[Hellspawn.ID]

Hellspawn.id has been on walk-a-bout since the burning of the "library of Alexandria" or in other words, the crash of warpig.com. I lost my Internet at work when they installed a "Game Site" block in the firewall and my home computer was too old & slow to post anything. I have a new computer at home so I should be a little more active on the site.

For those that don't know me, let me introduce myself.

I go by Hellspawn.id. I'm owner of the tank "Death Blossom" My crew adopted the team name Death Dealers last year. I have fielded Death Blossom since 2001 in the TOD games. I have never fielded my tank in an event without at least one change to weapons or armor and this year will be no exception. I have some armor damage, (Bent Passenger door), Mechanical issues, (Bad Alternator) and my trailer tire took a road hazzard to the sidewall. Planed upgrades for the year will be Flame Thrower rework, Gun camera, PA system (For the fools @ D-Day who don't hear us behind them on the road) and I have a idea in my head for a spoke screen. No details on the smoke screen till I test my theories. As always, I will post all my progress with a photo library and welcome all comments & suggestions. Work will start as always after the devils holiday... Oops i mean Valentine's day because it's Frakin' cold till then.
BTW I'm also building a wheeled heavy gun AKA. A screaming Mimi. This is my source info.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nebelwerfer

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_________________
Death Blossom...... A Weapon of Last Resort!

"Now, I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds."
-J. Robert Oppenheimer

"So Say We All" BSG 75

[Matt Bolinger]

Glad to see you around again. I was starting to wonder....
_________________
Matt Bolinger "Boom"
QuickStrike PAV
Sponsored by: TIPPMANN, 23DELUXE, AMERICAN PAINTBALL COLISEUM, OKLAHOMA D-DAY

[Michael Copeland]

Hellspawn.id
Good to hear from you! I like the smoke screen idea - we tried on that one, but it was only partially successful ( wind had to be blowing in the right direction or we just blinded ourselves... lol) Good luck with it! We too are doing some flame-thrower upgrades, otherwise, everything else is like we want it. Looking forward to seeing you in June!
Have a good one!
Mike
_________________
Michael Copeland
Generalmajor, CO - 21st Panzer Division, Oklahoma D-day
"Das Buzzard" PAV
Team Band Aid

[Hellspawn.ID]

[dozer]

are you using tanked air (pressurized tank) for your Flame thrower? I got good range with a backpack unit with 75-100 psi. Could install a small compressor on your main drive motor and have built in air on the rig (turn the key and have air to work on those pesky tire issues). Might need a tank, which just needs to be good steel pipe, heck could probably use your rollcage if you welded up all the leaks, & limited pressure to 100 psi at the compressor. Hard to have a motor on a portable unit, but no reason a tank couldn't make use of it.

[Hellspawn.ID]

[Hellspawn.ID]

And so it begins….
Now that the devils holiday is over (Valentines Day) The 2009 paintball season can start completely guilt free. Like every previous year, I have a long list of needs & wants. Since I am currently working a crazy amount of overtime and have very little time to turn a wrench, the work I will be getting done will be ordering parts. This is to my advantage because most of the things I need to “Buy” are from the Wants list and most of the hands on stuff is from the Needs list.
First up is the Flamethrower repair. This weapon worked brilliantly at D-Day so its repair is first on the list. I have ordered a second storage tank that will take over the “Pressure” side of the weapon. I will also re plumb the entire system & if I have time, repair the regulator and install the Co2 backup. I have placed an order for my gun camera setup. ( Matt & Emily) I have found a local guy that thinks he can repair my faulty alternator so that will make room for the Trailer tire replacement. I also plan on taking the plasma cutter to what’s left of my original tank to rebuild my bent drivers door but I’m getting a little of myself. Pictures soon
End of Line…



_________________
Death Blossom...... A Weapon of Last Resort!

"Now, I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds."
-J. Robert Oppenheimer

"So Say We All" BSG 75

[Hellspawn.ID]

Welcome to my first update of the year. I haven’t been posting pictures because most of the work I have done has been Mechanical and of little interest. I have made some improvements in the weapons & armor so I figured it’s time for some pictures.

