Paintball

[blackrain]

Who Makes them:
Rubber latex Mills Bombs can be purchased at the below link. Seth the owner is a great person. Real friendly and was very helpful in providing the needed info for me to make a purchase. So email this guy or give him a call, either way you'll get great service.
Mil-Sim Labs

Historical Information:
Article Credit goes to Stechele of MCB. He took the time to provide these links to give a little more info on the Mills Bomb. So thanks you Sir for this info.

Mills grenades
Allied weapons of WW1

So on with the review:
This is a work in progress. I will add to it as the grenades progress into field use versions. Meaning, clearing flashing, cutting holes for the tubing and making it refillable. I bought these for the intension of use.
If you are worried about these never coming back or loosing them on the field, then these aren't for you.
Spend your cash on that gun upgrade that really does nothing for improved rate of fire.
Otherwise if it doesn't bother you, and your a Mil Sim person that wants to add realism to your uniform, these are for you.

So this is what I received in the mail:
I know looks like a lot, but I'll be using the other items for my other paint grenade ventures.


So lets get a family photo:


Prior to trimming:
These are made of a rubber latex. Some people would get mad about the flashing that comes on these items, but the whole fun of paintball is building and improving. This is just something you can do while watching TV or relaxing on the porch after a day of playing paintball. Not all Mills Bombs came this way some only need very little if none at all trimming.


So simple to clean up and shape:


So a quick demonstration on how flexible these are:
Now everyone can see they are not a plastic shell. Squeeze them and they open right back into shape.



Standing tall and looking good:
Alright all the big stuff is trimmed up. Most of the major flashing is gone. I still have a few bumps to remove. No biggy. I still have to wash them up and start cutting out top holes to feed the tubing thru. I'll be using my refillable method for these.



So we have to start somewhere:
First I cut a hole in the top of the Mill's Bomb. This isn't very big. I have a nice "friction fit". This will not restrict the paint from flowing, but will retain the tubing.


So lets slide in the tub:
I went from top to bottom. Since both parts are rubber, I just pinched up on top of the cover as I pulled it thru.


Semi Ready example:
That's exactly what it is. Not painted and basically a mock up of what it will look like when finished. The tubing looks long for the moment. Once I actually fill one, I will be able to tell exactly how much tubing is neccessary for a finished model that's ready to play with.




Fill adapter inserted:
I have glued the fill adapter in place and will let it dry over night. I'll do a dry run this weekend. The trigger will just be a ball just like a squad buster. Depending how you set the ball will determine how well the paint grenade goes off.



Ready for a dry run:
So everything is ready.It's cotter pinned in place. Catheter clip has been installed and so has the small ball trigger. At this time, the nade is not filled.


Lets look inside:
The tubing I'm using has alot of strech to it. So I pulled the one way check valve about a 1/4 way into the body.


So lets fill it:
I just reached inside to grab the one way valve and connected it to the syringe. Then I filled it 3 times with 35cc, which I figured roughly to be about 4oz.


Fill is loaded:
Note the tail end of the tubing. This is what actually was inside of the Mills Bomb cover. The fill completed and I'm going to let it sit for a while. If I were to take the catheter clamp off, it would shoot paint fill everywhere. Good thing I use water to test.


The clean up:
I just tucked in the tail. I'm sure if I would have pulled the tubing in more it probably would not have stuck out this far. The tucking is just to prevent dirt from getting into the check valve, for later reuse.


Ready to throw:
So here it is, clamp off, tail tucked and ready to go. I just threw this about 2 ft in front of me and it shot about a 10 foot stream of water. No pictures of that yet. I'll do it with paint fill and when the shell is completely painted.


Lets prep for paint:
As with everything to be painted, make sure you have a CLEAN SURFACE. This is very important. So normal dish washing soap will do the trick.

Suds it up real good:


Rinse it off:


Then dry it:
You can let it air dry for a while if you prefer. Also don't forget to dry off the inside. Might want to let it sit on a paper towel so whatever is left inside will drip out. It's all personal preference.


Now Lets paint it:
You will need two items, spary glue and paint. According to Seth the owner of MilSims Lab. He told me just to use the "Bargin Basement stuff". However personal preference is what really comes into play. Since we had this stuff at home, we used what was on hand, which was the cheap stuff as recommended. So like every good Soilder,Armed with my HOTTERS coffee cup, away I went.



Spaying the glue:
You DO NOT HAVE TO SATURATE WITH SPAY GLUE. Just going around at a distance will work. Just quick burst is what I did making sure I hit the whole casting. I let it sit for a few mins. The glue won't really dry, it's just and adhesive agent for the paint to adhere to the laytex casting.



Spray Paint to your flavor:
So as with everything I do, it's only a guide. I have a goal on what I want my Mills Bomb to look like, others have a different vision. So the paint is your flavor of choice. Once again go around with quick burst of black or whatever color you choose. Just lightly coat the casting at first. Anyone who has spay painted before knows what I am talking about when I mean BURST. Let it dry for a few and continue to paint the entire casting. Once you are at your desired coverage, let it dry for a few. This dried very fast. The glue did it's job of being an adhesive.


Almost finished:
It's black. Now I have to hand paint on red an silver. My advise, is to put a strip of something to mark this as a SIMULATION TOY thus the RED PAINT STRIP. We don't need the local police thinking it is a real GRENADE. There is always that ONE IDIOT out there that will see how far they can push something.



Lets finish the paint:
So went to the craft store and picked up some acrylic paint. Real cheap. Total was about $1.50


Almost complete just have to let the paint dry and maybe a coat or two more. Didn't get the exact finish that I wanted, but what can one do with laytex. Alright get your minds out of the gutter lol.





Completed and ready to play:
So it is finished and ready to be played with. I'll post some splat pictures at a later date. As you can see I got somewhat close to my final product picture. I'm happy with it. I'm sure I'll get better with the other 8 I have left to do.




End Product picture:
This is the finish I am shooting for. I know it won't be this great, but hopefully close.


So everything is now done. I really enjoyed this project. It took a few days, but I had time on my hands.

My over all rating is a 10 out of 10. Even though I had to trim the flashing, I knew that from the iten description. I feel this is a great product to add to any paintball arsenal.


Later,
Blackrain

[Mouse]

Nice, those look sweet! Cant wait to see some pics of the full ones!
Mouse

[JesterTLS]

That actually looks pretty cool.

[Foxworthy]

This is exciting. They look like they could be a lot of fun.

[super-cameron]

Sweet action!

[blackrain]

Now to find a paint that will work well with latex. I will probably mark them with "Training markings". That way they are easy to locate on the small field I plan to use them at. So if some of you are secretly into laytex and know a good paint that will hold, please post or PM me.
Later,
Blackrain

[RealtorTommy]

Would dye work?

[blackrain]

Guess I'll have to go by Joann's or Micheal's and ask the old ladies that work there. I also added a few new pictures to the review.
Later,
Blackrain

[blackrain]

More info and pictures added.
Later,
Blackrain

[simmy952]

Nice job Blackrain. I may have to pick a few of those up for this summer.