28 replies to this topic

[TantumBull]

The Sceptor is a kiddy paintball gun, sort of like the Pistol Splat line (although totally different "paintballs"). It's advertised as being able to shoot little foam paint-filled balls 50 feet stock. Sounds like something that will transition beautifully for nerf... and it does.

Mods:
Internal Coupler... kept clean
Hopper

All pictures are post de facto, but they should suffice for anyone replicating the mod. It's simple, really.


Part 1: Coupler setup


Overview of the coupler set-up. It consists of a 1/2" PVC coupler solvent welded to a 1/2" PVC endcap. The endcap is there so that the assembly is more centered as the e-tape wrapping are farther apart. The endcap has a 5/8" hole drilled in so air can get through the assembly. E-tape wrapping center the coupler assembly. Everything was gooped in and that space around the coupler at the top was filled with hot glue. The reason there was deadspace left at the back is to allow air to get around the "inline clip pusher" housing (the valve opening is beneath it).


Close up of the mid-section. Holes are drilled between the e-tape wrappings to allow excess goop caught in between to cure. The mid-section can be filled with epoxy, gorilla glue, hot glue, etc if you feel the need to do so. I didn't. We'll see how it holds in the long run. The seal is perfect, though.


Front-view. I painted it red to match the blaster shell. You can also see that CPVC is nested into the segment of PVC that joins the coupler and end cap. This helps reduce dead space.


Back-view. You can clearly see the ring of goop around the end-cap.


Part 2: Hole plugging


Here you can see the "inline clip pusher housing" filled with hot glue to kill deadspace (oxymoron, killing deadspace) and also to plug the hole that the advancing rod previously fed through.

Part 3: Finished Pics


Here you can see how cleanly the coupler looks at the front of the gun. Probably my first mod where the blaster looked mostly stock post-modification.


Here's the Sceptor in all her glory.


Part 4: Coming Soon...




Now I know you guys probably want ranges and a video. I should have that up tomorrow. Stay posted! I can tell you though that the darts shot pretty hard into my blanket out of the hopper set-up shown earlier. And that's with a 12" barrel. We'll see how she really performs when its light out.

Edited by TantumBull, 04 July 2010 - 02:29 PM.

[jaybo1996]

This is amazing, but how many pumps to fill, and how many shots can you get off of one tank?

[Abyss Mods]

That is sweet! The hopper just makes it even better.

[utahnerf]

That thing looks totally beast, and a semi-auto hopper clip is kick-ass!!

[TantumBull]

This is amazing, but how many pumps to fill, and how many shots can you get off of one tank?

In about 20-30 pumps my OPRV kicks in (this is without the pumping lever which shortens the pump stroke). I get 5 usable blasts of air from that.

If one disables the follower as was done above, one might as well cut away the internal parts that only serve it, freeing up the upper third of the shell space for ... whatever.

I've removed the white spring housing already, it just isn't pictured. It has an OD that's just a tad more the .5" which makes it pretty useful stuff.


Ranges/video will be done once it dries up outside (summer hasn't started in Seattle yet, go figure). Part 4 will be done when I can acquire some more brass fittings from Ace.

Edited by TantumBull, 01 July 2010 - 12:10 PM.

[Broderick]

I knew you were going to do something ungodly to this... I can honestly say I look forward to being shot by this at the next war.

[nisaburo]

Very nice, this is why I wanted to get this thing into the community. To instill fear in the hearts of all. I'll bring the pump handle to the next war.

[TantumBull]

She easily hits the fence without much drop in my backyard (a measured 60 feet). I'd guess 70 to 80 feet. By the fourth and fifth shot power was noticeably lower. This should be partly compensated for when I expand the tank, so pressure doesn't drop as rapidly.

And, the promised video:

You may notice me helping the trigger forward after every shot. For some reason I could never get the trigger to reset properly after I first opened the shell.

Edited by TantumBull, 01 July 2010 - 10:25 PM.

[wohnson89]

YES! I saw one of these at Tuesday Morning a long time ago, and I thought of buying one but the $40 price tag and the fact I had never seen one before one this site, kept me from buying it. I assumed they were crap, thank you for proving me wrong! I might even get one now.

edit: This might be worth trying because is pumping obsolete.

Edited by wohnson89, 01 July 2010 - 11:15 PM.

[TantumBull]

This might be worth trying because is pumping obsolete.

That also might be unfair. In my book, all energy used for firing a dart needs to be stored by a human and needs to happen during the round.

But thanks for the kind words

Edited by TantumBull, 01 July 2010 - 11:20 PM.

[wohnson89]

That also might be unfair. In my book, all energy used for firing a dart needs to be stored by a human and needs to happen during the round.

But thanks for the kind words

Spoken by a true visionary.
That makes total sense to me.

[taerKitty]

I'm with B. I look forward to being killed by this next war.

PS: Do you have any spare wyes?

[TantumBull]

I'm with B. I look forward to being killed by this next war.

PS: Do you have any spare wyes?

I could probably spare one.

