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

[masterchief2323]

Re: Spartan Laser Metal & Fiberglass Airsoft Prop (Fully Functioning Electronic Repli

Congratulations on your Legendary and Elite build, I wish I had 1/10th amount of perseverence and talent you have. I really appreciate all the informative updates.

 

[Redshirt]

New Updates and Mods

You did a awesome job on it Red, of course I would expect you to refine it more to increase it's durability and be user friendly. Great craftsmanship.

Thanks! Ages later and the first upgrade mods are finally in progress.

You are definitely going to get a lot of looks when skirmishing with this thing. But that's a good thing haha. Hope to see some helmet cam/go pro vids of this thing in action. Keep it up dude.

Yes, I'd like to get some helmet or gun cam vids too. The game vid I posted is pretty lame compared to how the gun performed. Right now I have no working airsoft fields. Sucks!

Congratulations on your Legendary and Elite build, I wish I had 1/10th amount of perseverence and talent you have. I really appreciate all the informative updates.

Thank you! Elite was a nice kudos while it lasted. There are 1100 problems to solve on a build like this. I solved one at a time and didn't move on to the next until I was satisfied with the result. The end result is always the sum of your compromises. Unfortunately, I didn't start with the skills I finished with so it took four years until I could live with my level of compromise. Or so I thought. Now I'm cleaning up some loose ends.


While I'm not quite necro here, this thread has moved a couple of times and It's been a while since I've updated. For new members who've come aboard, here's the current state of the Splaser

Unfortunately, I have a few issues since putting it into service that detract from the performance and polish that I've tried to reach. Namely:

- The gun takes too long to fire when the trigger is pulled--about 6 seconds when the in-game model takes only 4

- The rumble motors don't work properly to simulate the gun charging and warn when it's about to fire

- The BB feed is unreliable--the gun has never failed to sling BBs downrange, but there's no guarantee that all three are working at the same time

- The BB hopper leaks BBs and has distributed BBs everywhere inside the gun causing rattles and the potential to jam a mechanism

- The front grip fit is sloppy and has too much wiggle

- The safety lock doesn't like to fit easily and has to be aligned 'just so' to function

- The front shroud lift is sloppy

- The paint and ceramic coating is in need of remedial work

This flurry of activity kicked off when I toured the Spartan Laser through Parafrog Airsoft in Knoxville, TN a few weeks ago. Parafrog posted a Facebook video of the Splaser shooting in their range. The video had 55,000 hits in three days and has a top-tier BB manufacturer considering using the Splaser in a promotional piece. That drove me to get my gun a needed tune up.


I started by stripping down the gun. You can see the stray BBs throughout waiting to jam a switch or get caught in the mechanism.

I really had to tear things apart at the back to access the BB hopper, feed mechanism, and electronics package.

Here's inside the BB hopper. The seal at the bottom is the major (but not the only) source of BB leaks. The biggest cause of jammed BB feeding is the kinking of the tubes as they exit the hopper. The tubes also bind when they twist in their run up to the front of the gun as the pressure of the stacked BBs distends the tubes.

My solution was to widen and chamfer the exit holes so I can add an external bracing to the feed tubes.

I used silicone tubing to cover the entire length of the feed tubes. It was no small feat to get spring tubes into the silicone tubing. There was a lot of lube involved.

Here are the tubes in place. Looks like they will do a fine job of preventing kinks. I'm concerned that the now-thicker tubes won't fit inside the body shell, especially at the front where things are more crowded. The tubing also keeps dust and other contaminants out of the feed tubes, improving not only reliability, but accuracy as well.

I tackled the front grip issues by adding some JB weld to the inside of the grip frame and sanding it level. This also eliminated play in the pivot pin for the grip.

I slightly widened the opening of the hole for the safety pin on both sides, making the safety lock much easier to install without adversely impacting its effectiveness.

The end result was a rock-solid grip and no-hassle safety lock. I can't wait to see how it works in the gun.

That's it for now. I'll get the next update soon.

Redshirt

 

[foxleader]

Re: Spartan Laser Metal & Fiberglass Airsoft Prop (Fully Functioning Electronic Repli

now I've got to wonder if this is any thing like a real Spartan laser if so no wonder the chief can't just reload it in the field.

 

[Redshirt]

Re: Spartan Laser Metal & Fiberglass Airsoft Prop (Fully Functioning Electronic Repli

Now I've got to wonder if this is any thing like a real Spartan Laser? If so, no wonder the Chief can't just reload it in the field.

Now with punctuation!

Too true Foxleader! Welcome back to the thread. All of these updates are aimed at serviceability in the field. I've finally got that BB bottle project moving so I have a supply with me to feed the beast.



Back for more upgrade work.

Here's the punch list in progress.

