28 replies to this topic

[Boot]

As usual, if you are just looking for pretty pictures (and this time they are pretty, not just PVC scraps) scroll down.

Many of my projects occur inadvertently when I am getting things for my major creations. I hate waste, and with some parts from a hornet I needed the valve from (Another hint ) I got to thinking exactly how small I could make a blaster, while still maintaining power.

So, I took the smallest shell I could find, and stuffed a full air tank system in it complete with pump and trigger (duh...).

Please note, this blaster is by no means supposed to be practical. It is still pretty funny to pull out an eliminator and hit my friend with his BBBB from 80 feet away

Pretty pictures start now!



At first glance it looks like I had some sort of a brain hemorrhage and stuck a ridiculously long barrel on an eliminator. Besides that... it looks fairly stock.





At second and third glance... It still looks like a ridiculous faux barrel on a rather underpowered little toy.

What's special however, is what's under the hood.



Although not as clean as some of the amazing work on this site, it's all packed pretty tightly. A hornet tank and valve, as well as a cut down pump that is of the same dimensions as a hornet pump, just about 1/3 as long (this is my standard pump as will be seen in my next few topics, taken from a very cheap water pistol costing the equivalent of $3 a piece. The pump is essentially a "decrapified" hornet pump. it is of the same diameter, delivering the same volume of air, but the lack of an OPRV, and overly long pump means it is about half the length).

Unlike my projects so far, and projects to come, there is not much to describe about this blaster besides its inherent ridiculousness. It's only interesting feature (in terms of construction) is the trigger setup.



It utilizes a ramp on the old trigger, lengthened with a strip of acrylic to engage the push button valve of the hornet tank.

For those actually attempting the mod (which is quite easy to do, but again, not very practical) butcher both halves of you're shell like so (except yours will be nicer. My continued lack of a dremel meant that I had to use pliers and a hacksaw for the entire process):



Then, just epoxy the tubes from the pump and tank into the hornet valve. The rest is really just trial and error, but once done this blaster feels incredibly sturdy. The trigger has a short and very consistent pull and requiring little force while the barrel, glued directly to the tank is incredibly sturdy and well supported. In my case I used some some acrylic tube which my barreling slides into as a smoother coupler:



A cool thing about this is that it also accepts Mega's without my normal barrel in it:



To make room for this simply sand out the original barrel support like so (this is part of what gives the blaster its structural integrity).

Edited by Boot, 11 January 2011 - 07:19 AM.

[Boot]

Some final touches for cleanliness and realism include cutting down the pump (which isn't required. Cutting it down makes it look more like an eliminator, but requires up to 12 pumps for priming, which is why I say this isn't practical), and adding a piece of the original plunger tube as a pump handle (I also reinforced my pump shaft, but that is not necessary with a higher quality pump). Then just hotglue (which in this case is plenty strong enough since there isn't any mechanical stress much of anywhere) everything in place, the hornet tank doesn't need any glue as it is supported entirely by the front barrel support.



Make sure to put the dart holder back in, because it adds to the effect, and holds a dart! (OMG NO RLY!?!)



(but remember to cut it down so it doesn't interfere with the hornet valve).

Loading on this is simple.

Put a dart in the acrylic:



Shove the barrel on:



and pump however many times (on my very short pump 12 pumps is needed for 90 foot ranges.

Some comparisons to the original:





and now, the peak of ridiculousness:



Yes, it does fire. A good 35 feet as a matter of fact! (I just love ammo that's bigger than the blaster itself )

Standard darts go about 90 feet (100+ angled, but we all know that doesn't count).

And now, the moment I hope you all have been waiting for... Videos!

Standard eliminator FOR COMPARISON

Tiny Tim.

And yes. The damage is severe, here's the box after being hit:



(ignore the stuff on the bottom left. That's from the next project )

Anyway, in the tradition of the Mirage writeup:

Say hello to Tiny Tim; lets hope you’re not in front of it when you do.

