(Re)Starting on my long neglected projects...

**LightArmsJXF** · 09-17-2026, 11:07 AM

I was (and I still am) in the middle of cutting aluminium for my self-centring vice when a delivery arrived. Thanks to scottieb I now have a few more barrels to push my project list a little closer to completion.

First up: My primary Spyder Rodeo: (Before & After pics below)
I'm a fan of the short 8" Armson Pro and it had proven to be really compatible with my style of play back in the day. The only thing that bugged me a bit was that the semi-gloss finish was a bit too glossy for my liking. I'd intended to get it re-anodised at some point but then everything got packed away for well over a decade until a few months ago. Then a distinctly matte one come up for sale (Thanks again scottieb!) and I thought that I'd better buy it. It doesn't make a helluva lot of difference but I like it. The Lapco sizer will eventually be replaced with a TechT iFit back as soon as I can source one for it.

Next up is my primary Raven Nexion: (Before & After pics below)
I'd originally wanted to have an identical setup to my primary Rodeo but by the time I'd actually bought this marker I wasn't able to source another 8" Armson Pro. Today's delivery has rectified this for me. Eventually this should be getting a TechT iFit back as well.

Next, my Bob Long Millennium:

I'd been slowly getting the parts for this one over the years. The barrel is an unknown make (i.e. I don't know who made it) but I thought it looked nice and chunky just like the Millennium body. After freeing up an Armson Pro I figured I'd try it out but I couldn't be sure if I liked the look of it on there. Thankfully I'd also purchased a Lapco Bigshot from scottieb so that's going on there. I think it looks appropriate for this marker. As it's a Lapco barrel, it'll probably get the Lapco sizer once it's freed from the Rodeo.

Onto my Raven Primal:
I was using a 16" Armson Stealth on this one but I wasn't happy with the length. The style didn't match up well with the marker either (in my opinion) but, now that my primary Nexion has an 8" Pro, this can now get its Freak on. I did remove the short tip in favour of a more standard length but I think this marker looks a lot better for it.

Onto some misc projects:
One of my other Nexion projects still needed something other than its stock barrel while one of my TL projects and my Paradox MF-1 didn't have barrels at all. The Nexion got the 13" Armson Stealth that I'd received today. This too will get an iFit back when I can source one for it.

The TL got the 8" Armson Pro that came off of my primary Rodeo. This will probably be temporary as it's dependant on the direction of this project. I will be pairing it with an iFit back like I'm intent on doing with the other Armson Barrels.

The Paradox MF-1 gets the 16" Armson Stealth that was freed up from my Primal. This is temporary as the Paradox MF-1 has been designated as my "Test Bed" for mods that I wanted to try, mods which might make it unusable as a marker in the future. If that happens then this barrel will go to a different project.

And that leaves me with...

I'm adding "Spare Barrel Wind Chimes" to my project list. I know it was only meant as a bit of a joke but sometimes what better reason is there to do something pointless that could be fun? I've only got 3 barrels to begin with but I'm sure I'll accumulate barrels (again). This project will become more elaborate as that happens, I'm sure.

Attached Files

**LightArmsJXF** · 09-17-2026, 04:15 PM

The vert mount for my vise is done. Took the better part of 2 days thanks to me forgetting to give clearances for the alignment pins not once but twice. Now I don't need to squeeze the clamps underneath whatever I'm trying to hold in place. I've made it as a 2 piece so that I can have the workpiece mounted along either X or Y axis depending on my needs.

The "Machine Finish" looks rough but feels smooth to the touch. When I get around to having parts anodised I'll probably try to chuck these in as well so that they'll look a bit nicer. Anyhoo, I've had to make this because I'm trying to modify old beavertails. There's other parts that I'll end up doing, I'm sure, but this is where the need for the vert mount began. Technically I could've done with it when I was doing the shrouds but I kinda made do until the standard clamps started getting in the way.

