Props Spartan Laser Metal & Fiberglass Airsoft Prop (Fully Functioning Electronic Replica)

[Rysjin7717]

Hey Red, very inventive thinkin' on usein' th' drill press for th' work on that barrel an beautiful work it is!!!!

 

[Iamthewill]

I am in awe! Of everything I've seen on the forums, this has got to be one of the most impressive. Keep up the good work!

 

[Redshirt]

1. that barrel turned out SO SMEXY BRO! good job on turning it with a drill press.
2. i see an arizona license plate, my home state you still here in az? or some other place and that plate is just a rememberance of here?

SMEXY! Indeed. Thanks! No longer in AZ, but I was in AZ for the start of this project.

Looks like a lightsaber handle lol. Great job on the barrel red. Its amazing what you accomplish

Thanks. One of my sons was doing the, "So I see you've constructed a new lightsaber." quote in his best Vader voice as we stood around looking at our work.

Hey Red, very inventive thinkin' on usein' th' drill press for th' work on that barrel an beautiful work it is!!!!

Thanks much! There has to be a lot of inventive thinkin' when you don't have the right tool for the job (MIG welder with spool gun, milling machine, lathe, etc.)

I am in awe! Of everything I've seen on the forums, this has got to be one of the most impressive. Keep up the good work!

Thank you for chiming in. Welcome to the 405th!


This week I finally have some direct airsoft content again as I work to solve the chamber and hop-up crisis. Refresher: I have three Echo1 E90 mech boxes driving this beast. Two are mounted upside down and all are mounted too close to each other causing the hop-up units to interfere with each other. So, two hop-up/chamber units need to be split and have the chambers rotated 180 degrees so that the hop-ups remain upright. If I don't do this, the BBs from those units will curve downward immediately upon leaving the barrel. I also need to narrow all three hop-up/chamber setups so they don't interfere with each other. This means that I will have to come up with my own means of exerting downward pressure on the hop-up bucking. Most likely, this will be a set screw incorporated into whatever mounting I add later to connect the feed tub and hop-up tracer unit to each unit.

Here's my problem--two hop-ups are upside down and no room for the adjusting mechanism.

For the two hop-ups that go on the upside down mech-boxes: With the narrowest saw you can find, cut off the mounting for the mechbox. This has to be a neat job.

Done. Clean up the edges with a razor knife. You don't want any of that stray plastic sticking into the chamber and impacting the spin of the BBs.

I used a surplus nozzle coated with mold release to make sure the pieces are glued together straight and that the chamber is correctly shaped.

Here's one in the process of being glued. I've already shaved off the sides of the hop-up adjusting mechanism here.

Good test fit. I haven't trimmed the ears off the barrel lock yet in this photo. I came up with O ring bands to retain the locks in place that work pretty slick.

It will be a little bit before I come back to the feed tube connections and hop-up adjust mechanism, but this job lets me figure out the barrel mountings and how much room I have on either side to fit the lift mechanism.

Redshirt

 

[Redshirt]

And now back to the fiberglass: With the upper receiver fixed in it's position relative to the metal lower receiver, it's time to address (hopefully for the last time) the fit of the shroud to the upper receiver. Once this is cleaned up, I can finish and install the lift mechanism. It's just amazing how one adjustment throws everything off. When I started doing this fitting, the shroud wouldn't fit at the back or bottom and seemed to have developed a twist. I ended up doing a lot of cutting, especially on the inside, to get the inner dimensions wide enough for the lift mechanism to clear the barrel.

I taped it 18 different ways to get the best match up. I also cut the notches for the side stabilizers. This will let me make the corresponding cuts in the upper receiver and allow me to engineer the attachment points. You can also see the purple coating of mold release on the upper receiver. This will enable me to separate the parts after I Bondo all the gaps.

Wider shot from the other side showing the huge gap at the rear. I used a piece of wood along the top to make sure the top of the shroud stayed parallel to the top of the upper receiver.

Not pretty--yet

Final positioning. I also had to brace both sides. This was due to the twist that had developed between the two pieces since they were last fitted.

Here's everything after filling with Bondo. This should give me something I can work with now.

Redshirt

 

[Rysjin7717]

Hey Red!!!! Exscuse me if ya will while I pick up my jaw and glue it back together!!!! It hit th' floor /w/ enough force that it shattered:eek!!!! Your skillset an patience is very inspirin' ta see a master craftsman at work ya maybe part mad scientist but you figure out a way ta get it done brah. Keep up th' good work:cool

Sent from my SGH-T989 using Xparent Blue Tapatalk 2

 

[Redshirt]

In preparation for building the slide mechanism, I started to tackle on of the last major external details, the sliding stabilizers that run between the front shroud and the upper receiver. I'd once considered using them as the avenue of lifting the shroud, but just couldn't make it work. As they stand today, they will move and provide stability to the front shroud by preventing it from being knocked side to side. In the end, these guys ended up pretty robust. I needed them done, so I could figure out how to attach them to both pieces and keep the mountings out of the way of the actual lifting mechanism.

