What makes Milling "Cool"

[RRfireblade]

For starters , I'm in the middle of an Emag project and have been carving up a bunch of Alu in search of inspiration. It ain't easy gettting creative with a Tube bolted to a box and a grip frame. :)


Anyway....

I see alot of drooling , especially lately , over custom milling that's nothing more than redusing a marker all the way down to it's raw tubes. Most of the heavily Milled Vikings , Turtled Cockers and others are basically no more than an Xray of the internal passages.

Is that really "cool" ?

Or should there be some amount artistic influence?

Form over function or better yet function in the place of form? What happend to Sexy? :D

I don't know.

Thoughts?

[Indi86]

For now, at least, lightweight is sexy, and smooth lines on the smallest possible body make that possible.

[buzzboy]

Pssshhh....I don't see how the few ounces some milling saves makes it that important. As long as it looks custom. Personally I like guns that seem to flow like Karta mags, shockers and some angels. I would rather have it be strong and ugly than week and "cool".

[ultralight]

i know this is a stock answer usually reserved for new players asking which marker is better but... it depends.

it depends on what the user is looking for in a marker. some are looking for weight reduction, some are looking for flowing lines, some are looking for a combination of the two.

in my mind, '99 cockers are all function, no form. i suppose that some of the intimidators (dragon, ripper) are much more form than function. that's not saying that they don't function, just that you're paying more for the milling than anything else. both are unappealing to me.

personally, i tend to prefer a more subdued style. nothing really flashy, just tasteful and elegant. while function is pretty high on my personal list, beauty has to come with it. i like the ULE body, although it is a bit plain. i really like the dallara, but i feel the karta is a bit much.
with a mag, the function is already there. the classic and ULE bodies are already just tubes. personally, i'd like to see a mag adaptation of something like the NME body.

eh, just my .02.

good luck with your body.

[Aeronautica86]

its's custom - only your marker has it; it distinguishes it from the rest - it draws attention to a part of the marker that usually receives no attention

whats more attractive - a stripped tree trunk or a totem pole? same concept in my opinion

[st6212]

whats more attractive - a stripped tree trunk or a totem pole? same concept in my opinion

stripped tree trunk.

[SpecialBlend2786]

Personally I love the organic look of things such as the Chord bodies and Dragon Timmy's. I also like the bare-bones approach like on those you mentioned (the half-blocks and the Vikings). Interestingly enough, my favorite Viking millings are not of that style, but more artistic (Highlander and Immortal vikings)

[Toll]

You could mill it like an Ion and confuse the hell out of people... Just a thought. ^^

[Fred]

From a designers standpoint:

You've just stumbled onto the Form vs Function debate.

Is form derived from function or function derived from form?

Does a machine's function make it beautiful or does the form of the machine make it beautiful?

Is the function itself attractive?

Personally I look at the function first, what does it do, why does it want to do it. Then ask... does the form allow it to do this most efficiently?

if the function is to package a mechanical system in the smallest, lightest form, then
an "xray" image is the best.

If the function is to do that and still maintain structural integrity... then its probably going to need some additional forms in its design to allow it to continue its function.

Again this is very subjective and open to personal interpretation.

I like single tube paintball markers best because they offer the lowest profiles... and my phantom and RTpro allow me to function pretty dang good on the field as a result.

-Fred

[nirvana1234]

honestly i cant tell you. i have so many different taste its hard to pin point just one. ex. i love rdl cocker bodys but then i also like most vikings that have been milled. the only milling ive ever really hated is the Species Alien timmys (looks too much liek a toy to me)

[REDRT]

Nothing says sexy like a Karta. It's smooth flowing lines. It is a carefully crafted beauty. IMO it will be hard to beat the Karta. Everything else in paintball takes a back seat to that. Again just my opinion...

[CoolHand]

Personally? I like ugly things. lol If it's fast and funky looking, it gets my vote, be it race cars or paintball guns.

Now, when I cut things to sell or to impress, I shoot a scatter gun and aim for center mass.

I usually go for a cool look, and then go back when I'm happy with the shape, and then shave weight.

Now, what constitutes a cool look is entirely up to you. lol That's the hard part. . . . . .

[warbeak2099]

I like function over fashion. Sure I appreciate a good looking marker, but if the ugly/plain one is lighter and cycles faster/at a lower pressure (turtles) then I'll go for that. Plus, clean lines are sexy sometimes. Look at the 05 Borgs. I really like those. Some may see them as boxy, but I don't think that's the right word to describe them with. To me it's more about sharp, clean lines. Take the new BMW's for example. The new American (ugh) designer, Chris Bangle, has taken away the classy, sexy look of the older BMW's and made them into bubble cars comparable to a Nissan Maxima. Now, the arrogant rich people who purchase the car as a status symbol don't care, but enthusiasts are pissed off. So maybe the whole outlandish milling thing is just for people who like flashy stuff. I myself am into a classy, sleek look and sex appeal.

