33 replies to this topic

[Banshee]

'THE OFFENDER'

It's been a while since I posted any legit writeup, but you know me, I don't like to post pointless junk, I like to post badass new modifications!

So I found this little beast at a Goodwill for $2. It was missing the arrow part of the gun, which is the best part, so I was kind of bummed. But I've been wanting one of these for a long time for one reason that a lot of people seem to have overlooked on this gun. Its very large and cylindrical shaped where the plunger tube is. Do you know what that means? It means it can hold a MUCH larger plungertube than the stock one, all you have to do is make it fit.

So lets start with the gun...



Open it up, and its stupid simple inside. Much like the Nite Finder internals, though the plunger tube is a little bit smaller. The stock seal is better and the spring is stronger than a NF, so the stock ranges are better. And even with basic mods, it gets 70' ranges. But we're not going to accept 70' ranges, not in this write-up!



We're gona put a darn tootin' Crossbow plungertube in this sucker!!! You heard me right! I got a spare plunger tube from a crossbow when I rebuilt the internals, and its a perfect fit inside the gun, all I have to do is grind out all the interior walls. If you don't have a xbow plungertube, as a doubt the vast majority of you will, you can use 1.25" PETG tubing, or one of those sink drain couplers that are commonly used as replacement plungertubes for xbow's. Either way, just make sure its 1.25" in diameter and about 7 inches long.



Now look at the difference in plunger tube sizes! I measured the interior volume and the crossbow is 2.5X the size of the Defender plungertube!



The first thing you need to do is grind down all the interior walls with your Dremel tool. (If you don't have a Dremel tool, you need to get one, or find a new hobby. Haha!) However, leave the very last one towards the end of the barrel. The plunger needs something to rest against.



You're also going to need to grind down the ribs on the crossbow plunger. You're going to need to be a total boss with a Dremel tool for this, or you'll grind right through the tube. The plastic is thin, so be careful.



Now it should fit in your gun like so! You're going to want to keep the tube towards the front of your gun.



Now make your plunger rod. You should be able to figure this out for yourself because it will depend on what spring/s you use and what rod material you use. You can use the stock plunger rod, but I don't suspect you'll get results half as good as mine with the stock rod. Mine is made of 3/8" nylon. It has a 1.25" neoprene washer as a plunger head, which creates a 100% air seal. And I got TWO Ace #49 springs for power. Yeah... I got two of them... They reach full compression too. They completely bottom out by the time it catches for maximum power! It gives me a draw of nearly 6 inches which is almost the entire plunger tube!!!



Now glue your couple of choice on the end of the plunger tube. I put a piece of CPVC in the end of the coupler to create a bit of a gap between the coupler and the end of the plungertube. I use this gap to hook the the plungertube onto that last wall at the end of the gun that we didn't grind down. That way the plunger tube wont slide back when you prime the gun.



Now put it all back in and you're done! I would also replace the catch spring if I were you.



And it should like like this...



IF you're totally lame... You're going to want to make it look like this!!!



That's right, candy apple red, and super high gloss clear coat! This thing was a royal pain in my ass to tape off. Getting tape into the vent looking parts was not easy, it took me 2 hours. But it was SO worth it... It turned out completely ridiculous! I'm going to have to do a whole writeup just for the painting process alone!



The barrel is about 9" of CPVC. It could use a whole foot or more, but that's just unwieldy.

Now last but not least, I know you're all wondering about ranges. I can tell you right now, it outranges my Crossbow, overhauled AT3K, and my SM1500 that you see behind it. I was completely floored the first time I fired it. I used weighted streamline darts firing level shot, and it would repeatedly fire over 150 feet with stupid accuracy! Crossbow ranges in the size of a pistol. Throw a hopper on this bad bow and you're basically unstoppable...

A few sidenotes, this thing is pretty touch to cock. I have no issues, but some of you younger kids might. It also has a bit of a recoil. It tends to want to jump out of your hand when you fire it, so that takes a bit of getting use to. But it sounds amazing. It has that glorious *thump* sound you get from a high powered spring gun. This is probably my new favorite gun. I call it "The Offender"

Question's, comment's, jealousy?