I cut, folded, and Alumiwelded together aluminum channel into 90 degree elements.

The long edges are the horizontal runs that will be cut to length later.

I inset brass channel for the narrow section (lower) of the telescoping fitting. You can't Alumiweld brass, but you can notch the brass and then smother it with molten Alumiweld to hold it in place. I lacks elegance as a solution, but it is solid.

See the space around the brass, this provides a channel for the larger aluminum channel of the upper piece to slide (retract) in along side the brass.

Here is one complete side. I have a smaller brass piece to go inside this brass piece to further strengthen it.

These will require further finishing with the finer details bonded on with JB Weld. The length of the horizontal elements will be set by how recessed the scissor lift framework is set inside the receiver and shroud. I will use screws to attach these guides to the lift when it is completed.

Redshirt

 

[BiGHARYSCOTSMiN]

Just as an idea... and what I would think about if I were to make one myself...

Putting a tracer unit is awesome, make sure to use red ammo

Also, what I would do is make the gearbox do 45 rounds per second and put a Burst Avocado in it and set it to 5 round burst.

Then hitch a 11.1v Lipo on it and let it rip!

Just an idea, for maximum "realism"
Hopefully you understand my Airsoft language


also, maybe a Polarstar EP gearbox might be suitable, but you might need to figure out the HPA tank settings.

 

[Rysjin7717]

This baby's gonna be ssssaaawwwweeeeet!!! :cool

Sent from my SGH-T989 using Xparent Blue Tapatalk 2

 

[Mstruvmgc]

IT is hard not getting lost in this thread with all the details and explanation. Ill start reading and realize its been 20 min lol

 

[Redshirt]

Just as an idea... and what I would think about if I were to make one myself...

Putting a tracer unit is awesome, make sure to use red ammo

Also, what I would do is make the gearbox do 45 rounds per second and put a Burst Avocado in it and set it to 5 round burst.

Then hitch a 11.1v Lipo on it and let it rip!

Just an idea, for maximum "realism"
Hopefully you understand my Airsoft language


also, maybe a Polarstar EP gearbox might be suitable, but you might need to figure out the HPA tank settings.

Excellent points, and I was right with you until the Polarstar. I'm kind of a slave to exact scale and detail (as you'll see below), so there's no way I'd accept having a tank attached to this thing with a hose. Paintball can keep that. I will use the .20 red tracer BBs in this thing for night play. I've considered using the timer circuits to cut off fire after a second or so, but probably won't go that far. After I get it working well, I may upgrade the motors for a higher rate of fire, but with three mech boxes, I need to focus on reliability before I can find the limits of performance. As for the batteries, I have three 11.1v LiPos waiting to play!

This baby's gonna be ssssaaawwwweeeeet!!! :cool

Someday. Hopefully someday soon. Yes, there's been a little slowdown of late. This beast has to compete for attention against some pretty cool rival projects. Here's one I just finished:

An exact-scale (11 foot diameter) replica B-26 Martin Marauder propeller for my squadron's bar. This fiberglass monster will serve as a ceiling fan. All I can say is, "Dream Big!" That is just one competing project. Yes, that's a 5 gallon bucket in the middle that's so dwarfed that it looks like a coffee can.

IT is hard not getting lost in this thread with all the details and explanation. Ill start reading and realize its been 20 min lol

In person, I'm not a man of many words, but in print, I'm never at a loss . . . . There's so much planning that has to go into this thing, that the pictures really don't tell WHY I made various decisions. I do appreciate that this would be a hard thread to pick up late in the game. I think we can finally call this, "Late in the game."

Redshirt

 

[Bioshutt]

Your Squadron is really lucky to have you. that is one b.a. celing fan and it looks awesome

 

[Redshirt]

Your Squadron is really lucky to have you. that is one b.a. celing fan and it looks awesome

Thank you. I'm just glad to have it out of the garage.

Now I'm setting up to build the front frame that will carry the inner and outer barrels as well as serve as the attachment point for the front shroud mechanism. before I could get too serious about that, I had some cleanup and some mountings to build:

Heavy-duty bench sanding to level out the sides where I'd made all of the fit adjustments. This area won't get too much more attention until final detailing.

