2010 homemade water gun competition

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SSCBen
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2010 homemade water gun competition

Post by SSCBen » Sun Jun 20, 2010 2:25 am

What: A contest to make the most innovative water launching device including but not limited to water guns and water balloon launchers. Launching in containers more rigid than balloons is forbidden. The water launchers do not have to be intended for use in water wars.

Deadline: August 31th, midnight EST

Criteria: Below are some things to keep in mind when designing. I will judge based roughly on what is listed below.
  • Idea and creativeness - New ideas or creative approaches to old ideas are most desirable. Note that doing an old idea particularly well may require very creative approaches.
  • Quality of build - Is the device durable? Is it attractive?
  • Function - Does the device do what it claims?
Prizes: There are no prizes aside from the glory of winning the contest.

I will update this thread until the criteria and other information is to my satisfaction.

Good luck. :)
Last edited by SSCBen on Sun Aug 08, 2010 3:24 am, edited 1 time in total.

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martianshark
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Re: 2010 homemade water gun competition

Post by martianshark » Sun Jun 20, 2010 10:36 pm

Yay! The contest is out! I'm probably going to do this. I have an idea...

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cantab
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Re: 2010 homemade water gun competition

Post by cantab » Sun Jun 20, 2010 10:49 pm

Ben wrote:Launching in containers more rigid than balloons is forbidden.
For the sake of clarification - are sponges allowed?
I work on Windows. My toolbox is Linux.
Arsenal:
Super Soaker: XP215, 2xXP220, Liquidator, Aquashock Secret Strike M(odded), Arctic Blast M, CPS1200, CPS2100, SC Power Pak, 3l aquapack, 1.5l aquapack
Water Warriors: Jet, Sting Ray M, Shark, Argon M, Tiger Shark, PulseMaster
Others: Waterbolt, The Blaster, Storm 500, Shield Blaster 2000, generic PR gun, generic backpack piston pumper (broken), 3l garden sprayer M, 10l water carrier:

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martianshark
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Re: 2010 homemade water gun competition

Post by martianshark » Sun Jun 20, 2010 10:52 pm

That was my idea. Please don't steal it... ;)

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Silence
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Re: 2010 homemade water gun competition

Post by Silence » Sun Jun 20, 2010 11:39 pm

Sponges are creative, and have been mentioned before, but their safety depends on what's done with them. It might be hard to create something useful and safe with them, but if you do, that's awesome and I hope Ben chooses it as the winner!

Also, I hope that at the very least, the prize is a mention on the front page. ;)

Anyway, how do we apply?

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martianshark
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Re: 2010 homemade water gun competition

Post by martianshark » Mon Jun 21, 2010 12:32 am

My idea was actually to use water balls, but songes are pretty close to that.

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C-A_99
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Re: 2010 homemade water gun competition

Post by C-A_99 » Mon Jun 21, 2010 2:38 am

I'd consider sponges to be more rigid than water balloons and they definitely serve as a container. Water filled "paintballs" (gelatin) would probably be a better idea though I'm not sure if paintballs are more or less rigid than balloons; they seem to be more

Other possibilities include better water balloon sabots, shells, warheads, etc. I'd love to see a sabot that can carry several balloons and dump them all at nearly the same time, kind of like the mortars from Gears of War 2. It's unfortunate that rate of fire remains a considerable problem.

I don't see anything wrong with going old fashioned and simply trying to make a more practical CPH or APH. APH's don't have to be limited to the XP-style design; there are at least two ways to seperate the air and water though only one (the piston) is commonly used. (The other being similar to the XPS mod; using thin balloons) A creative and effective approach to the age old problem of the ergonomic water blaster should, IMO, score well for this contest.

At this point I have doubts if I can participate. I have a lot of upkeep on water guns to do and have other things off to the side. I'll probably go into a two-year cycle as far as water weapon development goes so this year will be off. In the rare chance I'm able to build something new this summer, I'll have to see what I can do.

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SSCBen
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Re: 2010 homemade water gun competition

Post by SSCBen » Thu Jun 24, 2010 1:14 am

Sponges are okay.

I'll create a separate forum area especially for contest entries. Remind me if I don't do this in the next week or so.

Fredcompany
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Re: 2010 homemade water gun competition

Post by Fredcompany » Fri Jun 25, 2010 4:32 pm

I have an idea... (sneaks off to garage)
I have no idea if I'll be able to do it though, and it wouldn't be much use in a water war.

EDIT: just read Ben's first post. That's ok then.
Last edited by Fredcompany on Sat Jun 26, 2010 7:35 am, edited 1 time in total.
I'm a dude

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SSCBen
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Re: 2010 homemade water gun competition

Post by SSCBen » Sun Aug 08, 2010 3:24 am

Given the lack of entries so far, I've extended the due date to August 31st. PM me if you have a water gun for the contest.

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mysterio
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Re: 2010 homemade water gun competition

Post by mysterio » Sun Aug 08, 2010 3:38 am

so do we pm you to apply?

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SSCBen
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Re: 2010 homemade water gun competition

Post by SSCBen » Sun Aug 08, 2010 3:29 pm

I should have made that more clear.

You can either post the thread in the homemade water gun section if you don't mind making it public or PM me that you have an entry that you want to keep private until the end of the contest.

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MunkeyB
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Re: 2010 homemade water gun competition

Post by MunkeyB » Mon Aug 16, 2010 5:14 pm

For your consideration me crew and I would like to submit our Pirate Water Balloon Cannon for the contest

Image

Image

The Cannon is 54" long and 6 1/2" in diameter with a 3" firing barrel. The carriage is 36" long and roughly 21 inches high.

It uses CO2 as a propellant and has a 20 lb tank that sits in the carriage. We fired over 50 cannon balls the first day and barely went thru any CO2.

There is a tethered sabot that would fly about 2 feet from the cannon before falling to the deck to be reset and fired again.

Using roughly 60 psi we were averaging a range of around 50 yards. But it was difficult to calculate 1) because we were constantly moving and 2) because we were on water we couldn't measure the distance with any sort of measuring tape..

We humbly request this cannon be accepted into your contest and thank cantab for telling us about the contest.

~MB and Crew

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martianshark
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Re: 2010 homemade water gun competition

Post by martianshark » Mon Aug 16, 2010 6:06 pm

I'm not going to be able to enter the contest (And no, it's not because of MB's entry :p ). Maybe next year.

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SEAL
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Re: 2010 homemade water gun competition

Post by SEAL » Mon Aug 16, 2010 6:58 pm

My blaster is not that innovative, but what the heck, I'll enter it. Look for a thread entitled "APH Concept" in the homemade section. That's mine.
Captain of the Catskill Mountain S.E.A.L.s (Soaker Elite Assault Legion.)

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