10 replies to this topic

[Klaiviel]

Up until now there has been no pictures on the internet that I have been able to find of the internals in a Mattel Ultimator, therefore I give you the following pictures. Of particular interest, at least to me is the catch mechanism.

[dizzyduck]

Very similar to the XXL Bazooka. Thanks for posting this up.

[sublimedom777]

I tried emailing cheesy a while back with some internals for the directory, but they never made it. Mine were more detail shots of the catch/trigger setup though. Nice exploded view.

[Draconis]

Wow, talk about easy to duplicate designs... Dibs on Plustimator!




*snicker*

[Zorns Lemma]

I'm surprised the friction generated is enough to hold the spring, or am I missing something? It looks like a caulk gun on steroids to me...

[Klaiviel]

I'm surprised the friction generated is enough to hold the spring, or am I missing something? It looks like a caulk gun on steroids to me...

Oh you haven't missed a thing its purely friction, and on that note lets talk about how to ruin an Ultimator. I figured I would lube the cylinder tube cause lube == good right? Not exactly, the Ultimator relies on the friction of the catch plus that of the skirt seal in the cylinder tube; not helping either I accidently got some on the plunger rod, big mistake. I couldn't get the lube off enough with soap or anything else to make it work again so i sanded it thinking the rough texture would cause more grip and get rid of the lube. It did but in the process made the rod diameter smaller and in the process made it so the trigger has to rotate more to catch and that doesn't agree with the shell. So now when I go to prime it the mechanism releases right away...great. As a last ditch effort before the war on Sunday I am going to try a fully threaded rod from McMaster of the original diameter as that should create plenty of friction, but we will see.

Btw I too have thought of integrating this type of catch into a homemade and I am sure that after I solve the riddle of making my Ultimator work again I will incorporate it into a homemade.

[Chadpuff]

I'm surprised the friction generated is enough to hold the spring, or am I missing something? It looks like a caulk gun on steroids to me...

Flip a caulking gun upside down, add some springs, some screw and some pvc piping...shouldn't be too hard to figure out.

Edited by Chadpuff, 10 September 2010 - 11:12 AM.

[Klaiviel]

As a last ditch effort before the war on Sunday I am going to try a fully threaded rod from McMaster of the original diameter as that should create plenty of friction, but we will see.

If you've really changed the diameter of the rod too much, look into adding new steel to the catches. Probably by drilling the original holes out for clearance and soldering in steel stock, or something like fender washers (with a carefully reamed ID). You'd have to change those out radically for a new rod anyway.

My concern with that approach would be the solder joint giving due to the stess it would have to take. Basically the threaded rod is a quick fix, theres a good chance it won't work and in that case I will fabricate new catch parts rather than try to repair them, I just want to see if I can get away with not having to do that first.

Update: Threaded rod actually performed worse as a plunger rod; looks like its back to the drawing board.

Edited by Klaiviel, 10 September 2010 - 11:08 PM.

[Draconis]

As a last ditch effort before the war on Sunday I am going to try a fully threaded rod from McMaster of the original diameter as that should create plenty of friction, but we will see.

If you've really changed the diameter of the rod too much, look into adding new steel to the catches. Probably by drilling the original holes out for clearance and soldering in steel stock, or something like fender washers (with a carefully reamed ID). You'd have to change those out radically for a new rod anyway.

My concern with that approach would be the solder joint giving due to the stess it would have to take. Basically the threaded rod is a quick fix, theres a good chance it won't work and in that case I will fabricate new catch parts rather than try to repair them, I just want to see if I can get away with not having to do that first.

I wouldn't worry about structural integrity. A properly assembled solder joint has tensile and shear strengths of AT LEAST 1700PSI. And that's for the worst possible alloy of 100% Lead. The most common soft solders of 60/40 and 63/37 Tin/Lead compositions are in the 5700PSI - 6700PSI range. I suggest an acid flux for use on iron and steel.

I love solder! I don't get to use it nearly enough in Nerf.

[Fome]

I don't understand. How does this work?

[Draconis]

I don't understand. How does this work?

The handle applies force to one of the little plates, and pulls the plunger back by sheer friction. The priming plate twists slightly, biting in to the rod and forcing it back. Then the handle is pushed back down, the plate moves back to a perpendicular position, allowing it to slide farther forward. This allows the priming handle to be pulled back multiple times, moving the plunger farther backward with each pull. The trigger works the same way, but in reverse orientation. Kinda like mechanical check valves. Pulling the the trigger forces the trigger plate to move in to perpendicular position, and the rod slips through unimpeded.