I saw this gun and my jaw just dropped at it. I see the term "custom" thrown around all over the paintball world used for any gun with a few aftermarket parts slapped on it, but this is one I will call custom. The previous owner had pretty much kept it as a showpiece, and it joins the aurora in that capacity as part of the collection. I have aired it up, but it won't see much if any paint. This gun was given out as the grand prize at the “Viper Scenarios - Projekt: Raven” 24-hour scenario at Lawrence, Kansas in May of 2000 and I acquired it from the owner through eBay, this was simply something I couldn't pass up even though my gun budget was stretched past breaking.

The annoing was done by Piers Wiggett at PK Selective, which appears to have the sister design to this on their splash anno page. Those of you unfamiliar with PK selective should know that it was THE place to have your gun annoed throughout the 90's; nearly any high end anno was done by them. They pioneered splash and graphic annoing including the thunderstruck anno. Since then, they made the decision to raise their prices almost double of what they had been, having made the decision they were getting more orders then they reasonably could handle. This is what can only be considered one of the ultimate expressions of anodizing art by a virtually unknown legend behind the scenes and I would like Piers to get some of the credit he deserves that normally goes just to the air smiths. The estimated value of having the anno done is probably well in excess of the lightening anno's $900 price tag, although an inquiry to PK wouldn't even get me the price, only the statement "this anno is no longer offered".

The milling and assembly was done by Brad Q Nestle of Paintbal Maxx. I really don't see a lot of mention of Brads work until relatively recently, despite his being an active airsmith for many years cranking out some very nice pieces including the sniper SHO series. I had the opportunity recently to meet Brad in person and really enjoyed chatting with him. He said he built perhaps four or five of these for Viper, so there should be a few more floating around out there. I am planning to send him something to be made into a stock class sniper, then again since he seems to not be feeling as challenged anymore, maybe I'll just order something a little more..intersting.

Performance wise, this isn't a total hot rod, its a relatively stock cocker with few performance enhancements; that’s really alright though because this is a defiantly a show piece. Despite the stock parts, I was amazed when I aired it up. The trigger is smooth and fast, and I would not at all be uncomfortable taking it into a game were it not for the anno. The milling on it is first rate and unique, though the pictures do a poor job of showing it; perhaps with better lighting the milling will show better. The anno is absolutely stunning, and no picture can do it credit. The detail on some of the planets has more colors then most high-end complete anno's. I count somewhere on the order of 15-20 distinct colors not counting fades and blends used on this gun. the green planet on the left side has multiple shades of green and is faded into the black eclipse. Yes, you can actually see the portion of each planet missing just as if it was shadowed. The right side purplish planet has no less then 6 distinct colors forming rainbows over the planets surface and like the other planet's is expertly shadowed with the complete planet visible on close inspection. The pictures make it look somewhat dull, but in person it has an almost metallic glint.