OK, so these first three pics are the test hook that was (horribly and VERY) quickly painted in a bright orange to try to improve visibility in video clips. It didn't work too well.
A casting of the pneumatic "guts" for the cosmetic version. Since everything is built around them they're needed in there.
The CO2 setup for filling the air tank. Top is a tire fill valve with
a quick release fitting, middle is (from left to right) an expansion chamber
for paintball markers, (screwed into) a 100 PSI regulator, (with 1/4"
NPT pipe fitting connected to) 1/4" NPT quick release, and the bottom
is a 20 oz CO2 tank.
Top is the fill system (minus CO2 tank) and on the bottom is the setup
that will power the gun for the movie (and working versions.) It's
got a tire fill valve, check valve, air tank, "T" fitting splitting
the air into a pressure gauge and the hose that goes to the gun.
A slightly larger pic that shows the air setup better.
Yes, I did drag my fat self out to the back yard to shoot some tests before today's downpour and thunder storm came rolling through. They're all quicktime format, so go get it if you don't have it. I tried to preserve the quality while keeping size down, not sure if I managed it too well or not, that little hook is hard to see.
All of these are without the line tied on. I did attempt a few shots with 30 feet of line wrapped on a modified version of the spool I have already, poor winding, low pressures, and who knows what else led to very poor results. I still have a little work to do with those bugs, but wanted to get some video shot and online. With that said, I should also mention that a certain fool didn't use the setup pictured above. I DID NOT have the pressure gauge on at the time, so I believe that I was no where close to 100 PSI, perhaps somewhere in the 40-60 range at best. I did go out and try a few shots at 80-85 PSI afterwards, and had better results. With that said, I believe that this prop WILL easily serve the purpose it was made to, that is for a fanfilm where editing, cutaways, and creative angles will help to create the illusion of a real working grappling hook gun. Direct pneumatic hookup from the CO2 tank also proved less then spectacular, the regulator I used may not have the flow capabilities needed to get a good shot. It will regulate the air, but at a lower volume. With the air tank you can pressurize to 100 PSI and dump it in a fraction of a second, using the CO2 tank alone would probably require the pressure to be increased, I'm going to look into some things and see how possible that would be to do safely.
VIDEO CLIP 2 644K
VIDEO CLIP 3 1.62 meg