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#362972 Koosh Vortex

Posted by shmmee on 01 May 2018 - 10:40 AM in General Nerf

I'm the only person, to my knowledge, who is designing and printing rings.  I wasn't going to release the design until I was happy with the performance, though.  Stock rings are quite floppy.  I've tried about fifteen different iterations, so far.  I can get original range, but the magnus effect causes them to always hook to the right.  By the time they hit the ground, it is up to about ten feet from the straight line.

You've got a heck of a head start on me then. I'll still be trying to design my own but if you need a beta tester I'd be happy to help. I've got a couple of vortex blasters lined up for purchase from a local collector - a tornado bow and a tornado x2 (pistol). Maybe they'll behave differently on a different blaster. 

 

Have you ever tried printing in TPU? That should check that floppy requirement. I've been looking for an excuse to buy some for a while. I think my printer will need a minor mod or two before it'll accept it though. Do the rings hook consistently? It'd take a little more practice but that could be a helpful trait if you're trying to tag someone hiding behind partial cover. 




#362949 Koosh Vortex

Posted by shmmee on 25 April 2018 - 09:04 AM in General Nerf

 

I have a few of both sizes, but I'm more interested in finding a blaster to fire them than selling the rings. I'm sure I'm not the only one here with rings.

 

 

The Power Strike can fire both sizes of ring, and I've heard the rings on Amazon are the same size as the small vortex rings. I cannot personally confirm that though.

I'm lacking both rings and a blaster, but I'd like to try designing my own 3d printable rings. I'll share the file once I have them made. Snakerbot, would you mind grabbing some dimensions for me? I'll need ID, OD, length and weight. It would also help to know where the airfoil peaks on the length so I can try to capture the same aerodynamics. How rigid are the rings? are they rubbery or stiff? Blasters that fire the larger diameter ring seem to be slightly more common, but the print will easily scale to make the smaller rings if you can give me their ID as well. 




#362948 Koosh Vortex

Posted by shmmee on 25 April 2018 - 08:41 AM in General Nerf

3d printing a ring was mentioned and I was intriuged. I gave thingiverse a quick check but it didn't come up with any .stl's for a vortex ring. Has anyone seen a file for them? I might try to track down a classic vortex blaster if I could print my own ammo for it. 

 

I did find this though:

https://www.thingive...om/thing:514335

 

it's a throwable air foil ring. While not specific to koosh It should be possible to scale it down to fit a vortex blaster. 




#362732 Upgraded Air Cannon Design - W.W.A.C. 2.0

Posted by shmmee on 14 March 2018 - 08:30 AM in Homemades

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. attachicon.gif140-2__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.




#362611 Slingfire reassembly

Posted by shmmee on 21 February 2018 - 10:02 AM in General Nerf

I've been into almost every nerf blaster I've owned and with more than 20 years of nerf modding experience - the slingfire claims the title as the only blaster I've been unable to get put back together. I don't know what kind of witchcraft Hasbro puts into these things on the assembly line but once opened they refuse to be re-closed and function properly. Good luck. I gave mine to the 3 year old in a ceremony of disgraceful banishment.




#362534 (WIP / DESIGN) Homemade SplitFire.

Posted by shmmee on 12 February 2018 - 04:15 PM in Homemades

This pump is among the best I've found for nerfy uses. 16", steel and chromed and less than $10 (with amazon prime shipping). You can chop the hose and attach a quick connect fitting to adapt to standard tubing... It'd probably fill both tanks in a single stroke.

Amazon AISN: 

  • B000M4D6D2  Pump $8.25

Other useful air fittings...

B0747NSJT2 5 pack of quick connect check valves (elbow) $7.99 (fill both tanks at once, one tank wont drain into an empty tank)

B01LXEC9R3 20 pack of assorted quick connect fittings (including a few y's - stupid handy to have around if you're building air blasters. $9.99 (you could probably get by with a single Tee from your local hardware store for a few bucks instead though)

I've got some maker geeks translucent green filament at home. That shell would look gorgeous printed in that. I am hoping you're willing to tweak the file to run off of a single pump though. It really makes the function of it all so much easier when you don't have to worry about which tank is empty which pump to use when it's time to re-prime.