Also: Please let me know what you think of these write-ups. The projects get better and better (in my opinion), but if the write-ups aren't up to par let me know. Constructive criticism, and even flames welcome.

Edited by Boot, 15 October 2010 - 07:25 AM.

[blitz]

90 feet with a hornet tank? Damn!

Very nice, I wouldn't make one, but some of my fellow nerfers in VA might.

[Buffdaddy]

This is seriously one of the most amazing things I've ever seen, at least as far as blasters this size are concerned. It's ridiculous AND effective!

Anyone improving an Eliminator this much deserves major props. I want to build some of these now.

[SonReeceSonJensen]

and now, the peak of ridiculousness:

THIS is reason enough to do the mod: pulling a damn ARROW out of your pocket to level someone who rushes thinking you ran out of ammo would be priceless. I like the way your mind works, not limiting mods to one ammo type.

[Carbon]

I'm with SonReese...the fact that you can shoot an arrow with this setup is worth the price of admission alone. We've been playing games that use other ammo types around here, and having something that small that shoots an arrow that far would be way useful.

Also, mad props for pulling it off with just a hacksaw and a pliers.

[carlough]

Its...So... Beautiful....

I think I'm crying.....

But in all seriousness, that one of the coolest things I've seen in a while.

[polycarb]

I made something kind of like that, but with a LSFG handle. Anyway, I know that that kind of thing is awesome. Having a blaster that small with so much power is just win.

[Eh Watt]

Nice job, man! I really love tiny things with a big bang. 'Specially eliminators with similar systems to this. Now all you need to do is make a big brace of them. Pirate style! And of course, the Arrow shooting is friggin' ridiculous (in a good way).

Edited by Eh_Watt?, 15 October 2010 - 04:46 PM.

[Green Wing]

Great job! The fact that this thing can also shoot arrows is just awsome. Now I know what to do with some of my spare Hornet tanks...

Edited by Green Wing, 15 October 2010 - 05:17 PM.

[Boot]

90 feet with a hornet tank? Damn!

Yea, I was actually pretty surprised when I tried it out for the first time (after hearing about the 70' standard for these tanks) After looking into it though I think it's power comes down to two major issues. The first is that the setup is tiny. (Hence Tiny tim...) This means that there is very little dead-space between the release valve and the hornet tank making for a perfect release every time. The second factor is that, according to what I've calculated, the pressures in the tank seem to be unbelievably high. Since about 1 and a half pumps has the same volume as the hornet tank and valve, the 10-12 pumps would seem like it would bring it to 8 times atmosphere pressure, but I find that a little hard to believe .

This is seriously one of the most amazing things I've ever seen, at least as far as blasters this size are concerned. It's ridiculous AND effective!

Anyone improving an Eliminator this much deserves major props. I want to build some of these now.

Lol, thanks. It is quite fun to have an eliminator that outranges my friends Snap, and of course he never hears the end of it.

THIS is reason enough to do the mod: pulling a damn ARROW out of your pocket to level someone who rushes thinking you ran out of ammo would be priceless. I like the way your mind works, not limiting mods to one ammo type.

I'm with SonReese...the fact that you can shoot an arrow with this setup is worth the price of admission alone.
Also, mad props for pulling it off with just a hacksaw and a pliers.

Thanks a lot! I'm surprised at the interest in this, I never saw it as my "best work" before (of course there are 3 more writeups in my series of 7 ), it's funny because the missile was really an afterthought. I was pretty happy that it could accept both micros and megas, but the missile was more or less accidental.

Its...So... Beautiful....

I think I'm crying.....

But in all seriousness, that one of the coolest things I've seen in a while.

Wow! glad you like it so much. Just wait for my next few writeups , they may not be as clean, but I think they're pretty interesting.

I made something kind of like that, but with a LSFG handle. Anyway, I know that that kind of thing is awesome. Having a blaster that small with so much power is just win.

Nice! The main issue in this mod though was the eliminator shell. Trying to get everything inside and looking nice was a lot of trial and error...

