Z6 Riot Control Baton build

[tkrestonva[TK]]

Here are some photos of my Z6 riot control baton. The kit itself was supplied by Peter White - I used my own lighting methods (which I will explain) as opposed to Peter's technique.

 

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Starting point - the EL lights were not included in the kit, I sourced those via Amazon.com (also available via ebay). I also ended up not using the red EL lights as I originally intended for the main shaft lighting - there was not enough room within the plexiglass main shaft for all five wires and they weren't bright enough for my liking anyway.

 

 

Completed baton with the arms folded in - note the screws for the holster attachment:

 

 

 

 

Baton in the extended position:

 

 

The black button on top of the handle is spring-loaded and can be pressed. My original intent was to rig up a mechanism so that in pressing it, you would release a spring that would then deploy the swing arms. However, I couldn't get my design to work and I was under a self-imposed deadline to get it done prior to my troop on the 13th. So I ended up abandoning that effort.

 

The open compartment in the main body holds the power source to the blue EL lights in the swing arms, and the compartment cover fits tightly enough to stay firmly in place without the use of screws or other fasteners. The swing arm lights are powered on/off by the pushbutton switch just aft of the baton's handle that connects to the power source via two small rods and a push plate. I can manually cycle through four settings - steady on, slow blink, fast blink, and off. It also turns out that by simply flexing my wrist while holding the baton, I can use the bottom of my fist to activate the lights - a subtle yet effective technique.

 

The blue EL lights and their supporting wires are strung from the power source, through the main shaft (which you can't see because the plexiglass main shaft is painted semi-gloss black), and through the hollow swing arm axle - Peter recommends using copper tubing but I found that PVC pipe worked a lot better. One blue light string goes straight through the axle and lights up the clear resin end cap, the other two go up/down and out, and light up the swing arms.

 

As for the red lights along the body, there wasn't enough room left in the main shaft for red LED strips - especially with the holster mount attached. So instead of using LEDs, I used red reflective tape that I cut into small circles via a handheld hole punch. The extreme lighting effect is what happens in the presence of flash photography - something I accidentally discovered years ago with a similar project.

Edited March 14, 2021 by gmrhodes13
link not working, removed gmrhodes13 2021

[tkrestonva[TK]]

A couple of test photos with both the baton and the riot control shield (shield kit supplied by KB Props):
 

 

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Nice work, I like using the EL lights

[Artshot]

Nice baton build

 

As somebody still trying to figure out the internals and spring loading the deflector arms on my 3d build, it's always nice to see a baton going together.

 

Just wish I could figure out how to get the deflectors to pop out and spin.....at the same time

[tkrestonva[TK]]

Nice baton build

 

As somebody still trying to figure out the internals and spring loading the deflector arms on my 3d build, it's always nice to see a baton going together.

 

Just wish I could figure out how to get the deflectors to pop out and spin.....at the same time

Same here. I spent days sketching up a design for spring-loaded arms (including detailed measurements) that I was sure would work, but I could never get it to work as I had envisioned. I just couldn't get around the limited amount of room inside the main shaft. I also had some ideas of how to get the arms to pop up from their resting position on the main body.

 

Trying to get them both to work at the same time ... ugh.