Here's where the magic happens--the electronics package. I had to get in here and re-time the firing delay down from 6 seconds to the game-correct 4 seconds. I also reversed the rumble motors to start with the high-speed motor at trigger pull and the low-speed motor to chime in at 3 seconds to warn that the gun is about to fire. Remember, I can skip the accurate charge/delay mode and pull the trigger harder for instant firing if needed--no need to be a slave to canon in a firefight! At the top left of the photo are the three solenoids that manage the higher volts/amps needed for the actual weapon firing. The red button switch at the lower right controls the intensity of the external lighting, offering a combat mode with very low-intensity lighting.

The rumble motors were originally mounted in rubber, just like in the controller. They moved out of position and did not transmit enough vibration into the gun. Here I've hard mounted them. Now I can really feel the the gun charge. They also transmit enough vibration to cause the sighting laser to 'dazzle' like in the game. Perfect!

Had to re-solder and mount a side marker to cut light leaks.

Here's another source of BB leaks. The spring that feeds through to hold on the disk isn't big enough to seal the hole. I covered this with a section of Harbor Freight drawer liner foam with a smaller aperture.

I used the same material to line the insides of the disks. This was mainly to control light leakage from inside the gun, but also to curb the escape of BBs from the hopper.

That covers most of the updates. Next time we'll put it back together and see if there's really room for the enlarged feed tubes.

Redshirt

 

[Icon Props]

Re: Spartan Laser Metal & Fiberglass Airsoft Prop (Fully Functioning Electronic Repli

This is well above & beyound the average build & truely deserving of being in an elite builders section if they only still had one.
INCREDIBLE WORK.
You have some MAD SKILS.....

 

[Redshirt]

Re: Spartan Laser Metal & Fiberglass Airsoft Prop (Fully Functioning Electronic Repli

This is well above & beyound the average build & truely deserving of being in an elite builders section if they only still had one.
INCREDIBLE WORK.
You have some MAD SKILS.....

Thank you! I was fortunate enough to get bumped up to Elite for about three weeks before the section was closed.

Redshirt

 

[foxleader]

Re: Spartan Laser Metal & Fiberglass Airsoft Prop (Fully Functioning Electronic Repli

now a rail gun is something like 2 second and this is 4, okay let me know if you plan on doing a rail gun and if so start up a kick starter because the you would be in the limelight of props for 343i, oh and if you go to a con and you got an ar with you do you have a mounting plate on the back of your armor yet if not looking into one now would becasue a good idea but your epicess blows my brains out again.

 

[Redshirt]

Re: Spartan Laser Metal & Fiberglass Airsoft Prop (Fully Functioning Electronic Repli

now a rail gun is something like 2 second and this is 4, okay let me know if you plan on doing a rail gun and if so start up a kick starter because the you would be in the limelight of props for 343i, oh and if you go to a con and you got an ar with you do you have a mounting plate on the back of your armor yet if not looking into one now would becasue a good idea but your epicess blows my brains out again.

Thanks! I have a Tactonyx Magnum awaiting airsoft conversion, but the AR is what I'd really like to do soon. Your back mount is a great idea. I think I'd do that for the Splaser. Even stripped of the airsoft gear inside it weighs near 14 pounds. In street clothes that is manageable, but in costume you carry it further from your body. Even a half-hour becomes unbearable. I did the costume and the gun for the Master Chief Collection launch and was miserable pretty quickly. Back mount would work awesome.

Redshirt

 

[Mstruvmgc]

Re: Spartan Laser Metal & Fiberglass Airsoft Prop (Fully Functioning Electronic Repli

I like the changes Red, its good to see this beast still going strong
Im super happy to be able to watch more progress

 

[Redshirt]

Re: Spartan Laser Metal & Fiberglass Airsoft Prop (Fully Functioning Electronic Repli

I like the changes Red, its good to see this beast still going strong
Im super happy to be able to watch more progress

Thanks Mstruvmgc! Welcome back. It's been through enough trials for me to know what I'd like to see it do better. Such is the nature of prototypes.


The silicone tube sheaths run the entire length of the feed tubes except for the last inch and a half before the chambers. To keep from having too abrupt of a bend, I angle cut the tubing so I wouldn't get any kinking as the feed tubes left their sheaths.

The sheathed feed tubes now take a tidy uninterrupted path up to the chambers. Before they would stretch and bend when loaded with BBs creating binds in the feeding. Now they don't!

The feed tubes end with a nice easy curve into the chambers. Unseen at the back of each chamber are the hop-up tracer units that charge the tracer BBs as they fire.

It wouldn't be a real project without a setback. The tubes are now so fat that the won't fit flush and allow the mid shroud to install.

Looks like I'll have to grind away some fiberglass to make room before this project can wrap up.

