Ok, suppressing the laughter while at work is really starting to become painful now!

many people cut off  and tap their pump heads and then use plumbers goop to seal the pump head into the end of the cut down pump shaft.

What size of wye works the best? I am posting this because I thought that there would only be one size of why when there is many.

1/2" is pretty standard.

West Valley, UT nerf war

Hey, letting everyone know that the next war I’ll be hosting is set for Jan 8, 2011 3 p.m

The basics:
Jan 8 (Date changed from Jan 1. one of our key nerfers couldn't make it on the first), 3:00 pm
Modders party either before or after (give feedback please)

Held at my house in West Valley, Ut. (Couch warfare style!) (pm / e-mail me for the address and waivers if you haven’t warred with us before.)

Eye protection is required at any age.

Please, no over powered blasters (singled titans, bbbb’s, basically anything that can clear 100’ flat. It’s an indoor war, and big range shots aren’t going to come up.

No over-weighted / exposed metal weights on steffans. (I tip mine with a #8 washer, and a ½” pom pom for padding)

I reserve the right to spot ban for safety.

No swearin’. There are kids present.

Don’t be a jerk.

I do have loaner guns, but some work better than others, be nice to them.

I’d like to get a head count together so those who might travel can decide if it’s worth it, let me know if you can make it, and how many you might be bringing.

This day is close to my wife's' due date. Hopefully our first son doesn't try to attend the nerf war. So this war may get bumped.


Thanks everyone, and just to give you further heads up:

I’m hoping for February’s war to be huge. It’s looking to be in late February. My sister/co-organizer is coming back to UT after being away for a year and a half. She’s gotten 15 people together for a war with only a phone call and 2 hrs notice. (They’re usually casual nerfers though, not so much modders, but still good foam fodder anyway). Adding her socialite skills to our group should make for some great nerfing. That war will probably be held at her house (also my parents) located in South Jordan Ut (about 20 min south of me) it’s a longer rambler style house, and is better for Nerf wars. Everyone should be looking forward to that one.

Thanks, Shmmee

This war rocked! We had 12 attendees (about the max my house could of handled) and 3 active modders.

We played team battles, dork vest, and king of the hill.

My most memorable experiences: JT and Tyler holding the hill for 10 points (winning the game) using an Ultimator, and a Switchshot (We're all still baffled about that because the Ultimator has a ROF of like one shell a min. But Tyler is dead accurate with the switchshot.)

Seeing eyes light up in shock as an Ultimator shell screams past their heads and thuds against the wall behind them.

And accidentally shooting one of the little neighborhood kids in the forehead while she was complaining about someone else shooting her in the head. I feel bad about that, but it was hilarious irony. (Head shots aren't counted in my wars, and are discouraged)

Spending the next few weeks playing "oh look, I found a Nerf dart".

Geeking out with other modders!

Good times. Thanks all. Looking forward to the next war some time in February.

To expound on Langleys linear clip idea - use a "retract-a-badge" as your spring and cord to pull darts towards the flywheels and an actuating escapement arm to limit dart feed to one per cycle. That would be the simple solution...

Though the arm mounted drum clip looks pretty friggin' cool.

I like how it's basic enough to simply slap onto the side of nearly any sized blaster. Especially if the blaster already has an internal battery pack (NF, firefly...) Though those only have a pair of AA's, instead of a trio of AAA's.

This guy. Never have I put so much into a mod and gotten so little in return. I was trying to make a pneumatic clip fed semi auto. Tried clippard mavo-3 and -4 valves, a valve from a big salvo with a custom designed 3d printed trigger (would of worked if it didn't leak),  pistons with enough length to cycle the breech and banded a rf-20 bladder to up the psi. I trashed 2 long strikes in the process.  The problem came in making the bolt cycle *after* the dart had fired. It'd pop open with the dart traveling down the barrel (the barrel pressure would assist the piston in opening the breech). After 3 years of setbacks, reworks, and failures... I think I've finally given up on the dream. 

 

... Sorry about the washed out photos. Those are gross looking.