**LightArmsJXF** · 09-19-2026, 01:40 PM

Well... Things were going ok last night until it wasn't. My attempt to mill one TL beavertail down to sort-of match a Shutter beavertail went well(ish). Because my Carvera air decided to move off in an unscheduled direction a few times I'd lost several bits. My kill count is now up to 7 bits destroyed with 6 due to unprogrammed moves, 3 of which happened yesterday on this beavertail alone. Despite this, I was able to get the first TL beavertail down to Shutter(ish) style. Admittedly I did have to take a bit of a chunk off of the sight rail because the first time I experienced one of these unplanned CNC manoeuvres it crashed just below the dovetail, taking a very noticeable chunk out of it. I tried milling away the damaged area and added a bevel. Then the second unplanned CNC move cut straight across where the new bevel was supposed to be so I ended up having to redesign to cut the bevel a lot deeper into the sight rail than I'd wanted. I don't like how it looks now because of that but I'm hoping it won't look so bad after it's re-anodised.

Top view. Two TL beavertails, one NIB and the other I've milled a bit.

Underside looks really good. NIB opened for a clearer view, Silver Shutter beavertail in the middle, modified TL in front.

Despite the mishap with the sight rail I was fairly pleased with the success of this so I decided to mill away on the other one. That's when things went a bit sideways. Somehow it didn't sit right in the vise and so it started to mill badly so I hit the emergency stop. Then I reset it, double checked everything I could think of, and it still milled badly. When I was milling the first one I'd noticed that the flat part where the screw goes wasn't straight/flat but kept going thinking that minor variations like that won't be noticeable after re-anodising anyway. It should've served as a warning to be aware that there will probably be other variations that could have a much more detrimental effect.

This second TL beavertail is now scrap. It looks like the sight rail was milled slightly crooked so, because I was clamping on the dovetail, one side got milled deeper than the other. There's approximately 0.6mm difference between the 2 sides now. There was only 0.2mm difference and a prominent divot on the left side near the front of the base of the beavertail but, of course, I had to try and correct it. To do this I tried taking 0.1mm off of the left side to remove the divot and tried to balance things by taking 0.3mm off of the right but the crooked dovetail just wouldn't let me mill things off correctly and all it did was skim 0.1mm off of the right and screw the left side up even more, which brings me to this current disappointment of a beavertail and, to add injury to insult (yes, I got that the wrong way round on purpose), the sharp edges cut up 3 of my fingers as I was trying to re-align everything for the umpteenth time. The cuts were a little deeper than paper cuts and they still sting like a MF 24hrs later. To put it simply, things did not go as planned.

Anyways, I'm either going to have to source actual Shutter beavertails (I haven't seen any since before 2010 and all of those were bent, twisted or damaged in some way) or just buy a few other NIB TL ones (again) to try and mill. After all I did manage to do one (sort of) so there really shouldn't be any reason why I shouldn't be able to successfully do another.

Attached Files

**LightArmsJXF** · 09-21-2026, 11:03 AM

New arrival into my ever increasing project list. We got a box!

It looks like it was used for air rifle target practice with lots of small holes peppering it. Before I opened it I was really hoping that it was empty at the time of the shooting. Thankfully it didn't look like anything got through and the contents I was expecting seem ok.

It's a REBline! Now I gotta be honest, I didn't know anything about it before buying it, not even that it was a REBline, because I basically bought it on a bit of a whim. I've never even heard of REBline before so I did a quick search after paying a measly £32.48 and very quickly found the REBline Knowledge Base thread here on MCB (thanks to all who posted on there) but I'm still looking for a complete breakdown as I've never owned a marker of this style before. It did come with a few bits included...

Obviously the CO2 tank is out of test (date stamp is 10/91 after all) but that's ok as I'm going to keep it for display purposes. It's stamped "Aluminum Alloy" so does that mean that it can be anodised? (after removing the brass pin valve of course). It'll only be for display so it'd be nice if it could be anno matched.

