PatrickM Posted January 12, 2019 Author Report Posted January 12, 2019 7 hours ago, Dracotrooper said: I envy your electronic know-how; keep up the great work Sent from my SM-G390W using Tapatalk Sometimes being an electrical engineer helps. The standard approach of using a resistor would also have worked, but then the current would drop if the battery runs empty. I wanted to ensure that the LED current remains at 20mA. Just let me know if you would like a detailed explanation. I really admire the mechanical skills of other forum members such as yourself! Expecting more parts to arrive within a few days... 1 Quote
PatrickM Posted January 14, 2019 Author Report Posted January 14, 2019 In the meantime 2 more packages arrived, containing: - additional 3D printed parts, this time from Christopher Pearson - the BlastFX with miniscope electronics kit from TRamp So I guess you know what’s coming next... Pew pew! Here’s a picture of the incoming goods inspection (trying to be professional about this ): 20190114_190640 More details And here’s a picture of some recent progress using the 3D printed parts: 20190114_225019 It’s beginning to look like a blaster... 20190114_230059 Cheers! 3 Quote
Dracotrooper Posted January 15, 2019 Report Posted January 15, 2019 In the meantime 2 more packages arrived, containing: - additional 3D printed parts, this time from Christopher Pearson - the BlastFX with miniscope electronics kit from TRamp So I guess you know what’s coming next... Pew pew! Here’s a picture of the incoming goods inspection (trying to be professional about this ):20190114_190640 More details And here’s a picture of some recent progress using the 3D printed parts:20190114_225019 It’s beginning to look like a blaster...20190114_230059 Cheers! Man oh man - BlastFX v.2 with LED strip is gorgeous!! A heads up - not sure if you have your rear site installed already but a gap needs to be in place between it and the end cap so that when the end cap is engaged, there's that approx. 2mm room for the cap to be pushes and turned. Thought I'd mention Have fun!! Exciting build times ahead!!Sent from my SM-G390W using Tapatalk 2 Quote
Bulldog44[TK] Posted January 15, 2019 Report Posted January 15, 2019 The BlastFX kit is spectacular! that is going to light up your blaster like a Christmas tree! The scope display never fails to impress me as well. I told Paul he hit a grand slam when he added that to the kit! It added new purpose and meaning to making my hollow scope kits! Keep up the amazing work! 1 Quote
PatrickM Posted January 15, 2019 Author Report Posted January 15, 2019 (edited) 16 hours ago, Dracotrooper said: Man oh man - BlastFX v.2 with LED strip is gorgeous!! 12 hours ago, Bulldog44 said: The BlastFX kit is spectacular! that is going to light up your blaster like a Christmas tree! The scope display never fails to impress me as well. I told Paul he hit a grand slam when he added that to the kit! It added new purpose and meaning to making my hollow scope kits! Yes, the BlastFX kit is really awesome! My son couldn’t stop testing it. And the scope display looks fantastic, especially in your beautiful hollow scope kit Brian. As soon as I saw movies of that combination I was sold! And on top of that Paul is a great guy to deal with, very helpful. He even sent me the latest BlastFX version with functional rotary switch, which wasn’t available yet when I placed my order. Really cool! 16 hours ago, Dracotrooper said: A heads up - not sure if you have your rear site installed already but a gap needs to be in place between it and the end cap so that when the end cap is engaged, there's that approx. 2mm room for the cap to be pushes and turned. Thought I'd mention Thanks for the heads up! Fortunately I already noticed and screwed the rear sight in the correct position, leaving just enough room for the end cap to move. 16 hours ago, Dracotrooper said: Have fun!! Exciting build times ahead!! 12 hours ago, Bulldog44 said: Keep up the amazing work! 7 hours ago, namebrand said: Looks great! Thanks guys! Looking forward to completing this project. If only I had more spare time... Edited January 15, 2019 by PatrickM Corrected an autocorrect error. 2 Quote
