Another write-up on a vintage blaster from me!

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First off, credits to Koree from the NerfHaven forums because I followed his write-up on the arrow shooter portion of the DT3, the catch spring addition and the additional notch mod.
Also, credits to louiec3 because I followed his steps on using machine screws to secure the full blaster in place for better stability.
Credits also go to Jerm781 of the Nerf Mods & Reviews blog because he found that you can swap the arrow shooter's plunger tube and plunger head with the respective parts from a BBB for better performance.
And of course, credits to MavericK, cos without him, I wouldn't be the proud owner of this DT3

Koree's original writeup: http://nerfhaven.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=17169

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Mods done for this Defender T3 (and of course, this writeup):
Bottom Half (pistol half):
- Rebarrelling / Couplered
- Repositioning the plunger tube / Extending the priming draw (by about an inch!)

Top Half (arrow shooter half):
- Rebarrelling / Couplered
- Additional catch spring
- Additional catch notch

Both (Combined):
- Spring upgrades
- Plunger seal improvement
- New trigger link
- "combined blaster" stability

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Stuff you'll need:
- Screwdriver
- Dremel, with cutting / sanding / drill bits
- some machine screws (I used 8)
- Assorted PVC tubes and joints, please read through the whole writeup before you decide what sizes you want! I used mainly 13mm, 15mm (1/2 inch) and 20mm tubes and joints, but you guys know that I'm from Singapore. Understand the write-up first, then figure out which US standard tubing / joints would work best in your situation.
- Pipe cutter (twist style / parrot style) - I used mainly the parrot style.
- Goop
- Hotglue Gun (with hotglue.. duh.)
- X-acto Knife / Sharp Penknife
- Marker / Sharpie
- Assorted springs (for use as catch springs, and of course, plunger springs)
- Defender T3 blaster (...)

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MISSION START!

Begin by opening up your blaster.
Let's focus on the bottom half (pistol half) first.

Here, internals for the pistol half, credits to ModSquad of the NerfHaven forums for this.


Then, grab that plunger tube, grab your dremel and:


It used to sit here:


But you want it to sit here:


Of course you need to make it fit, so:


Now it should sit like this:


Okay so next, on to the priming rod.
There's a "spring rest" piece in front of the catch piece. Picture reference:


Now, depending on the length of your spring / spring combo, you might need to get it from this:


to this:


Take note that the amount you shave down will depend on the length of the spring you're using.

Next, grab some 13mm and 20mm couplers (Straight couplers will do fine, I just happened to only have these 45 degree joints)


and cut them down.


Then, nest the 13mm coupler stub into the 20mm coupler stub (by means of e-tape to make it snug), and attach it onto the front of the plunger tube.
I realised that a 20mm coupler is a perfect fit for the plunger tube.
I gooped it anyway.


Don't shove it all the way down first, you need to measure:


Then, I drilled a hole and stuffed a screw straight through the couplers to act as a dart stop.
Goop for an airtight seal.



Next, grab the remaining half of the 20mm coupler, and a short piece of 20mm pipe.
Ream the 20mm pipe out on one end.


Then, slip the 20mm piece over the priming rod.


At this point, if you're planning to mod only the pistol half, then you're done. This thing should be hitting the high 60s, depending on spring power.
The first one I made, I used a Max Force Shadow Hawk 100 spring.

Of course, this write-up is about the full blaster, so the next thing is to work on the trigger link.

So get the trigger and the stock linking piece and set them up.
I grabbed a short piece of the 20mm coupler. Use any leftover pieces.
You might need to dremel the inner diameter of this piece, it depends on which part of the coupler you're using. (because couplers have a slightly tapered ID... but you already knew that.)

Set it up this way:


This is the main idea:


So now, remove the metal piece from under the linking piece:


And then, using your dremel (DO NOT USE A CUTTER, THIS PLASTIC IS BRITTLE!),
get from this:
(ignore the metal piece there, I took this pic before the one just above)


to this:


And then do this:


I know, I know. You're probably saying "OMG pSyk HOW DID YOU DO THAT!?"

Well...


this is how high it sits from the trigger "base":


Basically you can adjust it to whatever's comfortable with the materials you're using.

In order to accomodate the modified trigger piece, you need to remove a little more from your shell:


So when it sits in, it'll look something like this:


Now we're done (like completely) with the pistol half.
This is a final look at what the internals should look like after modding.


It's time to work on the Arrow Shooter top half, and before we start, I want to highlight the bow arm handle holder piece:


Mine got snapped off during transit, so just a warning to the rest of you guys... be careful.
Try to request for more padding because this piece is b-r-i-t-t-l-e. I had to glue it back on place.
Even after gluing, you can still see that clean line at where it snapped.

Because of this, I decided to give this guy a paintjob. But anyways, this isn't a PJ tutorial.

Back to the mods!
Grab the arrow shooter plunger rod and add a new catch.
I used the x-acto knife to do that. It's alot more precise.

(credits to koree for this step.)

Now, this is how the plunger tube is sitting, in stock form.
There's almost no room for a plunger relocation.
You can, however, swap out this plunger tube for a Big Bad Bow plunger tube.
(credits to Jerm781 of the Nerf Mods & Reviews blog for this.)

