Paintball Journal

Coming this World Cup, to a paintball retailer near you.

Project D set for release at PSP World Cup 2007

MacDev have been secretly working on this for over 2 years, with work done under the name Project D. For all those team members and contributors that have helped to keep this quiet, thank you very much, and for everyone else, we are now proud to release some advanced info.

Droid.

Project D is a new gun designed and manufactured by MacDev, we have named it Droid. This new gun is not a Cyborg, and it is not intended to replace the Cyborg. The Cyborg and Droid will both be available, and the Cyborg has a very bright future, with a new model set for release in the first quarter of 2008.

The Droid will be set in the high end bracket, with a retail price of over $US1,000, it will be an alternative option to players who want to have a high quality and high performance single tube paintball marker.

The details.

The Droid is designed to breathe new life into the single tube gun market. MacDev designers have made some very interesting innovations that are designed to increase the reliability and efficiency which is always lacking in conventional spool designs. These innovations have led to significant reliability and efficiency advantages, and patents will be granted for them soon.

The Droid features lightweight construction, extensive 3D surface milling and a small, comfortable playing profile.

Cyborgs have long been known for incredible performance and speed. Some of the fastest cycling and shooting guns have been ‘borgs, most famously the StormTrooper Borg. With such an impressive pedigree, the Droid is very likely going to be an excellent gun. The bookies are already putting 9 to 1 odd on the Droid being awesome. I doubt MacDev would produce anything but, and because of the $1000+ pricetag, I’m thinking this should be on par with upped shockers at least.

As for efficiency, look for something around 2000 shots per 68/4500. That is assuming that they have a next generation Gladiator reg on it, or something very similar.

So, why shoot this over a ‘Borg? Preference.

Cyborgs have a poppet valve design, can cycle a little faster, and will run a little lighter in general.

Droids have a spool valve design (Shocker, Ion, etc…), are quieter and easier on paint, and have a different body style than ‘Borgs.

Performance differences between the two guns should be fairly negligible. MacDev wants to offer something to combat the dominance of the Matrices and Shockers, and so this will probably outperform current generation spool valves significantly. If it doesn’t then MacDev has no consumer.

I’m excited by this design as it will be one of two new spool valves entering the market at Cup. The other will be the Pikkadoll, which rumor has it, is a copy of the Droid prototype from 2003. If that is indeed the case, then it’s fairly obvious which will be the better seller and performer. Not to mention the fact that the Pikkadoll is running at about $1700 right now. Give me a break.