46 replies to this topic

[ahtanie]

**WARNING: PICTURE HEAVY!

Hello guys! Time for my 2nd write-up!
As you can see, this write-up is on the Nerf Splitfire.
It’s my favourite among all the Nerf blasters and it’s tonnes of fun.
I had the intention of doing this mod to it but decided to go with something new, less bulky and cleaner.
This was what I came up with.

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I’ll be going over 3 parts to this mod:
1) Rear-loading 2k turret Thanks to Ryan for his write-up
2) Integration of the turret to the Splitfire
3) Paintjob!

Things you will need:
1) Nerf Splitfire
2) Air Tech 2000 Turret
3) PETG and brass
4) Super glue and plumbers’ goop
5) Rubber washers
6) Dremel/hacksaw/power tools etc
7) E-tape
8) Wax paper

------------------------

And let’s begin!

Part 1: Turret


Step 1: Take your 2k turret and open her up.


Step 2: Remove stock barrels. I was lucky and didn’t have to use boiling water.


Step 3: Drill holes to fit your barrel material (I’ll be using PETG here)
In case you were wondering, I used a dremel for this. It takes patience and steady hands. It also helps that the outer walls fit PETG nicely. lol.


Step 4: Drill the same sized holes into the back piece of the turret in these positions.
*Keep the protruding thingy at the bottom of the turret (the part sticking out below the smaller crater below)


Step 5: This is what the original ‘rotation groove/mech’ thingy (in the middle) looks like.
Make it look like this; a more square-ish shape, as opposed to circle-ish


Step 6: Cut your barrel material. I used 6 inches which what I’ve read is ‘optimal’.


Step 7: If you’re painting your blaster (like me), you might want to do the paintjob first.
If not, proceed with this step. Goop the barrels into the turret. This is what Step 5 is for. As you can see the barrels are flush with the groove thingies, therefore you will have a problem with the rotation. If you cut down the thingy like I did, this will solve that problem.


Step 8: Super glue rubber washers onto turret, then sand the edges to get a larger ID. I don’t have a picture for this, so I illustrated it on Paint.




Step 9: Optional. In Ryan’s rear-loading 2k turret mod, he placed goop in the empty spaces. I skipped this. Instead, I left it empty. Basically the ID of the rubber washer is smaller than the diameter of the PETG, but the OD is larger. Something like this: therefore I didn’t really see the need gluing the empty spaces. (I hope this part isn’t confusing lol)

----- Part 1 complete -----

[ahtanie]

Part 2: Now onto the Splitfire!

Step 1: Take your Splitfire and open her up


Step 2: Remove barrels with hacksaw or whatever


Step 3: Cut out 2 pieces of ½’’ brass to use as a connector to the turret


Step 4: Attach these 2 pieces to the turret. I used super glue followed by plumbers’ goop. Here you can see why ½’’ brass or smaller is necessary. Anything larger and the spring will get in the way.


Step 5: Insert PETG and 17/32s into the base. This part could have been done very differently (if I had used different connector pieces), however keep in mind that the inner most piece of tubing has to be ½’’ in OD or smaller.


Step 6: This part is pretty cool. Goop your turret (now with the connector piece attached) into the base of the tank. I placed goop on the inside, followed by the outside. What’s so cool? They fit PERFECTLY. Well ok almost perfectly, it’s probably off by about 1mm, but that’s probably due to error of my free-hand drilling of holes into the back of the 2k turret. Also if you want to paint it, it’s best to paint it before doing this.


Step 7: Shell accommodation. ***Cut along here. This was my first measurement which I cut along. However, I cut it further down a little more when I realised I could place the turret closer to the tank to lessen dead space.




Step 8: Rear-loading slot!




Step 9: Plug pump and lube it up. Picture taken from Falcon, although one isn’t really needed.


Step 10: Once all pieces are connected together, place epoxy at the base for more support, which was why I told you not to remove the nub in Step 4 of the Turret segment.


----- Part 2 complete -----

[ahtanie]

Part 3: PAINTJOB TIME!

I wanted to give it a Green Lantern colour schemed paintjob, since it was already green.
On the right side of the shell, there is a space where it would be awesome to place the insignia.
I’ll be showing you guys the technique I’ve been using to achieve clean, precise and very specific paintjobs.

Step 1: Print out your desired picture/wording etc.
Step 2: Take out your wax paper. I used Subway paper!
Step 3: Paste painters’ tape on it. Any tape should work fine.
Step 4: Cut out your picture, and tape the sides of it on top of your tape.


Step 5: Cut out! And there you have it, a Green Lantern sticker template to paste! You can do this with basically anything else.

Here are some examples:




Step 6: Elimination of non-Green Lantern elements. No more yellow ‘N’!


Step 7: No more orange internals!


