Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Max Force Shadowhawk


The Shadow Hawk is the bees knees of the Max Force line up, boasting impressive 100 feet distances in a very schmick looking package. They've become quite readily available in Australian toy stores nationwide- we take one out for some testing and I can safely say you've never seen a spit wad go so far..


The Shadow Hawk 100 is definitely the longest blaster in the Max Force range; it's even longer than the Nerf Longstrike CS-6 in terms of physical size. It's an impressive bit of kit out of the box that comes with the blaster,a detachable barrel extension, removable stock and scope, foldable bi pod and an 8 round clip as well as the must have safety eyewear and a whole lot of rounds to fire. As we mentioned in the Terrornator and Blowgun reviews, Max Force uses a compressed paper pellet that you soak prior to firing; the evolution of the humble spitwad essentially.
Given the size of the blaster, the packaging is quite compact and environmentally friendly; no unnecessary plastic ties or coverings- all cardboard inserts to hold the blaster in place.
The Shadow Hawk, like the other Max Force blasters is very well made- it's solid and durable feeling with no rattles or poor finishings. We love the colour scheme of the Max Force line- other than it being Urban Taggers colours, it's just a very good looking white grey and orange which looks fantastic- something even Nerf picked up on with their Whiteout series:)

Although the parts are all detachable, I can't see a real reason to remove them other than for storage/transportation purposes. Unfortunately, other than the scope, the attachments do not fit the other blasters in the Max Force range. A tad disappointing, but then they are very much different blasters.


That is one thing we noticed with the Max Force line- every blaster is quite different (other than perhaps the maximizer and the crossbow from the photos we've seen) - rather than with Nerf where much of the differences in blasters are aesthetic- with the Max Force range performances and firing mechanisms all differ, depending on the type of blaster it is. The Shadow Hawk is definitely marketed as a long distance 'sniper' style rifle- and it has the distances to back it up.

Load your "Splat Ammo" pellets into the 8 round cartridge, soak for 10 seconds and then insert into the side slot of the blaster and you're ready to fire. So long as the pellets are soaked sufficiently, there shouldn't be any jams.  

The Max Force line have been designed to only fire the pellets if they are wet and soft- failure to soak them will result in..well misfires. The ammo is pretty much disposable and not reusable, so stock up where you can.You can go through ammo pretty fast, and while I have managed to fire home made paper pellets with moderate success, you really need the real splat ammo real deal, so I really hope these blasters stay around because we need the refills for them to keep on a firing!

The Shadow Hawk also works with the belts from the Terrornator which is a nice plus, increasing your firing capacity to..well as many rounds as your belt accommodates:)  


The Shadow Hawk is bolt loading which is a very cool mechanism that makes it just that little bit more realistic. Once you've loaded your cartridge or belt, the bolt primes the round ready to fire.

Now, here's the part that causes us a bit of an issue. Max Force blasters do not use a trigger mechanism to fire; by having a trigger, it would reduce the power, and therefore distance the blasters can make. The Shadow Hawk uses a spring loaded grip that sits on the under carriage of the blaster- it's a matter of pulling it back and releasing to fire the round. On release, you'll fire your round with considerable power and your target will definitely know they've been hit. 

The down side is the motion tends to sacrifice a bit of accuracy, which in a way detracts from the Shadow Hawk being used for sniper purposes.  There's a foldable bipod that definitely could help with the steadying of the blaster and improve accuracy, except it's pretty flimsy and is essentially just two lengths of thin plastic and we popped ours off several times while trying to fire our shots, resulting in us just removing it and using a stack of books instead:)

The spring load is quite stiff (It sort of needs to be to get those distances) so it can slip out of your finger tips if you haven't gripped it correctly. I found this took a bit of time to get used to before I was getting the motion best suited for firing.

I can't however deny it's ability to hit some seriously far distances with ease, possibly even exceeding the claimed 100 feet out of the box. In close quarters, these splat ammo do exactly that- any poor target will definitely feel them, and they make quite the mess (My apartment walls and floor is covered in white paper residue..) as well as a nice little welt to remind them to get out of the way next time:) There's a definite reason why the blasters all come with protective eye wear in the box- even if the ammo is soft, it still wouldn't tickle to cop one in the eye.

How good is the Shadow Hawk? It definitely fires the humble spitwad further than ever possible before, and it looks fantastic to boot. We love the way it feels in hand, and it's an impressive bit of kit, both in design and aesthetics.
The lack of trigger- we understand, but in this particular blaster we really could have done with one. I just couldn't get the accuracy I wanted with the springloaded mechanism alone; with a blaster like the Terrornator I didn't really care about single shot accuracy as it's all about crazy rapid fire fun, but with a sniper styled design like the Shadow Hawk has, I really wanted to get that "one shot one kill" sort of accuracy. Instead I just ended up rapidly pulling back on the cocking mechanism and did my best to shower my target with splat ammo instead.

The Shadow Hawk has a firing mechanism that does really feel like a sniper rifle, and for ours, is not really the best for fast and furious battles with friends. We found the Terrornator easily outclassed the Shadow Hawk in crazy kitchen skirmishes, although the Shadow Hawk is much better suited from the top balcony and scaring off pigeons, as we very quickly discovered with glee:) It's really a case of "fit for purpose"- if it's a long distance sniper rifle you want, the Shadow Hawk owns it hands down. With patience and practice, you'll probably get the accuracy you need- although for mine- I'm all about the rapid fire craziness of the Terrornator:)

*note- more pics were taken at the time, but seem to have gone missing in the blogger image library- I'm looking for them now as I write this!