There's a 'Hopper' that seems a bit makeshift so I don't know if it's actually a vintage paintball hopper or not (maybe someone can chime in on that one) and the 'suppressor' doesn't fit either barrel even after being tightened down all the way. Both of these look like some plastic pipework that's been modified to do the job. I wouldn't be surprised if this is the case as it was circa 1990 and a lot of the dedicated paintball stuff I had when I started in 2004 simply didn't exist yet.

Yep, that's the longer barrel marked REB 145 N but it's missing the extra piece that is secured down onto the trigger frame. I'm assuming that I'd need to remove it off of the shorter (REB 85 N) barrel but, unfortunately, all the steel screws across the entire marker are rusted and appear to be seized in place. The only screw I've managed to pull out is a grub screw that was in place of one of the sight rail screws. It was barely in so only took less than a quarter turn to remove. The brass threaded rod that was supposed to secure the front of the trigger frame is missing and the shallow hole is mostly stripped. The other brass stuff, unsurprisingly, is just in need of a clean and polish because brass be like that y'all.

I don't know what that glittery stick with a rubber end was for originally. Maybe it's a barrel swab that's now missing its head.

There's an extra trigger frame that I believe is a Nelspot frame? I don't know anything about Nelspot stuff either (if you hadn't guessed) so I'm only guessing after seeing pics of frames that look similar. I've test fitted it and, well, it fits.

The round bottom pod is about 1/3 full of paintballs (Lord knows how old those are) and the flat bottom pod contains some spare parts.

I honestly don't know what I'm doing with this REBline. I can't tell what's missing, that's how little I know about REBline markers, so I don't know what I'll need to get this thing back into working order. I did catch that the main body was assembled backwards but, even after rectifying this, the sear won't catch when the marker is cocked. I've also noticed that the grub screw that's meant to be inside the ASA to act as a pin for the bottle's pin valve is missing. I'd need to source a replacement but in order to do that I'd need to know the size it's supposed to be, something that I simply don't know.

Bottom line is that I don't really have a plan in regards to this one. I was originally looking for a stock class Phantom when I jumped on this. (I really failed to buy what I was looking for lol) I guess I just want to have it working.

Has anyone got a list of screws/threads for this marker? Or, better yet, does anyone have a breakdown guide that lists o-rings & seals as well?

Attached Files

**LightArmsJXF** · 09-21-2026, 02:07 PM

Ok, I don't know what I did but now the sear is latching now. I'm thinking I'd changed out the spring for a lighter one but I'm not certain as the only other spring I've got feels the same to me. I've also managed to loosen a lot of the screws that were seized. Turns out they were only lightly seized, thankfully, so a spot of WD40 for a few minutes did the trick. All I've done so far is taken each screw out, gave them a bit of clean with some more WD40 on some shop towel to get rid of as much of the surface rust as I can, then put them back in place. Then because I can now move that piece over from the short barrel I've swapped to the longer barrel for a bit and I think it looks better despite having the narrower front section.

It turns out that the front hole that was missing its brass threaded rod has been enlarged to fit the front screw for the other trigger frame (which I need to re-try now that the sear is latching properly). This thread is the same size as the rear screw that holds the ASA to the back of the trigger frame (hence a spare in its place right now) so I'm hoping that I can find some brass studding of the same size to fit in there but I'll probably need to thread-lock it into place though because of how shallow the hole is. Then I need a thumb screw nut to fit to that. Fingers crossed it's as simple/easy as that.

I think I'm starting to form a plan for my REBline. I'm going to give it a thorough cleaning, of course, which I'll do after a complete disassembly. I'm going to replace all the HT Steel screws with stainless (to avoid future rust issues), brass (to match the other brass hardware) or titanium (because I like the toughness of the material). The missing grub screw... I'm going to try and find an appropriate sized dog point grub screw and try to screw it in backwards. Then, before a complete rebuild begins, I'm thinking of having it re-anno'd. I won't be having everything done, just the gold bits, the pump arm parts and the trigger frame because the rest are supposed to be hard anodised. I've seen the pics of other REBline anno'd this way from factory but I want to have something more modern to set it apart from a typical restoration. There's been quite a lot of really nice examples of anodising on the MOTM threads so I'm hoping my local anodisers can do something similar if I show them a pic or two. (That's if they're still open post-covid)

