10 replies to this topic

[SonReeceSonJensen]

Most of you have at BEST only mocked the Monsters VS. Aliens Area 52 movie promotional blaster. To hell with all of you, this is a foe not to be taken lightly: I have not yet come across a blaster so obviously intentionally impervious to modification as this…but here goes!

Here is the filthy b-word, little did I know what I was in for.


Exploded view of attachments and such.


The stock ammo is red with purple streamline-esque tips, about 1 ½” total length. Very dense foam, solid rod of plastic through the center, slightly larger than stock Nerf dart, less than a mega. Sorry…they all got lost behind various cubical walls.


The scope is quasi-functional.


The big fat part under slung is a dart storage area.


Internal n0rp. Don’t worry: there is nothing uncomplicated from here on out.


Here is the overly complex trigger. Seriously, someone banked their career on this design and ended up getting less than 2% of the total profit which, I’m pretty sure, was the $5 I and I alone paid for one of these.


Here it is primed. The catch is more like a SNAP than most nerf blasters.


There are like 30 steps to the mechanics of priming this but here is the jist: pull-back, push forward, dart magically chambered and blaster is primed. The plunger recesses into the priming handle knob, see here.

[SonReeceSonJensen]

ACTUALLY MODDING!

First, pull this dirty contraption out.


This do-hickey comes off with some mild force. Make no mistake: by this point you will have the desire to exert mild force.


Purple stabilizing and dart blocker door sheath comes off with the removal of this pin here.


Also held on my two nubs of sadism, easily disjointed by using masochism. DO NOT CUT OFF: you will need to put the sheath on later.


The general priming idea is very much like a Longshot.


Here is a look down the barrel at the intense AR they put in here.


To get to it there is really no way around not cutting the seams here.


Inside the plunger you’ll find this. This ENTIRE thing is the air restrictor. To even get at it you have to cut the thing in half.


They were NOT fucking around with this.


Spring and plunger come out but removing this dealy here.


The stock spring is actually strong, no spring replacement happening today. Also the stock o-ring seal is a perfect as you are going to get. This might explain why the designers went through hell to c-block us with the devil’s own AR.


If you are so inclined 17/32 brass fits right in here like it was made for it.


No, brass is not my style. I’m more all about filthy, dirty, CPVC. A material which will always require more sanding than most people do when re-painting a house to fit where you need it.


I JB Welded these together but in my attempts to increase the air flow hole I uncovered more total bullshit. Fortunately most bullshit is solved with Krazy glue.


Make a handle and attach as such. Hear it is in loading position.

[SonReeceSonJensen]

F-UP/RECOVERY

This should be self-explanatory.


This solution, as well, should be self-explanatory.


Here is a pic explaining why it is necessary just for S+G’s, and cuz I seriously lost my shit when I realized I had to put even more effort into this poop-caliber blaster.


A little shell cutty-cutting to fit the priming bar.


Ooooooohhhh HELLA BAM!


First ever, count it!




Stock range: 10-20 ft.
Modified range: 20-30 ft.

Results: 100%-300% range increase! I’m calling it right now: if you can double the range of a blaster, especially a springer, you can claim it a balls-out success!


Bonus info
A 3K turret just almost fits the diameter of the big dumb ammo holder perfectly. Almost.


This here is a project for another day, but I consider a major goal of an integration to add that one extra shot while reloading your primary and this has that potential in spades.

[Blue]

Wow, I can't believe you actually got one of these working after opening it up; great job. Last time I saw these in stores at least 50% of the ones on the shelf were broken without even being taken out of the box.

[MavericK96]

Kinda looks like someone tried to make a knock-off of the Recon and failed miserably. Props to you for muddling through this beast.

[Demon Lord]

You're a masochist aren't you? Another hilarious and worthy write-up for a blaster that isn't even close to a worthy side-arm. Keep up the suffering for all our benefits!

[phillypretzel]

I really look forward to your write-ups, and love the lengths you go to make sub-par blasters par (or nearly so). Great stuff! And I'm inspired to go mod absolute crap blasters now...

[SonReeceSonJensen]

Blue, on Nov 22 2010, 11:59 PM, said:

Last time I saw these in stores at least 50% of the ones on the shelf were broken without even being taken out of the box.

And on top of that if you do get one that work the thing eats darts like a damn piranha. Seriously, I never emptied a full clip without a jam or some stupidness.

MavericK96, on Nov 23 2010, 12:24 AM, said:

Kinda looks like someone tried to make a knock-off of the Recon and failed miserably.

Yeah, all the complexity of a Longshot with the goal of a sub-sized recon minus the comfortable handle was not an A+ business decision. I will never NOT give it props for cartoonish silliness, which are some high marks for me.

MavericK96, on Nov 23 2010, 12:24 AM, said:

Props to you for muddling through this beast.

Muddling the Beast is what I’m all about

Demon Lord, on Nov 23 2010, 12:42 AM, said:

You're a masochist aren't you? Another hilarious and worthy write-up for a blaster that isn't even close to a worthy side-arm. Keep up the suffering for all our benefits!

No way, a non-homemade post by D-Lord! Kiddin, you rule any topic so hard.
Make no mistake: the suffering shall continue for all the NIC. Thanks for the encouragement, I appreciate it.

phillypretzel, on Nov 23 2010, 12:27 PM, said:

I really look forward to your write-ups, and love the lengths you go to make sub-par blasters par (or nearly so).

Thanks man, I like that you can appreciate the fun aspects.

phillypretzel, on Nov 23 2010, 12:27 PM, said:

Great stuff! And I'm inspired to go mod absolute crap blasters now...

You know, once you get that reliable 4B or SNAPbow or whatever taken care of for wars there is nothing like trying to jazz up some of the untouched overlooked weirdness.

[archangel24]

This thing seriously is a redundant contradiction. Nice job on getting it to be less of a POS blaster.

[xet]

Damn I'm suprised that you even had enough of a temper control meter to fully mod this thing, I would have thrown it across my street way before I completed the mod.

[Eh Watt]

Why have I not seen this blaster before?! It looks so ridiculous!! My first thought after seeing this was to cram an at3k into is somewhere, because there is nothing better than goofy guns that shoot super hard.

And I gotta say, great job toughing through this one. It looks like a true nightmare to mod... Hopefully I'll get to see this ahem "Beast" in action sometime soon!