7 replies to this topic

[Hardly Ideal]

I like my little MavTitan. It can fire both darts and missiles, all in a comparatively tiny package. Not the prettiest package, but I can always fix that up later.

 

What I don't like is how between my brother and I, we only have two missiles, which is a lot less than I'd like. I know darts perform way better; they fly farther, faster, and with less pumps. But I like the novelty and we occasionally use special rules for different ammo types, so it'd be better if we had more.

 

Plenty of people have come up with homemade missiles, and most of them are pretty good. The problem I keep running into is that they seem to require a different barrel size than the stock Titan. That's also fine, but I'd rather make something that won't need an adapter; if I'm going to make such a goofy fun thing as a missile, I'd like to share it with anyone else who happens to have a Titan.

 

To that end, I've gotten a little creative. As usual, maybe a little too creative.

 

 

I had some 3mm craft foam whose original purpose has been lost, like you can find at Michael's. After pacing the plumbing aisle of the hardware store for too long, I thought "Why not just wrap a sheet of that stuff around the stock barrel and seal it up? Granted, I did use the ol' pipe insulation foam in the end, but only to weight the end.

 

-To keep the finished product from being too tight, I first wrapped the barrel with a couple sheets of printer paper, then I wrapped the foam to measure. That added thickness should allow for a good fit.

-The material sheet width came out to about 5 9/32in, but I had to trim it to get a more exact fit; I chiefly didn't want to have an overlapping seam that might leak during firing. Length-wise, I kept it about the same length as the stock missile.

-To hold it all together, I carefully wrapped it in some nice blue duct tape. It's not the most attractive finish, but it works for prototypes. The final version will probably involve a second wrap of foam for a smoother finish.

-The last three or four inches were stuffed with insulation foam for weight and stability.

-The fins are pretty straightforward for now, but I'd like to try at least one with box or tube fins like you see in model rockets sometimes. It might make loading and storage easier, and I'm always looking to try something different and interesting.

-Just for fun, numbered stripes on the nose to see which ones work well and which ones stink.

 

So far, they seem to perform about as well as the stock missile, which I'm kind of surprised by. They're nowhere near as heavy, so I'm thinking they might be too tight. But that might not be a problem from a consistency standpoint.

 

At the moment, it looks like I have enough material on hand for five of these, for a total of six. Which is great, but I've now run into another problem: how the heck am I going to carry these during a real game? Even though these are smaller than a stock missile, they're still pretty bulky; I'd need something the size of a small messenger bag at this rate.

 

More updates as they come.

[blitz]

Any reason why you didn't just use stock pipe insulation around PVC pipe instead of the titan barrel? 

Also, how much do they weight? IIRC similar models used HUGE weights for stabilization. 

 

You don't really seem them used all that much anymore, but large ammo based on pipe insulation was a thing. Glad to see you're bringing it back.

[Hardly Ideal]

Plenty of people have come up with homemade missiles, and most of them are pretty good. The problem I keep running into is that they seem to require a different barrel size than the stock Titan. That's also fine, but I'd rather make something that won't need an adapter; if I'm going to make such a goofy fun thing as a missile, I'd like to share it with anyone else who happens to have a Titan.

 

I'm just not too keen on custom ammo for a lot of reasons, mostly for compatibility and fairness:

-It would be difficult if someone wanted to use a blaster that only used something specialized ammo. Someone borrowing a super-duper Stefan-only blaster won't have much fun when they run dry and get pwned by someone with a Jolt and bulging pockets.

-We've had some dust-ups over specialized ammo before, namely a Titan-based scattergun using a PVC barrel full of half darts. Goofy ammo has been a sore subject ever since; it's easier and more fun to stick with stock ammo than burn daylight getting into arguments.

 

As for weight, I have no idea. I'll check the next time I find a scale. EDIT: The one with the tube fins weighs in around 32 grams.

 

And it's true, you don't see them often, but not never. We had some rules regarding different ammo types to try and make them more feasible. Otherwise, they'd be just goofy novelties for people to chuckle over before grabbing something more ordinary:

-Micros/Elites - Tag out with a hit to the body, but can be blocked with limbs or weapons.

-Arrows - Tag out with a hit to the body or limbs, but can be blocked with weapons.

-Missiles - Can't be blocked at all.

That was a while ago, though, when the Big Bad Bow was still a thing and the Mega dart hadn't come out yet. I better come up with a rule for that one.

Edited by Hardly Ideal, 06 June 2018 - 11:24 AM.

[Hardly Ideal]

First set of missiles is done, and they seem to work okay!

 

 

Even that goofy box fin (four stripes) pretty much goes where you point it.

 

I think my favorite so far is the tube fin (two stripes). Not perfect, but I like how compact and unusual it looks. It'll need more tape on the inside edges to stick better, but that shouldn't be a problem. Might even control the width better.

 

I've already got some other ideas to try. Double the tube fins, fore-fins, maybe some tricks to try and prevent folding on the seam, maybe a mock discarding sabot... but I have to be a productive adult for a little while longer first.

 

More updates as they come.

[Daniel Beaver]

This is super sweet, I love these kinds of mods. The Maverick is an excellent integration platform for a compact titan.

Edited by Daniel Beaver, 04 June 2018 - 06:41 PM.

[Jyang]

Given that your group is concerned about injury with custom projectiles (and reasonably so), have you considered using craft foam for fins instead of cardboard?

 

Also apparently angling the fins a little bit creates spin, which is good for stability. Might be worth giving it a go.

 

Side note, have you seen MTB's video on making titan rockets? Might be a good source of inspiration, even if it doesn't fit the goal of interchangeable ammo.

[Hardly Ideal]

Given that your group is concerned about injury with custom projectiles (and reasonably so), have you considered using craft foam for fins instead of cardboard?

 

Also apparently angling the fins a little bit creates spin, which is good for stability. Might be worth giving it a go.

 

Side note, have you seen MTB's video on making titan rockets? Might be a good source of inspiration, even if it doesn't fit the goal of interchangeable ammo.

 

They're all made completely from craft foam and pipe insulation, so the injury risk is pretty low. I don't think I ever considered cardboard; too thick, and it wouldn't make for as good of a seal on the barrel.

 

Some of the first ones have been made with tilted fins to induce a spin. But if KSP is anything to go by, excessive spinning hurts performance, so it's a little tricky making sure it doesn't go too far.

 

And yeah, I did stop by MTB's stuff on the way here. I considered hollowing out pool noodles with a Forstner bit on a drill press to get the inner diameter of the missiles to match the Titan's stock 40mm, but that seemed like an awful lot of work compared to wrapping foam.

[Jyang]

 

They're all made completely from craft foam and pipe insulation, so the injury risk is pretty low. I don't think I ever considered cardboard; too thick, and it wouldn't make for as good of a seal on the barrel.

 

Some of the first ones have been made with tilted fins to induce a spin. But if KSP is anything to go by, excessive spinning hurts performance, so it's a little tricky making sure it doesn't go too far.

 

And yeah, I did stop by MTB's stuff on the way here. I considered hollowing out pool noodles with a Forstner bit on a drill press to get the inner diameter of the missiles to match the Titan's stock 40mm, but that seemed like an awful lot of work compared to wrapping foam.

 

My mistake, from the pictures the fins looked as though they were made out of cardboard!