603 replies to this topic

[xNFx 37]

Sorry for the double post, but I have a question: This is ONLY for people who have used loghelp foam.

I need to know, If this stuff fits in 9/16ths brass, or sch. 80 PVC. Mainly, I need any foam that fits in 9/16ths brass. But I've heard that Loghelp works. Is this true?

[clowcards]

I made some darts using washers, similar to the Captain Slug method. However, I secured the washers to the FBR with orange duct tape. This has the benefit of automatically giving a brightly colored tip to the darts, while admittedly, loosing some accuracy and consistency due to the tape.

The darts are easiest to make using only one strip of tape, as you can see on the right 2 darts in the picture below. On some darts, I wrapped a second strip of tape the other way around the FBR creating a full orange tip (as seen on the left 2 darts in the picture).



Has anyone else used tape to make darts like this before? I like having the highly visible tip, and they are easy to make without any real tools or glue. Any ideas for improving them?

[Galaxy613]

Video of my dartsmithing method:
Took me long enough to get around to making one.

Nice video! Except the music sounds like the stuff you hear in elevators.

That's a bad thing? The music in elevators are inspiring and emotional! It's a genre unto itself! That's the compliment.

(If that was sarcasm or not, I'll leave up to you)

[CaptainSlug]

I collect Lounge music specifically BECAUSE it's so goofy.

Edited by CaptainSlug, 26 March 2008 - 12:33 AM.

[Ambience 327]

I made some darts using washers, similar to the Captain Slug method. However, I secured the washers to the FBR with orange duct tape. This has the benefit of automatically giving a brightly colored tip to the darts, while admittedly, loosing some accuracy and consistency due to the tape.

Are you just putting a washer on with duct tape, and nothing else? That would really sting when it hits.

Metal + thin layer of duct tape = OUCH!


CaptainSlug puts felt tips over his washers, which reduces the ouch factor much more than duct tape would.

[clowcards]

Yes, I am using just duct tape and nothing else, but it really doesn't hurt. There isn't that much mass to a small washer, and it is still spread out over the surface of the entire tip. I have shot myself plenty of times with my modified night finder and it doesn't hurt any more then a stock dart.

Granted, I don't have any really powerful guns, such as a singled titan. I'm sure they would hurt more coming out of a powerful gun, but then any dart would hurt when shot at that speed.

These darts are great for what I play, a week long game of Humans vs. Zombies. I mostly use them in a Maverick or a Dart Tag Blaster as disposable darts I don't really care about. The orange tip also helps Zombies see that they have been hit, because no one feels nerf darts at all with a coat or a hoodie on.

[Omega]

Well shit. I can't get my darts straight worth beans. I've tried the hair dryer thing, but it's not working too well- they either don't get straight or they shrivel. Any suggestions on what setting/time to set the hair dryer at?

[Silencer]

I usually put my darts in the pillowcase for about 10 seconds because it doesn't let any heat out.

[nerfer75]

I do what FA_24 does, put them in a pillow case and put it in the dryer. They come out near perfect.

[xNFx 37]

I put my hair dryer on high heat and high air flow. I keep it in there for 1.5-2 minutes. Be sure to mix around the darts though.

[Seven]

[size=7]HELP!

My stefans won't shoot. In my LS I push the cocking bar forward and it flops out the end when I haven't pulled the trigger. So someone please help me

[sputnik]

Well is it modded to shoot stefans?

[jwasko]

[size=7]HELP!

My stefans won't shoot. In my LS I push the cocking bar forward and it flops out the end when I haven't pulled the trigger. So someone please help me

1. Are you using stefans mafe out of foam backer rod?
2. If so, did you remove the peg from the LS? Or, did you drill a hole through the foam backer rod?

If the answers to those two questions are "yes" and "no" in that order, then there's your problem. Your darts aren't going into the bolt like stock darts are supposed to; they are just going into the "faux" barrel that extends forward. That faux barrel is much too loose to hold the darts in place, so they just fall out.

Edited by jwasko, 16 April 2008 - 12:41 PM.

[sputnik]

That faux barrel is much too loose to hold the darts in place, so they just fall out.

Actually, it fits 5/8 stefans perfectly.
But, jwasko is right, it doesnt like 1/2 inch FBR.

[Seven]

[size=7]HELP!

My stefans won't shoot. In my LS I push the cocking bar forward and it flops out the end when I haven't pulled the trigger. So someone please help me

1. Are you using stefans mafe out of foam backer rod?
2. If so, did you remove the peg from the LS? Or, did you drill a hole through the foam backer rod?

