re-creating a VL-90 Revy, only maybe a little better

[Drcemento]

You know the one - that briefly showed up in 1993 on youngbloods gun and Oh Pawlaks Mag.
some research dug up some pics from Bacci showing a very rough one and the best pic I could find was Pawlaks, which looks like a cleaner mount
I have some really nice VL-90's and some later VL-2000's, a 3D printer and some solid CAD knowledge and this has been one I've wanted for a long time

my main question is... I see no board on the early VL's - they used 1 9V, eyes and a servo. can I work with VL-2000 guts and either get rid of the board or re-work it to only take 1 9V
or better yet - scratch build one to be even more compact - smaller servo and maybe 2 AAA's? my electronic Fu is minimal so looking to the MCB brain trust for some guidance here.

[Pewpewpew]

That is a great old picture. And please keep me in mind when you have success on this, I would love to have one!

[capitalpaintball]

I have been running this xtreme rage 100rd for over a year. I put the motor board and eyes in it. Runs on 1 9v. Used the blade from an Eggy so it would just move aside if the balls are in the way. The "sides" are just plastic and hot glue. Taken many hits and survived with just re gluing. Its my goto hopper from pumps to electros.

[Drcemento]

Thats a hot mess of awesomeness!

[Ecapnation]

So early on the agitators were sold as kits that you would drill your view loader 200 for and rivet on.

Pretty sure these were just the VL 90 with that kit put on to them. You can probably easily replicate the mount if you were to get your hands on a very early VL 2000

[Drcemento]

Thank you for that! It makes allot more sense - looking at the "old paintball magazines" you see a pretty quick progression from the goofy bloated VL-90 looking early VL-200's with agitators to the early Revy's. I think Oh Pawlak and youngblood were like me and hated the huge 200 rnd loaders, so they took the kits and bolted them on VL-90's. I've wanted one ever since. those were the earliest days of paintball for me and a VL-90 would have been an expensive dream loader, mush less an agitator!

[cheapguitarscheapthrills]

There's the mojo and the shoebox that are in the same vein. I'm sure you can just hodge podge a revy or something similar to a smaller hopper. Maybe use one of the ICD style sight loaders those were like 150 and I think can still be had for cheap. I'm surprised no company has made the go to electric pump loader more readily available. But I'm in a New England pump scene/MCB bubble I suppose. I know it's super niche but a man can dream

[Drcemento]

Messing around with this this morning I confirmed you can run a VL-2000 board and servo with one 9V. The on/off switch is nice so I think keeping the board is not a bad thing. the other issue will be mounting the eyes. the upper portion of the VL-90 feed neck is much wider than the later revy's. at the very least I'd have to cut a slot in the 90 to get it in. Wondering about using some wired eyes from an eclipse ego and printing a new mounting collar that would require 2 holes instead of a slot.

[Drcemento]

That is a great old picture. And please keep me in mind when you have success on this, I would love to have one!

I will! might move this to the 3D printing section for the build procces. I love the VL-90's and have been working on some mod's to bring them back to life, and make a revy version! so stay tuned and don't throw your viewloader away!

[Drcemento]

I own a mojo - extremely heavy and now that I own a really nice 3d Printer and know allot more, not very well printed. - cracked body and mounting points for the revy guts after the 4th use. I like Benji allot, and applaud the efforts -its ALLOT of CAD work and many, many prints to get to that end product - at the end of the day though, its not my Jam. I love my old viewloaders and think a bolt on unit to make that a Revy would be the Ideal solution for me.... for whatever reason the 100rnd loader just gets no love. I played all day with my VL-90 yesterday on my big body cocker and aside from having to give it a few shakes, Its really the ideal size, and it re- invigorated my drive to get my dream loader from 1993!

[JonM]

That’s kind of the issue I had with my designs. Anything printed for paintball needs to be sturdy enough to hold up to repeated hits and general wear and tear. To accomplish this, FDM prints typically need to be printed thick and somewhat over engineered. When weight savings are a concern (such as with a loader), it’s usually best to go with a basic injection molded shell. This is why I still tend to use my Valken VSL for pump play. It’s small and lightweight despite being motorized. It really removes any incentive to come up with my own design.

[Drcemento]

its changing and getting better every day. I now have a Bambu H2D and P1S - now you could not pay me to use my old magician - though that got me started. chamber temp regulation allows for some astoundingly strong and large ASA prints, and the print quality is astounding.

[Jonnydread]

I too am a VL-90 apologist, I love them. Having a wee paddle in them would be a nice option

[Ramfaux]

I modified a gog multical to feed faster and more consistently than a revy. If someone wants to make some kind of printable insert that's nicer than my hand made monstrosity I would buy one lol.... It looks a little more finished inside but I have no current pictures at the moment.

[JonM]

Interesting. What are you using on top of the shelf?

[Ramfaux]

The shelf is a piece of kydex and the center "guide" is a nylon less lethal ball.

[Bulldogr6]

I like my old VL90, last time I used it the lid gave up I've yet to design and make a new one so I can use it again. Making a Revy mod would be slick. If you make the cat available I would certainly print some.

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[Jonnydread]

There are 3d files out for lids for the VL-90, magnetic and otherwise. I think I bought one from "Great American Paintball" or something like that.

[Psycho91]

I had one of these sitting around for awhile, maybe I should have kept it never had a lid for it though maybe that's why I sold it

[SignOfZeta]

I modified a gog multical to feed faster and more consistently than a revy. If someone wants to make some kind of printable insert that's nicer than my hand made monstrosity I would buy one lol.... It looks a little more finished inside but I have no current pictures at the moment.

A Gog “multi caliber” hopper ALREADY feeds better than a Revy even without electronics.

Making electronics for it that helped instead of getting in the way would be a challenge. Do you have a video?

[Bulldogr6]

I had one of these sitting around for awhile, maybe I should have kept it never had a lid for it though maybe that's why I sold it

Yeah the lids never held up well. there was a 3D printable option for the ring itself but not the cover. a complete replacement is on my list of things to design in 3D print. Was thinking of maybe using a feed gate for a rotor ltr or leaning towards something that would have a spring loaded door that clips on like the R2 / Spire

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[Jaan]

I like my old VL90, last time I used it the lid gave up...

I used one too until the same thing happened and the plastic tab broke off. I'm super careful with my gear too. It just got yellow and old.
Somewhere around here I took those gut's and added them to a regular gravity VL200. It's just a plastic box for the 9V, eyes and a servo. That's it.

[Drcemento]

Welp, I have some good news. This thread gave me the push to finish up this project.... Behold: the VL-90 replacement lid! 35 years in the making!
These will be available in the dealers section so go there for more info, pricing and details. Briefly, while they may look like the same questionable design, the are vastly stronger and better than the brittle OG lids. Battle tested over about 5 weekends now and made from ASA (slightly more flex and better UV than standard ABS) I've even shot the prototype clear lid a couple times, I'm pretty confident this is a good product and am really happy I can use my Viewloaders without worrying about the 2 mint OG lids I still have. I you can move any questions over to the dealers thread that would be good as well to keep it all in one spot

[Jonnydread]

Shut up and take my money! Is there some kind of 10 round tube speed feed for the window?

[Drcemento]

No 10rnd speed feed adapter... yet, but i think that would be a fun and relatively easy mod. did'nt the really OG ones have a hole in the front piece?

[Jonnydread]

Drcemento I'm uncertain, but I feel like they did. I didn't realize the hole in yours had a little window I thought it was just open, oops.