Aesthetic Awesomeness

On behalf of the SNW Admin Team
I’d like to welcome you all to the first day of the 2013 SNW season

Sydney Nerf Wars

What better way to start the 2013 season, than with an aesthetic overhaul of your nerf blasters. Our very own John Pham, has quite the knack for awesome paint jobs on his blasters. He has agreed to share his knowledge, to help all of you delve into the great unknown realm of Aesthetic Awesomeness!

Let us begin

Things you will need:

  • Masking Tape
  • Sand Paper – 150 Grit (A relatively fine grain sandpaper)
  • Paints – You have the choice of several different types here, all with their own strengths and weaknesses
    • Vinyl Dye – The best looking paint type, but is also the most expensive paint type
    • Enamel Paints – Oil based paints that are cheap and easy to use, they dry as a glossy finish
    • Acrylic Paints – Water based paints that are also relatively cheap and easy to use, they dry to a matte finish
  • Primer – An undercoat layer, that helps the paint bond to the surface you’re spraying
  • Clear Coat – The final coat on your aesthetic overhaul. It’s a lacquer that goes over the paint coats, to seal them in.

How to prepare your blaster:

  1. If you are painting the whole blaster, skip to the step 2. Begin the preparation process, by taping up the parts of the blaster that you are not going to paint.
  2. Next thing to do, is to begin sanding it down lightly. Try not to sand too hard, as this will cause unsightly scratches and other undesirable marks.
  3. Sand smoothly and evenly, across every surface that you want painted.
  4. Once you are suitably happy with the sanding job, you will need to then wash the blaster. Carefully wash away the excess dust and plastic fibres that you have roughed up.
  5. Dry your blaster off, it should now feel slightly coarse (furry if you like)

How to paint your blaster:

  1. Start by applying thin layers of your primer (Base Coat), ensuring smooth and consistent layers. Thin layers are always best, because they dry quicker and do not bubble/dribble
  2. Slowly and methodically apply several thin layers of primer, using a fluent back and forth motion evenly across the blaster  (Allowing the coats to dry, before applying another).
  3. Once your primer is layered and dried out, you can now begin doing the same with your chosen paints.
  4. Apply several thin coats of your chosen paint (again waiting for it to dry in between coats), until you have reached a desired colour and coat thickness.
  5. Once you have completed both your primer and your coloured paint coats, allow the whole thing to dry suitably (this can take anywhere between hours-days, depending on the thickness of your layers and paint types used)
  6. Your blaster is now ready for its final coat (Clear Coat). You will want to follow the same steps and styling as above, several thin coats of clear coat. This is the most important part, as this step will seal your hard work in (helping to prevent scratches and marks)

In conclusion:

You should now have a basic understanding of how to prepare/paint your blaster, and be well on your way to making your own colourful arsenal. While this was just a basic run through on painting procedures, there is much more details and tricks that can be applied. Never limit yourself to what you think you are capable of, always try to push the boundaries and experiment in something new!

Pham

Credits:
Thank you John Pham for your helpful insight, into the world of aesthetic overhauling!

Dart Hire – A New System

Dart Hire, for those who are unaware, is a system where a large quantity of darts is purchased and owned by one (or more if they so choose) individual(s), which is then rented out to the community for a set rental fee at each war. It functions as a convenient way for community members to have enough ammunition for wars at all times without constantly having to replace their own darts that are spoilt or lost at events. It acts to bridge the gap between the newb and the veteran, allowing for all participants to compete respectably. For Sydney’s community, the Dart Hire system acted as an impetus for its growth into what we see today.

As some of you may know, the Dart Hire system has been suffering from a severe shortage in one of the key constituents of a dart itself: Blue Foam. Finally, thanks to VelocityTag, the foam has arrived and the system can return to its prime. However, with this new foam comes an update to the Dart Hire system as detailed below.

Registration

Dart Hire will now be performed in a more formal manner. Now, before you are able to gain access to the box, you must register and prepay at the Admin Desk. Here is where your name will be marked off, allowing you access to the box. It is also here where you will be asked a question about the General Rules Set (and in the future, the FF:S rules sets). Answering this question correctly will grant you a discount.

Price

In the past, Dart Hire’s fee was $10 for unlimited hire for the day. As of the release of this document, the price has been increased by 50% to $15 with a capped limit as to how many darts can be taken from the box at a time (Explained below). However this will not always be the final price. As outlined above, if you are able to answer a question correctly about the General Rules Set (and in the future, the FF:S rules sets), you will receive a $5 discount. This means that if you are well informed about the rules, you will never have to pay any extra again.

Rules

  • Participants must register and pay before they are can use the Dart Box
  • The maximum amount of darts that a player can load up at the beginning of each game is 200. This means a player can load up to 11 18 mags (or equivalent).
  • Players are no longer able to access the Dart Box between rounds unless it has been opened by an Administrator.
  • As a part of playing in all wars, all participants must assist in the dart sweep.
  • All participants at wars must treat the hire darts with respect i.e. not shooting them directly at trees or other solid surfaces.
  • At the end of each event, please check whether you have unloaded all clips, pouches, and pockets of all darts.

