Roger Explosion

Just a few things before I get started. The mod is quite ghetto, but its just a working concept. There is plenty more that can be done, including the most important step which is getting the thing to fire darts, not just those glorified spit wads. Second of all, if you want some in depth internals shots of the Shadowhawk this post on OzNerf will suffice

This write up is a little rough, I did throw this thing together at about 4am. and I didn't have much of a set plan.


Start by cutting off the handle on the Shadowhawk


Be mindful that there is a small piece of the internals pokes out inside the handle.


Take a stock Nitefinder, open it and gut the internals, but you can leave the trigger in. make sure you keep the catch and catch spring. then cut it down as shown.


Cut approximately 17 inches of 10mmx10mmx1mm aluminium u channel. or any other rod that can be used as a homemade Nitefinder plunger rod.


Cut out a hole big enough for the u channel to fit inside the pump handle. I only show one half of the hole, but do it on both sides so the u channel sits in the middle of the pump handle.


this next step makes things easier down the road. Open the Shadowhawk and remove the gear that pulls the spring back. this will let you move the pump without any resistance. this will make life easier when you need to measure the notch for the catch on the u channel.


attach the u channel to the pump handle by running a bolt through the pieces. I haven't got any pictures of the steps involved here, but just drill a hole near the end of the u channel and holes through the pump handle, line them up and run the bolt though (that should be pretty obvious). I just used a nail held in place with duct tape instead of a bolt, because that's all I had lying around.


attach one half of the cut down Nitefinder onto the Shadowhawk. then run the u channel through where the plunger rod would sit. then pull the pump handle back all the way and mark where the u channel sits inside of where the catch will be.


Cut a small notch in the u channel where you marked it.


resemble the guns and attach the other half of the Nitefinder. check to see if the Niteinder will catch properly, then put back the gear you removed earlier so the Shadowhawk will work properly.

Please note: there is some serious potental for handrape when fired, because the pump handle sits back, and when the trigger is pulled it goes flying forward. right where you'd naturally sit you hand. so don't put you hand underneath the Shadowhawk.

Quite a while ago I came across this. Which appears to be a complete copy of Nerf's Nitefinder. SDL also have a clone of the disk shot, Strikefire and Dart Tag blaster. People on OzNerf will know that I had orignaly posted this comparison there, but I thourght I'd share it with Nerfhaven. Its not a complete copy paste job. Its better written and I also have internal pics as well.

Lets start with the packaging. Why? becuase there is alot of stolen graphics and bad engrish.

Nitefinder





Laser Finder





Oddly enough, there are 2 cardboard targets in the packet but only one stand. this stems from the SLD Dart Blaster (disk shot clone) which has 2 cardbord targets and stands.

Now for the darts.



The orange head SDL darts are longer than the Nerf ones. The foam is also lighter.



The heads on the SDL darts are much lighter and dont have the rubber peg that runs into the hole like the Nerf ones. The heads of the SDL darts come off very easy and are pathetic at sticking onto things.

Now for the guns them selves.


They look almost exactly the same and feel exactly the same to use. The Laser finder is much harder to cock than the Nite finder and is much louder, due to it having a better spring. The paintjob on the laser finder is horrible. its scratched, the details are over painted the logo is peeling off and the paint feels a little strange. the battery doors are diffrent too. the Nitefinder has it battery door screwed on, where as the Laser finder has a hatch.

There is a reason why its called the Laser finder





on the right you will see that the Laser finder has an actual laser pointer unlike Nerfs Red LED and lens. Keeping the Laser finder out of the hands of goobers is a must.

And what you've been waiting for. Range tests. Tests where done inside with both guns fired flat at arms length. Aming the 2 guns consistantly is quite easy with the red dots. just point at the same spot on the wall.

Nitefinder

Packaged dart:
In feet
25
24
26
25
25
25

Tagger dart
In feet
28
31
31
33
27
30

Laser Finder

Packaged dart
In feet
34
35
34
25
30
29

Tagger Dart
in feet
33
32
31
34
21
35

As you can see, the laser finder has more power. but did have some trouble with consistancy. It could just have been down to user error though.

Internals of the Laser finder.



Basicaly the same as the Nitefinder. The screws strip very easy. I may have just got a bad one. I have another SDL gun and had no problem with the screws. The trigger spring and screw are all rusted. The air restrictor, like the newest Nitefinders are glued on.

Plunger rod



The top one is a Nitefinder one and bottom is the Laser finder one. The Laser Finder has a longer and much stronger spring.

EDIT: Ignore the double O ring on the Nite finder Plunger rod. It was from a modified Nitefinder I had laying around.

Now I'm pretty sure no one has posted a writeup on this thing here yet.


This thing here. The unorignal named Foam Dart gun.


Out of the packet now and it looks nice, but way to realistic for my liking. Its fairly small and light, but i find my finger only just fits in the trigger guard. Its primed by pulling back the slide.


It comes with 6 decent red suction cup darts. as you can see there, the little piece inside the handle can hold 2 darts.

Stock, this thing can fire about 16 feet. I'd better fix that.




Start by removing the screws, and don't forget this one hidden under the slide.


And we're in. As you can see, it has an inverted plunger simmilar to a maverick.


If i put the two together, you can see that they are the same length, but the maverick one is wider. This photo was taken after the mod, so thats why the plunger suddenly changed.


Now I could have just drilled out the peg inside the stock barrel, but if I had the dart fit would have been very loose, becasue the stock barrel grips the dart on the inside. Also thats where the air is delivered. But I chose to rebarrel it. For the new barrel I'm using 8cm (thats about 3 inches) of Hep20. It was just an off cut i had lying around, which still had the sticker on it.

Now I'd better take a moment to explain what Hep20 is, because i'm sure almost none of you on here have never heard of it. Basicly its a flexable Polybutylene tubing with an outer diamater of 16mm and an internal diamater much like 17/32 brass. Though its flexable you don't have to worry about it bending at this length. For this mod, its external diameter is pretty much the same as the stock barrel.


Moving on now. You will need the rubber washer piece off the back of the stock barrel


Then glue it to the back of your new barrel. I used 2 part Epoxy glue here.


when its all dried you need to put the plunger back and then work out where the new barrel sits. Glue the barrel onto the shell of the gun to stop it flying out when its fired. The stock barrel had a ridge that held it in place at the front .


Now here's the most important step. before you put it back together, give it an eye raping paintjob.

With a new barrel it hits about 30-35 feet using tagger darts.