 

My current WIP: overhauling a Triple strike. My nerfing group allows shields which encourages a broader range of ammo types (rockets break shields) so I've wanted an all in one blaster that can handle long range, short range and rockets, all available on demand on separate triggers. After much searching, I've settled on the tripple strike. The tanks are beastly, out performing both the big salvo and panther tanks I had in my parts bin.

 

Work done thus far: 

*Replaced the stock pump with a 16" bicycle frame pump. (Fills every thing in about 5-7 pumps)

*Scrapped the stock trigger manifold. 

scrapped a tank, integrated a SMDTG. Had to chop all 4 hoses and re coupler them to pass them through the shell, but I can stage 3 independent shots ergonomically. 

*Routed the 2 remaining TS tanks to blast buttons. (One behind the shaved down trigger (that will be the top primary tank), the other is zip tied on the right side, just above the trigger (that right tank will fire a rocket)

*Re-plumbed every thing. Soooo many quick connect fittings were used in the process. Each tank system has it's own check valve (the couplers with the pink ends) so they can vent/fire without firing the other systems as well. The single pump automatically routes air any empty tank systems. Surprisingly, the thing actually holds air!

 

Work remaining:

*Design a mag fed breech for the top tank. I could use a hopper, but my group favors full length darts. I'm hoping to design a breech that springs open after the tank fires (via a mechanical latch), and rig the pump to close the breech on the first pump stroke. That way, loading the next dart would be integrated with re pumping the tank instead of reloading as a separate action. 

*Stabilize the tanks. They have a little bit of wobble after gutting it. 

*design an enclosure to hide the rear plumbing. 

 

Once it's all done, theirs a small chance that I might actually feel motivated to paint the shell. I'm usually not much for aesthetics, but that chrome pump is dang gorgeous.

I've done a lot of experimentation with hornet tanks - (which are also back pressure style), and would donate knowledge gained from my failures for the benefit of the community. First off, here's some internal/ exploded pics.



You have a piston, an input stem (that the piston slides back and forth on), and...



...another stem (of a smaller diameter (that's important) on the barrel side of the tank. These were taken as part of my:

easy hornet tank expansion post. I started by expanding the volume of the tank (which worked) and tried to expand the output of the tank - it didn't. I got it to seal, but when the blast button was pressed, and the system vented, everything vented back out through the input stem. I have two theories why. The barrel side stem was removed, expanded, and replaced with a flat rubber washer (epoxied into place)

1) The piston now sat flush against the sealing surface, instead of being raised above the surface of the stem, so pressures couldn't get under it, and push it out of the way.

2) Originally the output stem was a smaller diameter than the input stem. When pressure on both sides of the valve is equalized the piston is forced in which ever direction the potential for change is most radical - normally shifting away from the barrel side stem and venting pressure to the barrel. Because output potential was now greater than input potential, the piston remained locked forward, and vented out the back.

Again those are both theories.

The biggest lesson I learned it that it may be easier to buy a big salvo and have 4 large capacity tanks with half the effort and cost. Good luck on your homemade tank though.

Quick! some one hand me my hot glue "blaster"...

I always thought this was one of the main reasons for using washers over bbs/bearings/fishing weights - the washers have more surface area and are less likely to punch through the padding on the dart.

Exactly! My first steffan was weighted with a bb. I test fired it at an oak cabenet pannel. The bb punched right through and still had enough kinetic energy to dent the oak. Oak is a pretty hard, dense wood. I shudder to think what would of happened if I had mass produced them and started shooting them at people.

Birch's washer/bb combo would be a lot safer if you absolutely had to have more weight, but the bb would still concern me as a host. If a washer gets loose mid-flight it has a high surface area and would slow down pretty quickly. BB's are pretty aerodynamic and would fly further.

Speaking of 12mm or 13mm FBR, I was surfing the internet and I came across this Green FBR. I don't know much about it... and I won't be able to buy it anytime soon to see it's quality, so if one of you guys want to go check it out, go for it. just give me some feedback on the stuff because I am planning on buying some.