Offers and Prizes

To encourage proper dart sweeping between rounds, the new Dart Hire system will involve a set of small prizes for those who put extra effort into their sweeping. We will be offering a $5 coupon to those that the Admin team deems to be the best dart sweepers on the day. At each event, there will be five coupons up for grabs.

These coupons are non-transferable, non-redeemable for cash, and valid for up to six months only at SNW events where Blue Foam Dart Hire is available.

Dart Hire Donation to SNW

The final change to the Dart Hire system is that from now on, 10% of Dart Hire revenue from each war will be donated to SNW for purchases of equipment and other necessary items. This means we could see more Mini vortexes, team markers, and other SNW memorabilia in the near future!

– Echoes, your man with lots of darts.

Dart Tag Snapfire 8 Modification Write up

Goals and aims

The aim of this modification is to increase the performances of the Snapfire to attain ranges of approximately 40ft flat. 40ft flat was chosen because it is the limit available to Semi-Automatic Pistols as per the rules of Foam Fortress: Sydney.

Tools required

  • Philips head screwdriver
  • Diagonal Cutters
  • Needle nose pliers

Modification Guide

Step 1. Disassembling the Snapfire

There are two main parts to this step: The first is removing all the screws in the yellow cover, and then removing that yellow cover itself.

Get a load of those external internals!

Now take that grey piece out of the other half of the yellow cover.

And here we see a Snapfire in all its awkward looking shame!

Step 2. Opening the Snapfire internal shell

Same drill as last time: take out all of the screws in the internal shell to reveal the plunger tube, rotating mechanism and all.

It took two attempts to open her up, but we did it.

Take note of how all the internals line up here. It’s important because this thing was actually slightly troublesome to get back together.

Step 3. Removing the Air Restrictor

Now that we’ve got the shell open, you can take some of the internals out of the shell. Begin by removing the turret and placing it to the side for now (we’ll deal with that later!). Now take out the Plunger Tube, hopefully without knocking any of the other internals out of place. If you did knock some out of place, that’s fine. Just refer to the internals picture above for a reference point of how to put everything back in place correctly.

This is the piece we want! The big orange thing just in case you weren’t sure.

Upon inspection of the plunger tube, you’ll notice the Air Restrictor sticking out the end. We need to get rid of this, and fast!

Turn your plunger tube the other way around so you’re looking at it like in the picture below.

The Air Restrictor’s rear end

Use your diagonal cutters to snip the thin plastic ring and prongs. Then take your set of needle nosed pliers and yank them out. Then continue with your needle nosed pliers and break the rest of the Air Restrictor apart if it hasn’t completely come out yet. It should look like this afterwards:

Now we can see right through it!

Be sure to use your pliers to pull off any of the excess plastic pieces left over where your Air Restrictor was. These can potentially get in the way of your turret rotation, which isn’t in your Snapfire’s best interests.

Step 4. Removing the Dart Posts

Now it’s time to pay attention to the turret. Grab your turret and look at the back of it as per the picture below:

Ignore the fact I’ve started removing the barrel posts already. But this is exactly what you want to do!

Now take your needle nosed pliers and just PULL the dart posts out from the back. After you’re done, it’ll look like this:

So now we can see all the way through the turret as well!

Be sure to use your pliers to pull off any excess plastic bits that might get in the way of your Snapfire’s rotation as well.

Step 5. Reassembling your Snapfire

Now this was a step that I had some trouble with. The shell seemed to be very resistant to going back together. But with a lot of perseverance, it finally gave in. This part of the guide will show you what to look out for when reassembling your Snapfire.

First of all, you’ll want to replace your plunger tube back into the shell. The plunger head should fit inside of it. After replacing it, your Snapfire should look like this:

Plunger tube back in

Take note of the area highlighted by the blue box. This was one of the problem areas that refused to let the other side of the grey casing to fit back on top. It was the silver pin in particular. I found that just straight up forcing the case back together would work well enough, so long as everything else was lined up. But don’t do this until you have your turret back in place!

To put your turret back in place, you’ll need to align the rotating mechanisms back up. Refer to the pictures below:

These two parts fit into each other

Take note of the areas highlighted by the blue boxes. They fit into each other perfectly. Push them together and make sure your turret appears like how it did in the original internals picture that I told you to take note of.

Now screw the Snapfire back together!

Fits nicely together!

And there you have it. Your AR removed Snapfire is complete!

Final Thoughts

Overall, the difficulty level of this modification was quite low. I think modders of any skill level will be able to attempt and successfully complete this modification.

At this point, I’ve yet to determine what the actual ranges of this modified blaster is, but I believe it’s very close to the target 40ft flat. A firing video will be up soon.

Further modifications to the airseal (both plunger to turret and plunger head to plunger tube) aren’t necessary.I think the stock seals are more than adequate. Replacing the spring is not advised, as it will very likely make the trigger pull much, much harder than it already is.