#362528 Scepter operating PSI

Posted by shmmee on 12 February 2018 - 11:26 AM in Modifications

Does anyone know what kind of PSI the Battlemax bladder puts out? By banding an RF20 bladder with two layers of bike inner tube, I have only been able to get it up to about 50 PSI, and I need more.




#362527 WIP Tripple strike overhaul

Posted by shmmee on 12 February 2018 - 11:13 AM in Modifications

IMG_20180205_203537.jpg IMG_20180205_204633.jpg IMG_20180205_212629.jpg IMG_20180209_220620.jpg IMG_20180209_223819.jpg IMG_20180209_223844.jpg IMG_20180209_224058.jpg IMG_20180209_224124.jpg

 

... 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.




#362524 "Cascading Compressed Air" Design for a modular repeating barr

Posted by shmmee on 12 February 2018 - 09:33 AM in Darts and Barrels

The only thing I've ever done conceptualizing of, but never developed that is close to this, was having two hopper tubes that had a two way valve that could be alternated between the two tube magazines. Maybe there's a way of applying this electronically and having a motor switch over a panel that exposes the two tubes individually?

Mechanically, it sounds very much like the internals of a Razor Fin (derpy max force pistol, 2 barrels, over sized jolt firing mech, spines pop up when shot). It has a wheel  with holes in it plumbed between the plunger tube and barrels. The wheel increments with each trigger pull so air is alternated between right and left barrels. It's not as intelligent as a smart AR system. It doesn't care if theirs a dart loaded in the barrel receiving air, but it's also not AR dependent so it could work with longer barrels and more power behind it.




#362493 Accufake darts

Posted by shmmee on 07 February 2018 - 05:15 PM in Darts and Barrels

Are there any accufakes out there with heads just a bit smaller than the foam? With a .5" head pushing through cpvc accufakes are hardly viable due to barrel drag. I've been looking for the best full length, cpvc friendly, soft impact darts possible (we have kids playing along with the adults in our super stock group). I've had very little luck finding anything decent. Men Gun darts are ok, but they've been tough to find lately too.




#362453 Computer Vision Accuracy Measurement Software

Posted by shmmee on 02 February 2018 - 10:31 AM in General Nerf

Even though the math, science and technical level is well above my experience level, at least I can google. Here's some ground work discussion already laid by others...

 

https://forum.sparkf...hp?f=14&t=24738

 

https://electronics....ection-position

 

https://playground.a...n/Triangulation

 

https://en.wikipedia...i/Trilateration




#362444 Weirdest mechanical failures you've ever had?

Posted by shmmee on 01 February 2018 - 02:32 PM in Modifications

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.




#362434 Computer Vision Accuracy Measurement Software

Posted by shmmee on 31 January 2018 - 04:34 PM in General Nerf

I should have clarified, when I was talking about differentiating air sound from board sound, I was talking about sound of dart hitting board travelling through air vs. sound of dart hitting board travelling through board. Not sound of blaster vs. sound of dart impact, those two spike will be miles away at the scale we are considering. If your SOS through the board is close to that through air, you are going to have real problems differentiating the two unless the peaks of the spikes are sufficiently different i.e. different volume.

 

What I'm advocating is measuring sound of dart hitting the board through air with a sufficiently high SOS board material.

 

Ah, Thanks for clarifying. That makes a lot more sense. I guess I'm so hardwired into the theory of ultrasonic properties, that i had somehow forgotten that sound still travels through air at a constant and measurable rate, and that a dart hitting a board makes a significant sound. It would definitely be easier to go with the much slower velocities of air conduction rather than overhauling hardware for ultrasonic speeds. Measuring through air would also let us pick up the sound of the blaster firing to establish dart speed and drag if we wanted to get the extra data. 




#362432 Computer Vision Accuracy Measurement Software

Posted by shmmee on 31 January 2018 - 10:18 AM in General Nerf

We should probably be just as picky about the shape of the board as the material. It's a rough sketch, but if we have something like this, we might be able to tune the shape of the board so reflected sound waves are only hitting the probes once and most of the secondary waves are either reflected away from the probes, or are absorbed behind the probes.

