Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Panther Mod!

What's this, T da B--another blaster that isn't made by Nerf? That's right! Another sleeper coming out of Buzz Bee--it's the Panther! I've heard so many good things about this little guy that I just had to pick one up. They are dirt cheap, dead simple, and perform marvelously. There really haven't been too many air guns released in recent times, so I was excited to find out about this little pump-action gem. The one thing I don't like about the blaster is the handle; you literally hold it with 2 fingers! Baby handle aside, this thing is still a lot of fun to use. As usual, my write-up was based upon the work of others, namely makeitgo's write-up and NerfOmania's Youtube video. This mod would be ideal for people just getting started with Nerf modding, since it's really easy and takes less than a day to complete. Let's get down to business!

Materials:
  • 1/2'' PVC coupler
  • 1/2'' CPVC coupler
  • 3/4'' length of 1/2'' PETG
  • Super glue/plastic welder
  • Hot glue and glue gun
  • Dremel with cutting wheel and sanding bit
Write-up:
Start by chopping off as much of the orange muzzle as you can. Put a piece of cloth on top of the pump so you don't damage it with your saw. Don't bother cleaning it up, since you'll be annihilating this section later anyways.
Take all the screws out and check out the simplicity that is the Panther!
I decided to start out with the pump. Pull it out and cut the end off in between the 2 rings sticking out of the pump shaft.
Wipe everything down with rags and rubbing alcohol to prepare for gluing. At this point you will need to decide whether or not you want to plug your pump or replace the spring with a stronger one. I decided against the stronger spring, since I don't have one and I would worry about it coming apart in the future. Instead, I plugged the pump with NerfOmania's method. Super glue the gasket to the end of the pump handle (right side), then fill the the other part with hot glue (left side). Chuck the spring and measure a piece of 1/2'' PETG whose length is the distance between the 2 rings on the pump. Put some super glue on both halves of the pump and slide them into the PETG. Perfect fit!
Now it's time prepare the air tank and coupler setup. Take your CPVC and PVC coupler and mate them together with some plastic welder.
The next step is to trim down the air tank until there's only a lip left the fits into the double coupler. Make sure that you pump up the Panther beforehand to keep out the debris. After you sand it down to the right height, you might notice that there is dead space all around the air outlet. Fill it up with hot glue and glue on your double coupler. Sorry, forgot to take a pic of it all glued together!

The final step in this very short mod is to trim the shell to fit the big fat coupler. I first sanded the front of the blaster all the way back to about the same depth as the pump opening. From then and on it was just a matter or trial and error in getting the coupler to fit. Make sure you plastic aligning piece that slides over the pump and air tank assembly isn't bumping anything in the shell.

At this point, it's time to close everything back up, kick back, and pour yourself a cold one.
Final thoughts:
I love mods that take a day or two--instant gratification! This one was pretty damn easy--I would recommend it for newbies just starting out with modding. I think the general consensus on barrel length is 8'', but of course this changes depending on dart fit and number of pumps you use.
13 pumps to victory!
For the amount of modding that needed to be done to this little guy, the performance gains are stellar. Now you can see why the Panther is so popular among the modding community. Recommend this blaster to newer Nerfers so they can get a taste of what air guns can really do. I hope you guys enjoyed this mod write-up!

Cheers,
~T da B

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