Calvin's POP 2026 Build

[Calvin]

It begins.

PARTS LIST (Updated through End of Contest)
$15.99 O-ring Kit (says it will repair several Enmeys)
$7.50 Max-Flo Rebuild Kit (4 regulators worth)
$10.00 SP max-Flow Regulator (Trbo323's valuation 😋)
$0.55 PETG for grip panels
$2.24 PETG for Custom Lowest Rise Body
$0.04 Pair of PEBA Custom Printed Finger Detents
$0.55 Bolt and Nut for Feedneck Clamp
$2.00 Chunk of scrap 1/8" x 2" Aluminum bar stock for trigger.
$35.00 16" Stiffi .691

Total: $73.77

Final build outcome:




This project has led me down a deep and fulfilling rabbit hole. The final end point is a wonderful SMAV-3 setup using Envy trigger frames. This one will be updated to that standard when the Clippard parts on order arrive. I owe a debt of gratitude to all of you for pushing me into this platform which I never would have tried on my own.

















Beat to shit Enmey rentals are out for delivery. Been testing prints since last night to see what can be done. I collected all the Enmey parts and body models that I could find. The first body that I printed last night came out well.
I love the integrated feedneck, but want something smooth. I found another body that I like more and grafted in the feedneck.
Getting closer. Did some changes to get the hopper as low into the gun as physically possible and beefed up the feedneck/body junction to make it burly as possible. That is on the printbed now.
I ordered an Oring kit from Tippmannparts.com last night that set me back 16 bucks. Slicer shows the body model at $2.24 worth of filament.

[RPP]

A printed feedneck... hu, never thought about doing that.

[Calvin]

I had my reservations until I made one for my classic RF automag. It's pretty thick. I can't imagine how much force would be required to make it fail. PETG has great layer to layer bonding.

[RPP]

That's slick.

[tyronejk]

Nice. Is there a reason you're printing these at an angle? I'm pretty unfamiliar with 3d printing, so maybe it's obvious.

[Calvin]

There isnt a surface on this model to place on the bed. If I have to place a model on supports, I always 45 it. It also allows the tree supports easy entry through the structure.

[Calvin]

The clankenist box I have ever received just vomited forth it's contents. It's amazing they ever ran.
I broke down all the parts. Screws into 91% ISO, air system off to the side, and everything else into a medium cooler filled with the hottest water the house would generate + dawn + simplegreen concentrate. Lid is on. I will see how things are going with those in the morning

[StaticShocked]

autococker04, could you imagine the sound of these packages in a small mail truck on back county, rural roads? Something sounds broke and i didnt do it!

[autococker04]

Linda at the post office heard them and asked if they were going to be alright. I told her they can’t get worse

[Calvin]

I think you made the right choice. The nasty outer bits shielded the valuable inner bits.

[Calvin]

Modded lowest rise body is off the printer and it came out well. The world will end around that feedneck before it breaks. It has about 2mm of distance at the middle from the bottom of the hopper's neck to the top of the aluminum inner body.
It's a good looking body, clean and light.
I think I will try one more version cut right at the front of the aluminum inner body so the trim up front is gone. I can choose between this and the minimalist version once I see them both together.

I'm printing up some checkered 1911 grip panels to replace the utterly decimated stock rubber ones. They begged me to kill them and end their suffering.

I have 2 low pressure max-flo regs that I think I am going to use in these builds (My goal is 2 functional markers, but only one is for the contest). They look waaaaaaaaaayyyy better than the regs that came with these, and they should be easy to rebuild for about 7 bucks each. What is the concensus value of an old max-flo reg towards the build budget?

[Magmoormaster]

dang that body looks really good!! Also what barrel is that?

[Calvin]

It's branded with the "evil" logo and stampled "89", which I take to be .689. Other than that I don't know. It's one of 3 barrels a buddy dumped at my house in 2006 with an Impulse that would never stop leaking. I dug them out of storage when I realized these Enmeys could use those barrels.

[Magmoormaster]

Calvin Assuming it's a 1-piece, it'll be an Evil Driver. I finally bought an Evil Pipe (the 2-piece version) that I had been watching on ebay for the last few days.

[Calvin]

Thanks for the info! It is one piece. By the looks of it, it's never had a ball shot through it. I played with my friend every time he played back then, and he always used the Freak barrel. The stiffi he left me is probably unused as well.