Step 8: Sand it down and tape inner parts of the right side of the shell to prevent paint from getting on the inside (if you’re using spray paint).


Step 9: Paste Green Lantern sticker. (I forgot about this HAHA so I took nail polish remover and cleared the gray away and pasted it on as you will see in the next step).


Step 10: Base coat of gray


Step 11: Black coat.


Step 12: Place everything back in its shell.
Last look at internals:



Assemble the pieces together, and you’re doneee!








I have not range tested it but with 10 pumps, I’m estimating 75-80ft.
It’s more than you will ever need for a secondary.
It has an awesome rate of fire and you won’t need to carry a ramrod anymore!

Thoughts:
- Looks more Ben 10-ish than Green Lantern. LOL.
- Not worth doing.
- Though it only took me a span of 2-3 days to finish, it wasn’t really worth the effort. Haha.
- It was fun doing, but became demoralising at times. Sometimes I wished I had just gooped in 2x6’’ PETG barrels and closed her up.
- In the end, I think it turned out awesome!

Thanks for looking through.
Hope you enjoyed it!

Before I go, here's a video!

Edited by ahtanie, 13 July 2010 - 08:47 AM.

[jakejagan]

Wow, amazing. I love how you kept what is good about it and just improved it.

[Hippopotamus]

It's so clean, and considering that you can reload it with the turn of a turret, it must be an excellent blaster!

[Blue]

Can't say I like the pj, but the fact you pulled off a rear loading 2k turret is quite impressive. I would recommend you get some sort of ramp to make the loading easier, it looked very awkward in the video.

[TantumBull]

Oh my god this is SO fucking awesome. EXCELLENT work. I just love pretty much everything about this blaster. Gah, that's so cool how everything lines up like that. Absolutely love it.
/nerdgasm

Edit: And the PJ is awesome. So what, there's black paint on one side. Still very sharp and clean.

Edited by TantumBull, 20 June 2010 - 02:33 PM.

[ahtanie]

Blue, on Jun 20 2010, 10:51 AM, said:

Can't say I like the pj, but the fact you pulled off a rear loading 2k turret is quite impressive. I would recommend you get some sort of ramp to make the loading easier, it looked very awkward in the video.

Yea I thought of doing that, but it would be quite steep, which might actually hinder the entry of the dart.
Extending the track would be ideal, but I didn't want to remove the screw port. Haha

TantumBull, on Jun 20 2010, 11:30 AM, said:

Oh my god this is SO fucking awesome. EXCELLENT work. I just love pretty much everything about this blaster. Gah, that's so cool how everything lines up like that. Absolutely love it.
/nerdgasm

Edit: And the PJ is awesome. So what, there's black paint on one side. Still very sharp and clean.

Thanks. The black was to go along with the Green Lantern colour scheme.

Thanks jake and hippo!

[Zorns Lemma]

Smart integration of the 2k turret since you're not going to need more than 2 sets of simultaneous shots on the SF anyways. I can't say I like the rear-loading however since you'd have to rotate twice just to load up for one volley; ramrodding is probably actually faster in this situation...

[JATDO]

I really like this mod. I like how you took an existing mod and put your own twist on to it.
And its mega clean.
Good work!

[Ryan201821]

Not much to say, but I love it. Looks awesome. Great work.

[Prince Valor]

Go figure right after I get done talking to my dad about a green lantern paint job some one goes and does it already. Nice work can't wait to see more.

Edited by Prince Valor, 20 June 2010 - 05:34 PM.

[billyblue888]

At first I thought you were going to put a turret on each barrel but I like this better. Zorn is right though, I'd end up only loading one dart and think I messed something up.

[Daniel Beaver]

Crazy that everything lines up that well. Very clean looking, and seems functional to boot. Dual-turret Splitfires always seemed a bit overkill to me, and this design strikes a nice balance.

[Nerf Bros]

Wow, that's nice! I had the idea to do that to a splitfire once, but I never did it before I traded it.

[ahtanie]

Prince Valor, on Jun 20 2010, 02:34 PM, said:

Go figure right after I get done talking to my dad about a green lantern paint job some one goes and does it already. Nice work can't wait to see more.

Haha I still think it looks rather Ben 10-ish. Use a darker/deeper green for yours!

@Zorn & billyblue: Well I guess something similar applies to a rear-loading sm1500. Seeing how you must rotate it twice to shoot compared to just ramrodding a dart into the bottom barrel.

@Ryan, Beaver, JATDO, Nerf Bros: Thanks guys.

[TantumBull]

Nerf Bros, on Jun 20 2010, 06:18 PM, said:

Wow, that's nice! I had the idea to do that to a splitfire once, but I never did it before I traded it.

Who cares. You didn't follow through, and the fact that you thought up such an awesome and practical mod, and then didn't actually execute seems pretty damn questionable to me.

