Nerf Recon CS-6 attachment modifications

Introduction
This is a guide to show how you can improve two of the least loved Nerf gun attachments, the "dual-mode light beam" and the "flip-up sight" that come with the Recon. If you think that these parts are completely useless, then this guide is probably not for you.

Disclaimer
The light beam mod has worked fine for me, even with brand new Lithium batteries, however this is not a guarantee that it will work for you and it might blow the LED - although that is unlikely. The flip-up sight mod is not reversible, so be sure that you want to do it before starting. As usual, I am not responsible for any injuries or damages that occur whilst following this guide.

Light Beam

This mod noticably increases the brightness of the red light. It is simple to do however you will need a soldering iron or hot glue gun. It could probably be done with other glues or tape but that may be tricky.

Step 1
Remove the battery cover (by unscrewing the screw that the arrow is pointing towards), then put some AAA batteries in, it is easier to do this to start with. Test that the light is functioning then unscrew the remaining 5 screws.

Step 2
Take apart the two halves of the light and slide out the battery compartment and switch. You should notice a small circuit board. You need to bridge the two solder points circled in the next picture. You should test that joining them up makes the light slightly brighter. Don't worry if you get the wrong bottom one and the light turns off, and don't worry if you see sparks, that only means your batteries are fully charged ;)

Step 3
A small wire or even paper clip can join the two points. Be careful not to leave the soldering iron or hot glue gun on either contact for more than a few seconds, as you might heat up the LED too much causing it to break. You wire needs to go NOT where my red wire is, but where the blue line is. I had to later bend my red wire into that position because it blocked the notch on that side of the circuit board.

Step 4
Put the everything back together, check that it still works, and then put all of the screws back in. Your light beam should now be a little bit brighter!

I'm might look into replacement white LED's and other ways to improve this accessory. I tried some I had lying around and although they made better torches (being white), they were not any brighter than the red.

Flip-up Sight

This simple mod (or "removement") makes the sight a viable option to actually use in a Nerf gun fight. With the orange piece on, the sight is very difficult to see through/look down as the hole is so small. Even if you do manage it in the heat of battle, you won't be able to see where your dart goes because it will probably be off to one side slightly. This is just as much a cosmetic modification as it is a functional one, many people think the sight looks nicer without the orange piece. If your not yet convinced, watch the short video.

Step 1
Find your biggest flat-head screwdriver, this is the only tool you will need.

Step 2
Rotate the circular piece counter-clockwise as far as it will go to loosen it. This will also make it slightly further away from the black bits we want to keep intact.

Step 3
Position the screwdriver as shown here, and slowly wiggly it in pretty much every direction, trying to seperate the front and back orange pieces. Try not to bend the black parts whilst doing this. If it seems very hard to seperate the bits, try flipping it over and doing the other side. You will need to use quite a lot of force.

Step 4
You should end up with a few "broken" parts like this. You can pull off the orange back piece and your done!

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I hope you found these little guides useful, or at least clear and interesting. Are there any more simple mods for the Recon I could do articles on? On the subject on modding this gun, I got this in the post a couple of days ago, expect a full review soon!

Orange Mod Works have also just released their new stage 1 kit for the Nerf Alpha Trooper, along with an extensive modding guide for it. You can view them here. I've just bought an Alpha Trooper, and I think it's great. A review of that will be coming soon too!