 

 

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#362431 Computer Vision Accuracy Measurement Software

Posted by shmmee on 31 January 2018 - 09:57 AM in General Nerf

Here's the sound velocities chart from the inside of my clipboard. Obviously, it's not complete but might be helpful as a point of reference for some ball park values. For this project we should probably be looking for slower values, but not so slow that we loose too much volume due to attenuation. I'm attaching it just to show how wildly values can change between materials. And because it's geeky cool. It's always surprised me how much variation there is between materials - and even between metals.

 

Base line: sound traveling through air: only 343 meters per second. Wacky, but sound travels through solids waaaay faster than through air. Hopefully this is still within the realm of an arduino.

 

Of the values listed, Plexiglas might be our best bet with a pretty reasonable 2800 meters per second. I'm still curious about the viability of MDF/pressboard/dry erase board (because of cost) but theirs a very real chance that the pressed construction of the material might fail to transmit sound at a reasonable distance. Plexiglas is also tempting because epoxy resin is also 2800 meters per second. The identical transmission speed should be crazy helpful getting sound from the board into the probes. The bigger the difference in transmission speeds, the more loss there is as it passes through boundaries.

 

In respects of differentiating between a pulse from the blaster firing to the dart hitting the board, it's not something we will probably have to worry about. As sound is passed from air into a medium most of it is reflected back instead of being absorbed into the part. Even with ultrasonic couplant (a specialized jelly with the viscosity of snot - which also works as a couplant (it was cold, i ran out of couplant, had 2 readings left and was NOT going to climb back to the top of that 85' tower!) only 11% of the energy from an ultrasonic transducer actually makes it into the test subject and the other 89% is reflected back into the transducer. We should be able to do much better with an acoustic driver like a nerf dart smacking into a target and shouldn't have to worry at all about the board picking up the sound of the baster firing. Though, holy crap that would be cool if we could! With a carefully measured distance from the blaster to the target, if the board could "hear" the blaster firing, we could use that initial pulse to establish a chronographed measurement of the dart and establish dart drag - without a 4th listening element wired up to the blaster! In all honesty, I think we'll have more trouble with picking up multiple instances of the initial sound wave bouncing back and forth within the sheet  than external interference like ambient noise or blasters firing. 

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#362424 Computer Vision Accuracy Measurement Software

Posted by shmmee on 30 January 2018 - 03:15 PM in General Nerf

Visual tracking has a whole other host of complications. The camera has to be able to recognize and follow the dart, the accuracy would be limited by frame rate and recognition.

 

Theirs another direction I'd like to suggest for this problem. Acoustic emission and Ultrasonic time of flight.

 

I work in NDT (non destructive testing) and specific technologies exists to track the active progression of cracking and erosion in pressure vessels is Acoustic emission. It basically involves epoxying multiple microphones onto a surface and listening for the object to make noise and then triangulating the location of the noise by recording the time it took between each microphone to pick it up. I'm told the industry was pushing the technology pretty hard in the late 90's but it never really took off because it was so specific in it's use. You had to know a crack was present before you would bother listening for it. Acoustic emmision is a spin off of Ultrasonic testing. Ultrasonic testing uses a transmitter to induce an ultra sonic sound into the wall of a part and times how long it takes for that signal to travel to the end of the wall and bounce back to the transmitter. It can measure thicknesses down to the .001" of an inch and is widely used in the industry today. (especially in the medical industry). 

 

Instead of a complicated video set up, maybe 3 microphones and some slick programming can duplicate the same result? If professionals can "listen" to a crack growing in a vessel, maybe we can track and plot the location of a thud on a dry erase board with a few piezo electric elements? Heck, we could even add a fourth element onto a blaster barrel attachment and pull a fps by knowing the distance between the blaster and the white board and timing the travel between the first thud (blaster firing) and second thud (dart hitting the board). Knowing the actual time of flight between barrel and board would also measure dart drag. Most of our chrony values are measured at the barrel (where we can reliably hit the chrony window), which is great for grading a blaster, but poor for grading a dart. Knowing time of dart flight would introduce a whole new way to grade actual and specific dart performance beyond accuracy. 

 

Such a set up could even keep up with blasters in full auto mode and plot data instantly. 

