Foam Universe

By: NerfDude1138

This is my Recon mod, I have it split into three sections; the forward pump, the internals and the stock. This is what the finished product looks like:

Part 1: The Pump Mod

Materials needed:
Nerf Recon
Length of 1 ½ inch PVC
Round aluminum bar
6 bolts (the type with the triangular head and flat top)
6 acorn nuts
1 pistol grip off a Longshot side arm
Epoxy
Plumber’s putty
Small flashlight
Switch (get one with leads already attached)
Some scrap Plexiglas
Electrical Tape

The goal here is to add a pistol grip that will travel up and down the accessory rail on the underside of the barrel and anchor to the priming handles via aluminum arms. This allows one to charge rounds without taking a hand off the gun each time. On the stock recon, one shoots with one-hand and steadies the gun with the other, but then the steadying hand has to move after each shot to prime a round and then to return to the steadying position. It’s an awkward and time consuming procedure when seconds count. In the modded version, neither hand leaves their respective positions.

For this mod I chose a pistol grip versus a shotgun pump handle. A shotgun pump handle is fine if you are shooting from the hip, but if the gun is going to be closer to your face so you can look down the sights, then the pistol grip is more comfortable for hand-positioning.

First you need a pistol grip, like the one off the front of a Longshot. Most folks that have modded their LS have extras lying around. You need a section of PVC pipe, cut to a comfortable length that the pistol grip and the arms will attach to.

A channel needs to be cut down one side of the pipe to accommodate the accessory rail. You want to make the cuts angled so there will be a blunt point on each end, and that they angle into the rail groove. The PVC walls are too thick to fit on the rail, thus need to be trimmed to a blunt edge. Also, you don’t want them to be sharpened to a razor’s edge, because you don’t want to make it easy to bind up on the rail. When you cut, make sure it will be a snug fit on rail.

The opposite side of the PVC needs to be cut to accommodate the tabs on the pistol grip. These tabs, when used on the LS click into a precise opening on the LS and lock into place. You need similar notches in the PVC to accept the pistol grip. The pistol grip will not lock into place like it does with the LS as PVC is much thicker. That’s ok; we just want to get it in there. Sand the surface of the PVC a little and trace out the cuts with a pencil. I used a small drill-bit to make pilot holes in the corners of my drawing to get them started, and then connected the corners with a small Dremel cutting wheel. You may have to make small changes with the Dremel along the way to wiggle the tabs into the PVC.

Once in, add glue to the gap between the pistol grip and the pipe. When it dies, add glue inside the pipe to solidify the joining of the two parts. I used a very strong two-part epoxy that was designed for plastic. As you can see in the picture, I went heavy on the epoxy inside. It won’t be seen, and it won’t move either. I filled the gaps on the exterior with plumber’s putty.

The next step is to cut the arms. You want them to reach halfway down the side of the PVC and reach a good chunk of the priming handles on the side. I tried to use Plexiglas as per the ObernFox mod, but the Plexiglas was too-weak and broke under pressure.

I spent days on Plexiglas arms, conversely when I switched to aluminum rod, a cut them with a hacksaw, stuck them in a vice and put two bends in each. This was done in about five minutes, compared to the Plexiglas method; it was a great time-savings.

I made the bends in the aluminum with a vice and a little muscle. You will probably want to clean up the ends of the aluminum rod with a Dremel, just to remove any sharp edges or burrs. Safety first.

To attach the arms to the priming handles, I began with a mod by OberonFox over on the other forum. I mounted the arms to the PVC and the charging handles with small diameter machine bolts, the ones that have a flat head and take a Phillips screwdriver. I got acorn nuts for the other end, they cost more than regular hex-nuts but have a smoother end, less likely to snag on clothing or skin. I drilled holes in the rod and in the charging handles, and then on the backside of the handles I used a countersink bit to recess the bolt head.

If your bolt heads are not completely flush inside, you may need to carve out a little track in the plastic on the gun body to allow them to slide back and forth.

For the flashlight installation, I needed to wire in a switch, I also had to cut a hole in the PVC for the switch and I needed a disk of Plexiglas to attach it to the PVC tube. I cut the disk to the same diameter as the PVC tube and then bore a hole in the center to accommodate the flashlight. Putty the Flashlight in the center of the disk. Putty the switch into place on the PVC.

