Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Digging into the Range Master

Got around to opening up my Range Master.  For some reason I'm less afraid of screwing up this blaster as far as mods go... maybe because it's less expensive?  Anyways, here's a shot of internals as well as some external mods I've done.

First things first, I've simplified the loading mech.  Instead of that noisy clunky door that helps you load darts in, I just flat-out removed the whole mechanism.  You get a more reliable seal if you just load the dart in all the way yourself anyways... and speed isn't a factor for the Range Master in the first place.  Also cut out that ridiculously oversized muzzle for it.  I'll probably clean this up a little more.


 Then I proceeded to tackle the only ergonomic thing that bugged me... that darned trigger guard.  It was too fat/got int he way of my behemoth fingers, so I just cut it out and sanded/rounded the parts around it.  Not only is it nice and comfy, but I think it looks good too!  I'll use some Plast-aid later to fill in the holes and give it a nice finish once I repaint it.  Oh, did I mention I'll be painting this blaster too?

While I'm not exactly sure of the colorscheme, I'm definitely going to paint this fella.  Already removed those silly stickers from the shroud so now I'm just brainstorming what kinda paint scheme to go with.  Feel free to chime in with suggestions in a comment.

That's all I've got on it so far!  I hope to improve the seal/work on the internals a little more to give it a little more punch.  Should be fun!

8 comments:

  1. Is the orange part connected to the bolt the air tank? Looks like it has some decent potential.

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    1. That whole orange tube is connected to the bolt. The white bit you see near the back that's got the orange nub on it has the seal on it that pumps up that whole section. It's kinda neat, actually.

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    2. That's a really cool design. Practically no deadspace too!

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  2. The blastler probably would look really good steampunk but then again. Most steamers arn't used for wars anyways. Other wise I would just paint it flat black and detail some areas in white and paint the bolt white. And give it an orange tip for sure. If you could do some type of artic camo, that'd look quite nice.

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  3. Do you think I could get better ranges if I replaced the barreling with cpvc? And a cool paint scheme would be a red base and black stripes here and there to look completely opposite than the Nerf elite line. Nice pics!

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  4. You could add a pump on the lower front for easier priming than using the odd bolt handle

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  5. First of all, "Anyways" is not a word: the proper spelling is "Anyway". Now, on to the modding. If you hoppered this with PETG, you could probably get a hundred feet. Also if you replaced the pump with a larger dual-action one that is pumped via pump action, the rate of fire would substantially increase. The reason for PETG is because it works best with air blasters.
    In case you are wondering about hoppers, here is a link showing how to make them. http://nerfhaven.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=19569

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  6. I'd say for the paint job, just open an elite blaster picture and hit ctrl alt command+8 (it's hi-res,btw)

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