 

Sound travels through different materials at different speeds so there would need to be some calibrating involved, but that would be as simple as "thudding" the board next to one microphone and carefully measuring the distance and time to another mic. Once we establish that sound travels [x] fps in what ever material is being used, the rest is programming and math. 

 

Sound waves also bounce inside solid materials so there might need to be some sensitivity adjustments or sound deadening channels behind each microphone as well. 

 

Edit: : Might be needing to use trilateration (not triangulation) since trilateration also involves distances from known reference points. Wikipedia refference:

https://en.wikipedia...i/Trilateration




#362314 THIS one simple design will have you in TEARS...

Posted by shmmee on 23 January 2018 - 11:33 AM in Homemades

late af to this but, were constant force springs mentioned instead of rubber bands? I think those work pretty well, based on the "Milan Mags/Swordfish Mags" 

also I cry that this thing hasn't been further developed as it looks really cool 

Bob O'Bob (if memory serves) once posted a write up on another site (years and years ago) where he used constant force springs curling up into a half circumference of brass to lift a follower. The tail simply ran to the top of the mag and snuggled up against the darts. It's an idea that has stuck with me since it could double the capacity of a 3" wide mag by splitting the mag into two chambers for two columns of half length darts. So, random thought, why not just cut a stock mag in half and print a flat back to stick onto the stock mag? You'd get two mags by sacrificing one stock mag (and what nerfer doesn't have a pile of useless 6 round mags to experiment with? Granted, the printed mags do look beautiful. I've never taken apart a "retract-a-badge" so I don't know what diameter they curl up into, but they may be a cheap and easy source of a doner constant force spring.

 

At the very least, the rubber-bands will have a limited lifespan and travel length in comparison to a CF spring. Less foam crushing power too.




#361999 What are your fave advancements in the hobby since '06?

Posted by shmmee on 21 November 2017 - 09:51 AM in General Nerf

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.




#361901 Simple mods for people without screwdrivers

Posted by shmmee on 06 November 2017 - 10:35 AM in Modifications

I'm sorry to bother you guys over some thing stupid but i forgot how to create a new post.

First make sure you're logged in. Second, go to the forum you'd like to post in. The "start new post" is a big black button on the upper right.




#361888 Gun show case

Posted by shmmee on 02 November 2017 - 05:03 PM in Modifications

Don't get discouraged. I think this is more of a "know your audience" situation. We're pretty familiar with what's out there as far as blasters go and are usually more focused on the finer details of altering the mechanics or aesthetics of a blaster. I approach Nerfhaven from the perspective of social media =highschool (maybe) & NH=college. Theirs less fluff and opinion. There's more polish and refinement. 

 

If you find yourself lurking through the much older pages you may notice that things were a little more lax and conversational around here, but the current established feel follows the model of a research paper. That split happened at about the same time the verbal/thought vomit that is social media came about. People started taking their opinions elsewhere, but kept the core knowledge continued to be deposited here. It's a semi accidental distinction, but it works.  

Keep it informative, keep it detailed, keep it on topic. Save the fluff for the social media outlets, keep the more substantial offerings for NH. Hopefully (as long as the photo hosting accounts stay active) the modifications on NH will be around in an easily searchable format for future generations of nerfers to pull up and follow. Social media doesn't offer that stability. Theirs a depth of coverage and an ease of finding here that can't be found elsewhere. A completed and well documented write-up is definitely appreciated. Solid grammar is appreciated (you're good there btw). Opinions, concepts or "what-if's..." not so much. 

 

Keep posting, but post with intent and with long term value in mind. Weigh your submissions by asking "will it matter in a year?" . Your "modding without tools" topic followed a pretty significant challenge and some good semi-forgotten approaches came out of it. It's a thread that future new nerfers might find useful. Again, don't get discouraged. It's a different purpose and format from what you're probably familiar with.  




#361849 Worst Mods/Paint Jobs You've Ever Done?

Posted by shmmee on 25 October 2017 - 09:43 AM in Modifications

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. 

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#361843 Simple mods for people without screwdrivers

Posted by shmmee on 25 October 2017 - 08:18 AM in Modifications

Well never mind the nite finder. I have the best un modded gun. It's that gun I rubber banded without them. I'll do the nite finder another time. I'm going to upload the gun I mentioned. https://mail.google....p=emb&zw&atsh=1copy and paste it if you want to see.