Ha! I saw the same stuff Wednesday! I do like how they package and ship it in strands instead of on a roll. I imagine that would skip the pre-strethcing I had to do with the Hot Rod foam. They also have pink. I'm quite curious to know if it's the same manufacturer Kane (if i'm remembering correctly) gets his foam from. If it's anything like the pink in density and size, Neon green would be 'friggan tempting!

I think you might be suprised by the costs if you actually gave knock off darts a chance. I recently bought some of these to send off for my nieces and nephews to shoot my brother with. I was so impressed I bought another 600 for myself!

 

http://www.amazon.co...ailpage_o00_s00

 

The foam is firmer than nerf and 200 darts for 13 bucks with free shipping? You can't even buy a new blaster for that much.

 

The problem you're going to run into with crappy darts is that nearly all nerf blasters will have problems with them. Mag fed blasters will fold them in half, and anything with a smart AR (ruffcut's, triads...) will push darts back out of the barrel if the tails are too compressed to resist counter force of the AR spring. 

 

If you were dead set on not buying darts, your only safe bet would be to slap a coupler on a basic blaster (like a nitefinder or BBB) and run a speed loader(two barrels tapped together at an off set so you can load the spare barrel and flip it for a quick reload) or RSCB. If you want a little more fire power, you could double RSCB a ruff cut. Speedloaders and RSCB's are old tech, but they're incredibly reliable - even with poor darts. (note: some RSCB's do not like sucker darts)

I'm curious about the size of this thing. Do you have any pictures of it out of the box? The perspective on that rendering is so cranked, its hard to get a feel of its proportions.

Its a decent size. Roughly as long as an x-bow.


Heres the commercial for it.
https://m.youtube.co...h?v=WqH9fll5etA

Ha! I've got one of those! It's missing it's feed tube but functional. It does work with normal ballistic balls and is a fun lutzy semi auto blaster. It's currently out for a commissioned upgrade to run on a 3s and fang motors. We've run into some flywheel problems though. the old are not liking the new motors. We're hoping it will be able to spit out ballistic balls at or near rival speeds. Once all that's done i might try to mod it up with a hopper to turn it into a ballistic caliber nemisis.

Theirs a difference between rare and valuable. For rare - i'm more familiar with blasters in terms of vintage.

 

Zap snaps are stupid rare - since they were recalled from store shelves due to safety hazards. My younger self got some of those for my birthday - but they didn't survive my childhood.

I've only seen 2 cycletrons in my life, only one nerf stinger and I also own a single shot air max 1 blaster (shot the little air planes) - that not even nerf could identify or even name ( emailed them and stumped the entire corporation). The hydro-blastzooka's are few and far between as well. 

Cartaya, thanks for this post. It's brought back a flood of happy memories. My go to blaster back in my early days was a sharp shooter 1 - not that there was much in the way of options back the day. My brother and I were close friends with another set of neighbors who had 3 boys close to our ages. Nerf wars were a constant staple of our summers. The oldest of the 3 brothers was absolutely lethal with his BnA. I could lead out a target and pick us off while we were at a full sprint - every time.

 

My first mod was an overhaul of my sharpshooter 1. I remember wrapping a bit of e-tape around the side vents in the barrel peg and *shudder* stretching the spring. It added about 10' of range but that's a pretty big boost for a blaster that would be lucky to hit 30' angled. Another amazing moment came when I realized I could stuff darts into the barrel pegs of my arrow storm and double the range - that simple little hack was probably the most effective modification i can remember - at least, up until barrel replacements came into fashion. I think Crayola markers were a goto source for after market barrels. They had a natural tightening ring towards the back of the marker.  

 

I actually ran a razorbeast for a round at the last war I attended. I stuffed cpvc inserts into the chain links so i could fire 1/2" darts. The range was impressive - even by today's standards but the accuracy was horrific. The highlight of my night was landing a kill with it. I'll occasionally run a rip saw just so the old school manually rev'd flywheel tech can scream back at the lipo'd blasters. Its hilarious to see how many modern day nerfers struggle at dodging a very slow moving projectile like a ballistic ball or vintage arrow. Leading out a target is another forgotten skill necessary to be effective with slow moving ammo.

