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Simon Stevens' new loader

hoot

Mad Sqad Rebels
Sep 17, 2011
158
49
48
Falkirk, Scotland
Longtime lurker in this forum, but haven't really contributed much. I saw this today though and it grabbed my interest:

Simon Stevens', ex-KEE design guru has a nifty idea for a new loader. He's offering up 3D printer blueprints for a shell that'll take HALO/B2/Scion internals, but will only hold around 100 shots. The ripdrive seems especially nice too. It'll feed 19 shots for a full turn.

Now all I need is access to a 3D printer, haha!
 

Gadget

Platinum Member
Jul 16, 2002
1,759
619
148
Essex, UK
Have been following this over at MCB and Simonized. The whole open-source design is a brilliant idea, especially for limited audience products like this - although I know a lot of pump players have been begging for a small force-fed loader for ages.

I think he's probably 12-24 months ahead of his time though - 3d printer costs are starting to drop, but aren't quite commodity priced yet. Give it a couple of years and we'll have mass market 3d printers below £1k and this concept will really start to take off. Not sure how the designers will monetise their creations though?
 
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hoot

Mad Sqad Rebels
Sep 17, 2011
158
49
48
Falkirk, Scotland
Have been following this over at MCB and Simonized. The whole open-source design is a brilliant idea, especially for limited audience products like this - although I know a lot of pump players have been begging for a small force-fed loader for ages.

I think he's probably 12-24 months ahead of his time though - 3d printer costs are starting to drop, but aren't quite commodity priced yet. Give it a couple of years and we'll have mass market 3d printers below £1k and this concept will really start to take off. Not sure how the designers will monetise their creations though?
The open source method is an interesting approach and you're spot on that it's great for what is a (relatively) niche market.

As far as charging is concerned, it's going to be difficult. I can see some people pirating the blueprints in much the same way as people pirate audio and video almost as a habit these days. Hopefully the people that are brave enough to go down this route will see enough of a return to keep at it. It's definitely the future!