Mod Overview: Minimized LPA MA5 SMG

One of my favorite creations I've ever built is my minimized Halo MA5 that runs off an air tank in a backpack. A lot of people seem to like the blaster, so I figured I'd take all the old pictures that I took while making it and put them together with some commentary about the build process. I decided that I wanted to try building a blaster that runs off of a low pressure air tank after re-watching Zombona's LPA Rapid Madness video. I decided to base mine off of the similar Halo MA5 Assault Rifle however, because I like the narrower profile of the MA5. When I started the project, I didn't really have any idea what I was doing or what it was going to look like at the end. I started the way I start a lot of my mods, by making a really quick and dirty photoshop mockup. This is what I created:

The first image was simply me looking at an internals diagram of the MA5 and cutting it down to its bare minimum, the second picture was me trying to add some features and fill it out a bit. From there, I started assembling my parts. This was my first ever LPA build, and my first time ever really working with air fittings and hoses, so I spent a LOT of time watching guide videos or reading posts on r/nerf or facebook to try to figure out what I needed.

Once all my parts arrived, I made sure I could make the internals work before I started on the external work, since I wanted to be sure I wouldn't cut off anything important. At this point, I didn't think I'd be able to run my air line out the handle of the blaster, so I had it running straight out the back after I cut the stock off. 

This is unfortunately the only picture I took of the internals, after I'd already done some of my minimizing. The stock air tube can be cut and shoved directly into a push connect fitting, which then screws into the top of a valve the fits with minimal cutting into the stock valve's location. Another push connect fitting screws to the other side of the valve, which then connects to a bit of hose that later ran down to the base of the handle, and then another push connect, screwed into a quick connect coupler. 

Once I knew the blaster functioned, it was time to figure out what I was going to make it look like.

I knew I needed something big to fill the gap in the bottom where the pump went. First I was going to use the back chunk of the stock, but it wasn't really the right size or shape. 

I tried out the original pump grip as well, and I liked it, but it had to be cut down.

I filled the hole in the back of the blaster with the back of the original stock instead, and I built a new front out of acrylic sheet. I made sure to cut the acrylic in half so that the blaster could still be opened in case of any problems.

Covering the top hole proved to be the most difficult. Due to my cutting, there were no screws near the top of the blaster to hold it together, so if I had done the same thing I did for the front and simply cut a piece of acrylic in half, the blaster would have had a huge gap at the top. Instead, I cut 4 tiny pieces of acrylic and drilled a hole through each one. I took the smallest nuts that I had, and glued one to the back of each piece, lined up with the hole. Then, I glued each piece with its nut to the upper inside edge of the top hole, and added a ton of hot glue around them for some support. 

Once those were dry, I cut out my top piece of acrylic, lined it up on top, and marked where the holes in the other 4 pieces were. I drilled holes in my top piece, and then I was able to screw it in to place with small bolts. Its kinda an over-complicated solution, but it works. 

With everything in place, I used some epoxy putty to smooth out the area around the acrylic front, the stock piece, and to give the base of the handle a bit of a foot rather than the smooth sweep it had before. I didn't take a picture after the putty work, but you can see once it was primed what I did.

I knew I wanted to do the blaster in a blue color, so I chose my blue and gave it a base coat. The paint I used was Rustoleum Painters Touch 2x. Once the base coat was done, I used a brush and some acrylic paint to add some grey and black, and to give it an orange tip. 

I came up with a silly backstory for the blaster:

"2053 - Post Zombie Apocalypse

The base seemed empty, but she wasn’t going to take any chances. Not after what happened last time. She stepped carefully, keeping herself on full alert. Just because she didn’t see anything didn’t mean they weren’t here. As she rounded a corner, she stopped abruptly. A lone Z shambled slowly down the hallway. She was about to move on, when she noticed it was carrying what looked like a weapon of some sort. She needed to get a better look. Drawing her knife, she quickly ran up behind the zombie and dispatched it with one quick strike. As it tumbled to the ground, she caught the weapon and pulled the sling from around its body. Turning it over in her hands, she knew she had found something special. The weapon was unlike the old fashioned powder weapons that most people still carried. It seemed to be some sort of electromagnetic accelerator. Perfect, she thought. This would be a great project to occupy herself with.

Back at her makeshift workshop, she set to work. The first problem was how big it was. Too big for her to maneuver quickly. A few easy cuts solved that issue. Now to solve the power issue. An accelerator like this required a lot of power, and any battery setup in the weapon itself would make it too heavy. She decided to use an old backpack, housing a rechargeable battery to feed power to the weapon’s capacitors. A few fabricated parts, a hasty paint job, and the weapon was perfect. She stayed up late that night trying to come up with a fitting name for her new creation, but a perfect name didn’t come. Perhaps a name would come once it was tested in battle."

Since I knew I'd be using it for HvZ, I decided to go with a post apocalyptic look for it, and since I've always been fascinated by electromagnetic accelerator weapons, I wanted to make it look like it could be one. I added yellow stripes to the black stock to invoke a high voltage warning, and I glued some random bits of wire to the sides. I used some zip ties to attach an old charging cable from an RC car battery to the air hose to act as the weapon's power supply. I also pulled out an old plastic model airplane kit and stole the decals, adding a few random bits of text and details to mostly hidden spots on the blaster. For my weathering, I took an old sock and a random bit of foam that I had lying around, and dipped them in black and brown paint before rubbing them all over the blaster. I used a brush to drybrush some silver over parts that would have been worn down, and I added some rust spots using a brush and a few different colors as well.

 

After I was done with my weathering, I wasn't happy with the way the air hose fittings looked coming out of the blaster, so I added a cloth wrap around the handle and the body of the blaster to cover the fittings and to add to the post apocalyptic look. I made these by tearing strips of white fabric, and then rubbing them around a bowl with some paint and a bit of water. I also at this step added a piece of picatinny rail to the top acrylic plate to break up the smooth top of the blaster. 

With the air hose attached, it was ready to go! 

The blaster has a variable rate of fire, since there is a regulator attached to the tank that can be adjusted. The tank also has a pressure gauge at the top, a schrader valve on the front to fill it, and a dump valve on the back to empty it. The tank can go up to 100psi, and I can quite quite a few shots with that, I haven't counted the exact number, but its plenty for a mission of HvZ. The backpack came from a Goodwill, and it got the post apocalyptic treatment too.There are holes cut in the backpack to access the pressure gauge, the fill valve and the air hose quick connect coupler. 

Overall, this was an incredibly fun and successful project. The blaster looks awesome, it functions great, and I love it! I still don't have a good name for it yet though...