Project Mil-Spim

[Critical]

As you might have guessed by the title, this project is going to be my effort at creating an MR based Spimmy. A little introduction...

Having owned both the MR1 and the MR2, I decided that the easiest, and most practical (read, most likely to actually work!) would be the MR1:


And today, to kick off the project, I received this in the mail:

It's a mostly stock 2k2 Intimidator, with only a few minor upgrades. It is in slightly rough condition, but since the final product will be re-annodized, I'm not too worried about little scratches and dings that I can easily buff out.

This thread is going to be my log of the project. I'm not going to go in detail for every step of making a Spimmy, since others have done it before, and better than I ever could. Instead, I'm going to focus on the things that are different with modifying the MR1. And, before you comment, I know that it's not cost effective, that it won't work and that I'm insane. My wife tells me those things all the time, so, nothing new there.

My goals with this project:
1. Functioning, good looking MR series Spimmy, affectionately named the Mil-Spim (play on words of Spimmy and Mil-Sim, get it?)
2. Learn about Intimidators, and Spimmys, as I move up the marker food chain
3. This one is important: Maintain the Mil-Sim look. What's the point of doing this if, at the end, it looks totally wrong.

Feel free to post anything at all related to this project, I have a clear idea of exactly what parts I'm going to use, and what I want it to look like. However, if you have words of encouragement, advice, humorous anecdotes or friendly constructive criticism, I welcome it all.

/Critical

[Critical]

I've updated my issues, LOL!

1. Time & Money
Since I'm paying cash for everything, this project feeles like it's taking forever. And, buying parts a few at a time leaves me with a pile of parts, but sometimes nothing to do with them, since I may not have entire sub-assemblies.

2. Eyes
I've drilled for the eyes, but won't know until I have all the electronics, and pneumatics and nearly everything else whether they are aligned or not. I wish there was a way to hook up a battery or something and test the alignment.

3. ???
The unknown sucks!

What do you see as issue's I'm going to run in to?
/Critical

[DRAGON]

Noice Crit....I'll be watching -

Dayum, that was quick lol -

[Critical]

Thanks, Dragon. It's going to be a slow process as I'm trying to pay with "real" money up front for everything. And, I have an 8 month old son, a 50 hour a week job, a wife who demands a certain amount of my attention (they're pushy that way, aren't they?) a house to take care of, and, maybe, actually go out and play paintball on occasion. It's a good thing I don't sleep well, I need those hours.

[VS3 Sniper]

I can't wait to see the finished product. What color are u planing on annoing it? Are u going to do a halfback job?

[Critical]

No halfback here. Plans sometimes change for better or for worse, but my plan right now is to maintain the tactical look. I'm going to have an overall anno of dust dark grey with an acid wash of dust black. Certain accessory parts, like the side plates, the freak barrel back, and other little bits & pieces will be solid dust black. I may, if funding allows, mill a slot in the lower tube so the ram sleeve shows through, but I haven't decided on that yet.

[DRAGON]

Originally Posted by Critical

.............. I have an 8 month old son, a 50 hour a week job, a wife who demands a certain amount of my attention (they're pushy that way, aren't they?) a house to take care of, and, maybe, actually go out and play paintball on occasion. It's a good thing I don't sleep well, I need those hours.

been there, done that and i burnt out. now that i'm here it's much better. i think it's the continual sun rather than the 6 months of darkness in winter added to all the other. taking your time is Kosher. Then there's less chance of having to go over what you didn't get right the first time -

[Critical]

I'm updating this a lot more than I thought I would be, for it only being day 2. I've been sitting here, not sleeping, seeing how my ideas work in the real world. (One of my favorite quotes: "In theory, there's no difference between theory and practice. In practice, there is.") I was getting irritated with the front block sticking out too far, going down too far, being freaking huge, that sort of thing. All of a sudden, I had an epiphany (No I did not give birth to a Smart Parts marker, it was the idea sort of epiphany)

I don't actually need the front block at all!

I know, I'm probably commiting heresy in the Timmy world, but think about it. What does the front block do? It does one thing. It directs air. The regulator attaches to the bottom and the front block directs air through to the forward part of the bottom tube to be spat out along with the paintball. The LPR attaches to the front, and the front block directs the low pressure air to the barb fitting at the back of the block, to go to the solenoid. But it's not actually neccessary!

I haven't thought out the locations of everything yet, but here's my new & improved plan. Keep in mind, I'm thinking of some of this as I'm typing. What if I bottomline mounted a regulator in place of an ASA on a small drop? The Palmer's Female Stabilizer with the 98c mounting kit would work perfect for this, and, I wouldn't have to buy a drop or an ASA, saving a little money. I could then run the high pressure air anywhere I want, in any way I want. Like, maybe the stock location? Then, Otter's got the SpyderCocker write-ups on his site, stealing an idea from them, I could mount an LPR such as the Palmer's Micro-Rock on the other output of the reg, and run the input hose right up through the grip.

Or, I could maintain the ASA on the drop (I happen to like on/off asa's) and since the CP ASA's that I prefer have two outs, I could run one to the reg, mounted...maybe..., under the barrel? So it looks like a tactical flashlight? The LPR could then either be mounted on the reg, or on the other out of the ASA. Mounting it to the ASA would still allow me to run the hose through the frame. The only problem with mounting the reg under the barrel is that I would have a 14-16 inch line running from the ASA to the reg. That's a lot of line. Or, I could try to mess around with running hard line up against the body. But I can think of a number of issues with that, not the least of which is that I've never dealt with hard line before and don't know what it can or can not do.

Hmmm......

[bamf-hacker]

Originally Posted by Critical

I have an 8 month old son, a 50 hour a week job, a wife who demands a certain amount of my attention (they're pushy that way, aren't they?) a house to take care of, and, maybe, actually go out and play paintball on occasion. It's a good thing I don't sleep well, I need those hours.

GET YOUR OWN LIFE!!! Why are you trying to steal mine Well close enough anyway, add a second kid and since I got my mask I sleep great.


Awesome idea for a marker. Please don't let this project slide I am interested in the outcome.

[vikingshadow]

Originally Posted by bamf-hacker

GET YOUR OWN LIFE!!! Why are you trying to steal mine

Well thank God he stole it from me - I was tired of having that life times two and 14 years!!!! Well, minus the summer hours, that is

Very interesting. I'll be keeping my eye on this as well - can't wait to see it happen