 

 

 

How about Salvage? It's simple and grungy, but still has nerfy undertones.

My favorite advancement has been back pressure style of air tanks. Pull pin tanks brought the power but their placement was a little more restricted - and if that pin wasn't pulled directly backwards, it would squish the o ring and start leaking around the pin. Back pressure tanks can be dropped in anywhere which makes for easy integrations. Sure, that style of tanks had a rough leaky start with hornets and secret strikes but by the time panthers came along the industry had the tech all figured out and ready to rock consistently. 

 

The scenario brought up in the poll was actually play tested a couple of times at the last Armageddon. (with the exception of modern NIC'ers vs super stock instead of the speed loader/crayola barreled NIC nerfers of '06-'11)

 

Freeze tag: hoppered NIC vs Super stock. NIC was out numbered 4:1. Super stock was too big of a horde for the NIC'ers to keep frozen and whenever an NICer got frozen, they were able to be "shot back in" by a team mate from across the field. Super stock spent an exhausting amount of time chasing NIC'ers around the field. The round was eventually declared unwinnable by either side and declared a draw.

 

During a more traditional lunch time speed round (single elimination, teams of 5v5), Langly single handily owned the field for two rounds landing all 5 tags for two rounds consecutively against two groups of super stock teams.

 

So in a slightly more traditional engagement a single skilled modern NIC nerfer can absolutely dominate a team of super stock nerfers. But if we were compairing classic NIC vs super stock, I think the ROF of the current LiPo'd blasters might grant the edge over the slow long game of the speedloaded/crayola barreld blasters of '06-'11.

After a little research, i found the cheap movable walls i've been thinking of had already been written up by Captin Slug, and named Mobsticles. The slight differences being the material and wall height. I'm thinking of using weed fabric. it's shorter, and comes on a long roll. We'll see how it works out. Though i do like his shower curtain ring idea. It would keep things from getting torn. Perhaps some day i'll come up with something that hasn't been done before....

Greetings all, for those who live in the Salt lake city area, or those who live close enough and are willing to travel, I'm putting another war together in the West Valley area.

When:
Saturday Sept 25
3:00 P.M.

Where:
6680 W Bridle Farms Rd (3940 S) West Valley, Ut.
Google map it if you don't know where it is.

Eye protection will be required if any guns are modified further than AR removals. (which i really hope happens. My PAS needs some maintenance, but should be working by then, so bring some just in case.

It's a small neighborhood park, and sees little use. It's also kind of new, so there is little cover apart from the play ground, so I'm going to be working on developing cheap and quick, removable walls to throw up as cover. If it seems beneficial, I'll write it up.

As far as guns and darts, just be smart about it, no exposed metal or excessively weighted steffans, or anything that is ridiculously over powered (enough to cause injury and such)

Thanks, and i hope to see a good showing, feel free to e-mail me, and post replies if you think you might be able to make it.

Shmmee

I would come, but I moved a couple years ago. Oh well. and I thought there weren't any nerfers in Utah!

That's too bad, but that is the current feel of it so far. I've only met one other Utahn on Nerfhaven so far, but we're slowly building up a group out here. I keep posting the wars for visitors, and any Utah members I haven't met yet.

I'll make sure There's an active Nerfing community in Utah, even if I have to build it myself.

This months post will be much the same as Aprils (though time has changed):

Location: my house -front and back yard in West Valley UT, (a suburb of Salt Lake City). The lot is about a quarter acre, and oddly round shaped with a house in the middle. During the winter the battles have been inside (split level, it's worked well--a decent backup in case of rain). E-mail me if your interested and I'll reply with the address.

When: Saturday May 15, 2010, 12:00 P.M. till ??:??

What to bring: Eye protection! It's required. Also a primary, a secondary weapon, and anyone else who would like to come play, (I do have quite a few loaners if they don't have any guns). A sack lunch might also be wise.