Thrawn's guard Posted January 15, 2019 Report Posted January 15, 2019 You’re doing some really great work with this build Patrick. 1 Quote
Dracotrooper Posted January 15, 2019 Report Posted January 15, 2019 Wow!! Paul continues to improve on his BlastFX offering. I had asked for a rotary switch over a year ago...now it being available, thats very cool!! Sent from my SM-G390W using Tapatalk 2 Quote
PatrickM Posted January 19, 2019 Author Report Posted January 19, 2019 (edited) Scope electronics Today’s update is all about the scope electronics. After receiving the BlastFX kit I had to rethink my strategy, because the miniscope no longer comes with a separate PCB. That means not 2 wires with battery supply voltage, but 4 wires going straight to the display. Fortunately, 2 of those carry a 3.3V supply voltage and Paul confirmed that I could draw the additional 20mA required by my red LED from this supply. Since this voltage is regulated I decided to go with the classical series resistor approach to limit the current through the LED: 20190119_144453 The 5mm LED housing fits nicely into the front of the scope: 20190119_153917 Almost ready: 20190119_195036 Here’s a video of the result: M38 scope with miniscope + LED Cheers! Edited January 19, 2019 by PatrickM Textual correction 1 Quote
T-Jay[TK] Posted January 20, 2019 Report Posted January 20, 2019 Loving it Great work, makes me want to start another blaster. 2 Quote
Bulldog44[TK] Posted January 20, 2019 Report Posted January 20, 2019 Wow, that red led on the front looks cool. I have to do this someday with my blaster. Truly awesome work. Great you are paving th way for others on the wiring and power. 1 Quote
PatrickM Posted January 20, 2019 Author Report Posted January 20, 2019 Oops, looks like I’ll have to rethink my strategy once more. I just realized that the BlastFX electronics has not just grown in functionality, but apparently also in size. As a consequence, the main PCB no longer fits in the custom Hengstler counter: 20190120_141918 The most obvious alternative I can think of is to place it inside the main tube, but then I’ll have to close the charging handle slot and can’t have a visible recoil spring. The whole thing will also be more difficult to access... Any bright ideas anyone? Quote
T-Jay[TK] Posted January 20, 2019 Report Posted January 20, 2019 (edited) 31 minutes ago, PatrickM said: (...) the main PCB no longer fits in the custom Hengstler counter (...) Would a diagonal placement work? Or what about hiding it in that gap between scope, counter and receiver tube? Edited January 20, 2019 by T-Jay 1 Quote
PatrickM Posted January 20, 2019 Author Report Posted January 20, 2019 1 hour ago, T-Jay said: Would a diagonal placement work? Or what about hiding it in that gap between scope, counter and receiver tube? Even diagonally it won't fit. The gap between scope, counter and receiver tube is also too small, and would expose all the wiring which I'm trying to hide as much as possible. Perhaps if I move the battery to the Hengstler counter instead and replace the magazine with a bigger one, it might fit in there... Quote
PatrickM Posted January 20, 2019 Author Report Posted January 20, 2019 Time for a test fitting of the main components: 20190120_214645 9 hours ago, Bulldog44 said: Wow, that red led on the front looks cool. I have to do this someday with my blaster. Truly awesome work. Great you are paving th way for others on the wiring and power. Might try pointing it at the moon tonight to see if it will make it turn red... Cheers! 2 Quote
T-Jay[TK] Posted January 21, 2019 Report Posted January 21, 2019 8 hours ago, PatrickM said: (...) Might try pointing it at the moon tonight to see if it will make it turn red... (...) That was a good one. 1 Quote