Redshirt

 

[Mstruvmgc]

Re: Spartan Laser Metal & Fiberglass Airsoft Prop (Fully Functioning Electronic Repli

Its good to be back lol.
Yeah i had a feeling that with the addition of the tubes it might not fit back together. :-( But sometimes with better upgrades you gotta work around them to keep em. I know you will figure it out buddy. Best of luck, I like the chrismas tree in the background by the way.

 

[Redshirt]

Re: Spartan Laser Metal & Fiberglass Airsoft Prop (Fully Functioning Electronic Repli

Its good to be back lol.
Yeah i had a feeling that with the addition of the tubes it might not fit back together. :-( But sometimes with better upgrades you gotta work around them to keep em. I know you will figure it out buddy. Best of luck, I like the chrismas tree in the background by the way.

Thanks. I think I've got a solution to the fit issue. Everything else has screwed back together better than before. I've made several fit adjustments and re-tapped some holes. Yup, the Christmas tree keeps the Spartan Laser work festive. All I want for Christmas is for matchmaking to work on the Master Chief collection.

Redshirt

 

[Kyre]

Re: Spartan Laser Metal & Fiberglass Airsoft Prop (Fully Functioning Electronic Repli

It's pretty cool to see that you didn't just call it good once you got it looking nice and working, but that you keep working on it to continually make it better. Can't wait to see what you decide is the final product!

 

[Redshirt]

Re: Spartan Laser Metal & Fiberglass Airsoft Prop (Fully Functioning Electronic Repli

It's pretty cool to see that you didn't just call it good once you got it looking nice and working, but that you keep working on it to continually make it better. Can't wait to see what you decide is the final product!

Thanks. There's always room for improvement. On any project that runs this long you're bound to find a better way to accomplish the early stages or become dissatisfied with the quality of your earlier work. Even as I wrap up this round of work, there are still things I'm wrapping my head around that could be better, more accessible, more robust.

Redshirt

 

[Noble 10]

Re: Spartan Laser Metal & Fiberglass Airsoft Prop (Fully Functioning Electronic Repli

wow just wow

 

[Tyvern]

Re: Spartan Laser Metal & Fiberglass Airsoft Prop (Fully Functioning Electronic Repli

Absolutely awesome

 

[foxleader]

Re: Spartan Laser Metal & Fiberglass Airsoft Prop (Fully Functioning Electronic Repli

now guys this is one of the elite builds the 405th has ever seen so noble you might want to read this from page one and take some notes I have.

 

[Redshirt]

Re: Spartan Laser Metal & Fiberglass Airsoft Prop (Fully Functioning Electronic Repli

wow just wow

Thank you! Welcome to one of the longest build threads ever.

Absolutely awesome

Thanks! Welcome back to the thread.

now guys this is one of the elite builds the 405th has ever seen so noble you might want to read this from page one and take some notes I have.

Thanks much! Be sure to note that there are a few 'what not to do' lessons in there as well. Don't weld your hand. Don't trust mold release wax (only PVA). Don't use a wood router to shape metal without full armor. It goes on . . . .



Done!

I got it back together!

I reshaped the top cover internally and widened the easement in the center to make room for the feed tubes and sheathes to go through without interference.

I added some rubber pads to the mid shroud to tighten its grip on the sides of the upper receiver. This keeps the gaps around that top cover the right size.

All buttoned up with all the lines straight on the top cover and mid shroud. I did go back and realign the front shroud to tidy up those gaps

What I don't have pictures of is the massive amount of work that went into recalibrating it before putting these pieces on. I totally had to start from scratch sighting it in. The targeting laser was nowhere close to bore sighted. All three barrels and hop-ups had to be readjusted. I easily went through 1,000 BBs to get all three systems pointed the same direction. Through all of that, perfect feeds! Never were any of the three gearboxes without BBs to fire. The reliability was outstanding. The crispness of all the functions was an order of improvement as well. No wobbles or rattles, just solid. Definitely melee capable.

Time well spent.

I finished up the grenade as well. I'll get outside and get some beauty shots of both of them to post.

Redshirt

 

[vshore100]

Re: Spartan Laser Metal & Fiberglass Airsoft Prop (Fully Functioning Electronic Repli

I've followed this thing from the start. It's nice to see it still going and being improved even more than what it was already. Great work as always Red!

 

[Redshirt]

Re: Spartan Laser Metal & Fiberglass Airsoft Prop (Fully Functioning Electronic Repli

I've followed this thing from the start. It's nice to see it still going and being improved even more than what it was already. Great work as always Red!

Thanks and welcome back! I just wish I could take it out more. Local airsofting has dried up. It made it out for the Master Chief Collection launch and that's about it lately. I'll make it out for Pensacon. What's your next appearance?

Redshirt