**LightArmsJXF** · 09-23-2026, 02:02 PM

So my first X7 Phenom arrived today and it took 6 weeks to get to me, from a UK shop "Up North", and I'm a little bit annoyed with what I've received after all this time. Long story short... I bought this Phenom from a paintball shop via a site called Preloved. I didn't see the Phenom on their website when I looked them up. The Phenom pictured in the listing looked like this:

I thought it looked in pretty decent condition so after a lot of 'umm-ing and ahh-ing' (as I often do) I decided to go for it. I was particularly keen on it because it has what appears to be the TechT quick strip pins. Unfortunately it was sent to the wrong address. Correct street but somewhere up the road to a neighbour that I don't know because a digit was accidentally left off of my house number. Surprisingly it was delivered on a Saturday when I was expecting it to arrive on the following Monday but that neighbour refused to accept delivery so it was 'returned to sender'... except not. It ended up in Ireland because it was flagged as "Suspected Prohibited Contents". Anyhoo, kudos to the seller because they offered a replacement Phenom (N.B. No refunds or other forms of compensation were offered). I politely declined mostly because of the TechT pins I'd mentioned and said that I didn't mind waiting for the originally offered marker to get back to them. Fast forward to last week and I enquired if there'd been any luck getting the marker back. Amazingly, it was still in Ireland being 'inspected'. The offer of a replacement was offered again and I accepted it this time then a few says ago, on the day it was about to be sent, the seller tells me the original order arrived on their doorstep and that they'll repack it and send it on to me.

Today I received this:

It appears that I've received the replacement and not the expected original order. I did get the unexpected addition of a NIB set of Valken barrel swabs, a plastic box for spare screws (or something) and a well used J&J Ceramic barrel. I guess, to put it plainly, I'm a little miffed that I got the replacement but, on the flipside of that, I'm pleased that I got a J&J Ceramic barrel. It does air up and cycles without leaks. I haven't tested out the electric board yet, I have to find a 9v from somewhere, but I'm pretty hopeful that it'll be ok. Minor distractions... The Phenom badge has been sanded down for some unknown reason so that looks like sh... something I'll have to remove and/or replace if it continues to bother me. Oh, and the front sight is broken.

So now I'm not sure if I should be angry/annoyed enough to complain. Sure, the TechT pins I was keen on having are missing but I've got a nice(ish) barrel that I wasn't expecting. I do like the ceramic barrels. I like them almost as much as I do the spiral rifled barrels.

**LightArmsJXF** · 09-23-2026, 03:51 PM

I was debating with myself over selling this 1" WWA Freak Tip when I saw someone had posted a WTB for one but I remembered how hard it was for me to find one so I've decided to keep it (sorry to the poster of the WTB thread). I'd freed it from my Spyder Freak back but what do I put it on now? Well, my latest addition could use the A5 Freak I'd been keeping aside. I'm typically a Flatline barrel user on my A5 so my A5 threaded Freak hasn't been used at all since I'd bought it. I could try and look for an X7 Flatline but, if I'm honest, I don't like the aesthetics it brings to the X7. It suffers from the same problem the A5 one does in that the barrel tip places so high up that it makes the barrel and body look mismatched. I was able to negate this aesthetic issue on my A5 by buying a UMS98, an extended A5 Flatline housing that uses the 98 Flatline barrel. I think the newer A5 Flatline, with its AK/MP5 foregrip styling combined with the shorter A5 Flatline barrel, makes this mismatched look more pronounced than the old tube style shroud but, to be fair, that's just my opinion on it.

The X7, with its blockier styling, really lends itself well to a straight barrel I think. The J&J that came with it looks really nice. With this in mind, straight barrel instead of Flatline, I decided to put the A5 threaded Freak back and 1" WWA Freak tip on my X7.