I have never owned a BBB, so I'm not going there.
Oh yes, and I'm going to make use of a 15mm (1/2 inch) elbow joint to act as a coupler.


Cut it down:


When reaming, ream the "back end" of the stub you just cut, not the "front end" where the barrel goes.
I'm reaming it on the "back end" so it'll sit better on the plunger tube.


Also, don't over-ream it. You still need it to get an airtight seal between the PVC pipe and the coupler.


Then take the Arrow Shooter plunger tube and


After that, goop the cut up 15mm coupler stub to the plunger tube.


Of course, remember to make sure that it's as centered as possible.


Next, check this:


The solution?


Next is probably a question coming from you.
How do I improve the plunger head seal on most vintage blasters?

Well, there are many methods, and to me, it seems that the tried and tested method is to wrap e-tape around the plunger head till you get the right fit within the plunger tube, and spam lube like crazy.
I personally do not like this method because it requires you to open up and maintain the seal regularly, and if anything goes wrong, the e-tape might screw up your blaster's functionality.

What I usually do is to invert the skirt of the plunger head and leave it inverted for at least an hour.
This makes it "flare out" a little bit when you return it to it's original position.
Then, before I flip it back to it's original position, I apply a layer of hotglue on the fold line, let it set for about half a minute, then flip it back.
This takes a little practise to get right.
You don't want the hotglue to be too hot that the skirt will just shrink back into it's original shape,
neither do you want the hotglue to be too cold that it hardens and the skirt is warped way out of shape.

It should look something like this:


Right. Moving on!
This is what the full plunger rod assembly looks like.


I've put an Arrowstorm spring on the Arrow plunger rod (damn, those Arrowstorm springs are LONG!)
and a combination of 2 beefy springs on the Pistol plunger rod. Sorry, I don't recall what springs those are, because I just dug them out from my parts bin.

Next up, the catch mech for the Arrow half.
Get a small spring (try to find yourself a beefy one) and attach it to the little nub that sticks out on the side of the catch piece.



Having this catch spring definitely helps with the Arrow half's catch mech, but it also means that you will lose the "pull and release" function of the Arrow shooter half.
(Once again, credits to koree for this step.)

You may now proceed to re-assemble the blaster(s)!

Take a look at the pistol half now.
If you did the same mod as I did, chances are, your priming rod will be really close to the blaster shell:


Notice that the rod has a "V" shaped neck area inbetween the pulling ring and the rod's stem?
If your Pistol plunger rod is sitting this close to the shell, then it'll definitely be hitting the Arrow shooter half when you connect them together.

Rectify the problem with a marker and a dremel:




Finally, in order to make everything super secure,
I drilled a total of 4 machine screws to hold the whole blaster in place.
If you're doing a mod similar to what I have done, you HAVE to do this, or your blaster (especially the Arrow shooter half) will probably start "tripping".



(Credits to louiec3 for this step.)

And you're done!

Video demo:


Finally, pretty paintjob!

Iridescent purple-green color with a drybrushed boltgun metal effect.
I maintained all the stock metallic green colors of the blaster, and added pink/purple and glow-in-the-dark accents.





Thanks for reading!

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Final Update:

Proper demo vid

Great job on this. The final product is ridiculously sick.

Very clean! Oh, and by the way, did I see a red recon in the video with all the attachments in the background?

Very nice. The PJ came out real nice, as well as the mods.




lol

Solid. And the paintjob is sexy as every naughty word I can think up in my vast vocabulary of such.

Andtheherois: PJ tutorial coming soon

Chainhead: thanks! and thanks for the "lol" link too!

Phoenix: Yep, like what Chainhead said I haven't gotten down to wrapping it up in a plastic bag like the other blasters yet though... haha...


HAHAHAHA *wink*

Wtf dude that's an insane amount of pics haha. Anyway lovin' the write-up. It's so detailed and precise to every step. The pictures are nice and clear too.

The end product is fricking awesome man, that paintjob is beast. Looking forward to the PJ tutorial, I'm sure some of us will definitely benefit from it!

Coming from you, that means alot man.
Editing is a real B!TCH cos I'm doing it in HD... it's taking WAY too long to process and render! haha...

What kind of ranges are you getting out of both blasters?

I'm attempting most of these things, actually, though in a different way. I may have missed it, but did you do anything for reinforcing the plunger rods? I've needed to use plumber's epoxy to fill in the new catch notches I've cut, otherwise, I can't get hem to prime reliably.

Buffdaddy: Yep, I reinforced the plunger rod, but I used hotglue. I was worried that epo-putty might crack due to the way I pulled the plunger to prime the blaster. The rod is a little flexible on it's own.

Love the mod. Even If it has been done before by multiple people it is still a nice mod. I have a stock Dt3 that may be done soon.

pSyk, what ranges are you getting on the arrow shooter?

May I just say, I was done with the back and forth on this thread, when the URLs for those pics made me bust out laughing. Props, sir.

Are there plans to "clip" the arrow shooter while you're at it? Obviously hurts ranges a bit, but since that sight/launcher handle broke off, you have the perfect place to rest an RSCB.

Nice modification guide. I really like your paint job.

I agree Buffdaddy, those URLs made me literally laugh out loud!