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**demonpoptart** · September 16th, 06:04 PM

yea, i was thinking about things i could do to make the ion lower profile, in my brainstorming, i thought - the shocker got one, why not the ion?! the ion is already small at only about 2.2 lbs and 8 1/8ths an inch, but if what i'm planning works that'll take 7/8ths an inch off of that -

what i plan to do first is literally cut the space in between the two blue lines off of the marker that will bring the front end of the marker back as shown by the two white arrows. i'll need to adjust the trigger frame up to again meet the body as shown in white. the stock trigger will no longer fit inside of the trigger frame which will now look like a square - so i will replace the trigger with the new designz ion aluminum roller saw trigger, it'll be a close fit, but it should go in perfectly (i've measured it somewhat) -

i will need to adjust the hose here (in blue) a little, just shorten the hose about as much as it is highlighted. the lighter blue color will be the adjusted place of the new trigger guard, and the orange is the place that will be removed. just out of the area that the air goes into the marker! below in the white circle is about where the new trigger guard will be and the red dot behind it is where the screw will be. -

now, one problem that i've come to realize is that it will be cutting about half of the thread from the marker that is supposed to hold the barrel into place. shown where the two blue lines and the 1/2 are in the picture. i'm thinking (if i do try this, i will attempt to cut the stock barrel where the blue line is first, and figure about where the cut needs to be and then move on to the freak) to remedy this problem all i will need to do is shorten the metal behind the barrel meant to make the transition of the ball from the marker into the barrel more smooth...

i will of course need to sand the back of the barrel (on the inside) a little and then add a clearcoat of paint to make it smooth on the inside for a regular barrel, but the inserts on my freak should keep this from being a problem, as they will go directly where the end of the barrel will need to go for a transition of ball from marker to barrel smooth!

so what do you think? i will weld all of the pieces back together, and then sand and probably personally paint the marker to achieve the effect i was hoping for. does anybody see any obvious or fundamental flaws in which i've over looked by mistake? any input or ideas to add to or to keep me from messing up a marker would be wonderful!

**chris_13** · September 16th, 06:11 PM

i like the concept and think it would work. keep us updated on it with pics of the process if possible.

**BlueShox** · September 16th, 06:15 PM

sounds good, but why?

**demonpoptart** · September 16th, 06:15 PM

yea, my only worry is that the trigger will be a little too big for the guard, so if that is true, i'll just weld the guard back together a little further down and make somewhat of a diamond shape again... and if for nothing else - why not? this would create a marker that would be a little lighter and shorter than other ions - a little extra here and a little extra there add up to a lot in the end! this will be a high performance machine!

**Jester of Paint** · September 16th, 06:26 PM

looks cool I guess.
We need step to step pics.

**demonpoptart** · September 16th, 06:45 PM

no problem on the "in-the-process" pictures! but it'll take a while i've still gotta get the equipment to cut and weld the equipment! any other ideas?

***DarkTamer*** · September 16th, 07:10 PM

The biggest problem I see is modifying the barrel. Barrels are machined to very specific tolerances, and I foresee trouble if you just hack off the end that screws into the gun; you will probably need to hack off the end of every single freak insert as well, since if you don't the inserts will probably portrude too far back into the breech.

Besides, hacking up a barrel in the first place just sounds like a recipe for disaster. Even if it works, that will limit you to only using your specific freak barrel kit, the only thing that will then be interchangable is the front, so if any of the inserts or something get messed up (which is pretty common with freak inserts) you'll have to go through the process again with a new insert.

Perhaps you should consider just doing the hacking off of the trigger frame, and just the body/breech/main tube alone.

**demonpoptart** · September 16th, 07:16 PM

actually, that is a good point with the way the barrels are specifically designed, so cutting off the back of the barrel - that's probably something i'll leave to a professional. though freak barrels are really great because they have about an inch leeway i could put the insert on either side and i shouldn't have to modify those any, i hope! when it's all said and done, i'll tell you about any problems i've encounterd, including that - if it comes up! we can hope not, but thanks for the feedback!

**BlueShox** · September 16th, 08:38 PM

try it on the stock barrel instead

**demonpoptart** · September 16th, 09:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by demonpoptart

i will attempt to cut the stock barrel where the blue line is first

lol, yea - i wouldn't try to cut the freak barrel first - that'd be asking for an expensive 'mess-up' lol, but thanks!

**BlueShox** · September 16th, 09:09 PM

oh my bad, didn't catch that, i just kind of skimmed through

long texts frighten me

**demonpoptart** · September 16th, 09:23 PM

lol, it's cool, dont worry about it...

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlueShoxOnMyFee

long texts frighten me

couldn't have said it any better myself!

**demonpoptart** · September 18th, 10:55 PM

anywho - this is roughly what i believe the ion would look like after the tummy tuck: (you can clearly see they start in the same position and the one with the tummy tuck ends first) the first marker is approximately 206.375 millimeters (8.125in.) and the second is only 184.15 millimeters (7.25in.)

before (top picture) and after (bottom picture) how does that look to ya? (by the way, i've not done it yet - the picture is photoshoped) but for an idea to compare, the planet eclipse ego is about 265 millimeters, that's a difference of 81 millimeters.

**PizzaMiLiTiA** · September 19th, 08:06 PM

Sounds like an assload of work for such a tiny gain...

I like it.

**demonpoptart** · September 20th, 05:08 PM

thus far, i have a welder, and a professional paint thinga-ma-bob, with car paint. (it is used to paint vehicles and the paint sticks very well...) though, i'm not exactly sure how to use either - i have them. so with a little help from a few friends i should have this up and running in no time.

now i just need something to cut through metal without melting it. (i probably do, just dont know it yet.)

by the way, if you're wondering how i got this stuff - i didn't just go to my local car shop and steal it, my step-father (who knew how to use the super expensive equipment, that i'm afraid to use for fear of possibly destroying any of it) recently passed away, and he used a lot of that stuff at his work, even though now i have access to it - it's going to be difficult to use without any prior training or anything... i guess i kindof had access to it before but it was still at the place where he worked... blah. anywho thanks for the suggestions and all of your feedback!

**lbreevesii** · September 20th, 05:40 PM

practice with that welder, aliuminum is tricky and you don't want to fubar it.

Torch · September 20th, 05:46 PM

Bandsaws are pro at cutting metal. Even the portable ones.

I've never tried but I've read aluminum can be a pain to weld like breeves said. It doesn't show heat.

**lbreevesii** · September 20th, 06:02 PM

yeah for that matter it really takes a pro to do it. You might want to talk to a welding/machine shop to get some better info.

**demonpoptart** · September 20th, 07:47 PM

yea, i'll practice with it a little - but i'm not sure if that'll help me weld the aluminum... i think i might just have a professional come over and use my stuff to do it.

i'll check if i have a bandsaw, there are a lot of tools that i'm not even sure are there yet. i have a dremmel i was planning to use to sand down the rough edges, but with most of the other things, i'd rather use my concept and have someone who is a professional do it if i can.

i'll be able to go to the place my stepfather worked and talk to someone there for he