The Nerf Tornado Strike

Hmm.... I don't know where to start. Its so overwhelming, you know. When I first saw the picture of the toy, I was thinking, "Wow. Nice design but... water?". You see, when I was a kid, water pistols were fun but there is a slight problem in the sense that you have to get close to your target for it to be effective. And after overcoming that slight problem, you then realise that you need A LOT of water to stay in the game. It was not until after the Millennium that Peter showed me his Super Soaker (which uses powerful pressure), and demonstrated on an empty pail. I was hooked. But unfortunately, I could never find the same model that he had.

Anyway, now, with the Tornado Strike in my hand, I was stumped. Here I am, a decade later, my very own water gun. What really struck me was the fact that for the past two years, the Nerf guns were very nicely designed. So nice that if you took one and painted it black, it would look real enough for cosplay or in a budget conscious movie. The deisgns were that good. And moreover, with the new watergun series, some of the parts are interchangeable with the N-series Nerf guns. (Not N-series Nokia phones, ok?)

For RM99.00, this is quite a bit on the expensive side
of the fence. But once you open the box, that very
thought would vanish straight away.

Because the gun is huge.

In fact, it is gigantic. Immediately, it struck my
mind that just by looking at the main unit, it
has already remind me of a Sci-Fi shotgun

Still, for that price, I was a bit disappointed that it
did not come with a scope. But then again, in a water
fight, its a close quarter combat and the scope does
nothing much but make the gun look cool. Anyway,
it comes in three parts which is the stock, the gun
and a water reservoir/clip. You do not need any
paper instructions. Trust me on this.
(Oh, OK. Its printed on the box)

When the Tornado is fully assembled, this is what it
looks like. When Kaelynn held it for the first time, she
commented that it was very heavy. After holding it
and swinging it around, I am starting to agree with
her. Its bulky, heavy and most of all, its well, big.

What I loved about this design was the gun's grip. So far,
most of their designs were very nice. But for this case, it
has a deed bonus. The orange button, which secures the
ammo clip, actually works when you pull it with your
trigger finger. It does not matter if you're right or left
handed as the button is located on both sides. So you
will notice that this makes the ammo change very fast.

The two white 'claws' on either side are the things that
secures the clip and because its shaped like a triangle,
all you need to do is just slap in the ammo and you're
ready to go. Look at the round intake. This is part of
the water system which transports the water from
the ammo clip into the gun. The clip goes in with a
satisfying click.

This is the of how the ammo clip looks like from
the top. I am not sure why it has two holes but
then again, I am thinking that this very same
clip could be used for future designs.

This is the shot for the clip's front which has a very
nice screw cap design. You fill in the water here. And
also, please use clean tap water. Don't know why but
it said so on the box, the gun and the ammo clip.

Testing out the gun was the next step. And it works
by pumping on the orange handle. There is no trigger
on the gun. One full clip will give you 12 shots at a
distance of 20 feet or 6 metres. You just keep on
pumping and the barrel keeps on rotating while
spewing the water out like a DNA pattern. Wow.
Unfortunately, when the orange grip gets wet,
your hand slips. So, since this is a water gun
and in water fights were things get wet, this
is bad. I cannot help but by looking at
the effects of the water coming out of
the barrel, this is how I felt...

Yep. Total Crap.
(image: http://nibsblog.wordpress.com/2008/04/28/garden-note-15-tools-of-the-trade/)
But there is an alternative. You just hold on
to the pump's grip as tight as possible while
you MOVE the gun instead. It works but
you'd have to practise a lot on your
aiming. On the bright side, it makes
your kids want to take baths. If you
have kids, that is.

Anyway, back to the gun. I mentioned earlier that
some of the parts are interchangeable. In this case,
its the Tonado's stock. In this picture, its using a
Raider's stock and a EX-6 Element scope.

Anyway, by removing the stock, the gun is still very
bulky. Its as if its not balanced. Still, it is a very good
base gun for a Warhammer Bolter. And, because of
its very size, when I hold it, I was imagining this...

Yeah! bring it on!
(image: http://forums.tauonline.org/house-rules/63146-codex-locust-horde-gears-war.html)

The tornado is so big, it even dwarfs the Barricade
and later on, when I held the Barricade, I felt like...

