32 replies to this topic

[Ice Nine]

A'ight, it's been a while since I've been here, but now that I'm in college I've found a new interest (and surprisingly more time, since I go to UChicago) in the hobby. We've been having a few wars around the dorm with the few guns we have but now that I'm back in LA for Thanksgiving break I had some time to bust out my tools and parts to create something.

Some time back I was reading a thread about someone who put a Longshot plunger tube in a Nite Finder but it seemed like there were some problems with it, especially regarding the case. I also really liked Falcon's Scimitar Manta shell, and I knew I had one of those when I came back. I then took a turret from a busted SM1500, the PETG barrels from a busted AT3K, a few spare plunger parts from assorted broken Nite Finders, and set to work to create the thing that started as so many doodles in my calculus class.

Here's what the collection of materials looks like:



There's a:
Nite Finder plunger
Longshot plunger head
Replacement Century compression spring (22.225 x 101.6 x 2.032 mm are the values given on the package)
SM1500 turret (AT2K would work just as well, I'm sure)
Four six-inch segments of PETG (brass can be substituted for a similar result)
Electrical tape
A segment of 3/8" vinyl tubing (you'll only need a tiny bit, other materials can be substituted)
Four two-inch segments of PVC (not pictured) (I used SCH80 since it fits PETG really well but SCH40 would work as well)

First, you'll want to gut the Nite Finder to cut the case properly. In this picture I left the trigger in but as you cut more and more away from the case you'll want to take it out to take it out.



After some cutting (I used a hacksaw, which was a total bitch; if you have a dremel your job will be far easier), you'll be left with this (apologies for the picture, macro was acting up on my phone):



To cut, use the rails inside the gun as a guide. I used the pieces the spring sits up against for the vertical cuts, and the pieces that sit above the trigger for the horizontal ones. After you finish that, grab your Longshot plunger and cut about 1.825 inches off the end (the part where you screw the back of the Longshot plunger in).



Now, you're ready to check the fit. It should look something like this:



Notice that the plunger head is flat against the bottom of the plunger area and flush with the area the spring sits against. DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT glue the gun with the plunger in that position, or the gun will not catch. Leave about an eighth of an inch between the back of the plunger and the thing the spring sits against.

Reassemble the interior of the Nite Finder, putting the plunger together like this: catch mechanism, replacement spring, Longshot plunger head. Note that the gun must be fully assembled before doing the next part, as you can't open it again once you do so.



Now that your gun is assembled, goop the Longshot plunger tube to the Nite Finder. There's simply no other way to keep it cemented in place. Goop it so there's some space between the end of the plunger tube and the plastic for the spring. Then, use hot glue to reinforce it once the goop dries.



Now that that's finished, you're ready to start assembling the turret!



I'm sure you can figure out to glue PETG into a turret, but in case you don't, here's what I did: wrap the end of the PETG in enough electrical tape that it can sit inside the barrel almost snugly, take it out, draw a bead of glue around the end, and jam it back in. Once that's finished, I sealed the top of the stock barrel with the side of the PETG to make sure no air escapes. Here's the result:



Then, take a small segment of vinyl tubing and goop it inside the turret:



Please don't post, there's more!

[Ice Nine]

Before moving onto the next part, you have to cut a small section out of the front of the Nite Finder so the turret can fit flush against it.



I cut it right below the top, rightmost screw in the case of the gun. Once this is finished the turret should sit like this:



In my case the perfect length was the length of the rotating mechanism with the spring on it. I then proceeded to wrap that in electrical tape (enough for the same almost-snug fit as mentioned before, but in the hole at the end of the Longshot plunger tube) and proceeded to glue it in.



Then, all that's left to do is goop the stationary part of the turret to case, and voila, you have an extremely powerful gun inside a deceptively small case!

But I wasn't finished.

I took a chunk of rail from my broken Longshot, the gray mounting piece from the scope, and the Manta shell:



And proceeded to goop the gray piece to the Manta shell, and the rail to the top of the plunger tube.



And wham, you have a modular Manta shell! I would've used something that puts off a lot of heat to bring down the sides of the shell of the Manta, but I don't have any tools like that so far, so I figured it should be fine for right now.

The absolute finished product:





I fired a bunch of Steamline darts wrapped in tape (for a better seal) and they all traveled very quickly and very loopily, which I suppose is to be expected from them. Once I make some stefans we should see what kind of ranges it gets, but the velocity of the shots indicates that it should be in the sixties, easily. Absolutely perfect for the indoor wars of Chicago in winter, and the look it gives off is absolutely menacing. Remember, if you have a dremel, this mod is about one hundred times motherfucking easier.

[Icespartan 1114]

That it really ridiculously innovative. I really like it, nice work! Great use for spare parts.