One problem that I’ve found is that it’s very easy to push the darts too far into the turret, which will end up fouling the rotation. To prevent this, I’m considering using small brass inserts in the back of the turret that would block the darts from being pushed too far back.

Anyway, thanks for reading. Like, comment, follow!

Echoes.

Nerf Dart Tag Snapfire 8 Review

Overview

This little Pistol created quite the stir within the Sydney Nerf Wars community when we were informed of its existence. An 8 shot, auto advancing turret with semi-automatic fire capabilities is something to not be sneezed at. And to make it all the more attractive, it wasn’t a flywheel blaster! No need for batteries and no need to worry about it making all sorts of ugly roaring noises that would (theoretically) give away your position. There was a lot of speculation being thrown around among the members, speculation which is about to be ended (Urban Taggers and SGNerf have done it already, as always…) now that Echoes has nabbed one from Target at a cool $19. Is the Snapfire 8 all that it’s been cranked up to be? Let’s find out!

Continue reading “Nerf Dart Tag Snapfire 8 Review”

Nerf N-Strike Elite Rampage Review

Overview

The Rampage was the second N-strike Elite blaster to be revealed, and also boasted the 75ft ranges that we were all looking forward to. From my initial review of the Retaliator, we know that these blasters are definitely capable of these sorts of ranges, but are somewhat lacking in the consistency department. Is the Rampage any better? Or was the Retaliator the Elite Series’ one shot wonder? (Again, we realise you saw the review on Urban Taggers and SGNerf already, but we’re building suspense anyway!) Echoes scored this one from Amazon.com as well for around $40, which he thought was a very reasonable price!

For the good parts of the review, keep reading!

Continue reading “Nerf N-Strike Elite Rampage Review”

Sydney Nerf Wars Modification Write ups Competition!

Hello Nerfers! Since the beginning of this group, our community has been quite strong in the warring department. Our numbers at events have remained reasonably solid over time. While this is all well and good, we’re missing a certain something that every Nerf community needs: Documented Modification write ups. Not only do they allow members to showcase the skills of their trade, but they also create an informational resource for the younger and/or less experienced members to look at and learn from. But how, will we do this?

Today, we are announcing the opening of the Sydney Nerf Wars Modification Write Ups competition!

Keep reading to find out more!

Continue reading “Sydney Nerf Wars Modification Write ups Competition!”

LiPo Batteries – I’m Chargin’ Mah Nerfz0rz!

Hello Nerfers! I’m here today to tell you about the wonders of Lithium Polymer batteries!

LiPo’s have a bad rap in our hobby due to perceived dangers of their usage – the manufacturing process of these power cells means they must be treated with care, but by following instructions and taking the right precautions, they are no more dangerous than that set of AA’s you have decomposing in a TV remote in your own living room!

What is a LiPO Battery?

According to wikipedia, a LiPo battery is this:

“Lithium-ion polymer batteries, polymer lithium ion, or more commonly lithium polymer batteries (abbreviated Li-poly, Li-Pol, LiPo, LIP, PLI or LiP) are rechargeable (secondary cell) batteries. LiPo batteries are usually composed of several identical secondary cells in parallel to increase the discharge current capability, and are often available in series “packs” to increase the total available voltage.”

Does that clear up everything? No? Oh, alright then… better keep reading!

Continue reading “LiPo Batteries – I’m Chargin’ Mah Nerfz0rz!”

The Return of the Psycho

A few months ago, Sydney Nerf Wars said farewell to a highly valued member of the community. Known affectionately as the King of Air, he was to be sorely missed for both his personality and his passion for the hobby. He left us with his Widowmaker and his best wishes.

But now, he has finally returned home. The Sydney Nerf Wars Admin team would like to welcome Psychosis back into our ranks! We look forward to meeting you on the battlefield!

– Echoes, on behalf of the Sydney Nerf Wars Admin Team

Nerf N-Strike Elite Retaliator Review

Overview

There has been a lot of hype surrounding the release of the new Nerf Elite lines, with Hasbro making outlandish promises of 75ft out of the box! This new line of Blasters sparked a lot of questions and quite a bit of controversy throughout the online Nerfing community. But thanks to Amazon.com (and a cool $40 shipped to Australia), Echoes (the Sydney Nerf Wars Admin who buys a lot of stuff…) has managed to procure a couple of units and is ready to give his thoughts! (I know we’re a little late on this, with blogs such as Urban Taggers, SGNerf, and Foam Dart Goodness already having reviews and/or modification guides on them, but we thought we’d do this anyway).

General Review

Immediately upon taking it out of the box, we can all tell where the Retaliator takes its design cues from – the good old Nerf N-strike Recon cs-6! But there are definitely some changes from the old model. Nerf has replaced the Tactical light with a Fore grip, and the original (albeit flimsy) stock with a sharp looking short one. They’ve also removed the Leaf sight and been so kind as to provide us with a very handy 12 shot clip system magazine. It’s an attractive blaster overall, but we aren’t just here for the aesthetics, are we?

Continue reading “Nerf N-Strike Elite Retaliator Review”

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