I dont think that image share worked. I think that's a link to your gmail account which we are all unable to access (and rightfully so). You can upload pics directly in your posts by clicking the little image icon in the reply or edit window. If you simply want to share your work (without expecting discussion and feedback to follow) you can share your mods here:

 

http://nerfhaven.com/forums/topic/5250-modification-and-paintjob-pictures/page-1 




#361786 Simple mods for people without screwdrivers

Posted by shmmee on 19 October 2017 - 08:56 AM in Modifications

When you do get a screw driver it might need a little further tuning. Most of the micro screw drivers I've seen are still too pointy to fully engage nerf screws - which strips the heads instead of turns them. You'll need a hand file, sand paper or even a small patch of semi-smooth concrete. Remove a screw and sand/file down the tip of the screw driver until the nerf screw can sit on it without wobbling around. The flares on the screwdriver tip needs to reach all the way out to the edges of the screw head.

 

A good screw driver is the single most important tool a modder can have. It sucks to be so limited now, I hope you're able to figure it out. Maybe if you can convince your dad to "help" you mod, you'll be allowed to use his tools under his supervision and find a father/son bonding activity (or better yet - he'll get you your own tools so you don't have to use his! Heck, my 6 year old has his own tool box full of real steel tools and he keeps them together and in great condition. (harbor freight ftw!)))

 

Sadly, I can't think of a single significantly effective mod that doesn't start with opening a blaster up to get at it's internals. Scratch that. You can go old school and "band" some blasters. You can run bungees or rubber bands from the barrel to the pull rings of nitefinders/firestrikes/messangers... (pistols with an exposed pull ring). That'll let you significantly increase the power to the plunger head without even opening up the blaster. Just make sure the right and left bands are pulling evenly on the ring or you'll loose power / break your priming rod. If you add too much pull, the additional force will over power the catch spring so you'll still have a limit there.




#361730 JSPB B&B mini-hopper

Posted by shmmee on 09 October 2017 - 10:47 AM in Homemades

 

I intend to use rubber band as a rotating power, pre-winding idea,this will be easier than pressing the trigger.

 

It has been released for some time and can be found in the free models

The retractable keychains (not the lanyard ones) have a decent constant force spring in them and several feet of fine chain. It should be more than adequate to index the turret.

 

Thank you SOOOO much for the hopper cap! I thought I'd checked your page. It looks like i simply missed that section. I'm beyond grateful! 




#361715 What would you people consider the rarest blasters or attachments?

Posted by shmmee on 04 October 2017 - 08:31 AM in General Nerf

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

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#361712 JSPB B&B mini-hopper

Posted by shmmee on 03 October 2017 - 11:56 AM in Homemades

As always, I'm blown away by your work! I can understand keeping the B B files for your self - you deserve to profit off of that much work. There is one aspect that i'm especially interested in - the flip top hopper feed cap. Is that one you might consider releasing the files for? I've been searching for the files for a working printable cap for ages! My RSCB'd panther would just look ridiculous with the standard 1/4 turn valves on the back so I've been using a normal PVC end cap.




#361711 What would you people consider the rarest blasters or attachments?

Posted by shmmee on 03 October 2017 - 11:05 AM in General Nerf

thunderstrike20_box.jpg

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.




#361678 What would you people consider the rarest blasters or attachments?

Posted by shmmee on 28 September 2017 - 11:39 AM in General Nerf

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. 




#361583 ITT: Post your favorite Vintage blasters

Posted by shmmee on 13 September 2017 - 02:16 PM in General Nerf

As stupid and senseless as it may be, I've got to throw my vote to the rip saw. It's inaccurate, it's loud, it needs to constantly be rev'd to maintain range... but it's also nerf's first true semi auto and it feels oddly comfortable in this strange new world of screaming lipo'd flywheel blasters. I just can't help but giggle as i run around with one, and the elation after the rare occasion I land a tag is tough to beat.




#361440 Awfuls round blasters

Posted by shmmee on 30 August 2017 - 11:21 AM in General Nerf

I love my rip saw so much that i'll even run it in non awfuls rounds. 