Extreme close-up not withstanding I think it looks the part.

Now what was my plan for this Phenom? Originally I was planning on going for a Tacamo mag-feed conversion. The basic conversion kit is on sale at the moment on MCS UK so it's affordable except for the fact that a basic conversion kit rarely does enough for a proper custom build. To this end I'd need to get a whole load of parts shipped over from MCS US that the UK site doesn't have listed. This is where things become decidedly unaffordable, for me at least, because I'd need to add a gas through stock plus the parts to make that work, then extra mags, then that ball lock thing, then who knows what else I'd end up wanting, plus shipping to the UK, plus UK Customs & Excise taxes and fees... and my Phenom suddenly becomes an entry level marker with a high end price tag and a low end resale value (not that I'm intent on selling my gear any time soon). [sigh] Who am I kidding? I'm probably going to do it anyway, my bank account be damned!

One thing I'd noticed about this Phenom. The Cyclone paddles in this one are green.

In all my A5s, as well as in all my family and friends A5s I've seen, I've only ever seen coloured paddles when they're aftermarket ones. Did Tippmann change things or are these green ones aftermarket ones? If they're aftermarket, who made them?

edit: Nevermind. It looks like Tippmann changed it during my hiatus from paintball and the green paddles became the stock colour.

**LightArmsJXF** · 09-28-2026, 02:06 PM

I need help compiling/confirming a list of screw sizes and lengths for the REBline as I'm trying to organise an order for replacement screws so I want to be absolutely certain that I'm ordering the right stuff.

Pump Handle - 8-32x3/8 Countersunk(x4)
Sight Rail - 8-32x1/4 Countersunk (x2) + ?x? Grub (x1)
Barrel Mounting Block - 8-32x3/8 Countersunk + 8-32x5/8 Brass Threaded Rod & Thumb Screw Nut
Feedneck Screw - 8-32x3/16 Button (length variable) (x1 or x2 depending on version)
Trigger Frame Mount - 8-32x1+1/4 (Mine has been enlarged to 10-32) Brass Threaded Rod & Thumb Screw Nut
ASA 'Pin' - 6-32x? Grub Screw
Grip Frame - ?x? & Barrel Nut

(P.S. I'm not sure if I should post this on the Rebline Knowledge Base thread as no one has added to it in a long time.)

Incidentally I've managed to find a 45 degree elbow that fits my REBline.

TBH I can't remember why I have it. I've never owned a marker that required it, one that has this oversized fitment, so I can only assume that I got it as part of a job lot and it's just been sitting amongst my spares for the last couple of decades. I don't know who made it, there's no manufacturer's markings, but it's nice and snug on the feedneck and barely moves when pushed as far down as it goes. It can be moved once a hopper is fitted though so I'm thinking of drilling a hole to align with the threaded hole on the feedneck and then secure it with a 8-32x3/16 Button head screw which should be just short enough to do the job without protruding into the feedneck itself. As you can see I've fitted my APP mini hopper (Sight Feeder?) to test fitment of a standard hopper's raceway tube. That fits very snugly as well.

I'm having trouble removing the tiny grub screw from the sight rail. It's so jammed in there that my hex key actually twisted instead of the hex of the grub screw giving way (which was odd). I've tried everything except for high heat because I don't have that type of blow torch. Would a soldering iron suffice for such a small screw? As it's pretty much the only thing that I can use to heat up this piece safely I think I'll have to give it a shot. After all this piece can't be re-anodised while there's a piece of steel in there.

I've also decided to take a tiny break from the computer related stuff as my mind is getting a bit jumbled from all the CNC & CAD work. Fortunately I do have a couple of Halo hoppers to mess with. First up is my 'main' Halo B. It's the black one with rip drive and v35 board. I bought it new to use on my newly purchased PMR then, just after getting the bits you see below, I pretty much packed everything away. It's going to get transplanted into the white Suicide shell.

