"kraken" builds
 

alot of people start off with a kraken ak or a variant of the CYMA ak. the trend i'm seeing is ppl upgrade the gun soo much that they're not even close to being a kraken. i.e(complete wood kit, metal body, custom gearrboxes,metal front, TB...etc) which brings to me the question if the initial kraken platform was ever needed at all..since the original kraken parts are now rendered useless, andif one were to completely rebuild a gun with parts from various other manufacturers, they might as well build the gun from scratch...just my 2 cents..

The reason people do that is because its tolerances allow for those upgrades and is a reasonably cheap platform to start from. People that get a TM AK or Real Sword etc stick with the stock parts until they break and then go ahead and get upgrade parts. You can do the same with the Kraken but the parts are so cheap that the chances of them breaking are allot higher.

The kraken is more or less a 3d instruction manual + a complete set of the screws that tend not to come with 3rd party parts.

straight to the point. i guess it can be a testing platform for ppl who want to take apart their guns without ruining their Main AEG. Still i don't think it justifies the $150 pricetag :smile:

By all means if you have the screws and can maybe source some hard to find bits or pieces, go for it.

I custom built my AKM from scratch, bought the receiver here, front end there, outer barrel there, and so forth for every piece (mind you Ia person usually had a part or 2, or 3)

In the end, I partially wish I bought the Cyma AKM, and just had at it from there.
Would have saved time and money.

If you really want to, then sure I don't see why not.

i don't see a problem if they get the normal version of the kraken. it's just its a total waste of time and money when they start getting the clear/OD version, since everything is going to the garbage after the upgrades.

nope, you are totally right here. Buying a platform in itself is not necessary at all.

While it's not necessary to start with a whole gun for a build, there are points to take into account. Angelus hit one great point that its already got all the screws and little bits and bobs that are extremely difficult to buy for an airsoft AK. Guns like MP5s and Armalites are pretty simple. There are no small screws, etc that are needed, and all the pins and such that hold everything together either come with the receiver or are easily available.

Another point is that not everyone has the cash to spring for a $500+ of parts right off the bat. And moreso, a noob with all those loose parts wouldn't know what to do with them anyway. Starting with a cheap platform like the Kraken allows one to have a useable gun right away, and upgrade it over time as they see fit and can afford. At the end of the journey and several hundred dollars later, there might be very few, if any, of the original Kraken parts left in the gun. But it could end up bring a quality piece that will put a stock TM to shame.

So by spreading out the expenses over a period of time, the owner now has a high quality gun that he wouldn't have been able to afford at one time, and still was able to play with it the whole time he owned it. To me, that's where the real value of these cheaper guns is.

i built a very reliable ak out of a kracken... runs on lipo perfect and stopped counting the rounds on it... custom mechbox, metal body/front end, wood kit, tightbore barrel, new rubber , and believe me or not, i had NO tolerance issues on mine

it ended up looking like this (old pic it now have "experience" on it... lol took many dives into sand pits LOL)

http://i426.photobucket.com/albums/p...ol/test014.jpg


this it the same ak in the "action commando indoor field setup" lighting is very poor at that field... thats why the red dot and 700 lumen flashlight LOL and yes i know, wrong mag

http://i426.photobucket.com/albums/p...l/IMG_7288.jpg

haha, ncie gun lemegacool.

do you have a MOSFET in there? it's very essential for V3s, I burned both trigger contacts into complete carbon material using a lipo hahaha(That was on a kraken.).

My Kraken is still treating me well 2 years on, with just a few upgrades, tightbore, new spring, metal bushings.
The plastic body is getting a bit sloppy and maybe time for a metal body, but I'm sure it was still cheaper even considering the upgrades... but I got to learn HOW to upgrade. As people have mentioned above, the Kraken is nice to learn from. Cheap and compatible.

Alot of people aren't financially able to get a TM or whatever, so they buy a cheap kraken, they play with it for a while until they decide they dont like the plastic feel, so they upgrade to a metal body, a little bit down the road they decide they want real wood kit so they buy one.

By this time, they internals might have started to fail from use, so they buy better internal parts and install them, now spread out over a few months this can be very economical for someone with a limited budget as they can do little bit by little bit

thanks!

no mosfet yet... i should really kick my ass and order a shitload of mosfets off digikey... arrrgh i have too much fun hobbies i miss time! lol

Only problem I've had with the recent krakens is that top tier V3 cylinder heads do not like them.

It's a problem with every Cyma V3, they reinforce the gearbox too much to allow for the over-hang part of the cylinder head... Nothin' a dremel and a diamond cut-off wheel can't take care of... but it's a bit of a pain in the ass to have to spend 15 minutes cutting a chunk off of a cylinder head when it should just work perfectly the first time.

Ya I had to do this too for a Modify cylinder head lol