Retrieved: 12/07/2013
Saw lots of South African R4/R5 AKs in District 9. Oddly, some had the cocking handles turned straight up, some at 45 degrees.
Also this thing, which appears to be a Vektor CR-21. Looks like the laser(?) thingie on the side covers the ejection port, though.
Somehow, white isn't a color I associate with military weapons...
TRX
09-13-2009
They're offshoots of the Israeli Galil, with the turned-up bolt handle and no rear sight block. The plastic guards are a bit different.
Plus, they were in a movie made in South Africa...
TRX
09-16-2009
I spent some time Googling "airsoft CR-21" and found a bunch of people wishing someone would make a CR-21, but I never found one for sale.
Hm. "When in doubt, ask." I just found Denel's web site mail thingy and asked them how much they'd want for a replacement shell for a CR-21.
TRX
09-23-2009
Some CR-21 info from ar15.com:
TRX
09-23-2009
Looks like it might have got hung up in a mailserver somewhere. Anyway, I got a reply:
[snip]
Dear Sir,
The CR-21 was only a development model and never in serial production and we therefore can unfortunately not help you.
Best regards
Francois du Rand
Executive Manager: Marketing
Denel Land Systems
Tel: +27 (0)12 620 3318
Cell: +27 (0)83 675 2542
[/snip]
TRX
06-04-2010
Some pictures that Pookie hasn't already collected for his web page:
TRX
06-04-2010
...and a few more:
There's remarkably little out there on the CR-21, and between here and pookieweb, these are all of the pictures in the googleverse. I've even haunted some South African fora and come up with bupkis.
After all this time I still don't know whether I love it or hate it. It's fugly, but close inspection reveals such careful attention to detail you have to admire the engineering. They took the opportunity to lower the barrel centerline in relation to the stock, to reduce climb in full-auto. The various mounting and latching mechanisms for the plastic stock are sturdy and well- thought-out. I like the cocking mechanism. Also notice the serrations between the pistol grip and magazine - that's apparently a handgrip near the center of balance.
There are some things I could nitpick - the stubby mag latch, the failure to move the selector forward, requiring use of the other hand to move it. I don't much care for the "organic" styling, and the optic looks like it was stuck on as an afterthought.
Left half, right half, topcover/buttpad - it basically comes down to three parts, plus the trigger and cocking bits, which are trivial. Too bad my modelmaking skills are so poor; if I had a full size model, I could make the necessary molds from it...
TRX
06-06-2010
Originally Posted by hcpookie
See now you're starting to see all the little things that make this more
than just a Galil bullpup conversion!
Yep. It wasn't obvious until I started looking at it more closely. It's not just another Valmet M-82 or Norinco Type 86S either! In fact, the Valmet looks noticeably primitive compared to the CR-21.
the movie
You know there's a sequel on the way, right?
I wonder if the armorer would sell any of the shells for "movie prop collector" purposes?
I don't know where to go looking for that sort of thing.
Even a short-term loan would work - it wouldn't take me long to make some quick plaster molds and get them on the way back to their owner. I'd be happy to put up a valid credit card number or cash deposit to ensure their safe return.
TRX
06-06-2010
So I paste the string in... "my hits runneth over..."
Good Lord! You can buy your own full-size Stargate Dial Home Device! Someone probably sells a full-size stargate, too...
I found several places selling replicas of the alien guns from District 9, but nobody with anything like the CR-21. [sigh]
TRX
01-05-2011
Originally Posted by hcpookie
I know the Halo game replicas are made from reverse-engineering the images
from the game into blueprints
I missed that, first time around. Then I was thinking about it this morning - I've seen some amazing zooms and transforms done with Photoshop. There are probably enough pictures out there for someone who knew what he was doing to generate a solid model... and then all you'd need would be to feed the .STL file to a gantry router to make the pattern.
All of the internal wotzis are beyond duplication, but a reasonable external shell could be made.
TRX
01-07-2011
Well, I have a CNC mill sitting right here to my left, with fancy software that'll turn a 3D CAD file into a solid part. I just don't have any graphics skills to turn a bunch of pictures into the solid model to feed to the mill.
I don't have enough X travel to do the full length of the body, but it should be possible to generate front and back half files and glue them together to make a pattern.
TRX
01-08-2011
Someone asked about converting a CR-21 back into an R4 here: Vector CR 21
It is possible, but the receivers have been machined with an extra hole to accommodate the cr21 trigger, which you need to close it somehow. Also the connection point of were the gas tube slide into the receiver have been machines down to an exceptionally thin rail, which can require reinforcement. Part you will require is a trigger, trigger guard-mag release, pistol grip assembly, folding stock assembly, R/LM Bolt carrier, Gasblock with front sight, Dust Cover with rear sights, Gas tube, Selector assembly, Forend Assembly and time. It’s much easier and cheaper to buy a LM than converting the CR21.
Also found a comment elsewhere to the effect that Vektor was trying to persuade the South African government to convert existing R4s and R5s to CR-21 configuration when/if they came back to the arsenal for service. Didn't sound like that was going to fly, though.
90% of the CR-21 hits I get are from airsoft people asking when a CR-21 airsoft is going to hit the market. Seems like the airsoft makers aren't interested, though.