What not to bring: Bad attitudes, Cussin' and Swearin'. It might be a unique request, but kids will be present, and that's just not something I like at my house. Also, don't plan on using any guns that can exceed 100' flat, or anything else that might I may deem unsafe. You can bring them to show off your mad modding skills, but bring a backup too, just in case. I'm still toying with the 100' limit because I've never been shot with anything that could exceed 100'. All Stefan's must have some sort of padding on the tip (nothing harder than hot glue).

A gun hit counts as out, we haven't tried implementing barrel tapping, and there are some local games and variations we like to play. We'll get everyone briefed before a game starts.

If you are under 18 years of age, let me know and I'll attach a liability waver for your parents to sign. (per the request of my ever-so-patient wife). If your an adult, expect to sign one when you arrive. I've also prepaired a war primer discussing our local rules and games.


Now that I've established a small local group, I'm hoping to expand it to a group of regulars big enough to move to a park for the monthly wars.


I Hope to see some new faces here-
Thanks,
Shmmee

Thanks Nerfhaven! I've been contacted by at least one other nerfhaven member interested in attending.

Something has come up, this war has been canceled. Much apologies!

We'll just have to look forward to Novembers war. (Either nov 20, or 27)

This war is canceled! Sorry it's only a weeks notice. PM/e-mail me if you wanted to come, to the west valley wars and i don't have your e-mail added to my nerfers contact list. The next monthly war will likely be held inside my house. (being cold and all...) I'm still open to a modders party for Friday the 22, I just haven't heard from anybody yet.

Greetings all,

Thanks for your attendance at Augusts nerf war. It was among the most well attended wars I've hosted. I was especially excited to see a few faces from NerfHaven! It really made all the planning worth while I was really starting to worry about a modding community in Utah. I can't wait for your validations to come through, so you can post replies, and i won't feel like I'm talking away unnoticed... and ignored... in an empty room..... (not a jab at the moderators, Seriously, thanks for all you do. It's just taken a bit of time to get actual modders attending instead of the normal set of locals who don't even own their their own gun.)

Anyway...

This months war is being set for:

Saturday, October 23, 2010
3:00 pm

If the weather is plesant it will be held at:

6680 W Bridle Farms Rd (3940 S) West Valley, Ut.
Google map it if you don't know where it is. It's the same park that Augusts war was held.

If weather is not plesant it will be held inside my house (address noted in the parent participation form. I don't want to post it online. If you would like to attend at either venue, e-mail me, and i'll be happy to reply with the waver (don't bother if your parents have already signed it.) It has also helpfull things like our local rules and games.).

So prep for both far shooting field running, and couch warfare.
Standard safety rules apply concerning eye protection.

I am also planning on putting together a modders party for friday Oct. 22 (the day before) probably around 6 or 7 pm. Time and date is completely negotiable as there will be fewer attending. If you can't attend the mod party, e-mail me and we'll try to come up with a time that works for everyone. This will be an event more strongly geared to the NerfHaven folk (those thems who actually own their own frekin' guns and are daring enough to open them.) Basically just a chance to show off what you have modded, and geek out /think tank about future projects. I know i've got a few ideas on the table to discuss.


Thanks, I hope to see just as many there this month!
I'd like to get a head count going. Who can make it to either events? (E-mail me a reply if you're still waiting on validation)

~Shmmee

Ha! My first post; (I was hoping it was going to be about a homemade high capacity drum clip I've been working on, but it's not functional yet).

I've been hosting Nerf wars monthly since Dec, and flinging foam for almost 20 years (i still have the Arrow Storm I got for my 8th birthday), but this is the first one I'm going to be advertising with Nerf haven. I usually get about a dozen people to show, ages 7 to 30, so I'm sure you'll be able to find someone close to your age. It should be a good time.

Location: my house -front and back yard in West Valley UT, (a suburb of Salt Lake City). The lot is about a quarter acre, and oddly round shaped with a house in the middle. During the winter the battles have been inside (split level, it's worked well--a decent backup in case of rain). E-mail me if your interested and I'll reply with the address.

