As everyone knows using a TW gets you the girls, other men envy you,
pregnant woman go into labour in your presence and you could have joined
a leet SF unit but your dear old mum has a bad back and you couldn't
leave her to fend for herself whilst you traveled the world killing bad
guys.
One of the downsides of the TW platform, up to this date,
has been the high price. The original PTW is over £1100, the CTW is in
the £600-£800 quid range and this is just for a standard model. When you
want to make it unique with your own different rails, grip, etc then
the price soon rises even more.
There has been rumours for a
while about a Far East built TW and a company called G&D have now
started selling a TW platform for around the £200 mark. Add postage and
UK custom fees and it comes in at around £300. (seriously HM government
did you really need to charge me £58 quid to allow it onto these fair
shores?).
I'm going to do this review in two parts:
Part 1 will be how it looks, fires, mag compatibility and build quality
Part 2 will be compatibility with the other TW platforms.
So let's get some pictures chucked in here as I know everyone loves pictures.
this
is what you get when you open the plain brown box with a simple label
attached. The only other thing in the box is a unjammer/mag loader
thingy. The unjammer is probably the most funky coloured one I have
seen, The picture below doesn't really do the colour justice. Let's just
say that if you drop it you won't have much trouble finding it from 50
meters away.
It
would have been nice to have a allen key/hop adjuster, manual and
instructions in the box but sadly there isn't. So if you need to adjust
the hop then you will need a systema one or a allen key the right size.
Build quality:
it's
really well put together, nothing loose, rattling or hanging off. All
the parts a painted in a nice matt black paint which seems good.
Flash hider -
steel -14mm flash hider held on with a 1.5mm allen grub (actually
5/64's but a 1.5mm will work). Being -14mm it allows you to stick on
whatever AEG flash hider you have in mind.
Outer barrel - Aluminum
one piece outer barrel. The style is M4 unlike most TW's which come
with a M4A1 style barrel. Well made and rock solid into the upper
receiver.
receiver furniture - mostly cast from a non magnetic metal apart from the dust cover, flash hider and receiver pins.
Fore grips - young
gifted and black...sorry got that tune stuck in my head. They are black
plastic and look like AEG hand guards and not like TW hand guards.
nothing wrong with them and i think most people will probably chuck them
for some sort of RIS rail.
Front sight - well made, fits well and looks to be made of aluminum.
delta ring - outer is aluminum and the spring and C clip are steel.
Pistol grip - black plastic and again remind me of an AEG pistol grip. It is TW spec and will only fit on a TW platform so AEG grip won't fit.
Upper and lower receiver -
These seem well cast and the trades are nicely done. Added to the fact
that they are more realistic than the PTW and CTW is a bonus and you
don't have to buy a more accurate receiver to get rid of the PTW/CTW
trades. There is a very small bit of play between the upper and lower
but not really noticeable. If it annoys the buggery out of you then a
Magic pin will be your friend.
Stock pipe - solid, black and not TW spec. PTW stocks won't fit, AEG stocks fit but have a little play. (EDIT - PTW stocks will fit but are really tight)
Stock - I've
left the stock to last as it's good and bad. It fits solidly onto the
stock pipe and has no play at all. Slides nice and smooth and is
finished in a nice black plastic colour. Again it reminds me of a AEG
stock but it's not the best design for me.
As you can see in the
picture below the stock comes apart in 3 pieces. fitting a battery is
possible but not the easiest thing in the world. If you have a crane
stock battery then it's probably fine (i'll check out the inner diameter
to see if a crane stock battery fits). Fitting a LIPO involved removing
the stock, putting the LIPO into the stock pipe, fitting the stock over
the battery, fitting the Tamiya connectors and LIPO balance plug down
the sides of the crane stock, fitting the stock wedge back on and then
putting the butt pad back on.
This
normally wouldn't be a problem as I would just swap to a different type
of stock but the stock pipe isn't MIL spec or AEG spec and lives
somewhere in between. A PTW/CTW stock won't fit the stock pipe and an
AEG stock will fit but with a bit of play. Normally a bit of black
electrical tape on the stock pipe would sort this bit I'd need quite a
bit of tape to sort out the wobble. The only stock that seemed to fit
well was a G&P L119A1 style stock.
Here's a few more pictures of the TW.
I'm not going to strip the cylinder and hop yet (later tonight). This is
just a quick look at the cylinder, hop and barrel and the externals of
the gearbox.
The Cylinder is blue anodised and well built.
