Notes From a Maker

The Nerf Rapidstrike is one of Nerf's fully automatic flywheel magfed blasters. Released in 2013, it was the first fully automatic flywheel blaster in Nerf's stable, and it remains one of the premier modding platforms for fire rate. While there have been other full auto blasters released later on like the Hyperfire, the Rapidstrike is more preferred for modding because of the pusher system, which can be pushed to very high fire rates without skipping darts, which the conveyor belt systems in later blasters are wont to do.  Target and Parts I am targeting a very budget build, utilizing relatively affordable components compared to what's out there. Battery will be 3S to maintain commonality with my Stryfe, as I plan on using that as my only battery. FPS will be in the 150-ish range, if not slightly lower to stay within the FPS limits of our local group. Fire rate will be as high as possible, and the highest I have seen so far is around 16DPS. Now that's not practical at a...

My OG board, the Wowgo 2S Most longboards are great on road for getting around. However, as soon as you get any sort of rough roads or terrain, you're pretty much screwed. Enter the mountainboard, with massive trucks, pneumatic tires, and bindings. However, they're pretty much limited to downhill runs, because it's nearly impossible to push on them due to the ground clearance and bindings. Electrification makes them far more practical, and they're the perfect platform for off road and trail riding. My current Wowgo 2S is pretty limited in terms of performance and capabilities, so I wanted a new board. This marks the start of my build process, and I expect it to be completed in roughly six months, just in time for the season to begin. This is subject to change based on availability and just overall plans. Example of a mountainboard, an MBS Comp 95 "Birds" Considerations There's a few different options available now for AT boards, so why did I choose to go D...

The Berm, with a straight handle After the Mesa, I wanted something simple and easily repeatable, as that would make it easier for others to reproduce it as well. To that end, I wanted to try to make it completely 3D printed, and not require any other tools to build.  Initial Design I had some ideas for what I wanted. It definitely would have to be a pistol format, and I wanted a simple design. I had some ideas for a Welrod style blaster, so that's what I decided to focus my efforts into. While working on figuring out a mechanism for a magazine version, I decided it would be easier to just start out with a single shot variant. The Welrod style also helped with some design criteria for the blaster. True to its stealthy covert origins, I wanted my blaster to be quiet and inconspicuous. In addition, I gave myself the challenge of making it completely without any metal, which means no conventional springs or screws to hold it together.  The Welrod MkII, the inspiration for this bu...

The tracker, with a Nikon D3100 mounted to it If you've ever tried taking pictures of the stars with a camera, you'll quickly notice two issues. One, it's really dark and it's almost impossible to see anything without a long exposure. And two, once you do a long exposure, the stars start smearing into little lines. So why do you get these trails? Well, the Earth is actually spinning on its axis, and the trails you see is actually the Earth's rotation. The stars haven't moved, but the Earth, and by extension the camera, has, and gives you that motion blur.  Those stars should be round! So how do you fix this? You can simply spin the camera at the same speed as the Earth's rotation, cancelling out the spin. Now you can buy a tracker for well over $300, or you can build your own with some simple parts for $50, or less if you have some of the hardware components, which are very commonplace. There are several designs out there, and I chose to make the curved rod ...

I've been modifying Nerf blasters for close to ten years now, but I've never designed my own before. I had been wanting to build my own for a long time, and I finally decided that now is a good time as any to start. Homemade 3D printed blasters have existed for some time, such as the Caliburn and FDL, but sourcing the hardware could be difficult since many of the parts are not offered in your typical hardware store. Thus, I wanted my own design to consist of only hardware that could easily be obtained. The design parameters I set were as follows: Spring powered for better performance ceiling and no need for batteries Bullpup design to maximize barrel length and minimize total length Comfortable stock to handle distance, which can be problematic with spring bullpup blasters Plunger volume comparable to a Caliburn Accept both full length and half length darts Favor hardware over 3D printed components for strength and build time Find all hardware in the local hardware store or Ama...