Then I got another. This time it's a heavily used and slightly broken one that doesn't have a rip drive. I was storing it in the box for my black Halo B so I don't know which version of Halo it is or which board is in there. Can anyone clue me in on how to identify these things? It's going to be transplanted into the grey Suicide shell.

Anyways... The plan is simple. Move the innards over to the new Suicide shells, add the 9v mod to both, and try to make the Magna Clutch and Shocktech aluminium bits work together if possible. I was only able to do my main Halo and, as it turns out, it's not possible to use most of the parts together. The Shocktech shaft is too short for the Magna Clutch and the Shocktech cone stands too tall on top of the magnet plate parts. The only thing I was able to use with the Magna Clutch was the Shocktech Rip Drive (but only by using the supplied O-ring to stop it from placing to far along the shaft) and the spacer for the motor that will, I'm sure, change the gearing ratio. All the other parts went back into their respective packaging except the eyes which I didn't feel courageous enough to try and fit today.

I've set this one white one up for use with Reballs because I'm more likely to be using those for the foreseeable future, for testing and such. I'll set up the grey one for field play as it's less 'obvious' as the white one is. If memory serves, I'd bought the grey one with the idea of painting it in an ACU digi-camo style. That idea has been nixed as it's such a nice looking hopper as-is. If I can get the parts I might end up just building up my original black shell into another working hopper again.

One last thing about these hoppers... Anyone know who made these battery compartment screws and if they're still available?

I vaguely recall JCS for some reason but I can't be certain it was them. I'd bought some Tippmann related stuff from JCS back in the day and I kinda remember(ish) getting this from them. Unfortunately it seems that JCS is no longer around so I can't check with them. I could 3D print something and get the appropriate grub screw to screw into it (like the original above) but I figured I'd ask to see if anyone else knows first.

Attached Files

**LightArmsJXF** · 10-02-2026, 03:32 PM

I'm still taking a break from the CNC thing that's been messing with my head but that doesn't mean I'd meant to not do anything CAD related. "Can't let the mind get addled from total inactivity," so to speak. I've also been a bit annoyed that my 3D printer has been seeing much use in the last few months so I figured I'd do something along those lines.

All the markers I'm currently messing with are taking up desk space. This means that they're exposed to the daily dust accumulation, something I'd not considered to be much of a problem before because in decades past I'd always end up putting things away into boxes or cases, or even just putting a cloth over them. This really hasn't been the case this time around so I figured putting barrel socks on the barrels would be a start but what about the feednecks? I don't have enough hoppers to fill every marker, I don't even have enough elbows for the cross/side feeds that I've currently have on/around my desk. So... Feedneck Plugs! (Or Feedneck Dust Caps!)

My v1 plugs were a little tight for the solid feednecks & elbows but would fit just fine in the clamping variants. I reworked it and got to version 2 revision 3 before it was snug enough for the plastic elbow I've put on my REBline. At the same time I figured I'd make something similar for my Tippmann Cyclones.

Now all of my Cyclone feeds have dust caps. Strangely, I didn't have as many Cyclones as I thought I did.

Next Up: While working on my Halo hoppers the other day I'd gotten a bit annoyed that I couldn't find a decent enough place to put them down for pics and such so I figured I'd design a stand for hoppers while I was waiting for the plugs to print.

It took me 2 tries to get it snug enough for my Halo to not tilt backwards. I should've done a test piece before my first prototpe to double check fitment but I was pretty confident in my measurements... while also forgetting that I'd put a bit of camber on the slot to make slotting the hopper in a little easier. Anyways, I'd sorted it out and it looks pretty good or, at least, good enough to hold my hopper upright. If only I'd thought of doing it sooner... ... ... ... and I'm also rethinking this particular shade of matte green. It's simply too bright for my liking. That being said, the first prototype was matte orange. If I reprint it I think I'll use Bambu Metal PLA I've got.

While doing that I figured I'd make some raceway protectors as well seeing as they're able to be pulled from the same sketch.