[Calvin]

The minimalist version of the body turned out very well. I will probably just do one marker with each version and see which I like more in the hand.


I made a 1911 grip panel. The screw spacing is perfect, but the lower back corner fit and the safety placement is wrong. I modded up some hex panels to correct those issues and I am printing tests now. If they work, I will do them in red TPU for extra grippiness and to break up the monotony of black on black on black on black.



Back to scrubbing parts!

[Calvin]

The grips turned out well. I still dorked the safety location. I will change that, and put a mild thumb track in. Then they should be good.

[Rainmaker]

You are rockin it, ma dude! Day 1!

[Calvin]

Thank you, Sir. Kind words.

[gnarlynick]

Damn, hitting the ground running. Planning on firing up my printer later today to get going. Looking good so far!

[Calvin]

Corrected grips are off the plate. They came out well. Safety cutout is in the right place. The cuts for thumb and trigger finger also came out correct and greatly improve ergonomics. Sadly, I think I prefer the stiffer feel of the PETG over the TPU in the hand. The TPU will be great on a Tippmann Carbine or other grip frame that isn't hollow. I might try and print a thin panel of PETG to solid up the gripframe under the TPU panel. That would probably be the best of both worlds on this enmey.

[Calvin]

This one will be a long one. Sorry😬

I finished up a pair of grips sets in PETG. Just gonna embrace the blackness. I found some longer 6-32 button heads to use on these grips. Due to the single long nut in the grip that both panels attach into, its best to put them both on and screwed just to the point where torque is about to be applied, and then tighten them down against each other in steps. This keeps the nut centered in the grip frame.



Detents:
I managed to get a decent number of the original spring loaded detents cleaned up and functional. My take on them is that they suck. As evidence, I submit the original condition of these markers.



First thing I did was make test cylinders until I got the exact measurements that were tight and pressed against my body without doing so to hard. This will keep the detent from backing out in any degree. I decided to start with a straight finger detent.



Detents of this type are tricky to print. A pin finger is hard to get correct due to the hot printhead melting the tip. For this reason I needed to do 16 on my tests to give the parts time to cool between layers. These detents came out well, but had poor flexibility. If they could be molded from what Doc uses in his Spyder detents, they would work well.

Because there is a slot, I decided to try a small finger centered on the 3.5mm wide slot. I made the finger 2.5mm wide. I then cut the model down the side of the finger to male the body and the wedge of the detent.This allows you to line up the finger and the press in the wedge.



This printed out well in TPU. Indexing worked well, and they would probably work well in practice.



However, it takes a bit more force than I would like to advance the ball past them, so I changed the finger width to 2mm and am printing them out of PEBA. This is possible now that I can do then by object on the plate without worry about layer cooling times.


Actually doing paying work now, but I'm hopeful that I return this evening to excellent detents for these two markers.

[Calvin]

Success was had....eventually. I got back to the shop and tried out the PEBA prints. Still stiffer than I would like. Looking carefully into the slots, I realized the finger didn't have enough room to retract fully, which caused my remaining resistance. I went back to the model and made a space for that.



The next plate came out well.



These installed well. They were tight enough that I did the second one without the lock wedge. I dont think they can be moved without a tool once they are pressed in.

Ball is held dead center in the drop and the force to push it through feels exactly the same as my doc's adapter in my mag, which is a great sign. The bolt retracts back past the fingers without any resistance. Pretty sure I got a winner....on the 4th try. Printing out more plates of these to bag up.

[Calvin]

Stage one of making these was making test cylinders until they friction fit in tight enough that they would go in without deformation, but it would take a tool to take them out. Once I cut the model in two, the first part was inserted and aligned and then the smaller wedge section was pushed in. I realized on the 3rs body, that the main section was plenty tight even without the wedge section being pushed in. I will be testing that hypothesis once I use it, but I am confident in that statement. There is no possibility of movement in or out of the aluminum main body. Rotation is the only possibility. There is a ton of friction, and no rotational moment able to be imparted by the bolt.

[I Missed On Purpose]

Have you used these enough to see how they hold up? I have got about 10 ions in need of detents if youd be willing to sell me a bunch of sets for

[Calvin]

I am at about 4 cases through them now and they have been the best detents I have on any platform. From the looks of them they will last a long time too. I will whip up a batch and PM you.