When: Saturday April 17, 2010, 10:00 A.M. till ??:??

What to bring: Eye protection! It's required. Also a primary, a secondary weapon, and anyone else who would like to come play, (I do have quite a few loaners if they don't have any guns). A sack lunch might also be wise.

What not to bring: Bad attitudes, Cussin' and Swearin'. It might be a unique request, but kids will be present, and that's just not something I like at my house. Also, don't plan on using any guns that can exceed 100' flat, or anything else that might I may deem unsafe. You can bring them to show off your mad modding skills, but bring a backup too, just in case. I'm still toying with the 100' limit because I've never been shot with anything that could exceed 100'. All Stefan's must have some sort of padding on the tip (nothing harder than hot glue).

A gun hit counts as out, we haven't tried implementing barrel tapping, and there are some local games and variations we like to play. We'll get everyone briefed before a game starts.

If you are under 18 years of age, let me know and I'll attach a liability waver for your parents to sign. (per the request of my ever-so-patient wife). If your an adult, expect to sign one when you arrive.


Now that I've established a small local group, I'm hoping to expand it to a group of regulars big enough to move to a park for the monthly wars.

I Hope to see some new faces here-
Thanks,
Shmmee

In my noobier days I loaned an ar and locks removed raider to an even noobier nerfer. Naturally they double primed and stuffed a down the back of the barrel and into the PT. Instead of flagging me for help the kept trying to run it and eventually realized that if they push really, really hard they could get it to catch. When it got back to me and I noticed the difficulty, i took it apart. That was the flattest dart i've ever seen.

 

I've also had a dart fold in half inside of a cpvc barrel. Still not sure how that was physically possible.

Thrilled with the new changes. Especially the photo loading. Theirs so many classic write ups that had been limited to text only since photo hosting accounts laps and die. 

 

Thanks for all the hard work and attention you guys (the moderators) give to this site. 

Pardon the insultingly obvious questions, but they needs to be asked.

 

Are you using fresh batteries?

Is the belt loaded in the proper direction with the nerf logo facing up?

Is the belt door completely and firmly closed? Theirs a switch inside the belt door that will prevent it from activating without a belt properly loaded. Try removing the belt, and reaching in to depress the pressure plate on the belt door with your finger and see if that gets things spinning.

 

Vulcan's are notoriously finicky and prone to breakage. The more common problems are stripped gears from people ripping the belts out instead of opening the door first, but even with a stripped gear, it would still clunk it's way into attempting to rotate the belt. A completely dead vulcan could hint at a bound gear, or serious electrical problem. An unresponsive trigger? Ick. That sounds like something is either broken or in desperate need of lubrication. Start with the easy and obvious first. Best of luck.

It's probably toast. Vulcan's are notoriously prone to gear stripping.

Abstract modding essentials: zip ties, e tape, e putty...and especially duct tape!

Was there any organization or objective to the game play, or just a bunch of young adults running around shooting each other?

It's my own personal experience that when ever a group that large of casual nerfers gather - the result is lawless chaos and inconsequential shooting.

When I made my batch, I actually tried a few with oogoo, but found it too annoying to squeeze out of the bag. Maybe I'll try those. As to your performance problem, are you sure it wasn't a problem with the weight of the darts? That was my main problem. Even though I didn't really get enough silicone in any of mine, I can't imagine that the little air bubble at the bottom could double the weight to 0.8g. Maybe the scale I was using was off. Or maybe I just need to drill deeper.

Dunno what you mean, they're definitely VANS. Kane said so.

Using the triangular pointy bag really helps to fill from the bottom of the hole, out. Well worth a trip to the baking aisle.
20 darts weighed 16g =.8g per dart. They still feel light though, and I think the filling process has bulged the tip - changing my barrel fit.

When Kane posted them to Nhq, he called them CANS. When he posted them to Nrev he called them BANS, On NH - Kane called them VANS.

