HUDSON SCORPION PAINT JOB

*** Originally posted by reemo ***

Hi Guys

I just bought a brand new Scorpion from Francky. It's a gun I have wanted for a very long time.

I was disappointed (But not surprised) when I saw yet another "craptastic" Hudson finish.

Finish flaking off, barely clinging to the zinc,....lots of "Hudson freckling"......a complete disaster.

Luckily the bad finish was contained to the lower receiver only.......the Hudson Scorpion is basically "2-tone" with the upper and lower receiver being of different metals and colors. This worked out great for me.



Well, I disasembled, cleaned it up and airbrushed it - I figured I'd share with you. Here are some pics of it refinished.




And the other side......



And a last shot of the gun angled to the light so you can see how reflective it is.....good old HUMBROL enamels again, cut with lacquer thinner. No primer.....EXCELLENT adhesion.



Tomorrow we fire it! :wink:
Let me know what you think.....

*** Originally posted by spencerman ***

Looks like once again you have done a really nice paint job. Thanks for sharing it with us.

*** Originally posted by mark ***

Nice refinish job Reemo!

It's a shame that the Hudson VZ61 doesn't fire very well due to their bad (early) cartridge design. I was thinking when I had my Hudson VZ, that I would modify the Hudson detonator to use the Marushin colt "pocket" .25 cartridges as they where the closest cartridges size wise, to the Hudson original VZ cartridges.

But, I ended up selling it, which is very rare for me..

The Hudson VZ61 varies from the original Czechoslovakian version 61 in many ways including that it fires from an open bolt as opposed to the closed bolt of the original. I still is a cool modelgun..However, I prefer to fire them instead of just look at it on a shelf.

*** Originally posted by reemo ***

Thanks Guys!

In reference to Marks post.........Oh no! It's another "fine Hudson non firing replica"?? (*grin*)

Man, ....Mark, I hope this one works better than the Hudson M1A1 I struggled with. I have 5mm caps coming in the mail today.

I was a bit put off when I saw those old cartridges with a sheet of vinyl "spacers" that have to be inserted with each cap. Already looks a bit "Mickey Mouse".

I put some shells in the gun loaded with some washers which would be the rough equivalent of a 5mm cap and spacer,......the extractor cant grab/reach the shell. So, already I smell problems.

But as for looks, weight, realism alone, the gun is beautiful. I always have a soft spot for "sub guns". Cute as a bug!

*** Originally posted by mark ***

Actually Reemo,

The VZ61 is a true Machine Pistol much like the Mauser M712 "Schnellfeuer"

The little orange plastic "spacers" are gas seals that fit on the piston. These gas seals will last for a few shots each before they need to be replaced.

I never had any cartridges with my example of the Hudson VZ to try so, I am not sure just how yours will or won't work. Hudson, while they have problems that make them display only items in most cases, has made some cool modelguns that for some reason, the other manufacturers have ignored: I.E. communist block weapons like the VZ61, AK 47, Tokarev, PPSH 41 I certainly wish that they would have made their firing systems as good as MGC or Marushin's.

I still love my Hudson made Madsen 1950. It's a great modelgun and it fires perfectly with the later cartridges and, it is once again, another modelgun that the others refused to make.

The Hudson Sten works awesomely as well so, not all Hudsons are "worthless" to shoot, they just had bad cartridge designs to work with at first and, I think that they did sometimes cut corners on the firing mech.

So, I think with some creatative cartridge/detonator changes some earlier Hudson products are fine to shoot.

*** Originally posted by reemo ***

Hi Mark!

I hope so, I really want to fire this.

I figured the spacers were an additional seal or an attempt to keep the piston aligned....what is the techical reason for the holes drilled into the sides of the cartridges? I hadnt seen that on a cartridge before.

The "bolt throw" from end to end is quite short, so I would imagine it's going to have a good rate of fire, if it fires at all.

Stay tuned!

*** Originally posted by mark ***

The little hole on the cartridge sides was ment to vent the sparks and gasses out the (usually mounted on the side of the chamber wall) chamber vent.The earlier Hudson VZ61 had an "open barrel" according to what I had read and the chamber vent was offset connected to the open barrel. Just be sure to lube the cartridges as well as the action. And, make sure that the action moves freely. I think that the magazine might be a problem as my example had bad feed lips that needed adjustment to work properly.

*** Originally posted by reemo ***

Hi Mark!

Thank you very much as always for your help

Well, my 5mm caps didn't come today......

So,.... frustrated at the thought of not being able to try it, I chopped up some 7mm caps and loaded a few rounds with the powder I removed from the larger caps.

The cartridge pistons were rusty from sitting in a box for years, - I soaked them in solvent, cleaned everything up, and greased them good.

I loaded up 4 "bullets" and gave it a go on semi. Pull the trigger.....

Nothing.

This went on for many tries,..........the spring tension is very weak/light and it hardly "slams" the cartridge home. I stretched the recoil springs and lubed the bolt assembly with grease.

Much better now.

First trigger pull......POW! Nice explosion and the shell ejects 4 feet into the air, straight up......love the ejection port located on top!

Im happy!

Incidentally, this one has an open barrel......smoke fumed from the tip after shooting......blowing gently into the open breech, smoked poured from the barrel.

Next I tried full auto.......Nope.....first round goes off okay, the next round is an immediate jam.

You are 100% correct, the magazine has issues. The feed lips are too "open" and the cartridges wander as the bolt passes over them, rubbing them, on its return.

I began to bend/shape the lips, but I will just need to wait for the 5mm caps......its too exhausting cutting up 7mm caps!

I will get it to fire in full auto. Ill post results once I get my order of caps, Thanks Mark!