Special Projects
Phoenix Rising – The ARES G36c from the ashes
The story of a Rebuild Bargain

PART THREE – Rise of the PHOENIX
The mission is clear, A high end AEG for little cash!

You should now have a working AEG, NOW how to IMPROVE it.



So It’s Assembled
We now have the AEG assembled, checked and in full working order. So lets look at ways to improve the AEG ready for use in a CQB environment at my local site SWAT Urban Area51.

SWATS CQB site is located at Shotton Nr Chester and is a great mix of open spaces and tight multifoor buildings with long corridors, stair cases with some areas pitch black requiring the use of torches and some areas best suited for pistols. Personally my preference is for a compact rifle and this G36c with its folding stock and ambidextrous controls is well suited to this varied environment.

A Bit of Modding
So we’ve assembled the AEG and we’ve proven it can be used at a skirmish, but there are some jobs to do on the exterior of our prize.
First port of call is that missing selector switch. There are a couple of options available to us, buy new from a shop if you can find them in stock or hunt around the various airsoft forums for parts.
I started off posting in the Wanted Sections of forums like ZEROIn and Arnies but with little success. So I widened my search to old threads of broken up G36's again with little success but on an off chance I had a quick check of Ebay and touched lucky by finding a new TM G36 left hand selector auction that had just started. I agreed a "Buy it Now" price with the seller and a week later the part arrived and took all of 30 seconds to fit to the gun.

Examining the AEG it looked naked with only 1 rail under the hand guard and due to AREA51 having pitch black area's I knew it needed a torch attachment at the very minimum. So started the hunt for a rail system and lucky for me came across the Guarder rails in a set that had never been used and was still sealed, up for sale at £7, bargain, as shops are selling this very set for £20+ in the UK.

Once the rails got here I started fitting them and the 2 side units went on with little effort but the bottom rail was a little smaller, I had to use a Dremel with an old drill bit to make 1 of the fitment holes longer with a bit of ‘bodging’ but the work only took seconds and once the rail was fitted you could not tell it had been modded.

Accessorize!
Now with the rails in place, I needed a torch and mount, so I have picked the King Arms off-set torch mount for this gun due to its quick detach facility. Also the angle is great for using just my thumb to control the torch and the look & finish of this unit is far superior to others of this type including the clone. I am not using a pressure switch with the torch as I am not keen on wires all over the place and I can swap the torch easily between rails and AEG’s as required.

Next up back to Ebay and found a cheap Cree 300lm compact torch with feature's such as high power and strobe again for the grand price of £7. It’s a nice looking torch and is just the right size for the G36c. I have placed the torch on the left hand side so I can use my thumb to control it. PLEASE CHECK with your site and people you airsoft with BEFORE using a Strobe type torch.
I will not planning on using any type of laser or optic on this gun as I prefer to use iron sights.

This AEG is fully working and is now in a good skirmishable condition and available for use in anger!

Next we will look at Internal Upgrades....

Catch up with previous posts in this series:
Phoenix Rising Announced
Phoenix Rising PART ONE - Spotting the Bargain
Phoenix Rising PART TWO - The Build
Phoenix Rising PART FOUR - The Phoenix Strikes
Phoenix Rising PART FIVE - Player Feed back - the final installment


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This Article & pictures are copyright 2011 by Yossers Airsoft Odyssey © and John Williams and may not be be copied or reproduced without permission. You may link to this page.