Notch the Plexiglas to allow the rail to get through.

Use putty to stick it all together and epoxy to reinforce the hold.

Done with the pump.

Part 2: Stock Mod

Materials needed:
Recon Stock and Black cover for the bolt
Length of 1 ½ inch PVC tubing
End cap for 1 ½” PVC
A short piece of 1/2′” PVC tubing
Spring – 6” AR-15 spring
Spring – smaller diameter, but longer than the tube
Epoxy
Pumber’s putty
Super glue

The stock mod is a variation on other people’s mods in which PVC is added to the black square piece in the back where the plunger tube exits the gun when cocked and reenters the gun when the trigger is engaged. The theory is that adding springs behind this tube will give it an extra push when the trigger is pulled and air is being forced through the breach. Here we go.

First, I cut the tube off the square black piece that sits inside the stock. Also, remove the yellow and black retaining pieces in the middle of the stock arm, which hold the spare magazine. Unfortunately they will no longer fit when this is done. I started with a shortened AR spring that I purchased from Mod Man on Ebay and I cut the PVC tube to the same length. I then mounted the tube on the Black square piece in the same location where I removed the black tube. I started with a little superglue to get the placement right, and then I added plumber’s putty as per OfAllTheNerf’s recon mod. Be sure to go back and clean the screw holes out before the putty dries!

In the next step, I differ from OfAllTheNerf and other like-mods as I did niot want to remove or shorten the stock arms and compromise the stock’s stability. I therefore put the tube with black square piece in position, added the end cap and in the remaining space between the end cap and the end of the stock I simply filled the gap with a scrap of ½ pvc and plumber’s putty. I super glued the scrap to the rounded surface of the end cap, notched the other end of the scrap piece and the stock to make them fit together, then laid on the putty. I did not glue the end cap onto the PVC pipe. I needed to be able to take it apart while modding. Inside the end cap I drilled a hole big enough for a BIC pen body to get through then I used putty to stick it in place.

This is an extra step suggested by OfAllTheNerf to keep the springs from moving around too much. I also layered up the putty inside to make sure the AR spring had no extra space. I wanted the spring ever so slightly compressed when its in the at-rest position before cocking.

Stock is done, clean it up, put the AR spring in and if you have a second thinner spring put that in and then close it up. I used an industrial spring (not pictured) that I got at ACE and cut it down to a length just slightly longer than the AR spring. The PVC pipe can still be removed by pressing down the stock release button that holds it to the gun and pull the end cap in the other direction. After paint and test-firing, the last thing I will do is attach the end cap to the tube permanently.

Done.

Part 3: The Internals

Electrical Tape
Aluminum tubing
Hot Glue
PETG

First off, I modded the breach referring to DirtyDumpster’s mod. I cut two inches of length of the bottom half of the breech, dremmelled and smoothed out the inside and then added a length of PETG. I cut the PETG to the approximate dimensions of the stock breech.

Next I added e-tape to the plunger tube, then trimmed it to an 1/8th inch width. This has been done by various modders and the idea is that is shortens the distance that the main spring travels when it is compressed during cocking. The benefit is a little more pushing power on the bolt.

I modified the bolt and breech a little bit differently than DD did. Some of you may recall discussions we had in the DD Recon mod revisited thread. What I eventually did was I drilled out the entire bolt, everything inside went. I took a piece of aluminum tubing and installed it inside the bolt.

I used electrical tape around the tube at intervals to take up the gap between the tube and bolt. This effectively changed the overall diameter of the bolt from the plunger chamber, right up to the back of the dart, one constant diameter.

I attempted to redo the barrel with PETG, bringing it back further to meet the dart. This necessitated removing the tab that pops up between shots to block the barrel. The idea was a much more efficient bolt, breech and barrel. I have not gotten it to work right so I did not include it in the final assembly though the PETG barrel insert is pictured above. The e-tape was used to make it fit snugly inside to stock faux barrel.

The finished product:

The scope on top is from a Longshot, repainted to match the rest.

Don’t forget the superclip.

Nerf On! 

-NerfDude1138
10/14/2008