[Aeronautica86]

stripped tree trunk.

you shut your mouth when you're talking to me :D

[CoolHand]

I like function over fashion. Sure I appreciate a good looking marker, but if the ugly/plain one is lighter and cycles faster/at a lower pressure (turtles) then I'll go for that. Plus, clean lines are sexy sometimes. Look at the 05 Borgs. I really like those. Some may see them as boxy, but I don't think that's the right word to describe them with. To me it's more about sharp, clean lines. Take the new BMW's for example. The new American (ugh) designer, Chris Bangle, has taken away the classy, sexy look of the older BMW's and made them into bubble cars comparable to a Nissan Maxima. Now, the arrogant rich people who purchase the car as a status symbol don't care, but enthusiasts are pissed off. So maybe the whole outlandish milling thing is just for people who like flashy stuff. I myself am into a classy, sleek look and sex appeal.

Tell me about it. That dude deserves a swift kick in the nuts for what he has done to what WAS such a beautiful car. :mad:

In lots of things, American input is a good thing. However, styling of a GERMAN automobile is NOT one of them.

[DarkMag722]

Anything that isnt plain and looks like it was milled. Like karta body kits and Russian Legion Timmys, Ripper 2.5,Cyborgs. NOT Tippmanns, Most Spyders.

[ttink]

I prefer the looks of either smooth and flowing milled bodies (such as angels, or kartas), and aggressively milled bodies (like the ripper timmy's and such) over the looks of the bare bones milling to reduce weight. I say leave the 2 ounces on there and make it look cool. If you want to save that little amount of weight, you might as well just take 10 paintballs out of your hopper.

[WenULiVeUdiE]

Personally? I like ugly things. lol If it's fast and funky looking, it gets my vote, be it race cars or paintball guns.

I completely agree. It's why I would rather own an Unmilled Viking, as I do now, or an 05 Cyborg or a Shoebox Shocker. None of them are flashy. They're dull, boring looking, but that is all I need. Sure, some milled markers are stunning, but I can not invision myself playing with it. I guess this is derived from all the time I have spent around machinery. We just got in a new $9K table saw from Italy into out shop, and it is beautiful.

Simplicity is beautiful.

[Grey Goose]

I also vote for milling for form rather than function. This whole "We shaved another ounce off" milling on a gun that you're going to bolt a tank and hopper onto is absurd. If weight was that important, we'd all play w/ half full hoppers.

...and like BMWs, the milling is getting less beautiful.

Here are two of my favorites, the Flame and the Fishbone

http://www.theedgingtons.com/files/raceflame.jpg

http://www.theedgingtons.com/files/racefish.jpg

[st6212]

you shut your mouth when you're talking to me :D

LOL :D ....seriously though, if the function of the part is covered and in the case of a mag body, there really isn't all that much function involved. Then why not add some style to it and spice it up.

Sure there's always that trade-off to reduce as much weight as possible, but between say a RPG body, ULE body and Deadlywind body....there isn't all that much of a weight difference to be considered significant. But if your still concerned about that extra little bit of metal, go do a few reps with a couple of bricks and toughen up a little.

I know that I want a Karta body for my new mag project (if Nicad will ever respond to my e-mails :( ).

[tyrion2323]

What makes it "cool?" I'm not sure - what makes anything cool, really? I think that the coolness behind milling revolves around several ideas: (1) custom looks (2) the uniquity of it (3) the reduced weight and probably (4) the status.

I myself like the "smooth and sleek" look. I think that there is beauty in subtlety (sp?). But that's just me :)

Good luck with your emag bodies.

[jenarelJAM]

I actually like the bare-bones milling styles. Not because of the extra weight off, because like you said, the weight doesn't matter. I run around with an unmilled viking, which could stand to lose a LOT of weight. I really really like the DC Featherlight millings, just shaving over little bit off you can, and cutting off half the top tube. I think it looks awesome seeing all the bumps where they can't mill it because theres a tube there, or a screw.
And the best part is, It looks like it's built for performance, but still looks sleek and classy.

[Coralis]

Personally i find the Xmag to down right sexy

[REDRT]

Personally i find the Xmag to down right sexy

I find them over rated. Kind of blocky still. Icom's X is super nice. Custom milled so it flows better. To me everyone of the Xmags should be more like Icom's. They just seem unfinished to me.

[Maghog]

On the field, function is king in paintball. In the shop and in the set up area, form rules.

If you have a gun that screams paint at high rates of fire without chopping, you own the respect of everyone.

When people go into a shop to look at what to buy, they look for things that catch their eye. The more unusual, the better. If something looks good enough, it might actually get sold instead of a better performing gun, that looks 'plain.'

I noticed that a lot of people are turned off if form constitutes any kind of threat to the function, and on the field, no one except the agg kids are going to be scared if your gun looks cool.

If you do have some neat looking gizmo though, and it works well, you'll get a lot of questions and attention in the set up area. The Space Mags are a great example in this case.

As much as I always love to make guns look beautiful and extraordinary, when I get on the field, I've got some kind of Mag that looks just like any other, set up to throw paint as fast as it can because I know that looking good won't help me much.
Dan@Triggernomics

[shartley]

I say both. I think form and function are key to a successful design. You will always get those on one extreme or the other. But when you find the middle ground you reach the majority of customers.

[GT]

old school ripper angels. I always wanted one. Real thick ripples, so hot.