Since Warpig.com crashed I decided to post along with the new updates the previous attempts at getting to where it sits today. Lets start with the cool stuff

The Flamethrower:
Here is my first attempt…


What your looking at is an portable air tank that had both the paint mix & Co2 Pressure. The bottom feed line ran into 2 1” rain bird 24v sprinkler valves and some hose ends. In theory, I pushed a button and sprayed to the left & right on demand.
EPIC FAIL!!! What didn’t go wrong, Lets see… Nothing. Here is a list of problems:
1. Co2 froze lines leading to tank resulting in a blown line
2. Co2 froze Regulator leading to blown Reg
3. Rust Built up almost instantly and began to flake off resulting in 2 jammed open valves. Paint mix pouring onto the ground. Scrapped whole & Started fresh.

After some Oh so needed help from Michael Copeland of Das Buzzard I stared Fresh with and all aluminum tank. Scrapped the Co2 for and air compressor and scrapped the 24v electric valves for a $30 pressure washer gun.

The holding tank is the one in front. The small box keeps the electrics out of harms way. The third tank is my gas tank just incase someone was curious. I was keeping my design a secret last year so I had no close-up pictures of the first working mock up.
I still didn’t like having the holding tank & pressure in the same tank. Limited how much “Ammo” I could carry because I needed to leave room for the compressed air. Here’s the 2009 improvements:


The unpainted tank & lines are new. I added a small Pressure tank along with new shut offs, a gauge & ball valves to vent the pressure when not in use.
I also added a second nozzle for the 2009 season. 2 reasons, 1) It dawned on me that there are 4 plugs on the bottom of my holding tank so I could have up to that many guns. 2) For my future tank battle with the Quick Strike crew. Last years D-Day tank battle, they would try to cut past my drivers door every time we passed because there were no weapons on that side. This could not be allowed. The new drivers side weapons:




As you can see in the last picture both marker & Flamethrower are on a simple cable pull system that works mint! I tested this @ my last game in 2008 and it cleaned out some bunkers. BTW, just for fun I also added a forward firing marker to go with the forward facing flamethrower.



That’s it for the Flamethrower. I’m currently in the middle of an alternator swap & some trailer damage needs repair i.e. Lights & Tires. More welding is taking place on the tanks door gunner. The armor got bent up last year so it is also being fixed. No pictures on the door yet because it’s still in my garage and the shots are always too close. I will take new pictures of the new door gunner as soon as I get it running again & can pull it out of the garage. As always…..

End of line…

_________________
Death Blossom...... A Weapon of Last Resort!

"Now, I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds."
-J. Robert Oppenheimer

"So Say We All" BSG 75

[Hellspawn.ID]

Well, I promised better pictures in may last update but I won’t be able to provide any. Mother nature gave my town a dusting of snow. 8” at my door so I had to settle for progress pictures from inside the garage. As I did in my last update I will provide a small history lesson of what I did before the current upgrades.

Here we go:

Door Gunners position…

Here is my old Platform as last fielded:

When I moved from the old version of Death Blossom to the new sand rail body I had many things needing to be done. The idea was first to kick out the door so a gunner can sit sideways. I was pressed for time because Panzer was 1 month away & the engine needed a complete unplanned rebuilt. I had just enough time to build the lower section then throw a net over it and go play.


It worked as good as a simple gun port could. Unfortunately when you play against experienced bazooka guys like Zeke, simple doesn’t get the job done. We were overpowered by Zeke & company going after the drivers side and 1 rotating turret. The door gunner had no shot. My next game was D-Day

I decided I needed a second rotation turret if I was to be competitive. I cut off the upper support bar.

