Retaliator Modding

So I've had my fun with the stock Retaliator.  Now it's time to see if I can get it to surpass my Elite Longshot.  75 ft flat was my target for this blaster, since I just wanted it to hit the ranges we all thought it could beforehand.  Well... turns out that a simple AR removal and a spring upgrade later that it's already hitting that and THEN some!

I was pretty surprised to see that kind of power so quickly.  The spring I used was from some old broken Buzzbee shotgun that someone wanted me to do a Laser Tag recasing with (which I never did end up doing since the shell was too unstable).  That spring was a good fit for the Retaliator... a REALLY good fit!  So not only am I going to be tinkering with my Retaliator some more, but now I've got work to do on my Elite Longshot to make sure it's still my top dog.  Then again, it wouldn't be too bad if a smaller, more versatile blaster like the Retaliator was a primary. Hmm...

Battle of the Elites

Finally got my Elite Retaliator and decided to A: test out the darts in other blasters and B: range test it against my Elite Longshot.  So... that's exactly what I did!  The video below was my first try on this, and one of my first times ever firing the Retaliator to begin with, so I wasn't quite sure what to expect from these Elite darts.  From all the reviews I had been hearing, I was pretty certain the Elite Longshot would outshoot the Retaliator, but I was really just interested to see if the Elite Darts helped it much.

LTAR: App Released! Photos!

Even though I still don't have my hands on the new Lazer Tag system, I DID download the App to see what I could check out beforehand.  While you can't get the full experience without a blaster, it was neat browsing through all the Blasters and seeing the Special Attacks.  It's a nice app, even for being the Beta version right now, so I'm stoked to hook this up to an LTAR and have at it.

Below are images of all the blasters and the two special attacks as of today. As TagFerret noted before, there will be more software updates in the future that'll expand on these, but this is what we've got for now! There are some neat looking blaster designs in there. Gotta wonder if one day some of these blasters will become a reality?

You can download the Lazer Tag App in the Apple Store right now by searching for "Lazer Tag".  It's free to download, but like I said, it's kind of a tease if you don't have the blaster to hook it up to.  You can select "no blaster mode" to play it, but I'm a tagger... so I need a, uh...um... TAGGER!

For more on how the App will function with the LTAR, follow this link.
Wanna see more?

Update time!

So I've had a busy weekend, busier than I originally planned.  Anyways, this post is really just to let you know of all the crazy fun schtuff I've got planned.  First being that the LTX EF5 is slated to be operational this week.  We've got a game planned for Friday and I've got Tuesday thru Thursday to work on it.  Pretty sure I can get her working before then thanks to parts from jerm781's LTX 3K!  I'm confident I can get it complete before the month is up, so keep it here for those updates.

Second, I'll have a full review, pictures, and possibly even a bit of a mod guide for basic stuff on the N-Strike Elite Retaliator.  I'll also be doing a lot of testing with the Elite darts to see how they perform in high performance blasters.  My Big Bad Bow, Whiteout Longstrike, and Elite Longshot will be testing these darts out to see if they're balanced better than those fishtailing streamlines.

It's gonna be a fun week!  If there's anything you'd like to see about either of these two projects, post up a comment.

NIC meets Tactical Tag

This "Nerf Internet Community" has been good to me recently.  What with finally getting my account validated at Nerf Haven to nabbing some neat blasters from folks I respect and admire that have been in the hobby much longer than I, it's worth noting that I view the "NIC" more as a general way to talk about the community surrounding these mods, games, and people connected through the interwebs.

Today I got a few boxes of stuff that'll help both my hobbies I cover on this blog and I just wanted to thank them again on here.  The first is a nice blue Tiger-brand Phoenix LTX from the original Drac: Draconis.  I've been talking with him on and off for several years on the Nerf IRC and he's always been friendly and helpful.  I'm very appreciative that, when he got his hands on some Lazer Tag gear, he thought of my hobby.  It's in excellent shape and will serve the armory well!  The second is jerm781, the head honcho at Nerf Mods & Reviews.  We've been collaborating together on stuff for awhile now and he sent me his LTX 3K recently.  This is just such a cool blaster and it's wondeful to have a piece of NM&R history in my hands.  It also still has a functional LTX board inside, which I actually need right now!  I'll be doing a little internal work on this to clean it up, remove the unused Lazer Tag parts that I need, and do some aesthetic work on it as well.

The board out of Jerm's LTX 3K is actually going to help save my LTX EF5 project.  I'll have an update on that later this weekend, but long story short is that it needs a new board.  After getting VERY close to making the blaster functional, the EF5's board shorted and the electronic damage looks to be irreparable.  The board in the LTX 3K is getting removed to replace it so that the project may continue whilst retaining the Nerf internals Jerm installed in it.

So thanks to Draconis and jerm781 for their contributions and support of my hobbies!

NcSTAR Sight for Nerf or Laser Tag

Whilst Urban Taggers is giving away the oh-so-coveted Nerf Pinpoint Sights, I've decided to shed some light on one of my favorite accessories that's a little more functional.  This is the NcSTAR Red Dot DP.  It's a very simple adjustable red dot reflex sight that can attach to various sizes of rails, making it ideal for both my Laser Tag and Nerf hobbies.

Functional AND Tacticool!  Take THAT, N-Strike!

The clap design can adjust widths that can be as thin as a N-Strike rail or as wide as the one on the Phoenix LTX.  No modification to the blaster is needed to fit this guy on there.  Just tighten the two screws until it's sturdy on the rail and then zero the sight with the adjustment knobs.  It's versatile, easy to use and adjust, and best of all: it's cheap!  About 10 bucks will land you this Reflex Sight, an extra battery, and a cleaning cloth for it.  It's a great deal!

As a disclaimer, obviously saying this sight will work on anything is a stretch.  I have tried a Nerf Blaster or two that has a rail that's too thin.  To fix this, you can bend the mounting points a little so that it can fit on a narrower rail.  A little ingenuity goes a long way.

Here's my video review on this great little sight!  Pick one up for your blaster today!  Here's the link to one at Amazon.com

Boomstick

Whilst celebrating with friends and family today, I decided to do one for my loyal viewers!  Here's my latest Nerf EBF-25 Vulcan mod: the Boomstick.  All it takes is a Roman Candle, a lighter, and a supportive girlfriend to shoot HD video.


Disclaimer!  This is NOT safe to do!  I pointed mine upwards so as to not hurt anyone whilst firing this.  Do not attempt if you're an idiot.

But seriously, celebrate safely!  ...and Happy 4th of July!!