Angel (paintball)

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The Angel is an electropneumatic paintball marker manufactured by APS (formerly WDP). First introduced in 1997, the Angel, along with Smart Parts' original Shocker, defined the cutting edge of marker technology when it debuted.^[1] As one of the first electronic markers on the market, the first Angel featured firing rates (in terms of balls-per-second) well into the double digits - an achievement previously unheard of.^[2]

The Angel was initially distributed in the United States by Brass Eagle as the "1455 Angel Semi-auto", advertised with a rate of fire of 15 BPS (balls per second). This distribution deal with Brass Eagle was short lived, and WDP quickly began distributing the Angel independently. The Angel has since been modified and refined by WDP with many new models released. The most current model is the Angel 1.

1 History
2 Operation
3 Design Evolution
4 References
5 External links

[edit] History

The engineer responsible for the design of the Angel was John Rice.^[3] From conception, the Angel was designed as an "HPA-only" marker. Rice considered CO2 a "dirty gas", and the Angel used several miniaturized components that could not withstand impurities in the air or the cooling effects of CO2.^[4] Consequently, WDP released the Gov'nair high pressure air system at the time of the original Angel's release. In 2001 WDP released the Angel A.I.R. high pressure air system to be paired with the Angel line of markers. The system utilized an adjustable-pressure regulator featuring an LCD display system to monitor both tank and output pressures.

Trigger speed was also a determining factor in the design of the Angel. Much of the motivating force for designing the electronic firing sequence was to build a marker that anyone could shoot well, with an extremely short learning curve.^[5] The especially light trigger allowed even the most novice players to achieve rates of fire that were previously unattainable, even by many professionals. At the time, the development of an ultra-light trigger pull was unfamiliar territory to Angel designers, and early models of the Angel would fire when a light breeze accidentally activated the trigger.^[6]

[edit] Operation

The mechanical design of the Angel is very simple in principle, especially to those familiar with the markers predating the Angel. The linked bolt and hammer, stacked-tube design is very similar to low-end blowback markers, such as the Kingman Spyder. The solenoid 4-way valve (referred to a "14-way" by Angel engineer Rice^[7]) that drives the ram is an electronically-controlled version of the 4-way valves mounted to the front block of Autococker markers.

The firing sequence is electronically controlled, and starts from the open bolt. At the pull of the trigger, an electronic impulse trips the 4-way valve, pushing compressed gas through the ram from behind, forcing the ram and bolt assembly to move towards the valve, impacting the poppet and releasing gas to the chamber. The paintball is fired with this gas, then the 4-way solenoid reverses, and delivers gas to the front of the ram, returning the ram and bolt assembly to their starting position.

[edit] Design Evolution

Major Design Revisions (in chronological order of release):

Angel v6 (Pre-release prototype model)
Angel (Known today as the "Angel LED" to differentiate it from the subsequent Angel models which use an LCD programming interface)
Angel LCD
Angel IR3
Angel Speed 03 (First angel since LED to have a non LCD readout)
Angel Speed 04 (First model of the Angel to be Low pressure)
Angel 4
Angel 4 Fly (first model to have anti-chop eyes)
Angel Speed 2005 (first model to use 9v batteries)
Angel G7
Angel G7 Fly (barrel threading change to smaller threads and shaft. also a new key turn style roto breach instead of the old pull and turn style)
Angel Speed 2006 / GAT *private label version with different milling*
Angel One (barrel threading changes again, G7 Fly threads are still compatible, also first Angel to use a OLED display)
Angel One Fly

[edit] References

^ Angel Tech Page - Angel History at Ultra Twisted Paintball
^ Has Paintball Technology Reached a Plateau?, Mohammed S. Alo, April 2004, The Paintball Times
^ Angel Tech Page - Angel History at Ultra Twisted Paintball
^ Interview with John Rice, in Davidson, The Complete Guide to Paintball, Hatherleigh Press, New York. 1999
^ Interview with John Rice, in Davidson, The Complete Guide to Paintball, Hatherleigh Press, New York. 1999
^ Interview with John Rice, in Davidson, The Complete Guide to Paintball, Hatherleigh Press, New York. 1999
^ Interview with John Rice, in Davidson, The Complete Guide to Paintball, Hatherleigh Press, New York. 1999