[najmodder0424]

Great mod and write-up. If I find the time and materials I will try to do this. Do you think it's worthy of being a primary?

Edited by najmodder0424, 27 November 2008 - 06:01 PM.

[Ice Nine]

najmodder0424, on Nov 27 2008, 05:00 PM, said:

Great mod and write-up. If I find the time and materials I will try to do this. Do you think it's worthy of being a primary?

It really depends on the venue in which you play. Like I said, now that I'm in college my wars are primarily indoors and mostly stock-ish. This thing has plenty of range and accuracy with heavier darts so yeah, indoors, I'd consider it worthy of being a primary. Outdoors I still use a pretty basic SM750-rifle and first-gen Nite Finder combination, which works wonders. The Longshot and BBB I have are both worthy in either condition.

[k9turrent]

Thats Sweet man, Now my FrankenMod has a Cousin.

[durka durka]

Nice job. I've been looking to use my longshot parts for a sidearm.

[Ice Nine]

After a bunch of firing tests on the flattest area I could find, it seems as if this gun is averaging sixty-five per shot. There were a few outliers in either direction, probably due to rushed dart making or fluke wind or something, but still, the minimum shot went fifty-eight feet which is more than enough for anything indoors. Farthest one went seventy-nine, a couple more hit seventy-five, and most of them grouped between sixty and seventy.

Accuracy is pretty good with a heavy enough dart, although it becomes iffy past forty feet, which makes for a decent effective range. Velocity is very good, darts left the barrel very quickly and traveled with at a fairly brisk pace.

All in all, I'd say this is going to be a very effective indoor primary.

[Team Genocide]

Wait someone help me out here Does the turret rotate? Are they all fired at once? Help me out here.

[Ice Nine]

+++Team Genocide+++, on Nov 27 2008, 06:22 PM, said:

Wait someone help me out here Does the turret rotate? Are they all fired at once? Help me out here.

It works exactly like an AT2K turret; it fires one barrel (the top barrel, in this case), and then one manually rotates it to the next shot. The AT3K, on the other hand, auto-rotates the barrels on the first pump, and the Maverick rotates on trigger pull.

Basically? Imagine a springer AT2K.

[Kid Flash]

Awesome... Great use of the available materials.

[Draconis]

+++Team Genocide+++, on Nov 27 2008, 04:22 PM, said:

Wait someone help me out here Does the turret rotate? Are they all fired at once? Help me out here.

Yes. No.



Honestly, I'd be a little disappointed with 65 feet from a Longshot plunger.

[analogkid]

Draconis, on Nov 27 2008, 07:36 PM, said:

Honestly, I'd be a little disappointed with 65 feet from a Longshot plunger.

My sentiments exactly. The spring you're using is weak or something.

Nice mod though anyways. I love ridiculously powerful pistols. On the topic of whether or not it could serve as a primary, I have something similar, and I used it as a primary at APOC. So yes, provided the ranges were upped slightly, this would indeed be worthy of primariness.

[Salmon]

I like it, but from right here:

Quote

I would of singled it. I'm sure you would get AWESOME ranges for a sidearm, and that's enough for me.

[Ice Nine]

analogkid, on Nov 27 2008, 07:20 PM, said:

Draconis, on Nov 27 2008, 07:36 PM, said:

Honestly, I'd be a little disappointed with 65 feet from a Longshot plunger.

My sentiments exactly. The spring you're using is weak or something.

Nice mod though anyways. I love ridiculously powerful pistols. On the topic of whether or not it could serve as a primary, I have something similar, and I used it as a primary at APOC. So yes, provided the ranges were upped slightly, this would indeed be worthy of primariness.

I can't exactly open the gun anymore, but I can retest with different foam that fits my PETG more tightly; the pink stuff I have been using might be a little too loose for a springer, the black stuff I have is probably better for this type of gun. I'll retest tomorrow when it's light out again.

[Kid Flash]

WAIT... PINK FOAM??? I demand to know where you get it. Is it a neon pink? I've been looking for neon foam.

[Eclipse]

Great mod, man. I've been looking for a use for the broken 2k that my friend found in his attic.

[Ice Nine]

Salmon, on Nov 27 2008, 07:32 PM, said:

I like it, but from right here:

Quote

<large picture>

I would of singled it. I'm sure you would get AWESOME ranges for a sidearm, and that's enough for me.

I suppose, but the barrel would've have to had been inordinately large for a sidearm. With the turret and barrels it's about one-third the size of a Longshot.

Kid Flash, on Nov 27 2008, 08:17 PM, said:

WAIT... PINK FOAM??? I demand to know where you get it. Is it a neon pink? I've been looking for neon foam.