 

The best lemon i'd ever seen used was an overhauled NF. The trigger catch broke so he had to fire it by slapping it on the side of the blaster. It definitely broke the awfuls range cap but it was such a hilarious handicap we let him run it anyway.




#361167 Slimeball Gobzooka

Posted by shmmee on 02 August 2017 - 08:34 AM in Modifications

Wow, thanks for the heads up on this Aydensnake! Time to stock up before they get pulled or neutered. That has some amazing potential. It'd be fun to put an aggressively sized absolver on this thing or rebarrel it for missiles - or just coupler the thing so either can be thrown on there. This might just become my new favorite integration fodder. 

 

Penguin, my local target shows them as in stock and on the shelf in utah, USA so hopefully Australia follows quickly. 




#361105 Sling Fire DX400

Posted by shmmee on 27 July 2017 - 10:26 AM in General Nerf

Hey, before you sell them off would you mind opening one and taking some internal pics?




#361096 Homemade airgun trigger

Posted by shmmee on 26 July 2017 - 08:38 AM in Homemades

If you're willing to consider using a back pressure style of tank (panther, xbz, big salvo, hornet...) you should be able to modify a shcrader valve stem from a bicycle tire inner-tube. simply pushing in the pin will vent the fill line to the tank and fire the tank. The threads on the valve stem might be useful for mounting the valve and you could also cut out some of the thread wall to guide a trigger bar over the schrader valve. You can also stretch some vinyl tubing over the back of the valve if you warm up the tubing first with a hair dryer (maybe), heat gun or carefully with a flame and double wrap a zip tie to seal it.

 

You might also want to consider the slightly less expensive MAVO-3. the cfm's are a little less but i've used them successfully on many of my air tank builds so they've proven sufficient for stock nerfy tanks (just keep the air line between the pump, trigger valve and air tank to a minimum. The shorter that line is, the faster it can vent and the sharper the tank's air release will be.

 

I don't know if the mjvo-3 will shut off the inlet before back venting the outlet but the mavo-3's will - which means they can be used to make a true semi auto. (they won't vent off your reserve tank with each trigger pull.)

 

https://www.amazon.c...keywords=mavo-3




#360821 Armageddon XVIII: SoCal's Largest NIC War (6/24/17) NOW RECAPPING

Posted by shmmee on 28 June 2017 - 12:05 PM in Nerf Wars

 

Oh man, I feel bad laughing about it, but this is a great description. I'm so sorry, I saw that second one start to curve in flight and my eyes got wide and there was nothing I could do because you were frozen and couldn't get out of the way. Every once in a while, an Artifact gets a mind of its own and decides to go on an adventure. I accidentally hit a teammate of mine in the back during one of the last rounds, I managed to hit Ryan's blaster at about two hundred feet purely by chance via a corkscrewing dart, and I hit Zorn in the shoulder while he was taking photos because a dart decided it would rather dive-bomb him instead of continue on the arc on which it was shot.

Ha, ha. Don't stress it. The artifact dart gut shots and the zing bow crotch shot was probably just karma balancing out my cosmic ledger after my own carpe confusion.

 

...and i'm definitely using that playing card team picking method at my family reunion this weekend.




#360818 Armageddon XVIII: SoCal's Largest NIC War (6/24/17) NOW RECAPPING

Posted by shmmee on 28 June 2017 - 10:15 AM in Nerf Wars

It was a great war! I was so thrilled to have been able to make the trip out again - even though it was a last minute, poorly prepaired mad dash of a decision. 

 

Pros:

*Watching Langly quietly eliminating every single member of a 5 man team for two speed rounds in a row. He picked us all off with brutal precision and I can honestly say that it was the most beautiful display of nerfing i'd ever witnessed - even though i was on the opposing team both times.

*My cell phone holster acting as a codpiece against cannonballs zing arrow. Thank the nerfy gods that my holster was on the front of my belt! It was one of those situations where I could trace the flightpath, time froze and I knew there wasn't a dang thing I could do to change the outcome (besides squealing like a little girl as i braced for impact). Sometimes ya just get lucky.

*getting two tags with my gas station suction cup-on-a-stick shooter pistol.

*All of my blasters functioning for the entire time! That's a 'geddon first for me.