24 comments:

  1. I don't agree, I get pretty decent accuracy from it. It's awesome in distance too. A real sniper rifle that isn't just for show like the shitty Nerf Longstrike.

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  2. I got one from Target in Melbourne. They're so cool but need a trigger

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  3. Hey, Pocket, can the Terrornator take the clip from the Shadow Hawk? Thanks, mate.

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  4. "by having a trigger, it would reduce the power"

    Wait what? That makes utterly no sense, if anything a trigger would increase the power, as the plunger release is cleaner and faster.

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  5. Man, I have got to find one of these things Stateside! I've been planning to modify one to M3 LDTSR standards, but apparently, all I will need to do will be add a trigger mechanism- probably end up using the back end of my friend's broken Recon and an Orrange full-metal catch plate. Of course, some sort of coumpound pull mechanism that would allow me to pull it back and then hold tension easier until I can get the shot would also work. Whatever I do, it will still replace my AT for long-distance work... especially if it's possible to keep those darn pigeons from pooping on cars... MUAHAHAHAH!

    Long story short: AAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWW YEAAAAAHHHH!

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  6. Great review! While I understand why there isn't a trigger on these, they could've at least put a catch for the front grip and had a trigger release that. Regardless, it wouldn't be that tough of a mod to put in a trigger mechanism like that. Too bad about that flimsy bi-pod though.

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  7. I love my Shadow Hawk- our local Target is said to have the crossbow soon too so I'll be getting that too. Max Force rocks

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  8. The official word from Jakks:

    "The short answer is that using pump action technology rather than a trigger, it actually increases the kinetic energy causing it to shoot
    further (although decreasing its accuracy)."

    Given the fact I failed high school science I have no idea what that means, but it sounds about right:P

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  9. Big W Sale had the Shadow Hawk and Maximizer and a cool bandolier that stores the ammo and clips. I got two. I think these'll be much cooler in the summer when we can play outdoors and not freeze our t#ts off..

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  10. my name is matt i have the shadow hawk 100 have added a trigger and some extra springs it did not reduce power it is more powerfull and more accurate

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    1. my name is also matt, any chance you can email me on how you made the trigger system? mine all fail :( - its m.kearnsycool@hotmail.com

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  11. I'm pretty sure the lack of trigger is to comply with Australian firearms legislation.

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  12. matt, could you show us how you added a trigger to the Shadow hawk 100?

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  13. i worked out that you can use a Rollie cigarette filter (Slim) with a nail in it for Ammo!!!!
    Works really well if you can get the nail in straight!!

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  14. Check out you tube for some trigger mods as there are a couple of different concepts. You can also add to the weight of the pellets by chopping the tops and gluing a 3mm bb. They go though 2 sheets of cardboard and are allot more accurate. Nerf darts could easily be made for this but would need weight as they would have to be quite small but i actually prefer non reusable ammo so i don't have to go looking for it.

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  15. no trigger, wierd but i think nerf made something without a trigger. it looks like the whiteout longstrike. who made these first nerf or maxforce?

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  16. "Wait what? That makes utterly no sense, if anything a trigger would increase the power, as the plunger release is cleaner and faster. "

    Instead of just "letting go" as the instructions suggest, or "releasing" with a trigger mod, both of which rely solely and completely on the strength of the (not so strong) spring, you can actually PUMP the lever forward with your arm while holding onto it, using a jerking motion. You can instantly feel how much more force you can impart using this method.

    So unless you were going to replace the springs as well as add a trigger, there's NO WAY you're getting nearly as much force relying on the stock springs compared to the pumping technique.

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  17. For the record, there are safety regulations regarding "stored energy" and a trigger mechanism. So basically a manufacturer could make these with triggers and they could be just as powerful or more so but would fail to pass these safety measures. I don't want to reveal what exactly I do but I work in the toy industry. Trust me, I wanted these to have a trigger just as much as the next guy but I honestly find the different mechanisms to be fun, especially on the Terrornator. The Shadowhawk is the only one I feel looses some of its functionality. With that said, I've seen it modded and it works great!

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  18. Should I get the shadowhawk or terronator?

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    1. It all depends. If you are the kind of person that likes to surprise your enemies and hit them without them knowing from far off, then the Shadow Hawk is yours. Though if you wanna go for the full-on ambush and douse your enemies with "spit-balls," than the Terrornator is for you. The Terrornator is 85 ft. and the shadow hawk is 100 ft. In the US, the Terrornator is $10 more. I more of a sniper man and I like ranges, so I'd pick the Shadow Hawk, plus it's cheaper. Your pick.

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  19. Cccmaster how much to make a trigger for me? I'd pay I want one so bad

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  20. I believe that The MAx Force series is MUCH better than Nerf. It is the step up from Nerth. None of the nerf blasters compare to the distance of the Shadow Hawk. I like the idea of biodigradable ammo. You can wrap a BB pellet in a pice of tissue paper enough to fit in the clip when wet, and now you have another type of ammo wich shoots just as far and further.And if shooting into a boc you can retrieve ur bbs, wrap them in paper, and use them again! :) HOpe this helps

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  21. I like the Max force series because of the insane ranges that the blasters can reach! Fair enough there is no trigger, but still a great sniper Rifle!

    Great review Urban Taggers. :)

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