[cheyner]

Son of a bitch, I have passed these up the last 4 times I have been to this liquidation store, $20 CND!
Now I have to go make sure they still have some, amazing find TantumBull.

Fuck, they sold the last one half an hour before I got there.

Edited by cheyner, 02 July 2010 - 04:51 PM.

[Dayko]

Very nice. I look forward to seeing this at the next war.

[TantumBull]

Part 4: Pressure Gauge and Tank Expansion Capability


She now sports a pressure gauge and tubing leading to the handle that can connect to an external tank. A ball valve is located in the stock to cut off the line to the external tank if desired.


The fittings used as follows:
-Brass 1/8" NPT Elbow (2)
-Brass 1/8" NPT Hex Nipple (3)
-Brass 1/8" NPT Tee (1)
-1/8" NPT Bike Pressure Gauge (1)
-Plastic 1/8" MPT to 1/8" ID Tube Barb (1)

You could easily save money by getting street elbows. I was a cluck. The hex nipple attached to the tee going into the tank is super glued into the tank. I originally drilled and tapped for 1/8" NPT but I was hesitant of the soft plastic's ability to hold a thread under pressure.

The following are some internal pictures of the ball valve and then the tubing leading to the clusterfuck of brass fittings.






What the ball valve looks like from the outside:


What I see when I'm pwning teh nubz:


Interesting fact: The OPRV kicks in at 20 PSI. Way too low. Will be changing THAT shortly...

Part 5: Coming Soon...

Edited by TantumBull, 04 July 2010 - 02:49 PM.

[Split]

If you take the pressure too high in the tank, when the hammer hits the pin to release the air, it won't have enough energy to open the valve any significant amount. Basically, you just keep pulling the trigger and nothing happens. Eventually the valve has let out enough air so that the hammer can open it again and you start to shoot. That's probably a good pressure to set your new opv to. Personally, I just don't pump more than the 50 times or so it takes to get there (from experience).

[Foam Ninja]

*Sniff . . . ahh you smell that? That is a freshly opened can of Whup-Ass. I can't wait to see ranges on a plugged one of these things, speaking of plugged ranges I also smell what could be a banned gun? I[i] wouldn't ban it but damn, that really looks painful.

[TantumBull]

Sheesh! You planning on just pumping it up once on Mondays, or something?

Using the fake tubing to run tubing through is hilarious.

Thanks very much for the psi info. That should be really useful if I actually can change mine over to a small internal hard tank. I might even plug a pump for once - if I add a gauge first.

Haha, yeah. It may take a while. I may need to actually start using a secondary (sniff, I like my mobility). And glad to help with pressure level info.

If you take the pressure too high in the tank, when the hammer hits the pin to release the air, it won't have enough energy to open the valve any significant amount. Basically, you just keep pulling the trigger and nothing happens. Eventually the valve has let out enough air so that the hammer can open it again and you start to shoot. That's probably a good pressure to set your new opv to. Personally, I just don't pump more than the 50 times or so it takes to get there (from experience).

Thanks for the heads-up, I'll be sure to do some testing with that.

*Sniff . . . ahh you smell that? That is a freshly opened can of Whup-Ass. I can't wait to see ranges on a plugged one of these things, speaking of plugged ranges I also smell what could be a banned gun? I[i] wouldn't ban it but damn, that really looks painful.

I don't see this getting banned any time soon for ranges. It maxes out at an optimistic 80 feet with my lazy D/B fit and slugs.

[Fome]

This is pretty damn cool. I absolutely love integrated pressure gauges.

[Broderick]

*Sniff . . . ahh you smell that? That is a freshly opened can of Whup-Ass. I can't wait to see ranges on a plugged one of these things, speaking of plugged ranges I also smell what could be a banned gun? I[i] wouldn't ban it but damn, that really looks painful.

I wouldn't spot ban it. Honestly, his RSCB'd Big Blast with a pump replacement would be worse than this-- this is just cool.
I love the pressure gauge and externa tank. Can't wait to see it finished at the next war I make it to.

[Boot]

Looks like I chose a bad time to post my "Mirage", this is really cool, and in terms of performance is a stronger, and smaller version of the mirage with a higher air capacity. Nice!

I was just wondering, how does the valve in this thing work? And what are the internals like?

Again, this thing is really cool, and it would be an honor to be shot by it. Heck, with a few more modifications you might just be able to hit me over here in China!

Boot.

PS: Is that soda bottle really a better choice than a metal drink bottle? Or is the primary concern the more dangerous nature of the metal bottle if something were to go wrong?

If its just there as a demonstration of the expansion capability then ignore this.

[CaliforniaPants]

Part 6: Coming Soon...


But seriously, read the threads about that subject and make a good tank.

[nisaburo]

Looks like I chose a bad time to post my "Mirage", this is really cool, and in terms of performance is a stronger, and smaller version of the mirage with a higher air capacity. Nice!

I was just wondering, how does the valve in this thing work? And what are the internals like?

The trigger valve in these is what has been described as a hammer or momentary valve. It uses a spring and a weight to quickly open and close a valve between the tank and barrel.