Don't steal this guy's thunder. PM me if you gots beef. I posted this here because so many people do this, and it drives me crazy.

Edited by TantumBull, 20 June 2010 - 09:02 PM.

[taerKitty]

TantumBull, on Jun 20 2010, 07:01 PM, said:

Don't steal this guy's thunder. PM me if you gots beef. I posted this here because so many people do this, and it drives me crazy.

Aye-fuckin'-men. There are so many shitheads here that are just looking to first-post on someone's hard-wrought mod, just to say, "yeah, someone's done that before." I want to shake them and say, "STFU and go mod something if you're jealous." Bah. Enough about those idiots.

Ahtanie, that's amazing - it's clean, smooth, and well done. If this is a secondary, then two salvos will be all someone needs. If it's a primary, then the wielder will still have two salvos.

Personally, I think it's very clean that the two barrels match the SFire's so well, but I wouldn't have noticed that ever. Great job!

[minsc]

Very nice clean modification. Like others have said, a guide may make it easier to load darts. I was thinking you could go the traditional route of a half pipe of your barrel material, or perhaps trying some styrene sheet that Popatachi is so fond of, if you wanted to try to make a slanted piece. He did some pretty impressive fabrication using that stuff on his doomsayer.

As far as loading, it seems pretty logical to me. I'd shoot once, turn the turret a quarter turn and shoot again, then load all four.

Your painting write up was also more useful than some of the others I've read exclusively for painting. Nice work.

Edit: Maybe put some white accents on the black? It might help with the Green Lantern effect.

Edited by minsc, 20 June 2010 - 10:22 PM.

[dizzyduck]

I've been looking for something to do with my Splitfire sitting here collecting dust in my apartment, and I just may have found it. Very clean and the walkthrough was very well-written. Nice work.

[Zorns Lemma]

ahtanie, on Jun 20 2010, 08:57 PM, said:

@Zorn & billyblue: Well I guess something similar applies to a rear-loading sm1500. Seeing how you must rotate it twice to shoot compared to just ramrodding a dart into the bottom barrel.

But a SM1500 you only shoot one dart at a time so you'll always have a dart ready to be rotated into firing position if you're disciplined about reloading around pumping time.

Still, the fact that you got a rear loading 2k turret working, and then fit it so nicely into a SF shell is pretty impressive.

[taerKitty]

minsc, on Jun 20 2010, 08:19 PM, said:

Maybe put some white accents on the black? It might help with the Green Lantern effect.

Or add an LED?

[moosa]

I think using a turret on a Splitfire in this manner is very clever... I've never seen something like that before, though that may just be me. Awesome work.

I'm having a hard time understanding why you keep saying it's not worth doing.

[Zack the Mack]

That's a hell of a mod, nice job! I wonder why no one's thought of this yet - SplitFires and 2K's have been popular for a decade...

Anyways, I've got a Splitfire and I'd love to rip this off, so now all I need is a 2K turret!

[ahtanie]

TantumBull, on Jun 20 2010, 06:01 PM, said:

Nerf Bros, on Jun 20 2010, 06:18 PM, said:

Wow, that's nice! I had the idea to do that to a splitfire once, but I never did it before I traded it.

Who cares. You didn't follow through, and the fact that you thought up such an awesome and practical mod, and then didn't actually execute seems pretty damn questionable to me.

Don't steal this guy's thunder. PM me if you gots beef. I posted this here because so many people do this, and it drives me crazy.

Haha yea it used to drive me crazy as well, guess I've gotten used to it.

minsc, on Jun 20 2010, 07:19 PM, said:

Edit: Maybe put some white accents on the black? It might help with the Green Lantern effect.

Wanted to that originally, but after I was done with the black, I was too lazy. Haha.

taerKitty, on Jun 20 2010, 11:08 PM, said:

minsc, on Jun 20 2010, 08:19 PM, said:

Maybe put some white accents on the black? It might help with the Green Lantern effect.

Or add an LED?

I've done a few LED additions already, kinda bored of it now. Haha.

moosa, on Jun 21 2010, 01:47 AM, said:

I think using a turret on a Splitfire in this manner is very clever... I've never seen something like that before, though that may just be me. Awesome work.

I'm having a hard time understanding why you keep saying it's not worth doing.

I said it's not worth doing because the typical barrel replacement + pump plugged mod just takes 10minutes lol.

Zack the Mack, on Jun 21 2010, 05:36 AM, said:

That's a hell of a mod, nice job! I wonder why no one's thought of this yet - SplitFires and 2K's have been popular for a decade...

Anyways, I've got a Splitfire and I'd love to rip this off, so now all I need is a 2K turret!

Yea and it's really awesome that they line up so nicely. Haha.

@Dizzy: Thanks!