PatrickM Posted January 27, 2019 Author Report Posted January 27, 2019 Today I worked on some small details again. New end cap clip Made a new end cap clip with a smaller axle diameter to ensure sufficient strength around the drill hole. Since the 3D printed part did not come with the knurling pattern, I applied some green stuff and pressed the pattern into that. I initially tried to use a clip from a pen as spring mechanism, but my metal drills just wouldn’t go through. So I used some aluminum instead, but that bends back too easily. Any suggestions..? 20190127_214058 Thou shalt not look like a toilet After reading Jesse’s build thread I had to agree that the DoopyDoo’s end cap looks a bit like a mini-toilet. Tried to replicate his reshaping of the bottom side of the cap: 20190127_220553 Magazine clip release lever At least I think that’s what this part that is completely missing from the DoopyDoo’s magazine is called. Feel free to correct me on that if needed! I used some leftover aluminum parts to recreate this based on pictures I found on the web. Due to the small size of the magazine I could only fit this “cut-off” version: 20190127_204609 Cheers! 2 Quote
Mupfel Posted January 27, 2019 Report Posted January 27, 2019 Looks great!Did you find a solution for your space problem ?Gesendet von iPhone mit Tapatalk 1 Quote
Dracotrooper Posted January 27, 2019 Report Posted January 27, 2019 Hey were two of the same mind! Nice job ridding of the doopydoos toilet effect on the end cap And also wow! Magazine clip latch, I believe it's called, looks spot-on Keep up the great work! Following with interest Sent from my SM-G390W using Tapatalk 1 Quote
PatrickM Posted January 27, 2019 Author Report Posted January 27, 2019 15 minutes ago, Mupfel said: Looks great! Did you find a solution for your space problem ? Gesendet von iPhone mit Tapatalk Thanks! So far putting the electronics in the pipe still seems to be the best solution in terms of accessibility. That would mean sacrificing the recoil spring though (why would a laser blaster need that anyway? ). But I haven't really made up my mind yet so I decided to simply work on something else today... Quote
Bulldog44[TK] Posted January 27, 2019 Report Posted January 27, 2019 (edited) Clip release, end cap and end cap clip look great. Nice work on these parts. For the end cap clip I think I used a piece of scrap metal from something I had. Sorry my memory on that is fuzzy. But I do remember having to punch a hole through the metal and it took a few attempts. I will have a look at my old build and see what I used. Aluminum is too soft as you mentioned and won’t be great long term. Edited January 27, 2019 by Bulldog44 2 Quote
Bulldog44[TK] Posted January 27, 2019 Report Posted January 27, 2019 (edited) I checked my build thread and I used a bulldog clip for the spring plate. The metal was strong enough to keep its spring tension and easy enough to cut & drill through. I believe I used the large type of clips as the metal is a bit thinner and easier to work with. Edited January 27, 2019 by Bulldog44 1 Quote
PatrickM Posted January 27, 2019 Author Report Posted January 27, 2019 43 minutes ago, Bulldog44 said: I checked my build thread and I used a bulldog clip for the spring plate. The metal was strong enough to keep its spring tension and easy enough to cut & drill through. I believe I used the large type of clips as the metal is a bit thinner and easier to work with. Thanks Brian! I had no idea that those things were called bulldog clips, needed a Google picture search for that. I thought that these used springs. Will look if I can also find them with spring plates! Quote
Bulldog44[TK] Posted January 28, 2019 Report Posted January 28, 2019 3 hours ago, PatrickM said: Thanks Brian! I had no idea that those things were called bulldog clips, needed a Google picture search for that. I thought that these used springs. Will look if I can also find them with spring plates! No problem. these clips don't actually have any springs. I cut the main clip metal part with shears for cutting metal. I just cut the exact strip size from that metal and bent it to specs. It has worked perfectly since. I used dollar store large sized bulldog clips as the metal isn't as rigid (cheap metal) as the more expensive ones. 1 Quote
PatrickM Posted February 4, 2019 Author Report Posted February 4, 2019 This evening I added another important detail: the dovetail front sight block, using the 3D printed part by Suitcase props. Before: 20190204_223905 After: 20190204_222507 Cheers! Quote
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