First I completely gutted the Manta Ray, handle and all. All I kept was the shell. Next I epoxied and hot glued the pump tube from one of the Big Salvo to the underside of the shell close to the hand hole. Then, after adding various length CPVC barrels to each of the four blast chambers, I epoxied and hot glued three of the blast chambers side by side next to the pump shaft and the fourth went on the underside of the middle tank. I ran the tubing so the gun fires from the inside out and then the bottom barrel last. The barrels are intentionally angled slightly inward to maximize accuracy (after much experimentation). I did the same to the other side and then began to tackle adding a handle. (Oh yeah, to make sure the barrels weren't pointing downward I dremelled off the lip that runs around the gun on the parts where the barrels portruded). After experimenting with various handles I decided that CPVC was the most comfortable. I tried gluing it in place, but it wasn't stable enough so I drilled a hole in it and put a thick zip-tie through it and the shell. That and the glue seemed to do the job well. Lastly I had to find a way to extend the triggers. That was no walk in the park. I took a hand size trigger (squeezed by four fingers) from a REALLY old NERF gun and cut into two parts, one for my index finger and one for my other three fingers (I like to hold the gun/shield in my left hand so I applied the triggers accordingly). Then I mounted the triggers on wooden dowells (using hot glue which has held remarkably well) and then mounted brass tubing (I think it was somewhere around 3/8") onto the underside of the gun to act as guide rails for the trigger system. I then cut off the Big Salvo triggers to the point where the spring attaches and attached the wooden dowell to that post (I kept the spring on the trigger and put the rod inside it which allowed for some flexibility). That sounds pretty complicated, so here's a pic of the underside of the gun:
I wanted to name the gun something that made reference to the number of barrels. Eventually I came up with the name aracnophobia and painted the gun accordingly. Here's a pic of the gun, black, with the pump handles extended:
I then made a paper template and added a red spider to each side. Here's the finished product:
A picture of the gun in hand:
And there you have it! Eight barrels striking fear into my opponents twice a month in Southeastern Idaho!
Since taking these pictures I have repainted it (if you look closely you can see why) so the shell is red and the spiders are black; the barrels and pumps are still black. It looks a lot better. When I get my camera working (or get a new camera) I will post more pics.