When Soloz1 asked about the discrepancy on Nrev he replied: "They are definitely BANS."

When Chyner asked about the discrepancy on NH he replied: "They are definitely VANS"

Nobody asked about the multi-forum names on NHQ, but he probably would of told them they are definitely called CANS...

I love the concept. Its absolutely brilliant! An elegantly simple solution to a challenging problem, but the name games are driving me crazy.

That hole actually looks very nice, and I like the idea of a ball-shaped bit. A smaller one might be able to create an overhang so that the goo need not actually grip the foam.


Your speed is impressive to me. Was the tube the kind that goes in a caulk gun or a toothpaste dispenser?

The blue rubber darts also fired fine out of hoppers most of the time with no felt, but I found the level of pain at point blank on my hand to be unreasonable. My blaster may have been more powerful or my goo harder than yours. The blue stuff is certainly harder than most caulking silicone without cornstarch.

The tube was actually a disposable icing bag - picture a wedge shaped Ziploc bag, fill it with the silicone caulk and a level spoon ful of corn starch, twist the back of the bag, to lock the contents in and kneed till mixed, then clip the tip and twist more to put the contents in the bag under pressure so only a little added pressure squeezes out the oogoo. The fine tip really helps to fill from the bottom of the hole up to avoid air bubbles. Twist the back of the bag as needed to keep the pressure up.

Once done, just throw the bag away.


And... the bag in use - Conveniently, my wife needed to frost cupcakes when I got home from work! Ignore the little plastic/ metal tip, you don't need that.


Mixing about 4" (guessing - I'll check the tube when I get home) of caulk from the caulk tube (mark the plunger location before you start) with one table spoon of corn starch gives you about an hour of working time, (so make sure everything is set up before hand) and gives you cured silicone that's about as firm as a gum drop.

I just wish they performed better. In retrospect the filling process could of forced out the thin retaining wall of the fbr, giving a tighter than normal dart fit - and my crappy ranges. Perhaps a gentle squeeze to the uncured tip would be more beneficial than a bb.

I tried my hand at these last week, and I learned some stuff that may be helpful.

I made a dremel hole drilling jig:

Remove the outer half of the dremel attachment - keep the threaded nipple,add e-tape to your cpvc till it's a tight fit and insert fully into the nipple (till it's in as deep as it can go - you don't want it to shift further down while the dremel is running - it may expose the cutting bit to your fingers)! You must use the 5/16" football shaped high speed cutting bit (bit #124). The cylinder bit doesn't work. Cut access tabs out of the side of the cpvc - make absolutely sure the tabs do not drop below the level of the bit (for obvious safety reasons!) and WRENCH TIGHTEN THE BIT IN PLACE!



Hole depth consistency is by inserting the blank till it's level with the top of the cpvc guide tube.


Tune hole depth by raising and lowering the cutting bit.

I was able to hole out a dart every 2 seconds with this jig. It does need some tuning as many of my holes were slightly off center. Run your dremel at high speeds, and insert the dart somewhat slowly to lessen this problem.

I used a wire cookie cooling rack as a dart holder:

With the wire spaced at 1/2" apart, it held a ton of darts - no modding required.

I made a trial batch of 10 darts with hot glue, and 5mm & 10mm pom poms (for padding). 9/10 of them fishtailed wildly and only went 35'.

I made the next batch out of oogoo (silicone caulk (use the cheap $3 tube from Walmart) and a little bit of corn starch to speed the cure time from a week, to over night)and mixed in a bakers "icing bag". It's a triangular plastic bag used for piping icing. It worked marvelously well and was able to fill the 150 darts shown above in about an hour. They flew ok, but are probably a little light (5/16" wide x 1/2" deep hole in 1.5" steffans). They were hitting about 20' fewer than the few gumdrop darts I had left. I did not have any hopper misfeeds the entire day - not even from the darts without a felt pad. (plenty of problems with the warm sun softening the bow arms on my marshmallow cross bow and reducing the power though) Nobody noted or complained about a pain difference between darts with the felt disc, and darts without. If a good soft mixture of oogoo is used, the felt pad may not be necessary.