Yeah. Well, not me but my hands feels like that.
(image: http://www.toplessrobot.com/2010/01/16_awesome_fictional_firearms.php)

So, with the other guns on the way, I am not sure
how to take it. But then looking at the designs,
and I do love their designs, I could be getting
more of them. Not for water fights but well,
for other things, la. Maybe take out the innards
and replace them with lights and sounds.

I don't think I will be letting the girls play with
the Tornado. Just look at how big it is.

But they did have a lot of fun with the Barricade, though.
See her wide grin?

Funnily, they think its a bazooka or grenade launcher.
Here is Kaelynn with the help of Kristine, about to put
the Barricade on her shoulder before firing it.

Vee-chai's first 1000

Finally, today was the day Vee-chai needs to be service. Its a very important service because he has already surpassed the 1000 mark. It was supposed to be last week but because of some last minute arrangements and all, I decided to postpone it to this Saturday. I mean, servicing the car on a Wednesday and during working hours is not a very good idea.

Anyway, by the time I arrived at 1040, the place was already full of people and the compound was more like a car storage yard with a lot of Myvi's waiting to be service or to be collected. So, I just had to wait until 11 where I expected to be attended to.

The waiting area is quite small and with all the chairs being taken up, other customers had to
wait outside the area, making the whole place look more like a Doctor's clinic. Although there
were some Astro programs (but you need someone to change the channel for you) and a generous helping of newspapers, there was no Wifi. Something which I expected whenever I was in Toyota (down the road). So, hidden in one corner were a bunch of people who brought their Laptops trying to look busy even though with no there was no Wifi except for one or two who had to use those wireless dingle things from Celcom or Maxis. No Digi here though.

By the time I informed the Service Advisor about Vee-chai's brake discs, he told me that I would have to collect the car around half-past four. He also asked if I wanted to put in a cabin filter for RM28 so, I replied fine, put it in and also the RM50 alarm beep as well. And by 1130, I was ready to go home. Which is not a problem for me.

Until I realised my Wife did not reply her SMS... So I had to walk to the nearest LRT station from Perodua. Which is not a problem for me until I realised I was really out of shape. Using my Nokia 5800's OVI maps, I was walking at a speed of only 5km/h.

During the LRT journey, I was surprised that
the GPS signal is still good. And so, here you
go, folks, prove that i was running..... at 37Kmh

Oh-oh, we're running out of tracks...

And now, we're crashing into the Federal Highway

I wanted to take the shot of the Midday traffic
jam but after taking one test shot, I missed it
because the Nokia 5800 literally hang. Last
time, it was OK eventhough the OVI Maps
was running in the background.

After 5 minutes, I have reached my destination.
And through the OVI, the LRT max speed was
80KmH.

Again, there is a problem with the Nokia...
One screen was the photo and behind it
was the OVI Maps... weird

Looking at the proposal chart for the new Sungai Buloh-
Kajang route, those people living in Taman Tun Dr. Ismal
are really going to suffer. For years, they bear with the
overhead construction and the heavy traffic it caused.
And now this. Haih. But in Singapore, its a different story.

And so, another 1.5Km walk. I got up to
6Kmh speed without much hassle but it
is a very hot day. By the time I reached
home, my heart was beating extremely
fast which I think, was caused by walking
up the hill. Man, I am out of shape.

By 1515, Perodua called me up to say Vee-Chai is ready.
Nothing much to check on since its raining but I can tell
you that they did not wash the car. Maybe its an option
but during this time, its not a good idea.

The car is neat and tidy and they even pack the excess
engine oil for you so you know its not coming from a
big tong or something.

And they even put back the service book on the plastic
case too. Which is a nice touch.

Thinking back, last Friday, I have already used 970-odd KM and just now, the Odo showed it was 1740Km. Wow. I can tell you that by end of April, it will be Vee-chai's first 5000Km service. Just like my Bengmobile when I was a Field Engineer many years ago. We chalk up a minimum average of 100Km per day.

OVI Map

Wanted to post this up since last year. This
was the latest feature I noticed on the OVI
Maps. The assisted lane turning and also
the speed limit announcement. I had to
wait until I got to places like Cyberjaya
when only this feature would show up.