I did a tall and short version. I'll probably have to do a mid sized one in the future too. I'd cut the raceway down on my Egg back in the day but it's in storage at the moment so I won't know how much I'd shortened it until I retrieve it and I won't be doing that until I'm going to work on it.

And finally:
I was going to outsource these barrel adapters to JLCCNC or PCBWay (or somewhere else) but they require technical drawings because of the threads. I'm not confident at all when it comes to my technical drawings so I figured I'd try 3D printing them instead. This is notably irregular for me as I've always considered that 3D printed parts for markers was generally a bad idea. Don't get me wrong, I always have exceptions for grips, stocks and hopper parts... but barrels? I definitely didn't think that that was a particularly good idea. Anyways, I've given it a try and I'm actually surprised with what I've managed to do so far.

The Angel to Angel Freak Back idea I was after pretty much worked from the first prototype. The only issue I'd had was that the insert was an extremely tight fit. It'd go in with a bit of brute force but then that meant that removing it involved having to use brute force AND another insert to push it out. The (Old) Angel threads printed well and there were no issues screwing it into my 05 Speed, nor were there any issues screwing my Hammerhead barrel into it. The second prototype only had 2 things done, increased internal bore to give the insert a little less tightness, and a decreased external diameter for aesthetic purposes because it was just a smidgeon larger than the front of my marker. It does look a tad long for my liking, adding about 2" more length than my Angel Freak with AA tip, but it'll work.

The Spyder iFit back, however, was almost a total disaster from the get go. It printed well but, like the Angel to Angel Freak, the insert was an extremely tight fit. Oh and I'd managed to put the wrong pitch on the threads too so I had difficulty screwing a barrel into it (unsurprisingly). This also meant that screwing this adapter into a Spyder body wasn't going to work either (also unsurprisingly) so it snapped as I tried to make it work.

Thankfully I'd immediately thought that the pitch was off, M22x1.0 when it was supposed to be M22x1.5, so I fixed it and reprinted. The barrel wouldn't even get into the adapter now although the adapter would screw in nicely into the marker... until it snapped at the top of the threads in pretty much the same place as the 1st prototype. Apparently changing the threads had a knock-on effect of making the wall beneath the thread thinner and the internal threads were made chunkier too. After a few revisions I'd managed to correct for both of these issues before realising, mid print, that it was only printing a single 0.42mm wall for the insert area. Had to do a bit of tweaking to the slicer settings but I somehow managed to get a semi-decent print.

The PLA filament started going a bit weird during this print, probably because my room was getting a bit too warm again, but I still managed to get a fully working print done. The outer diameter of this adapter is near identical to the Spyder TL body I was using for testing and it fits nicely inside the TL/Shutter shrouds without any interference. (I forgot to take pics) The insert is still quite a tight fit because the wall is only 0.74mm thick in the design, printing as a 6.4mm(ish) double wall, and thickness around the external threads has been beefed up by 0.23mm which seems to be just about enough to do the job. I'd cut the tips of the internal threads by about 0.2mm in order to squeeze the barrel's lead-in far enough to be able to engage the barrel's threads, threads which glide in without much resistance while still being slop free. The barrel screws in far enough to secure the insert as it's supposed to even though that insert isn't going to move because of the tight fit. It is nice to have that extra security though.

I'm currently reprinting them both in ABS-CF to add strength (hopefully). I've had to slow the print down to 50% speed so it's going to take the best part of 12 hours. If that works then I'll just need the one Angel-Angel Freak back and I'll print of enough Spyder iFit backs to sort out all my Armson spiral rifled barrels, six at current count, and maybe one more to use with my Palmer's Brass. That'll have to suffice until I can source enough genuine TechT aluminium Spyder backs, until I can find someone/somewhere willing to make some for me, or until I can get myself a decent enough mini-lathe to make them for myself. If I end up making them myself I'd love to have a complete brass kit to go with my brass barrel.

**LightArmsJXF** · 10-03-2026, 05:59 AM

12 hours of printing and...

The print is done and it doesn't look half bad!