It's lightish watermelon pink, I bought it from ShortShit a whle back when colored foam was becoming popular. It has a smaller OD than the stuff from Home Depot that I was using before.

Thanks for the compliments all.

[analogkid]

Pro tip: Whenever possible, it is worth taking the extra time to figure out a way to put something together so it can be easily taken apart. Screws or clamps are often better for attaching things in the long run anyway. If something removable is not gonna work, make sure you test and are happy with results before doing final assembly if possible, even if you have to hold something in place.

Nice mod anyway.

Edited by analogkid, 28 November 2008 - 12:01 AM.

[Ice Nine]

analogkid, on Nov 27 2008, 11:01 PM, said:

Pro tip: Whenever possible, it is worth taking the extra time to figure out a way to put something together so it can be easily taken apart. Screws or clamps are often better for attaching things in the long run anyway. If something removable is not gonna work, make sure you test and are happy with results before doing final assembly if possible, even if you have to hold something in place.

Nice mod anyway.

The issue I have with that is, unlike your Daedalus, the Longshot plunger tube is kind of bendy and flexy and I had no way of keeping it in place that wouldn't deform a part of it. Thinwall PVC is far more rigid, and thus allows itself to be clipped into place. Duct tape would not be strong enough to hold it against repeated bashings from the plunger head, and screws would be nigh impossible. Simply put there's no other place on the case for me to affix the plunger tube, and barring something ridiculous gluing it was the only way to keep it center. I understand breakage is inevitable but all the parts prone to breaking (i.e. Longshot and Nite Finder parts) are fairly easy to replace and it would not take an excessive amount of time to recreate the shell now that I have a bit of practice; the fact that I'm able to do it only with a hacksaw means that rebuilding it even in my dorm shouldn't be a problem. In the meantime, sixty-five average with loose-fitting darts makes a very acceptable indoor primary.

[xbox180]

That is the best nightfinder mod that I have ever seen!

[BustaNinja]

What spring did you use? I mean, of course i started making one, seeing as how I have a dead NF shell, tons of spare parts for nitefinders, a box of LS stuff, and a need for a good secondary. Also, when I put my LS plunger tube on, it doesn't sit correctly, or it doesn't look like it does. It seems to sit about half a cm too high. Is this correct or am I just smoking crack?

[Split]

Ice Nine, on Nov 27 2008, 05:54 PM, said:

Replacement Century compression spring (22.225 x 101.6 x 2.032 mm are the values given on the package)

Yes, I believe you are on crack.

[BustaNinja]

Splitlip, on Nov 28 2008, 07:20 PM, said:

Ice Nine, on Nov 27 2008, 05:54 PM, said:

Replacement Century compression spring (22.225 x 101.6 x 2.032 mm are the values given on the package)

Yes, I believe you are on crack.

yeah... sorry...

[Ice Nine]

Okay, I wasn't able to get in any range testing today with tighter darts but initial firings indoors indicate a higher velocity and therefore probably greater range. Now, time to answer some questions.



There is the spring I used, on the Nite Finder plunger. In the center is a stock NF spring, and on the right is the packaging the replacement spring came from.



There is as close-up to the packaging information I can give with my phone's macro, but while it was slightly distorted from opening the package, it still says "22.225 x 101.6 x 2.032 mm."



That is a two inch section of the pink foam I had been using next to a Streamline dart.

<edit>

BustaNinja, on Nov 28 2008, 08:44 PM, said:

What spring did you use? I mean, of course i started making one, seeing as how I have a dead NF shell, tons of spare parts for nitefinders, a box of LS stuff, and a need for a good secondary. Also, when I put my LS plunger tube on, it doesn't sit correctly, or it doesn't look like it does. It seems to sit about half a cm too high. Is this correct or am I just smoking crack?

The LS plunger tube may look like it's sitting a tad weird since, for lack of a better description, the path the Nite Finder plunger travels doesn't exactly follow the center of the LS plunger tube; that is, when one cocks the gun, the plunger travels backwards and slightly downwards, since the exit hole has to accommodate the larger plunger head.

Thinking about the comparative lack of range with a singled Longshot, it probably has something to do with the slightly crooked path of the plunger head (by my estimations though, this probably isn't doing much) and the fact that I cut off nearly two inches off the length of the plunger tube, which, combined with the somewhat shorter pull of the plunger, makes air output by volume a decent amount less than that of a Longshot. However, I'd be willing to guess that the volume put out is much larger than that of a Nite Finder plunger tube. Finally, it seems the SM1500 turret has some air-seal issues in general, but I don't think either this or the first mentioned issue effect range as much as the shortened plunger pull.

Edited by Ice Nine, 29 November 2008 - 01:07 AM.