*Great rounds and fantastic organization. The playing card distribution was absolutely brilliant!!! It made deciding teams as smooth as butter. So many variations to pick from. red backs vs blue backs, suits, colors, numbers vs royalty... awesome. We were all able to keep the same card the entire day and teams changed fluidly and quickly.

*Thrifting a cool hat that actually fit my giant noggin. No nerfs found, but i've been looking for a non-ball cap hat for ages.

*Aggressively running my buzz saw during the final round of 3-15. Didn't get any tags, but team-dartsweep for the win!

*The face cards vs numbers round of freeze tag. Numbers had so many more players but team face card had most of the high powered and most experienced nerfers. It just balanced out beautifully. It was like a plauge of ants fighting a few grasshoppers. 

*Catching a pre war dinner with Bags and picking up a few more ballistic balls, a weird Tyco double barrel shotgun and a high quality hand crafted wand from the kindness of him and his shop. You're a class act Baghead. 

*Only two welts - both from Zeke, both were gut shots straight to the belly button. The second was intended for the guy running up behind me to tag me back in but his blaster is cursed with a sadistic spirit that grows stronger as it feeds on pain so it opted to drop one welt right on top of the previous one instead targeting the guy behind me. It was  great moment, A great painful moment but a great moment none the less.

 

Cons:

*Forgetting my team colors had changed during the first round of carpe and spending the first half of the round railing my own team mates with my a a bow. I am so, so, so sorry! Carpe has always confused me. Im not sure why, Its a semi simple game but the strategy of it just goes all to crap in my head once the Adrenalin of nerfing gets mixed in. That was not a proud moment for me and I felt like an absolute noob-doofus for the rest of the morning. I am ashamed and I really can't apologize enough.

*$4.50 a gal gas and a communal urinal fountain trough at a Philips 66 gas station outside of Barstow. I've never seen so much nope in a single gas station. 




#360710 Another dart door

Posted by shmmee on 22 June 2017 - 10:38 AM in Homemades

It's a heck of a necro but with a semi relevant update and request for advice...

 

Intro: this dart door seals by trapping a dart in the entry way - sacrificing your very last dart as a plug. The dart trap is formed by two flaps placed over the passage darts are loaded into - kind of like a heart valve.

 

I printed one last night as part of a panicked last minute preparation for 'geddon. The instructions called for a .03" rubber sheet but I could only find .06" sheets locally. With that predicament in mind I tried a few alternatives on my RSCB'd panther...

 

.06 thick rubber - Could only get a dart through if only one flap was installed, but it was a tough dart crushing maneuver.

Craft foam - dart flew out the back and shot myself in the face.

Craft foam with packing tape to stiffen and reduce loading friction - same result.

.06 split leather (very supple) - couldn't load dart

single layer of latex glove (the thicker dish washing glove - not the thinner blue disposable ones) - dart ejected out the back again.

Folded layer of latex glove (Folds meeting in middle) Darts were loadable and stayed put when fired. I haven't war tested it but that might be a viable option if you're having trouble sourcing the .03" thick sheet. 

 

 

Does anyone else have any ideas where .03" ish might be locally sourced or harvested from?  or have any thoughts for other dart flap materials that might be worth testing? If carefully crafted the .06" rubber flaps actually formed an air tight seal when the dart was pushed through. The folded latex glove flaps are still a little sketchy. I've got some licorice sitting on my desk. It's packaged in some very thick Mylar. I think I'll try that tonight.

 

Also, is anyone aware of any other dart door-ish options? I've got the traditional flapper dart door but again with .06 rubber its hard to load.

 

 

So, theoretical question... if a nerfers RSCB ejects a dart out the back and he shoots himself... is he out?




#360676 nerf club help

Posted by shmmee on 20 June 2017 - 02:43 PM in General Nerf

Firstly, if you want to collect some money charge a nominal fee, like $5 per war or maybe like $20 monthly membership. To get more people invite friends to join. Tell them to tell their friends to join too.

In a thread from last month, Shmmee commented about a Wyoming nerf group that registered as a non-profit.

 

You may wish to look into this.

