Battle tested: Shadow Hawk and Alpha Trooper

This is a follow up post from yesterday's Nerf/ Max Force games, I was going to split it in to two posts but I didn't really see much point spamming anyone's blog feed full of posts. I'll start by saying that both of these blasters did really well, and I'll be using them both again in the next wars that come up.

The Max Force Shadow Hawk (review here) I used was unmodified, though I used a different barrel. the barrel I used was my extended Recon barrel that I made when I first got into modding. It's actually useless on a Nerf blaster because it impedes on the dart too much and slows it down. So to make it work on the Shadow Hawk, all I needed to do was take it apart and trim down the inner barrel tube a bit so the Shadow Hawk's barrel adapter fit inside, and wrap some electrical tape around the base of the adapter on the Shadow Hawk to make a firm fit. This trick can be done with any Nerf N-Strike barrel, and allows you to add Nerf attachments to your front end, like the bipod grip or mission light.

flimsy bipod haters can't hate no more...

In action, I found this blaster to be incredible as a sniper blaster. I found that I got used to the pull and release mechanism, and the only time it was a pain was when I had to hold it for a long time. I was able to keep heads ducked under cover easily and some of the shots I landed were further than any of the ranges a Nerf blaster could reach. About the only blaster that could counter-snipe me was a heavily modded longshot, and even then my shots were more accurate. Needless to say I was stoked... Right up to the point when I ran out of pre-loaded clips. At one point I had prepared 2 clips for myself, thinking I'd have time to prepare another, but unfortunately I was wrong, and this came to be this blaster's main downfall. Though, I think by next time, I will either have more clips or a flex ammo belt to solve that problem. Overall, This turned out to be very good at it's job. If you're considering buying a sniper type blaster, but don't want to go all out on a longshot mod, I very highly recommend the Shadow Hawk.

On to the Alpha Trooper. The one I used was the rebuild I've been working on in the little spare time I have (part 1 here, part 2 here), modded to accept the Nerf spectre barrel, and with a rail on the side to accept a mission light, this proved to be very versatile. The spectre barrel doesn't really serve much purpose other than to eliminate the tail spin darts sometimes get after being fired from a blaster with the air restrictor removed, so at times when I needed clean, reliable shots I had it on, but when I needed to move fast and freely, I still had the option of taking it off. The slamfire on this blaster works so cleanly and I did find myself having to use it it tight situations.

on the left, the AT with full kit, in the middle is the modded NF,
and on the right is the mighty shadow hawk.

Combined with a tactical vest, spare clips and my modified Nitefinder as a sidearm, I was able to really put the heat on the other team and the only time I really ran in to trouble was when I was pinned down by myself or was being shot at by someone with a Shadow Hawk, but in both cases I had enough ammo and freedom of movement to get out of bad spots and into some cover very quickly. Despite lacking long range and churning through darts like no tomorrow, The Alpha Trooper is an almost unstoppable force, and great addition to anyone's collection.

Max Force Shadow Hawk review!

In my hot, not-so-little hands today, is the Shadow Hawk, part of the Max force line by Jakks Pacific. It's a blaster I've been keeping my eye on the release of since it was first starting to appear on blogs and other sites. It's not a foam dart shooter, instead, it shoots a kind of water soaked paper bullet called "soft splat ammo", which is claimed to reach ranges of 100 feet, much further than any stock foam dart blaster available at the moment, which is a big claim.

So, how did this spit-ball sniper rifle turn out? Well, when I got the Shadow Hawk out of the box and set it up, my first impression was that this is a seriously good looking piece of tagging awesomeness. Before I put some test shots through it, I took the time to check out the build quality, and found that it is very well built. It feels nice and solid, has no excessive plastic squeaks and no rattles. Everything fits together quite well and stays in place. The only part I found to be a little flimsy was the bipod legs, but these are designed to come off their mount if they are knocked to prevent them from snapping if they get snagged up, so not too much of an issue there.

Max Force Shadow Hawk: The spit-ball sniper

In the box, you get mission glasses, 120 paper pellets, a clip and an ammo container. It also comes a removable barrel extension, stock, and scope. I think this makes room for more customization options later on, a big plus in my books, after all, that's one of the things that makes the Nerf N-strike line so great. The scope is essentially a plastic tube with cross-hairs inside, and while it sounds as useless as a Nerf scope, It's actually kind of useful. I found myself lining up shots with it and usually hitting what I aimed for. The scope can fit on a  Nerf rail, but it's a bit of a tight squeeze. Likewise the other way around, you can't really slide Nerf accessories on to the rail, you have to wriggle it on to the rail until the sides lock in. This could be solved by shaving down the locking pin on the base of the Nerf accessory.