Actually really well built. I'm liking it a lot and until I take it to
bits and find it full or problems then I'm saying that it's a good
cylinder. The nozzle has very little play, very much like a PTW
cylinder, and fires consistently (more on this a little later).
The
Hop unit and inner barrel is a mixed bag to be honest but the important
thing is that it works. The inner barrel is brass and has the same taper
inside the barrel as a Systema 2012 barrel which is a nice feature. The
hop unit looks a bit roughly cast as you can see in the pictures but as
I just said it works so I can't really complain about how rough the
outer casting looks.
The
gearbox looks to be of good quality and sounds and fires fine. I'll
take it apart later to have a look inside to see if it's full of monkey
metal and spiders. I did notice that one of the gearbox screws was
missing from mine but it hasn't effected performance in the slightest.
I'll pop one in there just to be on the safe side.
Ok
that's it for build quality. My opinion is that it's a well put
together TW with a few minor gripes (annoying stock and missing screw).
It very much reminds me of an AEG. What I mean by that is the build and
feel reminds me of a G&P or TM SOPMOD M4 and doesn't have the same
feel as a PTW. This isn't a negative point just an observation. It can
be forgiven if it actually works like a TW...........
Ok on with the firing.
fitted
a LIPO 11.1V 1100Mah battery into the stock, Split the upper and lower
to check the gearbox was aligned, loaded the supplied DTW magazine with
110 blaster .2g bb's, inserted the mag, pressed the bolt release,
switched it to semi and pulled the trigger.......success!
every round fired in semi and auto bursts and the TW stopped when the mag was empty.
loaded the mag again and switched on the Chrono:
381
385
387
383
386
387
393
382
385
386
Average 385.5 FPS. I told you the cylinder was a good yin!
Next
I adjusted the hop to give the TW some hop effect. This dropped the FPS
to an average of 355 FPS. I don't have the ability to test out the
range or how good it was hopping but i'll test this out over the next
day or 2. I also want to have a look at the hop to see what's being used
to hop the BB. If needed I will mod the hop with a bit of super glue
and a larger rubber.
So after success with the supplied mag and I
stripped the mag to have a look at it as well. It seems to be a copy of
the Systema magazine and the only problem on mine is the base plate is a
bit loose. by bending the 4 tabs that hold it in place will sort this
out. The mag feels like a VANARAS one and is quite lightweight. Here's a
picture of the mag inners:
I
like the pins that DTW have used to keep the inner inside the outer.
Systema use roll pins which I'm not a big fan of and DTW use locking
pins which are easier to remove and seem to do a really good job.
next up was a magazine compatibility test. I have 4 different mag types here and I tried all 4.
the results are as follows:
DTW - works
Systema Shell with Vanaras inner - works and is slightly tight in the magwell
RAMPO Pmag shell with Systema inners (LW) - works
Celcius - works but very tight in the magwell and a drop of 10 FPS.
I used 110 blaster 0.2g bb's in the test and all the mags fed flawlessly.
Ok
that's it for now next up will be Part 2 but before I go I'm going to
say right now that for the price this is a very good TW. I might change
my mind when I open the gearbox and find the gears are made of cheese
but right now I think this is a very good, well made, cheap TW.
I'm going to split part 2 into 2 parts. I will have a look at the
electrics and gearbox tomorrow and tonight I have had a look at the
motor, hop unit and cylinder.
first thing first the cocking
handle isn't compatible with the other TW's. The DTW one is heavier,
missing the wings and a little bit longer than the other TW ones. I can
see that they saved a bit of cost by removing the wings as this saves
machining inside the upper receiver. The PTW/CTW cocking handles don't
fit inside the DTW upper as the DTW upper doesn't have the gap machined
for the wings.
It's not the end of the world if you loose or snap the DTW one as you can use a PTW/CTW one if you cut the wings off.
Moving
onto the hop unit and inner barrel. I have used the PTW naming
convention on the picture below so if you are reading this and get
confused about which part is which then just check out the photo.
A
PTW hop unit won't fit inside the DTW. A MDD and CTW hop unit will with
a bit of brute force. The reason for this is because the DTW outer
barrel has a 22mm cut out for the hop chamber base. the DTW hop chamber
base is 22mm, the CTW is 22.2mm and the PTW is 22.5mm. What this means
is that if you want to use a PTW hop unit then you will need to swap the
outer barrel for a systema one.
