Progress!

Hey guys,

I'm pretty terrible at making posts about stuff that's currently in progress. This results in long gaps between chunky posts, so I'll try and get better at timing at least one update post per mod to satiate that appetite for my goodies. In this case it's way late, but better late than never!

Cheers,
~T

Longstrike mod!

Sup guys,

I've been working on an extra special project lately. I browse the forums quite a bit, and sometimes I see something that really impresses me. In this case, it was a Longstrike. It's not often you get all hot and bothered by a blaster that absolutely blows stock. However, nowadays I see blasters in a different light than I used to. Now that I have the means to create any of my own components, there's no point in reusing Hasbro's internals at all. A blaster's worth to me is now measured in how good it looks and how easy it in to incorporate internals and other goodies. The Longstrike satisfies all my requirements, and just happens to have enough room for a 1.5'' PVC plunger tube! This mod is literally a wolf in sheep's clothing--the shell is the only thing original at all in this mod. Shall we?

Stampede repairs complete!

Yo, remember this?

Allow me to refresh all of our memories... Back in the day I modded a Stampede, unknowing of the numerous pitfalls that would stymie me in my travels. One of these pitfalls was the stripping of a key gear that drives the blaster. A square hole became round, courtesy 4 unprotected Trustfire batteries putting out 16.8V and mucho current.

For many months the Stampede laid dormant after every form of glue and epoxy I had was used in the repair effort. I moved on to other projects, figuring some day I would find an answer. I figured metal would be optimal, and I first found some bronze gears made in Australia, but the seller was MIA. Recently I found PAK D, a company from Singapore that casts Stampede gears out of aluminum and charges an arm and a leg for them ($55 + $40 shipping). Eventually I learned about solvents, and I changed my course of action. Look what I got in the mail recently:

Centurion Review

Hello people,

I haven't posted in a while, and I just got my Centurion in the mail recently so I figured I might as well do a quick review of Nerf's most ridiculous blaster to date!

Airtech 4000 added to sales page!

Hey guys,

The Airtech 4000 is the king of the Airtech line with twelve barrels, turret auto-rotation, and a massive air tank. Seeing that I have two of these bad boys, I've decided to pass one on to the community. The auto-rotation works perfectly, it still successfully shoots darts, and the shell is in tiptop shape! Asking price is $30, and I haven't figured out the cheapest way to ship it yet:

Cheers!
~T

Time to resurrect a monster...

Hello people,

Look what came in the mail recently:

For those of you that have never seen the likes, it's a Stampede's gearbox. The battery pack drives an electric motor that drives the gearbox that eventually primes the blaster. The problem arises when you increase the voltage from 6V to 16.8V--the torque from the motor ends up stripping one of the gears! For those of you that don't remember:

This time, I will be making a "preemptive strike" on the gear before it has a chance to strip itself. I will be thoroughly cleaning the contact area and using powerful solvents to fuse the gear to it's mount--a much better solution than trying to buy metal gears off flaky Chinese Nerf companies.

In other news, I have been slacking off with the modding due to car maintenance, practicing music, and various forms of debauchery. I promise I'll get cracking on the Longstrike/Stampede/LS shotgun grip soon--there just aren't enough hours in the day! Please sit tight while I square things away one at a time.

Regards,
~T da B

How to make a Rainbow Catch

Hello readers,

My mind has been elsewhere for the past week. Something in that clean Adirondack air made me take a good look at life and make a few tweaks. Not to worry--I'm not quitting modding, just making a few adjustments. T da B has always been a musician at heart, and he has decided to dust off the old bass guitar and get thumping once again!

Let us shift back to the topic at hand: the Rainbow Catch. Invented in 2010, it was the successor to the Plusbow Catch. Its purpose was to do away with the latter's bulky side plates and be completely contained in the plunger tube. You can find templates on Nerfhaven.com, but only for the original size that fits in 1 1/4'' PVC. The Rainbow Catch that I am building is intended for 1 1/2'' PVC, so I had to do it myself with no templates. Life isn't just cutting and pasting!

The original Rainbow