Unlike everything I've built before, the gun is in two parts: the frame and the upper. The frame is based on a half-slice of 1 1/4" thinwall, with a 1" 3-section grip and trigger guard attached. The upper houses a foam-head plunger and all the trimmings, as well as a 1/2" PEX barrel. They are both housed inside the same length of pipe, which gives a beefier, less homemade look. Here is a picture of the gun:
Shadow does weird things with its appearance. The grip looks tapered in the photo, and the general shape is a bit skewed. It also doesn't convey the size of this gun. It's about maverick sized in real life, but a little bit longer and wider.
The Upper:
The upper is basically just a length of 1 1/4" PVC. There is a 1"x1/2" PVC bushing in the back to hold the spring, and another, with a ring of 1/2" CPVC coupler inserted, in the middle to stabilize the barrel.
The plunger is constructed like those in the Thing and Dragonfly, except that the sealing surface has been lengthened, and the endcap has been replaced with a balsa disk.
The barrel is held in by foam insulation. A long chunk fits between the barrel and chamber wall, sealing off the outside and keeping the barrel in place.
The Frame:
Here it is before all the bodywork.
You can see how everything is put together.
The pink thing on the left was the earlier form for the end of the trigger guard.
I've since added a guide screw to keep the trigger from flipping around like it's doing in the photo.
Construction:
Everything was made originally in PVC (except the end of the guard). I then coated the whole thing with spackling, forming the shape with a putty knife. After letting the spackling dry, I sanded everything down to get it all nice and smooth. It worked quite nicely, filling in all the seams between sections of pipe. I'd recommend using something better than spackling, though. Bondo or Water Putty might be good options. This stuff can flake off a little too easily.
Performance
No official range tests yet, but by comparing it with other guns, I'd say it gets at least 65-70 feet.
What I like most about the gun is that it feels really cool. The spackling adds enough weight to make it feel really solid, without making it unwieldy. That, along with the size and shape, make it a lot of fun to shoot.
Hopefully, I can get better pics up soon.