Nice job, man! I really love tiny things with a big bang. 'Specially eliminators with similar systems to this. Now all you need to do is make a big brace of them. Pirate style! And of course, the Arrow shooting is friggin' ridiculous (in a good way).

hehheh, nice music video, I don't know what you mean by "big brace" but if you're talking multiple barrels you'll like my next project

Anyway thanks for all the feedback. I'm glad this was received as well as it was. Feel free to ask any questions etc.

Edited by Boot, 16 October 2010 - 07:17 PM.

[Banshee]

Holy Hell, I thought this was going to be a troll, and then I saw a hornet tank! Nice dude! thats threw me for a loop!

[SK8R]

Woa . You are one crazy modder.

[lionhawk]

Oh man, this is amazing. Doing this much to an eliminator is just plain awesome. Keep up the work!
EDIT:Do you think it is possible to create a much larger pump for it to be actually practical?

Edited by lionhawk, 19 October 2010 - 01:00 PM.

[NickBurp]

I NEED TO MAKE ONE NOW!!!! AAARRGGHH!!

[ArmyOfNone]

Yes, yes, and more yes!

This is exactly what I was looking for - not the blaster itself (though it's incredible and a landmark and should have its own holiday), but the pump system. I too am trying to fit a large amount of power into a small space for a project, but was going to use a singled SMDT pump instead - this looks a heckuva lot more efficient though!

So to make this, you'd need

- Hornet tank
- Hornet valve
- Pump from $3 water gun
- Cramped interior space

yes?

[Boot]

So to make this, you'd need

- Hornet tank
- Hornet valve
- Pump from $3 water gun
- Cramped interior space

Exactly, but it doesn't have to be a hornet valve / tank. With a slightly less cramped space, any back-pressure tank would work. If you have them, I highly recommend Big Salvo tanks. They aren't too expensive, and get seriously incredible ranges (they double the volume of SM1500 tanks). In terms of valves, the hornet blast valve is one of the best. It's large opening means that (provided you don't accidentally cover the opening with you're thumb) you get a perfect release every time. You also get three of them in a single hornet. Thats the great thing about hornets. They are so ridiculously complicated that you can make 3 or 4 separate blasters out of them (next writeup coming when I find the time ).

Good luck with you're build (and post pics when you're done)!

[KatanasPWN]

Could you take a better picture of the blast button part? like maybe remove it from its shell?

[k9turrent]

Since this is a relative gun....





Punches out 80ft with a crappy breech

[Boot]

Could you take a better picture of the blast button part? like maybe remove it from its shell?

Although I know this is a bit of a necro, as the OP I feel I should answer this in full. The blast button setup is very simple, and all there is to see is in the picture. The shell is cut as seen in the "butchering" picture, and the blast valve is simply a hornet blast valve with the two tubes from the pump and shell epoxied into the valve. Then the button is extended with a thumb tack.

Again K9turret, that is a very cool build. It looks like a sort of "big tim" or "scary tim", nice job scaling up this design! Also, your way of connecting the blast valve seems much more reliable. Props on building a homemade pump!

[Boot]

Sorry for the double post AND the necro

I promise I won't be making a habit of this, but just like I said in the "Eccentric" thread I've been revisiting some of these projects.

Sadly, Tiny tim started leaking recently and I'm just not in the mood to open it up and epoxy everything again (and poison myself some more).

Instead I set out to create a design that was MUCH simpler and easier to fabricate. The result was this:



I got an SSPB for christmas and, being completely horrified by it's range tried expanding it. The expansion leaked and so I gave up on it, but noticed a hornet tank in my parts bag. This blaster is literally an SSPB with a hornet tank (which I am absolutely sure has been done before, props to whoever did it first).

In this case however, the fabrication is what makes it neat. ANYONE can make one of these in 10 minutes. NO glue or adhesives are required. Only prefabricated parts and tape.

to assemble simply cut out a hornet tank, leaving about 1/3" of tubing on the end. Gently stretch the tubing with pliers. Then disassemble the SSPB, and cut the tank and barrel off leaving about 1/3 of the back of the tank on. Here is where the magic happens.