A few moments later...

Well, that didn't work.

The shrinkage on the ABS part of the ABS-CF filament wasn't a helluva lot but it was more than enough to make these adapters incapable of accepting neither their inserts or their respective barrels. Trying to put the inserts in snapped both of them and the barrels wouldn't screw in without meeting heavy resistance. I do have some PLA-CF to hand that I haven't opened yet so I'm tempted to try that out for this, hopefully it'll be a bit more forgiving than this ABS-CF, but I'm going to reprint in the "Iron Grey Metallic" Bambu PLA Metal (the filament I'd mentioned about reprinting my hopper stand) in the meantime.

**LightArmsJXF** · 10-14-2026, 05:33 PM

3D printing for the TechT iFit Spyder backs did not turn out as well as I was hoping.

I printed 9 that worked long enough to test fit. I think I'd printed twice that amount in total but 9 is all I had that actually threaded on ok. An insert was needed in each one as it would snap without it. Of those 9, 1 snapped immediately, then 3 more snapped as I unscrewed them after taking the above group pic. It's simply not strong enough for proper use so, even if it were to survive being left screwed in for a whole day of play, it probably wouldn't survive the single time it's unscrewed at the end of the day. This was definitely a disappointment but it is what it is, right? I've posted a WTB thread for Spyder iFit backs in the hope that I'll be able to source some aluminium ones.

My Angel to Angel Freak took a few attempts to reprint properly. For some reason the internal bore shrunk between the prototype I'd printed in Matte Blue PLA and the "Iron Grey Metallic" PLA. Both filaments are made by Bambu Labs so I'm really surprised at the difference in bore size. I'd eventually got it done though and it feels secure when screwed and unscrewed although I wouldn't want to torque it down to be honest.

I'm still going to have to get an aluminium one made at some point but at least I have something that's usable until that happens.

While I was taking pics I decided to move the Lapco Sizer that was on my Rodeo over to the Lapco Bigshot on my BL Millennium and I think the sizer actually adds a better look to the overall aesthetic than the Bigshot does without it.

Then I saw a video on how to model a pattern on a sphere and I vaguely remembered someone ask the question of whether a paintball would travel better if it had golf ball style dimples (or something like that). For years I'd been meaning to try printing some "ReBall" style reusable rounds out of some Sunlu TPU Silk that I'd had laying about for almost as many years so I thought I'd search the usual places for 3D paintballs before I tried to design anything myself. There were a few interesting prints for Airsoft BBs that gave me a few ideas about supports to get better spheres but I didn't find any PB related rounds. It took a few days of trial & error to discover that this TPU filament, or maybe my printer, or maybe a combination of both, doesn't like printing the bottom of a sphere regardless of what supports I designed into the model. The dimpled style ball, however, seemed to come out consistently better right from the start. Eventually I had to admit defeat, forget the standard balls, and just print the dimpled style. 3 days worth of print time for 99 balls on one sheet to add to the 1 'test' print...

I'd also realised that the above cone support netted me the best print quality for that part of the ball. I'd tried doing fins of differing quantities to have the minimum amount of contact but it just made the end result look worse every time.

They're kinda stubborn but relatively easy to remove from the supports and the final shape is just a little off of round due to the FDM layering process. It's not so bad that it's distinctly egg shaped.

Funny thing, even though measurements are pretty close to the 0.68" that I'd designed it to be, it still has enough light passing around it when I fit it inside a .679 freak insert. It doesn't roll out but I wasn't expecting that. This TPU is pretty stiff as well. Even though each ball has been printed hollow there's almost no squish when squeezed hard between finger and thumb. Anyways, that doesn't matter because I'm saving myself a bit of money by printing my own. I now have 100 rounds for test firing when I eventually get a project to that stage. That's probably not going to happen for a good, long, while but they're ready for when I get there. I might even buy some different colour TPU and print some more between now and then.

Man, I really should get back onto my CNC stuff now...

(Re)Starting on my long neglected projects...

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