[thesaz123]

Great writeup, if you're willing to supply everyone that has a DT3 w/ a crossbow plungertube

[gehaga]

Oh god... I must build this!!!!
Also terrific mod Banshee, you never disappoint.

[Banshee]

Great writeup, if you're willing to supply everyone that has a DT3 w/ a crossbow plungertube

Haha, like I said in the writeup, there are several alternatives you can buy just about anywhere.

[MattTheSasquatch]

That is one sick paint job and modification. Just... If a Nerf Hall of Fame is ever made, please donate that. That paint job is just absolutely fantastic. What brand of paint is it?

[Pause]

This just makes me want a Defender T3 even more! Awesome mod!

[Banshee]

That is one sick paint job and modification. Just... If a Nerf Hall of Fame is ever made, please donate that. That paint job is just absolutely fantastic. What brand of paint is it?

Haha, thanks. The paint is not one kind of paint. It's a trick I've learned over the past few years painting motorcycles and guitars and stuff. Basically, you take Rustoleum metallic silver and use it as a base coat. Then you go over it with a candy coat. Candy coats are transparent color paints and will turn whatever your base coat is into that color. The thicker you put it on, the deeper and darker it will get. Usually I would use an automotive candy color and an airbrush, but for this I decided to experiment with rattle can candy. This happened to be Duplicolor chrome metals paint. I understand its basically the same thing as Krylon X-Metals though, which is cheaper. I then put a super thick coat of clear coat on it to give it shine and to really set the metal flake deep in there. I used Deft clear coat. It's meant for furniture, but its what I use on guitars, and now I use it on everything.

I painted this gun with leftover paint from restoring a 1973 Roadmaster tricycle for my cousin, here's a picture of that if you wanted to see the process applied to something else:

http://i273.photobuc...ss/IMG_0753.jpg

[SomethingNerfey]

Great mod, I'm loving it. For those of you without Crossbow plunger tubes, I believe Big Bad Bow plunger tubes are pretty similar to one another in shape and size, minus the different kinds of ridges of each of the plunger tube. But for this mod, you sand them away anyway.

[landstricker]

Wow that really looks amazing! This makes me want to get a DT3.
Two questions, does the plunger tube rotate when you're taking out the barrel, and how far back, from the front of the plunger rod head, is catch notch that reaches full compression?

Edited by landstricker, 17 March 2012 - 10:26 PM.

[ShaNayNay]

Question's, comment's, jealousy?

Jealousy. Just jealousy. Great job on this gun, you really did an amazing job on the paint job! I've never heard of this gun before.

[Daniel Beaver]

Slick. I have the materials sitting around for just this type of mod - this ought to motivate me. I do suspect that your gun is kicking upwards somewhat when you fire, which is artificially inflating ranges. Nevertheless, springers of this side are capable of extreme ranges - I don't doubt that this is in the upper power tier of blasters.

I wonder if this will still work with the arrow shooter attachment...

[soloz1]

So very, very jelly.

[Banshee]

Wow that really looks amazing! This makes me want to get a DT3.
Two questions, does the plunger tube rotate when you're taking out the barrel, and how far back, from the front of the plunger rod head, is catch notch that reaches full compression?

No, the plunger tube does not rotate. I wrapped the coupler in e-tape so that when they shell is screwed together, it clamps down on the couple holding it in place. And the catch notch is a little less than 2 inches I believe. It would be less if I used a looser wound spring.

Slick. I have the materials sitting around for just this type of mod - this ought to motivate me. I do suspect that your gun is kicking upwards somewhat when you fire, which is artificially inflating ranges. Nevertheless, springers of this side are capable of extreme ranges - I don't doubt that this is in the upper power tier of blasters.

I wonder if this will still work with the arrow shooter attachment...

