10 replies to this topic

[popatachi]

This is a quick write up on how I created the shorty Maverick. I apologize for not having better WIP pictures or measurements. Some of these were taken after the fact and props to Slowguitarman for his write-up.

1. Turret

Start with the turret. This could probably be shortened even more. I was going to cut this down to be 1.5" long (the length of a stefan) but I also wanted to keep the front orange piece. It can be done, but I wasn't sure at the time.

When you open the turret, the front is hollow until some guides in near the back.

Then cut the top of the main housing to cover the orange barrels.

In the picture below, the top ridge is resting on the guides from the back of the housing.



Test fit your barrels and get those to fit within the orange piece and the guides.

You will need need to open up the back piece to allow for rear-loading. And assemble everything together.






2. The Shell

I wanted to reduce as much space as I could so put the completed turret into the shell and marked where the front of the turret was on the frame and cut a little back from that mark. The front of the shell was then trimmed down to match the turret space.

I used hotglue to hold the two pieces together so that I could align the shell and glue it. When that was dry, I sanded and filed down the joining areas to make it smooth. There are still small gaps, but those can be filled pretty easily after I've done the final sanding.







The rest is just trimming off all the bits off the shell that you don't want. The styrene will help to support everything together.

3. Plunger Tube

There are two parts to get the plunger tube to work with the turret.

Trim down the back arm of the turret. There are two nubs that I needed to sand down so that the arm can pass under the new plunger tube piece and because these nubs were in the way of the new piece.



I cut a square out of a longshot jam door that was big enough to cover a barrel in the turret and cut out a matching hole in the shell. The lip of the plunger tube also needed to be trimmed down so that when pushed back, everything was flush. Make sure not to make this opening too large. The plunger tube uses that wall as a stop.

I glued the new piece in place and with everything together, I dropped a marker down the barrel to see where to drill a hole.







And all of that rambling will hopefully turn into this.




Questions? Comments?

And the youtube video



Shorty Maverick Youtube video

Edited by popatachi, 07 November 2011 - 09:05 PM.

[Aeromech]

Your video does a good job showcasing the whole of the blaster; the turret looks very clean. I'm glad someone figured out how to rear-load this thing as well. I personally dislike the Maverick but cosmetically this is beautiful.

Nice innovation and nice mod.

[dizzyduck]

Very nice. I'd like to try this out on a mav-finder, but I'd probably need to reinforce everything further once I put in a spring replacement.

Did you replace the barrels in the turret? If so, did you extend the barrels all the way down so that they are flush with the bottom of the turret or did you simply make the holes in the back of the turret for the darts before they actually enter the barrel?

[agc2k]

Looks good in your youtube video. You can't even tell that it has been cut.

[Daniel Beaver]

Could you also post a picture of the piece you're using to seal the barrels against the plunger tube? It's clear in the video, but it is worth adding into the writeup. How well is it sealing?

[popatachi]

@Aeromech: Thanks, but a rear-loading maverick was already done by Slowguitarman: Successful Rear-loading Maverick I would thank him for the inspiration and write-up.

@dizzyduck: I replaced the barrels with CPVC and they are flush with the each end of the turret. In hindsight it might have been easier to do your second option and make holes in the bottom to the inner diameter of the barrel, but for some reason I decided against it. I have added a picture in the original thread of turret opened so you can see the back of the turret.

@agc2k: Thanks! It will be fun to paint!

@Beaver: I'll add that too... Thanks! I knew I was forgetting something. The seal is really good... I just need to sand down a couple of the barrels as they are sticking up a bit past the bottom.

Edited by popatachi, 25 October 2011 - 03:15 PM.

[SonReeceSonJensen]

That is just slick as hell, nice work.

So, with the small size of the Mav PT do these shorter barrels better optimize range?

[plopper4568]

awsomeness

[The Irresponsible Toymaker]

First off, very nice, clean mod. However, to echo SonReeceSonJensen, what exactly is the point? Are the ranges better? I get how it would work better with stefans due to the easier reload, but I don't see how it would affect performance...maybe I'm missing something. At any rate, very nice mod and write up, looks near stock.

[iDrag0m1r]

First off, very nice, clean mod. However, to echo SonReeceSonJensen, what exactly is the point? Are the ranges better? I get how it would work better with stefans due to the easier reload, but I don't see how it would affect performance...maybe I'm missing something. At any rate, very nice mod and write up, looks near stock.

It makes it look cooler, and it allows for shorter barrels that fit the mavericks plunger size better.

Anyways, Awesome mod.

[popatachi]

This was done just for fun. The number one goal was just to minimize the blaster, if it worked, that was awesome. Performance had nothing to do with the mod.