Inside at the front of the mech boxes, I welded in a horizontal plate as the mounting point for the front frame. You can see some stray welds behind it. I also attempted to make a mounting for the mech box frame that, so far, is just wedged there. I decided to add the front mounts under the frame and use external screws from the side as there are holes in the correct spot on the game version of the Splaser.

Here's the mounting at the back of the mech box frame. Nice and solid, this mounting will take lots of abuse.

Short update I know, but I'll get the frame pics up in a couple of days for some really big progress.

Redshirt

 

[Redshirt]

As promised, a bigger update of progress on the front frame. I need the front frame to carry the airsoft barrels, hop-up chambers, massive outer barrel, and the front shroud with slide mechanism. The biggest issue is the slide mechanism because of all the space needed for the above items plus the space already claimed by the trigger group and the front grip assembly. I had to figure out exactly where and how the shroud lift mechanism would go before I started the frame, even though I'm still working on how the slide will attach to the frame. I needed the frame to be removable so I can get to the trigger and grip assemblies. Because of the space limitations, I quickly realized there was only one place for the lift servo to go--under the frame, just above the trigger.

You would not believe how tight this installation is. I had to get precise welds because there are only a few millimeters of clearance around the servo. The eventual actuator rod will poke up between two of the airsoft barrels--barely! I also had to cut off some corners of the servo mount to clear the trigger.

Here's the rough frame next to the outer barrel. You can see the square-cut hole for the servo in the piece that sticks out the back. Both the main frame piece and the servo mount are fairly thick metal so I can cut threads into them.

Here's a better view that gives some idea of where the servo goes in relation to the frame and airsoft barrels. By this shot, I'd welded on the first of the airsoft barrel guides. You can also see the notching I had to do to the servo frame for clearance.

Here's how massive the cosmetic outer barrel is compared to the frame.

Here's the rear barrel guide assembly. This didn't end up as the final iteration as I was not happy with the quality of the cuts. There was too much play for my taste in the airsoft barrels, so I went back to the drawing board. The thick horizontal piece up top provides the mounting point for the outer barrel. Below the barrels on the main part of the frame are the holes to mount the frame to the lower receiver.

Here's the front mount, much cleaner and the barrels are snug and straight. All cleaned up, it looks pretty well executed, so I'm still happy with it.

I've got more going on with the back mount as well as setting up the hop-up chambers and attaching the outer barrel. It's actually starting to look like an airsoft gun now and not just a static prop.

Redshirt

 

[Bioshutt]

Definantly want to be on your team in a match, the Splaser's detail level is off the charts

 

[Xtremenoob]

Looking sweet so far, hope everything goes well for you.

 

[Redshirt]

Looking sweet so far, hope everything goes well for you.

Thanks. It's kind of on a roll right now.

Here's how the front frame assembly fits to the lower receiver and inside the upper receiver. I also have made some refinements to my barrel mountings and the fitting of the hop-up chambers. Its a very tight space around the chambers because I still will need to fit a lift mechanism between the chambers and the outer wall.

An early test fit with the rear mount complete and the front being adjusted so the barrels point straight as installed before I build the securing bracket for the front. On the far side of the barrels you can see part of the version 2.0 lift mechanism wedged in to see how much room I have to work with.

Straight-on view showing how tight everything is. In my design, the barrels float loose, so I'm working out how to hold them firm to the mech box nozzles. I have some springs on hand . . . .

Looking back at the chambers. The chamber on the left has the barrel lock modified to use an O-ring as the keeper. This worked slick and saves space so the others will be modded the same way.

Viewed from the inside. See the back of the securing bracket? I JB Welded spacer onto the bracket to finness the fit of the barrels and to create an even surface for a spring to engage. Springs around each barrel between this mounting and the chamber will force the barrel/chamber assemblies back against their mech box nozzles.


And now for something completely different . . . .

I'd originally planned for the rumble motors from the XBOX controller to be mounted to the trigger assembly, but discovered this was impractical. While designing the forward mounting for the mech box cage (the tabs on the left), I built a cage for the rumble motors. The motors are wrapped in foam tape. The circular tabs will be bent tight around the motors, compressing the foam and holding them in place. The elaborate cage is to keep the tangle of wires that will run underneath this assembly from fouling the motors. I later cleaned it up so the tabs are sharper and the cage is straighter.

Working again on the cosmetic outer barrel. I'll talk about it in a day or two.

Redshirt

 

[TheReconSpartan]

Thanks. It's kind of on a roll right now.

Here's how the front frame assembly fits to the lower receiver and inside the upper receiver. I also have made some refinements to my barrel mountings and the fitting of the hop-up chambers. Its a very tight space around the chambers because I still will need to fit a lift mechanism between the chambers and the outer wall.

