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dARts - Now hopperable!

an iteration of silicone-headed darts.

19 replies to this topic

#1 mysterio

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Posted 19 March 2012 - 12:39 AM

Finished product first

Posted Image

Its pretty much the lovechild of VANS and Gumdrop darts. Creds to the makers of both.

Materials needed:

1/4"-ish drillbit
Low viscosity Silicone "RTV" [available at dollar stores, auto parts section]
Foam blanks
Corn starch
Plastic Bag
Maverick AR

Take your foam blank. Drill a hole in it by hand about 1/2" deep.

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Set it aside, and grab your plastic bag. Place cornstarch and silicone inside, mix for your density [more cornstarch=more eraser-like] I went with maximum cornstarch, so it ended up being clay-like. It should be squishy, not dry.

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[Thanks shmee]

Now lop off a corner, and squeeze into molds.

"But molds are hard to make and expensive, mysterio! How do you expect us to make them?"

Not to worry, the solution has been found.

Behold, a maverick AR!

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Fill it with the oogoo-ish clay, and it should look like this

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Smooth it out with a round object, with a rolling pin motion. Wait about half a day/overnight for it to cure

Pop it out of the mold by pushing through the hole with a blunt object

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Now take your foam blank, and fill it with the raw silicone. Place head stem-side in, and wait a day.

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You're done!

Silicone I used

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Several different molds

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Mold on the right has less cornstarch, is shinier and will have more rubber-ish qualities.

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EDIT: Ranges Using a MDET (as per Taerkitty's writeup) and a 5 inch CPVC barrel.

1/4" Slingshot
75'
72'
79'

dARt
70'
69'
75'

Single BB Domes
65'
60'
63'

2 BB Domes
67'
65'
66'

3 BB Domes
70'
45' (Bad dart, fishtailed)
72'

Oogoo
65'
68'
62'

Taggers:
50'
60'
55'

Questions, Comments, Flames?

Edited by mysterio, 23 March 2012 - 08:24 PM.

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If two powerful is a problem then just go with one powerful. I guess this style of hopper will work even beyond three powerful..


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#2 andtheherois

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Posted 19 March 2012 - 01:02 AM

This is cool, but it seems like it would take a long time to do, especially for those of us who long abandoned mavs and other such blasters. What's the feedability through hoppers? Ranges compared to other darts? Durability?
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#3 soloz1

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Posted 19 March 2012 - 01:23 AM

What's the feedability through hoppers? Ranges compared to other darts? Durability?

I second all questions.
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#4 Langley

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Posted 19 March 2012 - 02:12 AM

Why is the foam flared out near the dart tip? Is that an issue with all of them or just the one you photographed?
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#5 Ambience 327

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Posted 19 March 2012 - 05:48 AM

My guess would be the hole he drilled wasn't quite as big as the "stem" of the head. If so, the problem is easy to fix - make a slightly larger hole.
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#6 ChaosPropel

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Posted 19 March 2012 - 05:56 AM

Very interesting Mysterio. I plan on making a simply jig for these heads tonight out of some polyethylene cutting board that I have, since I already have plenty of materials for oogoo.
How well is the head bonded to the foam? Have you tried a "rip" test on the darts to see how easy it is to tear out?

Also, to make these feed in hoppers, could a raw mcmaster adhesive backed felt pad be applied to the front? Would the sticky side stick to the sili? If not, would silicone bond to that side? If so, the pad could just be placed on when making the molded heads.

Edited by ChaosPropel, 19 March 2012 - 06:00 AM.

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#7 mysterio

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Posted 19 March 2012 - 08:33 PM

In order:

Yup, this is mostly for people who have the materials on hand/noobs like me.

Have not tested, but with a full sili head [no cornstarch] its pretty crappy. Should be the same for these

Ranges from the dome-ish design outperform my single BB domes coming out of my UMB


Just the one I photographed. Screwed it up.


The stem is really tiny. I just squished the foam a bit near the middle.


Very well.

Yep, its about as hard as ripping hot glue out, if not a bit harder, cause its stretchy

Yea, just like oogoos. I dont have any felt, but the one time I did it stuck on and never came off.
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If two powerful is a problem then just go with one powerful. I guess this style of hopper will work even beyond three powerful..


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#8 KoRnEd

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Posted 19 March 2012 - 10:27 PM

Fired these out of my 12" 17/32 brass hoppered Pumpsnap and they feeding flying fine. They have the same range as 3bb domes, and a little less than 1/4" slingshot domes, but hurt a lot less. The ones mixed with oogoo seem to hold up as well, if not better than hot glue domes (fired these into concrete, and held up pretty well)
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#9 arfink

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Posted 20 March 2012 - 11:18 AM

I should try this out. I like how the AR produces a stem, that's actually pretty nice, and it would be easy to reproduce in a cutting-board mold.
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#10 shmmee

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Posted 20 March 2012 - 01:12 PM

Cool. It's a vindication for those of us who save everything - just because it might be useful some day.

