6 replies to this topic

[Darkdragon]

Ok, I'm not sure if a question like this has a place, Please dont slap me if it does....

My little cousin is starting to become a little engineer... He's 10 now, and I want to get him into homemades. I've only built a few myself, so I'm no expert. What I ask is for suggestions on what we should build for him first. I'm going to help(power tool guidance, etc.), but I want him to control most of the build process. The only thing Ive actually built myself is a SNAP and SNAP Carbine... so this'll be an experience for the both of us. That said, what homemade do you guys will be simple enough other than a .... SNAP? It doesnt have to wreak havoc, but I dont want to have him too far outclassed by everyone's laser shoooters, and I'm hoping theres a write-up or something on it I can find.

Oh, and if it doesnt hurt too much, can you offer a little reason why it might be a good build for a kid?

Cheers,
-Darkdragon

Edited by Darkdragon, 21 April 2014 - 07:13 PM.

[Anole]

I just finished my AaBow, which I call the Practical Tactical Shotbow. My writeup is coming soon. It was incredibly simple, and shoots 120+ flat. My barrel is long enough to load 10 darts at once, and they get ranges of 55-65 feet flat. I would choose this because it is simple and if you use multiple darts it doesn't hurt. But if he uses one dart it will hurt.

[Mully]

It takes quite a bit of force to prime most homemades; a springer may be to difficult for a ten year old to use.
Carbon came up with a solution for younger people to get into the homemade scene; the SNAP-7 Microbow is simple, cost effective and designed for a younger age group, while remaining competitive with other homemade options on the Haven.

Edited by Mully, 21 April 2014 - 08:23 PM.

[Ozymandias]

HAMP.

Ridiculously cheap & easy to build, you don't have to be svelte to use it, there's lots of configurations it can be built in, and you can shoot just as far as the pricier stuff after some practice.

[Darkdragon]

I just finished my AaBow, which I call the Practical Tactical Shotbow. My writeup is coming soon. It was incredibly simple, and shoots 120+ flat. My barrel is long enough to load 10 darts at once, and they get ranges of 55-65 feet flat. I would choose this because it is simple and if you use multiple darts it doesn't hurt. But if he uses one dart it will hurt.

I own an Aabow, I guess we could try replicating mine, but shorter to fit him.

It takes quite a bit of force to prime most homemades; a springer may be to difficult for a ten year old to use.
Carbon came up with a solution for younger people to get into the homemade scene; the SNAP-7 Microbow is simple, cost effective and designed for a younger age group, while remaining competitive with other homemade options on the Haven.

That's a factor I hadnt even considered yet. Ill check out Carbon's thread. Thank you kindly sir. ^___^

HAMP.

Ridiculously cheap & easy to build, you don't have to be svelte to use it, there's lots of configurations it can be built in, and you can shoot just as far as the pricier stuff after some practice.

HAMPS!

Ive messed with those before.... got me into nerf actually, that little Kanevention.

[KaneTheMediocre]

So I'm biased, but I really think HAMPs are a good learning platform, and since no one has posted any links, see these:

The original HAMP writeup, just covers the propulsion system (which is most of the blaster)
http://nerfhaven.com...t=0#entry266827

A followup writeup for what was called the BATS, or bolt-action-tagger-shotgun. Even if you're going to single your blaster, this is worth a look-see because it describes some practical considerations for holding everything together and preventing the blaster from destroying itself.

http://nerfhaven.com...showtopic=18963

Finally, I did a writeup specifically on the hoppered HAMPS. It's the most recent, so some generic HAMP stuff has newer tricks to get it done easier.

http://nerfhaven.com...showtopic=20030

[Exo]

If we're throwing around HAMP systems, I'll throw my Under-Compensator into the ring. It's based on Kane's original Compensator, but greatly compacted and simplified. There's some clever engineering going on in there, between the bi-directional seal and the "backwards" cycle. It should be fairly cheap to make, and it should be simple enough that he could approach it by himself.

Edited by Exo, 29 April 2014 - 09:18 AM.