An early test fit with the rear mount complete and the front being adjusted so the barrels point straight as installed before I build the securing bracket for the front. On the far side of the barrels you can see part of the version 2.0 lift mechanism wedged in to see how much room I have to work with.

Straight-on view showing how tight everything is. In my design, the barrels float loose, so I'm working out how to hold them firm to the mech box nozzles. I have some springs on hand . . . .

Looking back at the chambers. The chamber on the left has the barrel lock modified to use an O-ring as the keeper. This worked slick and saves space so the others will be modded the same way.

Viewed from the inside. See the back of the securing bracket? I JB Welded spacer onto the bracket to finness the fit of the barrels and to create an even surface for a spring to engage. Springs around each barrel between this mounting and the chamber will force the barrel/chamber assemblies back against their mech box nozzles.


And now for something completely different . . . .

I'd originally planned for the rumble motors from the XBOX controller to be mounted to the trigger assembly, but discovered this was impractical. While designing the forward mounting for the mech box cage (the tabs on the left), I built a cage for the rumble motors. The motors are wrapped in foam tape. The circular tabs will be bent tight around the motors, compressing the foam and holding them in place. The elaborate cage is to keep the tangle of wires that will run underneath this assembly from fouling the motors. I later cleaned it up so the tabs are sharper and the cage is straighter.

Working again on the cosmetic outer barrel. I'll talk about it in a day or two.

Redshirt

This looks great Redshirt! The xbox trigger would have been a great idea. Too bad it was impractical.

 

[Redshirt]

This looks great Redshirt! The xbox trigger would have been a great idea. Too bad it was impractical.

Thanks. I never really considered using the XBOX trigger because it would not have the right feel for this weapon. The trigger has to be huge and just a bit heavy (hard to pull) to fit the character of this gun. I planned on mounting the rumble motors to the trigger base unit to transmit the maximum vibration into the user's hand, but I had to move them a couple inches up to make room for the massive wiring harness to pass through that area to the trigger, shroud, and front grip assemblies.


I meant to get to this a day or two ago, but here's the play by play of getting the final fitting of the inner airsoft barrels and the outer barrel.

I started out cutting off the bottom section that can't be seen from the outside. This opening had to be big enough to clear the inner barrel mountings and not interfere with the forward frame. This is really thick aluminum and took forever to cut. I burned up a couple of cutting wheels getting the rough cut. I spent a lot of time on the sander after this photo to get this cleaned up.

After getting the base cleaned up, I JB Welded the nozzle on. So shiny!

A couple of photos of the assembly attached to the front frame. At this point, I have not yet cut the barrels down to length. I needed to get to this point to see how long I could leave the airsoft barrels without them sticking too far forward as to be noticeable inside the outer barrel.

Here it is at last, what the business end is going to look like. Three barrels set back a little with a massive LED automotive brake light bulb to back light the BBs as they fly downrange as well as blind, intimidate, illuminate the enemy targets. It will also tell the enemy where I am--as if the stream of glowing tracer BBs leading back to my position weren't adequate enough! When finished, this will all be matte black inside to camouflage the airsoft mechanicals.

Next, I'll get the barrels cut and work the final fitment up against the mech boxes. Then, theoretically, I'll only need to solve the feed and hop-up problems before I can test fire it. Still a ways off.

Redshirt

 

[Mstruvmgc]

wow that turned out really well your just moving so fast with this its awesome

 

[Redshirt]

wow that turned out really well your just moving so fast with this its awesome

Thanks, but there are faster glaciers out there. There is big progress, but there are so many subassemblies in this thing, it just goes on and on. This started as a prop to go with my armor, but its far exceeded the armor in cost and time.

Getting back into the airsoft side of this thing again, here's the final fitment of the chambers and barrels. It turned out really well. I don't expect any real problems with this setup when I get around to testing as it's really similar to the spring-loaded mountings in a commercial airsoft gun (times three!). I love the look of the three systems siamesed together.

Here's the overview shot. You can see the springs forcing the chambers back against the mech box nozzles. You can also see the O-rings holding the barrel locks in place.

Here you can see the spacers bonded to the removable bracket, leaving a flat surface for the springs to engage. This prevents twisting or binding that would result in uneven pressure against the nozzles. I found four identical springs in my mystery automotive parts bin. I don't know where they came from or what their original purpose was. I don't care. I was just glad to pick up one part that worked perfectly without modification!

A closer look shows the two modified chambers to accommodate the two inverted mech boxes.

Now that this is finished, I'm going to sort out the fit of some other parts up front and the lift mechanism before I come back and design the combination feed tube attachment, hop-up adjust, hop-up tracer unit assembly. As usual, space is ridiculously tight inside a ginormous gun. Did not see that coming.

Redshirt