Hot Off the MILL! Custom Extreme!!

[manike]

Just a quick note to add to some responses while I was typing mine. The lines are not just etching. Where the pattern is there is already a huge amount of material removed in a complex 3d shape to take account of crucial areas such as the bolt retainer and the sear screw. Maybe I'll take some pics as compared to stock for you guys to see. I think we actually took over 1/5 of the weight of the ally parts off!

manike

[Bluntman]

I'm really indecisive...

Actually, ignore my first post, this is starting to grow on me. Just like this rash I had once...

Actually I think it could use some color.

[mrhooie]

I agree with shartley - it's done just to do it...

But then again - my tastes differ from most..

I'd like to see something different - but I'm glad it's being done

[headcase]

I like everything below the body it's self(the battery pack milling, the changes to the grip frame it's self)

I also like the ideas for the body milling, but not the milling it's self. The milling patterns infront of the breach and behind it don't really fit, they look like they were squeezed in. As cool as the removable feed is, in this case it hinders the milling, at least with this style.

But then again, I would like to see it in person, because sometimes pictures don't do a good job telling the tale. I also would like to see a pic with the valve installed to get a better idea of the back of the marker, but I have a feeling that I would also like to see the body that is above the valve removed.

If it isn't asking to much I would love to see pics from different angles(straight down from the top, head on, tail on, and comparisons to the "normal" extreme. And if you have a streamlined one, that too. :)

[Tunaman]

The Best there is!

This has to be the most impressive marker I have ever seen. Good looks and all the features too. Good work guys. Puts a real "hurtin'" on the competition!. Can't wait to see it in action..

[Cha0tic]

i'm starting to see what your talkin about manike. one thing i'd like to see is the trigger guard milled a little. how about getting it off the battery pack?

[DrEvil]

pure evil.

[John Sosta, AGD Europe]

Originally posted by Cha0tic
i'm starting to see what your talkin about manike. one thing i'd like to see is the trigger guard milled a little. how about getting it off the battery pack?

How exactly would you like the guard milled? The battery pack actually attaches to the front of the guard on a dovetail so we can't remove that part... We could remove the upright you see with space either side of it, but I think that may look a little strange you'd have a very large gap in front of the trigger... You would then still have joining 'strap' from the frame to the battery but you wouldn't see any front upright other than the battery pack... I'll do a wireframe image of it so you can see what I mean and if it's what you want :)

I'm working on getting some more pics for you guys. Tomorrow I will do some showing it in comparison to a standard body.

manike

[Cha0tic]

i think that having the gap between the guard and battery would make the marker look smoother. i just don/t like the look of the trigger guard, and an enclosed gap batween the 2. maybe its just me though :)

[John Sosta, AGD Europe]

Originally posted by headcase
The milling patterns infront of the breach and behind it don't really fit, they look like they were squeezed in. As cool as the removable feed is, in this case it hinders the milling, at least with this style.

You are 100% right. The modules actually make creating a very different style to stock quite difficult. That's why with this you can see how the body is thinner than the modules before and after the module but then sweeps back out to come inline with the module. It's very hard to get a design which will work with all the different modules you guys may want on your guns at some point :) I have to make the body shape come back to fit the modules for warp (left and right), vert and future (trapdoor? powerfeed?) styles of modules. It is limiting.

I gather you like the 3D shape but not the pattern lines :) no problem we can just not run the pattern program :) makes it even quicker to machine. Would you want an overall smooth look to it or do you want stylised shapes to it?

The thing is most people are used to straight cut mill jobs (like the SFL which is very simple really) because that is the easiest to create. Making something with a 'morphed' 3D surface that is smooth and tangential is actually much harder to make and rarer. But in many cases looks less to the uninformed eye.

The body without the pattern is very different to stock (huge amount machined away) but at first glance you'd not notice it so much (you would when you picked it up).

Give me lots of feedback guys and I'll put it into action tomorrow :)

manike

[John Sosta, AGD Europe]

I just sent a pic of a blade trigger to Tom (AGD). Hopefully he will get them up tonight so I can see your feed back tomorrow (geeze it's 3.15am over here :) )

It's a real rough prototype guys and I'm already making changes (I'm not overly fond if it yet...). I know it's too wide (from the side) but that's because of the magnet. I have an idea to make it look slimmer which we will do tomorrow. I'd like to know what you think of the overall style/shape of the face once the pics are up.

thanks

manike

(who just realised he is posting under John 'the midget' Sosta's ID :) )

[FaSSt]

A few observations

The milling looks great with two major exceptions:

1. The line-designs. Ahem. Just leave these off, although design on the battery cover is kind of cool in a Celtic rune kind of way - a fascinating little dichotomy when on a high-tech electronic gun. The ones on the body are atrocious.

2. The slot for the valve looks uninspired.

Great job on some of the details like the finger detents on the battery, and on the grip (Although I would still lile someone to come out with some type of Sticky-like wraparound grip.

Kudos also for shaving off excess weight, as my chief complaint about my Emag is its weight. If I were to buy an Angel, I would buy a Fly model for just this reason.

As soon as you guys get this weight reduction thing sorted out on the Extreme, I am ordering an ACE equipped one from AGD Europe.

[irbodden]

I like the milling, I supposed I'd like to see it colored for sure, but are you guys going to do any of the normal milling designs? It doesn't remind me of the fancy Ripper of Fishbone milling that is so popular among the Angel/Autococker crowd, I'd like to see of that.

[John Sosta, AGD Europe]

The battery pack is a toughy because of how thin it is in places.

I take it's the celtic style you don't like. If it was just the extreme symbol left raised would this be better? Would you rather something else on there? Raised letters AGD? You can only sensibly cut 0.5-1mm into the metal in this area! So I don't have much room to 3D sculpt.

Ideas would be appreciated.

Irbodden Fish bone milling is actually very easy, but I really dislike it. It's just parrellel cuts. And even harder to clean :)

Ripper milling is very cool, but I have no intention to copy someone else work if possible. This isn't supposed to remind you of ANY other gun (paintball or not). Ripper milling is also very time intensive and thus very expensive (350$) on an Angel IIRC.

manike

[adlar]

I have to say that at first I didn't likethe "aztec" milling on the upper body. Then I realized that it was actually milled in 3D like a terraced landscape and not just etched as previously pointed out. It is starting to grow on me.

What I think:

The trigger frame is nice. I like the finger grooves and the indentation below the sensor answers a lot of people's concerns about gripping with three fingers and shooting with one(although we still need a good grip panel).

The milling is unique and eye catching, although I would like to see what else you have dreamed up as I don't like this scheme as well as others I've seen on different markers(this is of course just my taste, the milling is quite nice, just a bit more exotic than I prefer).

I like the fact that you don't seem to mill away the groove that the valve guide slides into.

I would be interested in seeing a design that stacks the Emag body over the battery pack(perhaps integrating the battery pack into the body(like on an angel, the original sleek design of the angel was pretty attractive), although this would require redesigning the sear and a bunch of otherthings I'm sure.

Great job guys!