19 replies to this topic

[spacephrawg]

What is the best way to make these things not creak? I'm going to be putting the Remedy Metal full kit in one of them, with a [k26]. It will also have an Xplorer shotgun grip. Lots of forces will be applied to that thing. Another one is going to have the OMW full kit in it. You get the idea.

The ones i have are used and stock, never opened. They creak when you pick them up, they creak when you put them down. They creak when you aim them at someone too. What should I do?

On a FB group I'm on, someone suggested I hot glue a lot of foam backing rod in there but that isn't going to stop the body flex. For a moment i considered using the Smoothcast 300 resin that I have but that gets up to more than 212 degrees when it cures, according to the technical data. For casting, Nerf's ABS plastic is heated to 400 degrees so they can squirt it into the molds. OK fine but I've heard of ABS RC boat hulls' decks warping in 98 degree sunlight before.

I will test the resin on a blaster i don't like but I'd like to know if there's another way i can solve my problem that doesn't involve such high heat. Also resin isn't cheap. What do you guys think?

[Kid Flash]

You could use epoxy putty in some of the empty spaces to make it a bit heavier and add a more sturdy feel to it.

[spacephrawg]

You could use epoxy putty in some of the empty spaces to make it a bit heavier and add a more sturdy feel to it.

This is true. However epoxy putty isn't cheap and a Longshot is a big blaster. I could try putting the putty in areas where there are major plane breaks, like where the top and bottom meet the sides. Still I keep thinking there's got to be other ways.

[Kid Flash]

Someone like a year ago was using a resin to fill in areas of blasters... Might want to search for that, and try messaging them.

[spacephrawg]

Someone like a year ago was using a resin to fill in areas of blasters... Might want to search for that, and try messaging them.

The on-site Nerfhaven search engine never really works well for me. I googled it and got a NH thread about casting replacement parts in resin, from silicone molds. Not what i was after.

[DICE134]

I've seen people use bondo where there are spaces where there is not a lot of parts such as the handle, but the cheapest and possibly the easiest method is using foam and hot glue.

[spacephrawg]

I've seen people use bondo where there are spaces where there is not a lot of parts such as the handle, but the cheapest and possibly the easiest method is using foam and hot glue.

But foam and hot glue doesn't stop the body from flexing. How does that help?

It occurs to me that another option could simply be to use a lot of hot glue by itself

[Kid Flash]

Well, lucky for you I know how to click the search button on here. PM Lucian for how to do the resin stuff. He's the one that started it.

[Mully]

Well, I saw something that somebody did a while back, which involved putting bondo in the handle, for the feel, and then filling up every inch of dead space with fbr and got glue.

I hope this helps.

[Hammy]

I dont think it is necessary to completely fill up all the dead space in the LS.

Maybe apply a layer of hot glue in the places where the shell seens to be flexing and squeaking the most.
The layer of hot glue will then thicken those areas, and they will not be able to flex as much.
Then use packaging foam to fill the remaining space.

Edited by Hammy, 02 December 2012 - 10:21 PM.

[spacephrawg]

Well, lucky for you I know how to click the search button on here. PM Lucian for how to do the resin stuff. He's the one that started it.

I will PM lucian. thanks for the recommendation. Still I don't think there is a resin in existence that doesn't get extremely hot when curing.

Please, i know how to use a search engine. The problem is that i put in the search term and it takes forever to load and most of the time says "network timeout" or something so i reload and it goes to the stand alone page for the NH search engine where i can narrow the search with extra parameters. But no search results are present. So i search again and it repeats the problem. I'm not the only one who has had this problem. I know others who have experienced the same thing and they live on the other side of the US from me. I have a cable modem and a computer with an i7 processor. I'm running 8 gigs of RAM. Im using Chrome. I've updated my OS recently. My hard drive is defragged. I've sacrificed some goats to the right gods. The problem isn't on my end.


edit:


@Hammy,

hot glue sounds like a plan if for no other reason than it being good for dampening flexation but you make a good case for it. I'm still not sure how foam of any kind could possibly help though.

Fortunately a have a metric poop-load of hot glue.

Edited by spacephrawg, 02 December 2012 - 10:09 PM.

[Naturalman7]

The problem is that i put in the search term and it takes forever to load and most of the time says "network timeout" or something so i reload and it goes to the stand alone page for the NH search engine where i can narrow the search with extra parameters.

Depending on what it is you're searching for, I find a simple Google search directed specifically at NerfHaven is often a faster option than using the builtin search function.

Just type "site:nerfhaven.com" then what you want to search for.

