cracked buttpad, and mine was no exception.  This thing has had a hard life and was pretty beat up, and looks like it has been set down in the gravel A LOT.  I could, of course, track down an original uncracked one, but this rifle isn't that kind of project.  Here's the biggest crack on the thing, completely split through it.

To fix it I turned to my good friend JB Weld.  As you know, JB Weld is grey, and this piece is black, and that's a problem because I don't want to paint it.  What I did was mix JB Weld with come carbon black(which thickened it up) and some black enamel paint(which thinned it back out).  I couldn't get it to go completely black, but did get a very dark grey.  After a through cleaning/degreasing(Dawn dish soap works great for that BTW), I smooshed it in as best as I could, and clamped it in the vice to cure.  Once it was cured, I wetsanded it first with 320, then 600 grit sandpaper.  I didn't sand out all the imperfections, but did get many of them and it looks nicer than it did, though still used.  The trapdoor is pretty much how I got it and it's got a lot of wear.

With that done I could assemble the lower.  It goes together like pretty much any other AR so I won't bore you with the details.  I will say though that when installing the front takedown pin detent and spring, I recommend putting everything in a gallon size Ziplock and assembling in there so when the detent goes flying, it stays captured in the bag.