If you look at the picture below you
can't really tell there is much difference between the hop chamber
bases but after measuring them it turns out there is.
The
inner barrel diameter is 8mm whereas a PTW/VANARAS/CTW inner barrel
diameter is 10mm. This means that the chamber sleeve and inner barrel is
unique to the DTW barrel.
the Hop adjuster, roller packing and fit
pin are not PTW compatible. This is because the square inner barrel cut
which houses the hop adjuster is quite rough and the hop adjuster is
slightly larger than a PTW hop adjuster.
I don't know if it's easy to spot in the picture but the hop adjuster on the left is slightly larger.
to clear this part up slightly I will list the hop and barrel parts and say if they are PTW compatible or not.
Hop chamber base - not compatible as the PTW one is too thick
Chamber sleeve - not compatible as the DTW inner barrel is 8mm in diameter
hop adjuster - not compatible
roller packing - more on this below
fit pin - possibly
Inner barrel - the inner barrel along with the complete DTW hop unit does fit inside a PTW.
chamber packing - compatible
chamber packing base - compatible
air seal packing - compatible
adjuster cushion - compatible but looks like a AEG hop up bucking to be honest. It sits side on between the inner barrel and hop adjuster.
barrel key - compatible
If
you really don't want to use the DTW hop unit and inner barrel then the
best thing to do is replace the outer barrel with a
Systema/Celcius/Vanaras one and then the Systema hop unit will fit no
problem.
you might have noticed that the roller packing is really
thin, even compared to the older PTW roller packing. Once I get a chance
to test the hop effect and range I will decide if this needs replacing
with a thicker bit of rubber.
I'll also add here that it's not all
bad as the DTW hop unit works quite well. The airseal is good and
hopefully if there is a problem with the hop effect then replacing the
roller packing will sort it out.
Moving on to the cylinder we
have some good news. The DTW cylinder is 100% PTW compatible and very
well made. All the threads are a match and all the parts are
interchangable. the DTW piston is slightly tight on the PTW cylinder
sleeve but will loosen up with use.
The
only issue I had was my piston head guide was slightly loose and had to
be tightened up before it popped off and buggered the cylinder. (if you
buy one of these it's worth checking that it's tight).
I popped a
PTW cylinder into the DTW, using the DTW hop unit, and fired a couple of
mags with no problems. The FPS was constant and the gearbox handled the
M110 cylinder with no problems at all. It might be worth mentioning
here that a PTW cylinder will set you back £170 whereas if you buy the
DTW just for the cylinder you would end up with a whole TW spare for
just £30 quid more!!
Lastly tonight I had a quick look at the
motor. I'll be honest it's been a while since I buggered about with
magnets, E and M fields and all that 3 finger mumbo jumbo. all I can
tell is that the motor seems to be good enough to handle the 385 FPS DTW
cylinder with no problem. The trigger responce is as sharp as a PTW.
after firing around 1500 bb's now the gearbox still sounds fresh, the
motor doesn't seem to labour and rapid fire single shots work everytime.
conclusions for tonight are:
The
DTW is a very good TW. D&G have cut corners to save costs but so
far the cuts haven't stopped the DTW from performing well. It's not 100%
completely PTW compatible but this is only an issue if you want to put
Systema parts into the DTW and even then it's still possible to do but
you need to add a few more Systema parts.
I'll finish off tonight by
saying the the DTW has a real "pick me up and shoot me" feel. As I have
been mucking about today stripping it, trying differnet parts etc
everytime I have rebuilt it I've ended up firing a couple of mags
through it just for fun.
I had a look at the gearbox and electrics today. Some good news and some
bad news but to keep you in suspense I'll put the bad news nearer the
bottom. No sneak peeking!
when I stripped the gearbox out of the
lower receiver I noticed that I wasn't missing a screw in the gearbox,
as seen in the pictures earlier in the review, I'm actually missing 2
screws. Top tip if you buy one of these is to check that the gearbox is
actually screwed to the lower receiver.
Another cost saving cut by
D&G has been to swap the selector rack gear with a plastic one and
not a metal one that you would find in a CTW/PTW. The CTW/PTW ones do
fit and I imagine that the plastic one will wear down eventually. The
plastic is actually quite strong and should last a while as it's not
really under any real load.
I've put a PTW metal one next to the plastic one for comparison.
The
selector and all the little bits that hold it in place are a direct
copy of the PTW one. As you can see in the photo it uses a spring, ball
bearing and grub screw just like the PTW. The CTW is similar but doesn't
use the ball bearing and uses a wierd little thing instead.