The first tagger to be deserving of a scope?

Now, to the good stuff, loading and firing. The way I loaded my ammo was by first pushing the ammo into the clip and then soaking the clip in water for 10 seconds or so, but you can also pre-soak the ammo. Once soaked, you push the clip in from the left, then push the bolt forward and down to lock in the first paper bullet ready for firing. Then, you pull back the pump handle, and let it go to fire. The next pellet is loaded by lifting the bolt up, back, forward, then down, just like a real bolt action gun. To be honest, I love this feature. It feels very solid, and just like real bolt action. Another massive plus for me. Performance wise, It fulfills the 100 foot claim, and it's much, much harder to dodge than a Nerf dart. Accuracy is pretty good, but beyond about 60 feet, wind and the spin or tumble of the ammo mid flight can sometimes take over. That said, the paper bullets are still more accurate than Nerf darts at comparable ranges.

The bolt loading mechanism feels perfect!

As a long range blaster it fares really well, and even at short range without the extended barrel, the Max Force Shadow Hawk is a force to be reckoned with, though the process of using the bolt then pulling back the pump handle and letting go repeatedly is a bit slow, so if you were caught off guard  by someone with a slam-fire or full auto Nerf blaster, you would be in a tough spot for sure. Luckily, the optional flex ammo belt (sold separately) also fits this blaster, so digging in for a long time in a tagging war is certainly an option (and is an option I'll totally go for).

Even fantastic as a marksman tagger

In summary, the Max Force Shadow Hawk is a brilliant piece of work, I was impressed right from the start with this blaster, I looked forward to it's release, and was not disappointed at all. There are so many good things about this very powerful spit-ball launcher, and many promising signs for the progression of Max Force. The build quality is brilliant, the range and accuracy is amazing, the Shadow Hawk even has it right in the looks department. In fact, the only drawback I can think of is the fact it does not feature a trigger mechanism, however, this is most likely due to the strength of the spring powering this bad boy. Still, that doesn't stop me from being really happy with the Shadow Hawk. I would definitely recommend this blaster, and though I haven't yet had the chance to use it in tagger wars yet, I have a feeling this blaster will do really well. Than you very much to Jakks Pacific for giving me the opportunity to review this great piece of kit. I'm really looking forward to seeing how the Max Force line grows, and I'll definitely be picking up the rest of the Max Force line when I can. for more on the Max Force line, including the online store, go to the Max Force home page.

Max Force: A new contender?

Over the last few weeks, quite a number of blogs and other news sources have been lighting up about a new line of "spitball" launchers. This is the Max Force line by Jakks Pacific. While normally, many die-hard Nerf fans seemingly won't give anything other than dart shooters a chance, one thing I've noticed is that a decent portion of these fans are actually quite impressed with these new blasters. One only needs to look at what Max Force claim to be able to do, to be figure out why this is the case.

The Shadow Hawk 100

Take this as an example. The Max Force Shadow Hawk 100. On the box, there are similar claims to what it can do as the rest of the line. It can apparently reach ranges of 100 feet (over 30 metres), and accurately, with a kind of biodegradable ammo that resembles a spitball, sticks to it's targets, and wipes of easily for cleaning up. That's 3 times further than a stock Nerf Longshot, and as far as a heavily modded one, and Nerf darts are not accurate at that sort of range. For outdoor wars, you wouldn't have to worry about cleaning up, because the ammo will decompose. Now, if you ask me, that is seriously impressive if it lives up to that. The best part is, IT DOES, according to Jerm from Nerf Mods and Reviews, who wrote this Review. I have not personally been able to get my hands on one in my area of south-east Queensland yet, but i after seeing the following video, you can be sure I'm trying my best to acquire one.

And then there is Max Force's answer to Nerf's slamfire, The Terrornator 85 (pic below). It works similar to slamfire, except it fires both when you push the handle forward, AND when you pull the handle back. It also comes with an extendable ammo belt that according to Jakks Pacific also works in their other clip fed guns. 85 foot ranges, fast firing, and an extendable ammo belt probably makes this one of the most desirable taggers out there right now.

Terrornator 85

So, does this mean that finally, Nerf has some formidable competition? I think so. After all, if you go to the Max Force site, there is a banner at the top that clearly states "Graduate from foam". With accurate ranges way over what Nerf can achieve, This might be a fair statement. So far, the only downside I've heard of is the lack of a trigger on these blasters. This doesn't bother me too much, but I would prefer to see a trigger mechanism incorporated anyway. Again, I still Don't have one of these to review, I can't find them anywhere yet but I'm so eager to get my hands on this line to try it out it's not funny.