darknyght00

Allow me introduce you to Sasha:



Normally I wouldn't give a blaster a name like this but this girl has some personality. She's somewhat temperamental when being reassembled (if her magwell is screwed in too tight, darts can't advance at all- too loose and she locks up like crazy). Obviously, she's based on the Sonic series 'Pede and has been cut down to an SGNerf style SMG. The physical capabilities are standard modded 'Pede but I've taught her a couple neat tricks:



This is her brain: the Arduino Nano based on the ATMega168. The idea to use this is from d4rk354b3r (over on the hvz forums) and his Rayven ammo counter. I rewrote the sourcecode from scratch and added the ability to display double dashes when no mag is inserted. I also upgraded the state change detection on the magazine and trigger switches.



Sorry about the poor image quality, my camera doesn't like the led display and translucent shell.



The default magazine setting is for 18 rounders but that's not all she can do:



The rotary switch in the grip also lets her accommodate 12, 25, and 35 round mags.



The ammo counter circuit is completely separate from the firing circuit. Any failure in one is completely contained and has no effect whatsoever on the other.



This piece is on the main circuit. Also inspired by d4rk354b3r, this voltmeter allows monitoring of Sasha's power to give an idea of how much juice she has left.



She's a very pretty lady.

OK, here we go. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the Aperture Science Zombie Elimination Device (Z.E.D.)



This is a Swarmpistol inspired by Bobololo over on the HvZ boards as his is the only other one I know that retained the original grip and shoulderstock. I'd like to think I've improved upon the platform slightly with a few new features.



As you can see, I've mounted the gearbox in such a way that the stock is still perfectly removable. It's every bit as solid as a NIB Swarmfire.



One of the biggest issues that a Swarmfire/Swarmpistol has is slow reload times. I've fixed this by creating the first (to my knowledge) swappable cylinder mod for this blaster. With some careful dremeling, the orange collar make a perfect retention/release mechanism.





It's always nice to have an early warning when any electric blaster is low on juice, so I mounted a voltmeter panel just above the grip.



Finally, zombies don't just go away once the sun goes down. Occassionally, some illumination is required to identify your target.



The six LEDs mounted to the front of this turret are rated at 18000mcd each and provide as much light as a pretty nice pocket torch. The lights are powered by a single 14500 trustfire cell housed inside the cylinder.



Performance is standard for an AR removed Swarmpistol running 4 trustfire 14500 cells and an SGNerf upgrade spring.

Turreted, pump plugged SSPB. Still working on the turret but it's one of my favourite pieces. The handle is a stub of 1/2" PVC covered in gorilla tape.



Pump replaced, couplered Tetra Strike. A friend had this lying around collecting dust so I offered to breathe some life into it. The mess hanging off it is a RF20 pump valve which, unfortunately, does nothing to stop the leak in the bottom tank's valve (didn't pinpoint it until everything else was done). The pump I picked up at Target for about $6. It's double action so the entire thing is full at 3-4 pumps (a very nice improvement).


The SPARK. I learned about this project from Dyxlesic's post here on the haven and he credits CHEESYPIZZA001, DOOM, BOOT, and KIDFLASH with its conception and initial prototyping so I will too. Thank you all.

Closeup of the SPARK regulator. Allows pressure to be adjusted in the SA firing tank and allows the SA feature to function without a bladder.

I actually finished this back in August but never got around to posting. Whoops.

The SPARK has been a blast (see also: pain, joy, adventure) to build and use. I kinda wanted to put a better pump on it before I retire the thing but I don't think it's gonna happen. As you can see, I have an elastic band holding the pump in the closed position. Without it, the pump I'm using shakes loose when I run which can quickly cause awkward situations. This one has been fun but I hope what I have in the works doesn't give me quite as much trouble.

@Y-Brik: Your hands are significantly larger than mine. I don't think I can pull off the linked Jolts. I would also like a Manta but I'm afraid that it isn't in the cards for the foreseeable future. I'm toying with the idea of using NF internals in a Manta-esque PVC frame. That way, I can design the frame custom for my hands.

@iamthatcat: At first glance, your Jolt appears to be sporting a bandolier. It looks fantastic, but my favorite thing about the Jolt is the way it feels in the hand versus the SSPB (my other favourite single shot pistol). Still, with your minimization, it looks like it would be quite the surprise to unsuspecting opponents (in this case, I'm going to assume zombies).

Nice work! Sadly, my Jolt(s) will be more conservative, utilitarian holdout pistols.

Guess what that picture means....

Is it bacon?

Here it is. My take on Dyslexic's Project: SPARK.







It took a while to complete but it was well worth it. No official ranges but I'm very impressed with it so far.