Strangely
the bolt release differs from the PTW/CTW platform. The DTW has an
extra part which can be seen in the photo below. I think this extra part
is to help with the micro switch on top of the ECU being engaged when
you press the bolt release.
The
gearbox has now fired around 2000 bb's and hopefully the pictures below
will show how little wear, if any, there is on the moving parts in the
gearbox.
The
gears are all steel and for those that are interested the sun gear is 2
piece but seems really good quality. In fact the whole gearbox is good
quality and the gearbox casing is cast from a non magnetic material.
There is no wear on the gearbox sides which suggests that the shimming
is spot on. The gears move freely when the gearbox is removed and there
is very little lubrication inside the gearbox which is a good thing.
So
that's it for the gearbox. It seems well made, no noticeable wear,
Systema compatible and all round good egg. It's time to look at the
electrics.......
Removing the Mosfet from the stock uncovers the
longest wires ever! It looks like D&G are using one wiring loom for
all models. So if you get an M4 model you will end up with quite a bit
of extra wiring stuck inside the stock tube.
If
you are going to use a lipo in the stock tube then a bit of tidying of
the wires would be recommended. If you want you could chop some of the
wiring back and replace the 4 wire control cable with a Systema m4
length one.
The ECU looks very similar to the Systema 2008 model and you can see the 2 types in the picture below.
The
other circuit board in the DTW is the selector switch board which is
attached to the side of the gearbox. This board is used to select
between semi and auto. I haven't taken a picture of it as I couldn't be
bothered as it's tiny and I actually forgot!
Ok on to the bad news.....
The Mosfet and ECU aren't compatible with the PTW. If you use the Systema ECU with the DTW Mosfet this is the result.
After
the smoke had cleared I though "I know I'll stick a Etiny Mosfet in and
bob's your uncle". Sadly Bob wasn't your uncle as it refused to work. I
then tried a Systema Mosfet and again this didn't work. When you use
the DTW ECU and another type of Mosfet when you connect the battery the
gears spin without the trigger being pulled and the after a few seconds
the fuse pops. I thought it might be a polarisation problem but swapping
the motor wires around didn't work either.
On the plus side the selector switch board is compatible with the PTW/CTW.
So if you break or burn out a board on the DTW then you have 2 options:
Option 1 - try to get a new DTW board (I'm currently working on this and will let you know how easy it is to get spare parts)
Option
2 - replace the Mosfet and ECU with another brand. My suggestion would
be the Etiny Mosfet and ECU which will set you back £170
Just to clarify this wasn't the DTW breaking. This was me breaking the DTW.
For
the techie type people out there what actually happened was one of the
small logic chips burned out. I think it's called Y3 (printed on top of
the chip) but can't see as it has melted away. The chip is called Q2 on
the PCB. The PCB is manufactured by a Chinese company called JPQC and
the board looks to be manufactured on ther 2010/06/03.
So that's
pretty much the end of the review. Hopefully I will be able to get a new
Mosfet from D&G and get it back up and running and if not I'll
probably stick in a Etiny setup.
I did manage to have a bit of a play
around with the hop and range today before I destroyed it and I think
that adding a thicker rubber will help out as I had the hop turned out
quite a bit (remember TW hops are *albartroth* about face) and I wasn't
getting as much hop as I would expect. Until I get the new Mosfet I'm
unable to test this theory out and hopefully someone else will pick up
the challenge when they get their DTW.
My final conclusion:
is
it worth the money? yes it's a cheap TW which can be seen in the AEG
feel to it but it works well and is 90% compatible with other TW
platforms. Mine has fired about 2000 BB's in this review before I blew
it up (my fault not the DTW's) The gearbox shows no sign of wear and the
cylinder is good quality which means that it should work for a long
time. If you wanted to make it 100% PTW compatible then you would need
to replace the following parts:
Outer barrel
Inner barrel
chamber sleeve
Hop Chamber base
hop adjuster
ECU
Mosfet
Bolt release
If
you are new to the TW platform and decide to buy one of these then my
advise would be to leave it alone. Don't replace anything as it's a very
good TW out the box. I had pretty low expectations when I ordered this,
along with probably quite a few other TW users, however I have been
plesently surprised at just how good it is.
Now someone else go
buy one and see if the hop needs sorting and how to sort it so that when
I get mine back up and running it will save me the hassle!
Reviews by mightyjebus