The downside to oogoo - the stench of curing silicone. Work in the garage or some other place away from people.

I know the main goal of this build is to produce metal free darts (it's a goal and passion I share), but I may try dropping a bb or other metal weight down the hole in the next batch I produce to see if I can get more than a sad 60' of range.

Over all these darts were incredibly quick and easy to make - all with cheap materials locally accessible.

One point of confusion though - they are "definitely called VANS", unless they are on Nrev - where they are "definitely called BANS"... Is there any hope of gaining some consistency between the two sites - least they start being referred to as -ANS?

Its called the Flatline Barrel System. Ive seen it used at a paintball game and he was outranging everything and its shorter than my 22" barrel. I know rivals have a velocity cap due to low mass but Id assume they'd accept some of the same characteristics. I want to see what I can make with heated pvc to mimick the flatline barrel. It gives a weird flight pattern where it curves down and essentially magnus effects back upward. Its not a pop shot but its consistent enough to shoot around trees so its fairly useful. 140-2__59317.1444332281.500.659.jpg

I've heard of an old pipe fitters trick i've been meaning to try someday. If you pack a tube full of sand you can heat and bend it without collapsing the tube I.D. I've been meaning to try it with cpvc to make a choppered feed tube but it might work with your DIY flatline barrel as well. Though, to be honest, I really don't understand how the droopy barrel is supposed to help with range.

Edit:Didn't realize you were talking about that little one.

I have the Jet though so here are pictures of that blaster NIB in this album.

There is no sign of the little blaster on the box advertisement.

Wow. That... wow. I really would of expected to see a mention of it on box art - especially since the rest of the air tech line is being promoted on there.

Does anyone remember these as some sort of promotional item? Like a happy meal toy, cereal box top mail away - or bundled with the main air tech squadron blaster in a limited edition pack?

I bought some vintage nerf from an online classifieds ad and the lady was kind enough to give me the broken/ non working blasters along with the purchased ones. There were a couple of gems in that dysfunctional pile - namely a complete air tech jet squadron blaster complete with tail and 5 jets. The fifth jet was a puzzle until I found a little blue air pump blaster (also broken) with "do not modify jets or jet launcher" and a 2002 copyright (same year as the tech jet squadron blaster). Dots connected and I realized it must be part of the air tech sonic jet line.



I posted a brag pic to facebook and Bob O'Bob instantly hit on the little blue launcher as unfamiliar/ undocumented territory. After A little more googling I learned there was not an Air jet Tech "line". The squadron blaster was the only documented blaster released that fires the "sonic jets", making this little guy a complete puzzle.(according to orange's nerf page and nerf wiki, and every other resource I could find)




Has anyone ever encountered one of these before? Can you offer a name or even confirm that it actually is part of the air tech jet product line? The squadron blaster barrel pegs have a unique ridge along the top (and only the top) of the pegs. I'll check to see if this has that same ridge.

It doesn't work. It feels like the pump is pushing unrestricted air so either the o-ring is gone, a tube is blown or disconnected, or the tank is ruptured. There are two glued collars so I probably won't be able to open it without destroying it.

As soon as I get a better picture of the stampings I plan on asking the fine folks at Nerf if they can shed any light on the mystery - blaster name, how long it was available for sale, units sold ect. Any thoughts or knowledge from you guys would be appreciated. I've already asked the seller to check with her son to see if he remembers anything about it.

*Edit corrected pictures. I initially had 3 identical pictures.

If you follow CaptainSlugs advice to harvest the valve stem off of a bike inner tube, remember to unscrew and remove the internal valve from the stem so it doesn't decrease your air flow and then warm the vinyl tubing up a little (to help it to stretch over the valve stem) and put a light coating of epoxy or plumbers goop on the valve stem before stuffing the vinyl tubing over for the final time. Add a double looped zip tie over the tubing or a worm gear pipe clamp (but I prefer to double loop a zip tie- less bulk)) and you should be good to go.