Initially I thought the same thing, so I propped the gun against a tree and used two hands so it wouldn't move. Trust me, it just gets ridiculous ranges level shot. I believe there was a slight head breeze too. But I've found that my weighted streamline darts out-range most stefans by about 50-60 feet. I don't know why, I just haven't used any stefans that went as far.

Edited by Banshee, 18 March 2012 - 01:15 AM.

[hamoidar]

Why would you waste a crossbow plunger tube on this? You could just as easily make it with thin-wall pvc and a few couplers

Edited by hamoidar, 18 March 2012 - 09:58 AM.

[taerKitty]

Great writeup, if you're willing to supply everyone that has a DT3 w/ a crossbow plungertube

That's never stopped people from writing rare shit like this up before. To start with, he said this in the writeup:

If you don't have a xbow plungertube, as a doubt the vast majority of you will, you can use 1.25" PETG tubing, or one of those sink drain couplers that are commonly used as replacement plungertubes for xbow's. Either way, just make sure its 1.25" in diameter and about 7 inches long.

Just so I can use Langley's new [ mcm ] tag, we can get 1.25" PETG from McM 9245K45. All that's left is the big-assed pistol, such as a gutted Spectre.

[iamthatcat]

The Defender is definitely a well chosen shell. POWERRR!! Nice thick plastic too. I hope I can find just this model as your PJ makes it look amazing. I am really looking forward to building this and you've given me extra motivation to bike 'round to the local thrifts. Thanks for showing us this absolutely stunning blaster!

[Banshee]

Why would you waste a crossbow plunger tube on this? You could just as easily make it with thin-wall pvc and a few couplers

How is it wasting? There really is no market for a Crossbow plungertube, it's not worth anything. It's very rare, but no one wants them. I put mine to GREAT use, so who's wasting?

[Jilliop]

Just a note, you may want to explain what you did to the trigger. I see you cut the top part that fires the arrow shooter off, but kept the front ring on to fit around the new PT. But is that all?

[Defender 7]

Nice write up and amazing job on the paint job! I love the way you used the crossbow plunger tube and the ranges are just ridiculous.

[waffleman]

That paintjob is real nice, what paint did you use to paint it?

[hamoidar]

How is it wasting? There really is no market for a Crossbow plungertube, it's not worth anything. It's very rare, but no one wants them. I put mine to GREAT use, so who's wasting?

I suppose you are right, I only have one crossbow, and treasure it. So using a crossbow plunger tube for this seemed like a sin, at least to me. Anyway, how is the stock catch holding up?

[Banshee]

Just a note, you may want to explain what you did to the trigger. I see you cut the top part that fires the arrow shooter off, but kept the front ring on to fit around the new PT. But is that all?

I didn't do anything to the trigger. The arrow part just unhooks from the main trigger. There's nothing to explain.

That paintjob is real nice, what paint did you use to paint it?

I already explained the process in one of the earlier posts.

I suppose you are right, I only have one crossbow, and treasure it. So using a crossbow plunger tube for this seemed like a sin, at least to me. Anyway, how is the stock catch holding up?

The stock catch is surprisingly beefy. Its thicker than a NF catch, and it it were to break, I have a feeling that a NF catch will fit in its place. So I'm not worried about it.

[hamoidar]

The stock catch is surprisingly beefy. Its thicker than a NF catch, and it it were to break, I have a feeling that a NF catch will fit in its place. So I'm not worried about it.

If the stock catch is stronger than a NF catch, and it were to break, why would you replace it with a NF catch?

[Banshee]

If the stock catch is stronger than a NF catch, and it were to break, why would you replace it with a NF catch?

Because they're readily accessible to me?? I don't care if they break. I got a dozen of them. So if I get 50 shots out of one, I'll just replace it. But I'm willing to bet money that the stock catch wont break, so I have no worries.

[Nerfomania]

My goodness........I have a Dt3 and might be doing this (with sink drain most likely) in the future.

However what really gets me is the PAINT, It is freaking beautiful! I would be happy to read a writeup on the paint method alone! I have so many blasters that would be awesome if painted a candy color.