 

My thoughts on charging your friends money... do that and you'll soon have fewer friends nerfing. However, if you present it as a "dart rental fee" and forking over a few small bills suddenly becomes more palatable - but not untill you have a dozen regulars and you start going through darts like mad. Don't do a "monthly fee". You'll be chasing your active and inactive players down for to pay their dues and that becomes tiresome on both sides. Having a basic dart rental fee will bring a little cash from those who are actively taxing your resources, and if they bring their own darts and blasters, they aren't taxing your resources (unless you had to pay for a venue). 

 

Once you establish your group, look into registering as a non profit or a not-for-profit. I'm not exactly sure what the difference is but registering as either of these two and suddenly any donations from local businesses become a tax write off for them. As Lasagna mentioned, the Wyoming group adjacent to me has absolutely exploded in membership after registering. You'll also see more support from your local parks department since non-profits can get cheap insurance, and the parks departments might not let you book a park for free unless you're insured. Being a non-profit legitimizes your group in a serious way. Granted, it will take a ton of time and energy to get the group going - and keep it going, but by the time your group starts getting big you'll know who your reliable regulars are and you can start sharing some of the duties with them.

 

As fun as NIC levels of blasters (like the crazy homemades found on our beloved nerfhaven) are, it's also limiting. You'll get more participation from the average nerfer if you have a more conservative range cap and ammo limitations (i.e. 120 fps & stock/ 3rd party full length darts only) so off the shelf and lightly modified blasters are more viable. Of course you can always have an "advanced war" with a higher cap when you want to break out the big guns and slugs.

 

Facebook is an incredible tool. It's free and every one uses it. Get yourself a group page, and then start getting your name out. Invite everyone. Ask everyone to invite everyone. Always schedule your wars several weeks in advance!!! If your community has any -con's (comic con, gaming con, kids con...) and you have a big enough armory (front loaders only - don't hand a mag fed blaster to an untrained noob. They'll only jam it up.) to arm everyone who might be playing, volunteer to run a free dart zone for the duration of the event (hang a banner with your groups fb page on it.) & get the -con group to pay for darts and safety glasses (go with cheap 3rd party darts and harbor freight glasses...) and have your next nerf war scheduled so you can invite the participants to your next event.




#360675 Dusting Off The Cobwebs

Posted by shmmee on 20 June 2017 - 02:07 PM in News

Spontaneity seems to play a big role in developing memorable game types here in Utah. One silly spark of an idea during a game of CTF came when someone wondered what would happen if there was only one flag. The game morphed into "deathball" where both teams are fighting for control over the single flag and are trying to push it into the opposing teams territory.

 

Another memorable moment occurred when one participant brought an inflatable t-rex suit to a war. An unforgettable game called "Tim is an invincible dinosaur with a marauder ax, run for your lives!" was born from that stroke of brilliance... I don't think that game type needs much explanation...

 

I guess my contribution to the discussion is that we shouldn't be so distracted with having structure and rules that you miss out on making the really memorable moments of an event.   

 

I've also appreciated So-Cal's speed round (where a line forms on a small field and 2 enter for 1v1 winner stays, then 2 go to take on the winning team, then 3 then 4...) it gives those who aren't loading up their dozen mags something quick and fun to focus on while the few heavy gunners mobilizes the communitys entire ammo bin into mags (of which they'll only empty 3 but whatevs)...




#360672 comparing chronograph results

Posted by shmmee on 20 June 2017 - 08:49 AM in General Nerf

If you're doubting your chrony why not test it against the calibrated standard of gravity? All falling things accelerate at 32.2 feet per second (minus drag) so why not drop something dense and smooth surfaced (like a marble, ball bearing or heck, even a roundish rock might work) from a measured distance and compare the measured speed with the calculated speed?

 

We (the collective NIC) might even want to develop and accept our own standard to test and compare our chronys for accuracy. It'd be as simple as "drop a dense roundish object through it from a measured distance of 4'.  "? That's a test all chrony owners can perform without having to ship anything anywhere.




#360569 Armageddon XVIII: SoCal's Largest NIC War (6/24/17) NOW RECAPPING

Posted by shmmee on 14 June 2017 - 09:53 AM in Nerf Wars

Screw it. I'm in! Jumping in a carpool as they pass through from Wyoming.