ULE Warp left body with LTR project.

[Calvin]

I was looking at parts a week ago on the couch, as one does, when an idea popped into my head. I saw a picture of a ULE warp feed left body. I suddenly realized that a 90 degree elbow would put the hopper into cover and give an even better sight picture down the body/barrel than my beloved RF does. The negative would be the less room for my body into cover against high angle shots coming from my right. When that is happening, mistakes have already been made, and adjustments are probably already required, so I am cool with that downside.

A quick look indicated that no such elbow exists, which is not a problem. Some cursory searches indicate that warp feed left bodies are hard to find, which is a problem. Well, I found one on the hated auction site and sniped it for 107 bucks, which I think is close to used market value. This makes the experiment pretty much free right!?...right???


I have been doing alot of experiments with feed stuff lately anyways, so I ported the best/beefiest feedneck clamp into a design made specifically for easy supportless 3D printing. The goal was the tightest, lowest, toughest 90 feedneck I could mount.



Right now both sides are Hopper sized. As soon as the body arrives, I will make an insert for the exact measurements of the warp feed neck width and length. I plan on putting a small lip on the upper section of the body clamp to make a mechanical lock into the flat portion of the body above the neck. Can't make that till I can slap calipers on it.

[Levi]

Great idea! I don't see any reason why this shouldn't work once you get your elbow dialed in.

I'd say you got a decent deal on the body. If you are new to the warp bodies, be aware you need to clearance the rail or "warp notch" around the feed area.

[Calvin]

Thanks for bringing that to my attention! Sounds like an additional opportunity point for a mechanical lock intrerface😃.

[Levi]

Yeah, you definitely could go deeper on the notch and design your elbow to lock into it.

[warbosschoppa]

Why stop there, you could use this on old Vertebrae cockers that were power fed too.

[Calvin]

I had a cocker once.

[FredMnkyDad10]

You could try to hunt down a sconi elbow.

[Calvin]

I have 2. I want a tighter fit of the hopper than that will provide. I love them on the RF setup.

[Super Nova]

I like the AL elbows but not the leaning ones.

[Calvin]

Body is here. Relief cut on rail completed. There were enough Mag parts laying around for me to put this together without touching my other completed Mags. I'm pretty sure that is a sign of illness.



I have some new PETG coming this evening, so I hope to start working on the elbow soon.

[Calvin]

Well, it appears that I now own another Mag. Not a bad outcome.



The new elbow works very well. I printed it at 100% infill, so it's a bit of a chunk. I will probably reprint at 50% infill and shave 1/3 of the mass.




Paint runs through it flawlessly. I'm right eye dominant, so it feels different to have that side be unobstructed by the LTR. Can't wait to try it in a game.

I'm working on another version of the elbow to place the hopper behind and below it's current position. Might be a bridge too far for the LTR to push paint, but its worth the plastic to find out.

[Calvin]

The answer to that question is a resounding "Yes!". The LTR has no issues whatsoever pushing paint through that shape. I tried to upload a video of me dumping half a hopper as fast as I could, but the forum wouldn't allow .mp4 😪

I used a shitload of supports because there would be some areas that balls would touch that I couldnt avoid being in overhang.



I still had to do some light sanding in 2 spots, but it wasn't hard.

The fit of the loader on the gun is fantastic. I will really enjoy trying this out.

[Cal440]

Wow, that's thing is so low and so cool! Very nice job

[Levi]

That really tightens things up. Nice work!

[Calvin]

Let's see if this gets a video in here.
Sorry for the crappy basement shots into the trashcan, but the neighbor kids are out. Small kids and the sweetest family ever. Don't want to freak them out.

[Calvin]

Well, it took a couple days and a couple tries to reach the full evolution of this concept. I have run several hoppers full through the neck and it seems to throw them through effortlessly. I will test shoot tomorrow while all the neighborhood kids are at school. I love the weight distribution of this setup. The mass is all right on top of your grip.

[FredMnkyDad10]

That looks great. How secure does the hopper feel on that. Would it snap when running, sliding on the field? With extra material in the middle looks like that adds some support.

[Calvin]

Its a pretty damn stout chunk plastic. My only worry is the clamp to the warp feed neck. It has to resist all desire to rotate. Tomorrow I plan to add some perpendicular reinforcements on the lock tabs so you can really wand it down, and then also build in a mechanical lock tab that goes over the square upper lip of the body over the feed. Pretty sure those two things will make it field ready.

[Levi]

This is 95% of the advantages of a Warp feed with none of the downsides. Very elegant solution, I can't wait to hear how it is to play with.