With some minor coaxing the tubing fits over the nub that the plunger in the original SSPB tank slid over. It is not impossible, but once on it is perfectly airtight, and should not come off.

Then just tape it as shown below, making sure nothing will dislodge the tubing, and cut the SSPB shell to fit:



Then just attach a barrel of your choice:



The greatest thing is that the plastic that secured the original hornet barrel is the same size as a dart (as it fit inside the original barrel material) so your barrel should fit over it too, creating an airtight seal.



(hopefully you see what I mean)

Then screw it all together and you're done!



And yes, of course I haven't lost my obsession with blasters smaller than the ammunition they fire.





But here is THE BEST THING about this build. The ranges are INSANE!

Remember, this is a standard hornet tank, but darts are sent well beyond the 90' mark that Tiny tim hit. I measured roughly 100' ranges for my washer weighted CDTS.

It takes about 22 pumps to fully prime, and there is absolutely no reason to remove the stock OPRV in the pump. The reason for these ridiculous ranges is twofold. first, the tiny pump makes for incredibly high pressures (in terms of Nerf) of what i estimate to be around 80 psi (I could be entirely mistaken, but just from the volume of the pump to the volume of the tank there should be around 9 atmospheres of pressure in the tank).

It fires "arrows" about 40-50 feet.

It was designed as a sort of backup scatter cannon. The barrel length isn't calculated in any way. The 10" barrel is that way just so that it can accommodate up to 3 streamlines. These all go about 40-50 feet when fired.

The "keychain" clip also still works, so this can be hung from a belt completely out of the way and then fired from the waist when you're in trouble. Obviously it isn't practical to take a second shot as the 22 pumps make for even slower reload times than Tiny tim (and a pump replacement would kill the range).

The only issue is that, due to the high pressure rather than volume it has a tendency to blow up darts with holes down the center. It appears to me that once half the dart has exited the barrel, the pressure behind it is so great that it escapes out the side of the dart, blowing a hole in it. This may mean it needs a longer barrel.

Of course I wouldn't leave you all without a couple videos:

Firing a streamline (I doubt you will see it, but it makes a nice sound hitting the wall)

Firing an arrow

Again, I'm sure this has been done before but I haven't seen any done this simply. Anyone with tape and a hacksaw can do this modification (you don't even need scissors to cut the tubing, just use the saw!). This, combined with what I think is awesome performance makes it what I believe to be the more practical cousin of Tiny tim.

[blitz]

Very pretty... I love it shooting the arrows.

[shmmee]

Again awesome work. I love hornet tanks and feel they are too quickley dismissed because of their low volume. Thanks for proving their 100' range potential.

[Boot]

Very pretty... I love it shooting the arrows.

Thanks! I was surprised at how good the range with arrows is. I may actually use that as the standard ammunition simply because it is so unexpected (at the right angle it looks like all you're holding is the missile. People's reactions to that suddenly flying out at them is priceless).

Again awesome work. I love hornet tanks and feel they are too quickley dismissed because of their low volume. Thanks for proving their 100' range potential.

I agree. Hornet tanks do have low volume, but they are incredibly sturdily built, and their small size I see as a plus (without that builds like these would lose their "ridiculousness"). What people often do not seem to notice is that the volume of air coming out of the tank isn't solely dependent on the size of the tank. The really thick walls of the hornet tank, and it's effective firing mechanism mean that much higher pressures can be safely achieved (in a tank this small the release is also faster cause everything is so close to the tank opening). The only thing I like more than hornet tanks are Big salvo tanks. I believe that back pressure valves in general are the best form of pressure tanks simply due to their versatility and reliability.

Thanks for the comments!

[HasreadCoC]

and a pump replacement would kill the range.

How exactly? If I were to simply drill a hole in the side of the SSPB pump, glue shut the hole that the stock pump enters through, and attach a plugged hornet pump to the the hold drilled in the side of the SSPB, so that I basically have a pump replacement without messing with the internals around the pump, I don't see how that's going to decrease range as long as the pump is plugged....