Added the trailer axle & rim and moved the roof bar to make room

Up went the skeletal structure of the turret

Padding & paint

Construction of the removable armor band





The turret itself works flawlessly. The armor has given me lots of trouble. I made it out of electrical EMT to keep it lite and easy to bend. It first required someone on the outside to pull the pins to let the gunner out. Last year I made it so the gunner themselves can pull the pins but once after a battle they fell out onto the floor trying to do just that. Then in the last game we brushed against a fort wall and it bent so badly that the gunner couldn’t spin. That’s the past, Here is the present:


In the background of this picture is what’s left of my original Death Blossom. Since scrap metal isn’t cheap it was decided to cut it up and use the pipes to fix all. This is what we did with it.


The square tubing was used for the first upright piece and to make the new swing gate


The bent round pipe was used to built the back end


Currently I am stretching the nets & painting it. I expect to be completely finished before the weekend is over. I still need to replace the alternator and trailer tires & lights. If the weather man is right, It’s gonna be 60 deg. on Sunday so maybe if the snow is gone, I can get the trailer work started…..

Oops, I almost forgot. Here is a parting shot of my Cam corder mount. I have a second one stuck to the side of my hopper. If I’m driving it will be a dash cam like the cops have. If I’m in a turret it will be a gun camera baby…..


As always…. Till my next update

End of Line…



_________________
Death Blossom...... A Weapon of Last Resort!

"Now, I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds."
-J. Robert Oppenheimer

"So Say We All" BSG 75

[Michael Copeland]

Nice upgrades! ... Man, can't wait until D-day to see them in person. Just a reminder, we will be limited to 5 gallons of flame-thrower paint at D-day ... hmm ... if we have 2 flamethrowers with 2 seperate tanks - 5 gallons in each tank! ... lol
Have a good one!
_________________
Michael Copeland
Generalmajor, CO - 21st Panzer Division, Oklahoma D-day
"Das Buzzard" PAV
Team Band Aid

[Hellspawn.ID]

[dorsai]

Michael,

I heard they've added some intersting
features to the valley this year, as well
as widened all the roads, so there's not
going to be any issues with getting past
a duece or bus and since you can't bring
yourself to say it, I'll be happy to say it
for you. I can't wait for D-Day!

Sincerely,
_________________
Brigadier General Andy Van Der Plaats
S-1
Office of the CofS, SHAEF
"in bello, parvis momentis magni casus intercedunt"
Office: 407.563.3884
Cell: 239.410.9632
Email: ADorsai@aol.com

[Michael Copeland]

[Hellspawn.ID]

Here’s is a quick update. Most of the work I have planned before D-Day is for the trailer since it has been neglected the longest. As always, I will make every effort to make improvements to the tank itself. The newest is a new video camera. The trial run didn’t have the results I wanted. First, It ran thru batteries like they were free. Second, I couldn’t even tell it was recording at times so the video’s have me messing with the camera at some points. And Third, it was placed too close to the net. This makes seeing thru the net on the video harder. This is further complicated with the quality of the youtube uploads. Much darker then the original files.

Depending on time & money, here are the things I want to accomplish before D-Day.
1) Second Battery system
2) Second hard mounted gun (Even thou it won’t be used due to D-Day rules)
3) Net maintenance. Most of the netting is 3 years old and is letting 20% of shots pass thru
4) Trailer work includes running lights, replacing fenders & ramps & adding anchor points
5) Suspension seats in turret so the gunners don’t get bounced around
6) Add a PA system so when we drive down the roads and people don’t hear us behind them
We can ask them to move.
7) Engine work to increase horsepower. My larger tires negate the heavy geared tranny so the only
Solution is to crack open the engine and squeeze more power out of it. D-Day’s Pegasus bridge
Hill got me last year so I want more power. This is the big ticket item so we will need to jump on this
Soon if I want it finished in time.

Here are the video links, remember to be kind in your criticism as it was the first trial with a new untested camera.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bI4SqI8stYw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fA782Yv5CyQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vW9PoqyFfWA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70Llo7ZOvBs

End of Line...


_________________
Death Blossom...... A Weapon of Last Resort!

"Now, I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds."
-J. Robert Oppenheimer

"So Say We All" BSG 75