Before I kick off in to the specifics of the blaster in question, I'm going to provide a little back story. Please feel free to skip this if you're just here for the pretty pictures though. A few weeks ago I built myself an RSBC'd BuzzBee Ultimate Missile Blast (BBUMB), but more importantly, actually got to use it. I'd played around with singled titans before but due to the modding restrictions we had at ANU (basically AR's only), I'd never been able to use them and thus never really put much thought in to high powered blasters. Then about 18months ago the Canberra and Southern NSW Dart Tag group started up and hey look, far more relaxed modding restrictions. Played a few games with the BBUMB and while it was cool, it just didn't suit my running play style like a Raider did. This then got me motivated again in things that weren't necessarily practical, but are well cool.
After a game one day I a mate had said to me how disappointed he was with the performance of his LongStike and if I could help him. I suggested the standard spring+AR mods but explained that it would only ever be on par with my Raider, and not to suddenly expect BBUMB sorts of ranges. The thought then immediately popped in to my head "Why not get BBUMB sorts of ranges out of a LongStrike? I've got a LongStrike that I never use, so why not?" I went home and started sizing up the BBUMB internals and the LongStrike shell before it dawned on me; "Forget buying another BBUMB, I've got a Titan sitting there that also never gets used!"
I already knew that I was never going to use it in a game, I just wanted something cool, so I was very strict on myself in that it had to look as much like a LongStrike as possible when I was finished, even if that meant sacrificing practicality. All in all I'm pretty happy with how it turned out, in that it looks like a LongStrike but is a singled Titan.
So, lets get to it...
The donors. You'll obviously notice that I had previously painted my LongStrike, this colour scheme will remain on the finished product.
Dremel'ed the buggery out of the shell.
Test fitting the pump.
The makings of the breech. 17/32 brass with a cutout to load the dart, 9/16 piece to slide over the top of it Obviously some of the shell was cut away too.
How I made the bolt for the breech. Cut out a piece of 19/32 brass and drilled a hole through it, placed an M3 captive nut used in press fittings through it, glued the two together, soldered the 19/32 brass to the 9/16 breech slide.
All of the components in place.
The Titan tank in place, complete with a rather large cut out in the shell. I'm aware this now looks like a butchered LongStrike and not all cool, but bare with me.
I cut up a 6 clip for looks.
The breech open.
Half open.
Closed.
The physically finished product from the right.
The physically finished product from the left. Again, with painting still to come at this stage.
