Instructables – by PenfoldPlant
Ever find yourself needing to tar and feather someone, but lacking an angry mob to back you up? Maybe you wish to exact quick and messy physical revenge in a hurry? Or perhaps you just want to dominate the neighbourhood water gun fight once and for all?
The Tar and Feather Gun* is for you. Live out all of your Bugsy Malone fantasies with this fun and messy contraption:
As far as I know, this has a fairly unique design among water (well, foam) guns in that it has a breech-loaded cartridge mechanism. The beauty of this is that you can quickly reload with a variety of ammunitions in pre-filled containers. More importantly, once you’ve fired the gun you can eject the depleted cartridge from the rear of the gun with an extremely satisfying *ka-chunk* sound.
Read on to find out how I built it!
Safety
There are quite a few things that can go wrong when you’re building and playing with this gun. You’ll be using sharp things to cut plastic. You’ll be playing with drills, saws and toxic glues. You’ll be putting a home-made pressure chamber under a lot of internal stress. And yes, you’ll be shooting your friends in the face. Please be sensible. Wear safety goggles and use your tar and feather gun responsibly.
Whatever you do, don’t leave the gun lying around loaded during an MIT frat party. Otherwise this will happen:
*a.k.a. “the personal pneumatic variable payload delivery device”
Step 1: Materials
As usual, you’ll need some bits and pieces. Here’s a shopping list to get you started.
For the gun:
- 2″ PVC tube – 11 inches
- 1.25″ PVC tube – 7 inches
- 2″ PVC cap x 1
- 1.25″ PVC cap x 2
- 1.25″ PVC 45° connector x 1
- 1.25″ PVC straight connector x 2 (note: these should fit snugly inside a length of 2″ tube)
- Bicycle pump
- Old bicycle inner tube, including valve
- 1/4″ brass bushing
- 1/4″ right-angle bend that can screw onto the bushing
- 1/4″ ball valve with lever (must be able to open and close easily and smoothly)
- 5/16″ vinyl tubing – 12 inches
- 1/4″ plywood – 12 inches x 6 inches
- Assorted scrap wood
- 2 small but powerful neodymium magnets
- 3 feet of stiff spring wire
- 2 small hinges and matching screws
- 1 sachet of sugru
- Plumbing putty
- Superglue
- Hot glue
- “Amazing Plumbing Goop” or some equivalent sealant
- Self-bonding silicone “rescue tape”
For the cartridges:
- 1.5″ PVC tube – 33 inches (note: this should fit inside a length of 2″ tube, with just enough room to slide freely)
- Toilet tissue
- Adhesive tape
- Assorted fillings, e.g. shaving cream, Jell-o, flour, etc.
“There are quite a few things that can go wrong when you’re building and playing with this gun.”
Thanks. I’ll stick to the real thing, in that case.
There is more satisfaction spreading the hot tar on the bare skin of the oppressor that has no equal.
I’ll take my copper coated candy dispenser over this thing any day.