I didn't see it covered (sorry if I missed it) but how much does each completed dart weigh? Gumdrops are light weights at only .5g. I wish they were a little heavier - though they can still break 100' with a powerful enough blaster.

I can see challenges when it comes to mass producing them - unless you have 3 or 4 rf 20s with ar s to harvest, it would take a lot of mavs to produce a couple hundred darts for a war. Regardless though, its a great use for a much hated part. Kudos!
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#11 mysterio

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Posted 20 March 2012 - 01:34 PM

Due to the sili "tail" inside the foam, they weigh a bit more than gumdrops, depending on how deep you drill the hole. The darts are about the same as 2-3 bb darts, but I havent found time to weigh the heads alone.

Definitely. RF-20s actually dont use these, but the molds could easily be reproduced by using 2 different drillbits in cutting board.
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If two powerful is a problem then just go with one powerful. I guess this style of hopper will work even beyond three powerful..


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#12 mysterio

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Posted 21 March 2012 - 07:28 PM

Weights for the darts are about one gram, with the two darts I tested being 1.02 and 1.18 grams. To put some perspective, the gumdrop dart I weighed was .57 grams, and the single BB dome was .71 grams.
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If two powerful is a problem then just go with one powerful. I guess this style of hopper will work even beyond three powerful..


15:46 *** Buff is now known as TheGdiddler
15:51 TheGdiddler I'M GONNA GRAPE YOU"

#13 KoRnEd

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Posted 21 March 2012 - 11:18 PM

After testing these at school with a myriad of darts, Mysterio and I have the following results:

Using a MDET (as per Taerkitty's writeup) and a 5 inch CPVC barrel.

1/4" Slingshot
75'
72'
79'

dARt
70'
69'
75'

Single BB Domes
65'
60'
63'

2 BB Domes
67'
65'
66'

3 BB Domes
70'
45' (Bad dart, fishtailed)
72'

Oogoo
65'
68'
62'

Taggers:
50'
60'
55'

Edit: Mysterio would also like to state that the above weight measurements are correct to the nearest .01 gram.

Edited by KoRnEd, 21 March 2012 - 11:19 PM.

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20:07 tiredKitty living in NYC, you could spend a lot of time in Chinatown and only speak the mother tongue
20:07 tiredKitty Not a good idea, btw.

I have identified the problem: "maverick"


#14 mysterio

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Posted 23 March 2012 - 08:22 PM

Gonna consolidate all of the information above into the OP

Also, these darts hopper! At least with Korned's hopper today.
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If two powerful is a problem then just go with one powerful. I guess this style of hopper will work even beyond three powerful..


15:46 *** Buff is now known as TheGdiddler
15:51 TheGdiddler I'M GONNA GRAPE YOU"

#15 KoRnEd

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Posted 28 March 2012 - 04:31 PM

Just to confirm everything Mysterio has said: Yes, these do hopper. Out of a 17/32 brass barrel and a cpvc barrel. Also, I shot them at the cement from point blank and it took more than 50 shots out of my PAS. They tend to bounce a lot. Like, 50% velocity off of the cement.
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20:07 tiredKitty living in NYC, you could spend a lot of time in Chinatown and only speak the mother tongue
20:07 tiredKitty Not a good idea, btw.

I have identified the problem: "maverick"


#16 snakerbot

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Posted 28 March 2012 - 05:08 PM

How viscous is the silicone rtv? If you filled it up over the top of the dart like how glue domes are done, would it spill everywhere, stay in whatever shape it happened to be, or form a dome like hot glue does?
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#17 mysterio

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Posted 28 March 2012 - 10:31 PM

To clarify, he means 50 shots to dislodge the head from the foam. Takes a bead of sili to secure it back on.

EDIT: Didnt see snakerbots post. I use the low viscosity stuff, but if you filled a hole with low vis, and then used general purpose up top to form a dome, it should work. Go test it out!

Edited by mysterio, 28 March 2012 - 10:33 PM.

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If two powerful is a problem then just go with one powerful. I guess this style of hopper will work even beyond three powerful..


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#18 KoRnEd

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Posted 14 April 2012 - 12:39 AM


Here's a video of the darts hoppering.
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20:07 tiredKitty living in NYC, you could spend a lot of time in Chinatown and only speak the mother tongue
20:07 tiredKitty Not a good idea, btw.

I have identified the problem: "maverick"


#19 ChaosPropel

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Posted 14 April 2012 - 06:46 AM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjWIPlV2vks
Here's a video of the darts hoppering.

Do they feed without having to shake the blaster, or point it down? 'cause you did both in the vid. How about with cpvc barrels?
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#20 mysterio

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Posted 14 April 2012 - 11:29 AM

Do they feed without having to shake the blaster, or point it down? 'cause you did both in the vid. How about with cpvc barrels?


One of them was the "lite" dart, not quite as heavy as the other two. Didn't fall down.
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If two powerful is a problem then just go with one powerful. I guess this style of hopper will work even beyond three powerful..


15:46 *** Buff is now known as TheGdiddler
15:51 TheGdiddler I'M GONNA GRAPE YOU"


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