If the answers to those two questions are "yes" and "no" in that order, then there's your problem. Your darts aren't going into the bolt like stock darts are supposed to; they are just going into the "faux" barrel that extends forward. That faux barrel is much too loose to hold the darts in place, so they just fall out.

I also tried them in my Recon witch i did remove the peg from. It fired but only about 2 feet

[Galaxy613]

So apparently people like making their stefan micros 1-2 inches long? Why not go with the stock length of 2.5 inches to 3 inches?

[Bomberman]

So apparently people like making their stefan micros 1-2 inches long? Why not go with the stock length of 2.5 inches to 3 inches?

It saves foam, and they are less likely to spin out of control like streamlines do. And because people have found through trial and error, (Like I have) that 1.5 to 2 inches is the butterzone.

[CaptainSlug]

So apparently people like making their stefan micros 1-2 inches long? Why not go with the stock length of 2.5 inches to 3 inches?

1.5 to 2 inches offers the best balance of reduced friction with aerodynamic stability. The foam is there primarily for flight stability and to provide a seal against the walls of the barrel.
I tend to prefer 2-inch length over 1.5inch.

Edited by CaptainSlug, 21 April 2008 - 05:26 PM.

[Cmdrmack]

In my experience 2 in is a little short for Longshot Magazines, and since that's the most common primary in my clan I make mine 2 1/4 inches.

[CaptainSlug]

In my experience 2 in is a little short for Longshot Magazines, and since that's the most common primary in my clan I make mine 2 1/4 inches.

Mine end up just short of that total length due to the felt and washer added to the end.

[ompa]

Eh, I'll add in my experiences. My darts are 1.75" before the addition of a hot glue/felt tip, so they end up around 1.8"-1.9" by the time I'm done. I haven't had a whole lot of issues with the darts; they are probably a little heavy for some of my pistols, but in general they work well with all my guns due to the use of 1/4 slingshot ammo as a weight.

If you can though, I am a proponent of CS's method, if only because it's a lot easier to center the weight, something which I have problems with, because even if you make a centered hole, when you drop the weight into the hot glue sometimes it unevenly melts the foam and you end up with a slightly off-center weight.

~ompa

[Ubermensch]

Which is the better way of making matchstick stefans, Forsaken_Angel's way, or the original type that makes actual "matchstick" heads?

[Galaxy613]

...If you can though, I am a proponent of CS's method, if only because it's a lot easier to center the weight, something which I have problems with, because even if you make a centered hole, when you drop the weight into the hot glue sometimes it unevenly melts the foam and you end up with a slightly off-center weight.

~ompa

Thats why you use very little hot glue or none at all before you put the weight in.

[ompa]

I don't really use a lot of hot glue. The issue is that I use a high-temp glue gun which tends to melt the foam rather quickly. I'd use a lower-temp gun to alleviate the problem, but quite frankly, my current method of making darts involves allowing the glue to form a dome at the tip of the dart, hence the need for a high-temp glue gun. At low-temp the dome doesn't like to form.

I used to not use glue at all (before I put the weight in, that is), but then I had problems with the weight actually flying out of the dart (breaking through the side of the foam) upon hitting harder objects. And to be quite honest, if I miss my shot and hit a wall, I really don't want a small ball of metal ricocheting around.

~ompa

\/ In response to the post below, I'm planning to switch over to CS's style of stefans, provided they work in my Longshot when I finish modding it.

[Bomberman]

I don't really use a lot of hot glue. The issue is that I use a high-temp glue gun which tends to melt the foam rather quickly. I'd use a lower-temp gun to alleviate the problem, but quite frankly, my current method of making darts involves allowing the glue to form a dome at the tip of the dart, hence the need for a high-temp glue gun. At low-temp the dome doesn't like to form.

I used to not use glue at all (before I put the weight in, that is), but then I had problems with the weight actually flying out of the dart (breaking through the side of the foam) upon hitting harder objects. And to be quite honest, if I miss my shot and hit a wall, I really don't want a small ball of metal ricocheting around.

~ompa

I dip my finger in ice water and then make the head flat, kind of like the flat head of CS's darts. It sucks, I can't make darts anymore due to the fumes, and I have a couple of health issues, so my folks prohibited me from making stefans. But the flat head I make them with always seems to give them a bit straighter trajectory.