[Hammy]

When you say creak, where exactly is the creaking noise coming from ?

[Crater]

The creaking noise is caused by parts rubbing against each other, right? I suggest (though IDK if it's actually a good idea*) lubricating all contact surfaces between the shell halves and between the shell and internals, except for the parts that require friction (if there are any; it's been a while since I've looked inside a LS). It won't make the shell less flexible but it will let it flex more quietly.

*I have a vague memory of someone suggesting this on here in the past, but I can't find it again, and I don't remember if it was ever tried.

[Zorns Lemma]

I will PM lucian. thanks for the recommendation. Still I don't think there is a resin in existence that doesn't get extremely hot when curing.

Please, i know how to use a search engine. The problem is that i put in the search term and it takes forever to load and most of the time says "network timeout

Most polyester or polyurethane casting resin becomes mildly warm while curing but won't melt down your shell. You can make small ramps with putting or scrap plastic to isolate areas of the shell where the plastic structure has weakened leading to that creaking.

Whenever the NH search engine is slow (worked for me, but took a while) you can use Google to search Nerfhaven with an input similar: "resin cast site:nerfhaven.com" (there aren't a lot of useful results). This page of the crossbow thread has a lot of references to it, but I'm not sure where the guide is http://nerfhaven.com...opic=8792&st=99

What I did for my crossbow was pretty straightforward though. You mix the casting resin and then pour it onto the blaster. Buy some fast curing stuff and you have to pour quickly, but at least you don't have to sit around for hours.

Expanding foam is another way to fill space, and is probably cheaper, but I would not recommend it as it is a huge pain to work with since it gets everywhere and is hard to clean up.

[spacephrawg]

The creaking noise is caused by parts rubbing against each other, right? I suggest (though IDK if it's actually a good idea*) lubricating all contact surfaces between the shell halves and between the shell and internals, except for the parts that require friction (if there are any; it's been a while since I've looked inside a LS). It won't make the shell less flexible but it will let it flex more quietly.

*I have a vague memory of someone suggesting this on here in the past, but I can't find it again, and I don't remember if it was ever tried.

The problem, i suspect, isn't just that but that the shell itself actually flexing. I have determined that the main culprit is the grip and the parts of the shell that are near it.

@Zom's Lemma,

Actually most resins of any kind get as high as 212 degrees like the stuff i have does. The resin i use stays liquid for 8min. it takes 2min to fully mix it and the rest of the time is enough time for a small job. The resin I use cures in 15min.

I know from RC boaters that expanding foam is not often a good idea. when it expands it can actually burst whatever the containing structure happens to be. Also its foam and the foam won't stop the flexation.

[zx532]

Expanding foam is actually very rigid when it cures (as seen on the mythbusters "AB foam car" episode)

Also while it might expand out of some things, nerf plastic is very strong (it's high quality ABS plastic) compared to other types of plastic. The foam may squeeze itself out through some seams, but you can just cut it and trim it at that point.

[Seprest]

I've never thought of my Longshot as being more creaky than any other blaster, but you should still consider filling as much deadspace as possible with FBR. With upgraded parts, or even just the AR removed, the blaster makes MUCH less noise if FBR is stuck in every crevice such that it dampens vibrations.

[Zorns Lemma]

Actually most resins of any kind get as high as 212 degrees like the stuff i have does. The resin i use stays liquid for 8min. it takes 2min to fully mix it and the rest of the time is enough time for a small job. The resin I use cures in 15min.

The resin I used stayed liquid for around 15 min and fully cured in 30-1 hr. I never measured the peak temperature of the resin, but the shell did warm up though not hot enough to be untouchable (going by anecdotal temperature relative to a steel pot boiling water, I'd say the shell hit 150~ peak, meaning the resin could very well been about 200) and definitely not hot enough for the plastic to start fuming the way abrasive bits will ruin plastic.

Keep in mind thermal conductivity of plastic is not fantastic, and that you'll probably be working in smaller volumes than the shell you have. Perhaps mix a small batch and try it in an obscure corner to test. Good luck!

[spacephrawg]

Thanks everyone. Unfortunately i won't have time to work on this until next week. Until then I'm going to tract down some scrap plastic that i can build a damn out of, to keep the resin from going where i don't want it to. I'll let you know how it turns out.

By the way, the sort of annoying creaking i'm talking about can be heard at 4:13 in this video (this isn't my video by the way):btw the product he's testing in the video is pretty cool too

Edited by spacephrawg, 06 December 2012 - 06:03 PM.