Ever since I bought Masterpiece Pro 1 more than a year ago, I had this idea of turning it into XML super-thrower… So instead of some 250 lumens how about 800 or even 1000 with about the same hotspot and about the same throw ??? I was hoping that the throw would be the same (and the beam profile as well)… we’ll see…
So after Solarforce offered L2T, I fell in love with that host body… Just perfect… I even stripped grip rings from my old Surefire Z2 so L2T can be even better for holding in hands (firmer rubber on both spacer and grip ring plus full round look on grip ring)… then S8 switch came along which was actually upgradeable with McClicky very easy… so final look of the host was this:
So next step once my senses were more than satisfied with final look, was to pull the whole head apart… disassemble was ultra easy and no need to destroy anything in the process…
First thing you notice is that the pill is made from pure aluminum and only 1mm thick on most parts of it… far away from a good heatsink… that’s the most challenging thing to upgrade here as not many people have access to lathe (but few spoilers how to get to one is to follow shortly)…
Basically we need to combine fully custom part of pill to be made and existing aluminum part… After some measuring up’n’down, the final look of pill (to be made from brass as it’s good enough for heatsinking, easily obtainable for me and extra easy for machining, compared to pure copper, not to mention surface oxidization of copper later on that would need some kind of electroplating to keep a good electrical contacts)… so final pill should look like this:
ATTENTION: SPOILER AHEAD !!! How to make this if you don’t have access to the lathe and never worked on one, like was case with me ??? Easy… get a case of beer (or L2P flashlight with custom made low-voltage module with 1-cell extension so it can run on 2xAA batteries) and get to SOMEONE who has a lathe… there is ALWAYS someone who has it… I knew like 2-3 people… spent few times in their workshop, made initial friendship with one, gave him my budget Solarforce with “200 lumens” XPG pill and he was relaxed enough to let me use his lathe (he is a gunsmith)… that was it… I had to promise I will be very careful, diligent with it and after 5 minute intro on safety on the machine, I was off into another creative world… one hour later that was what I came with… deliberately added 0.1 or 0.2 mm on few strategic parts that I could later sand off with sand paper for “perfect” fit… I was more than happy, he realized his lathe was safe in my hands (plus I had to help him with installing few optics on few rifles but that’s another story)…
So after mentioned sandpaper treatment and continuous measurements the final thing had to look like this (forgot to mention, in the process of creating brass pill, I cut the original below second notch with hacksaw and sanded flat so it can rest against new pill - aluminum parts serves as fixing ring for reflector in the head…
Notice that first pics had intact LED… shaving came after I noticed a doughnut hole in the beam pattern… Oh… the LED used is XML U2 1C 6700C that I stripped from Solarforce M3 head (hehehehe, break one good thing to make another)… it was perfect cool white color with no blue or greenish stuff in it… and after shaving, both of my shaved U2 1C’s from first gen XML kept rather beautiful color (compared to XML2 U2 1C that turned YELLOW after I shaved it but that’s another story)… so color temp moved slightly to neutral which I loved and beam profile improved completely… instead of a doughnut I have BRIGHT hotspot with some almost-impossible-to-notice darker spots in it… only beam dorks would see these on ultra-white wall and they are practically non-existant…
But the beam pattern had another issue… RINGS… like onion rings… so what to do ? XML had to be mounted deeper than XRE so majority of light is blocked by aluminum bottom of the reflector… what to do? Get exacto ss knife and slowly cut round and round to widen it (no sanding as I was afraid it would ruin reflector surface)… so I went from this to this:
So LED shaved, glued with AA to pill, KDv2 3.04A 3-mode/no-memory driver installed (pic might show setup for another mode sets as I was “experimenting” with what I would need/use on it), double AWG 26 wire runs to each side of LED… all firm and as robust as possible w/o filling gaps with arctic alumina - for future mods/upgrades…
So survived aluminum part of original pill gets screwed into head to hold reflector, pill got a spring (but didn’t have to as it fully makes contact with the body w/o having more than 0.1mm gap between head and body) and it just rest versus original aluminum part - once head is screwed all the way, everything is perfect fit and no movements inside even when brute force was used (hehehe)… all this so it can be easily upgraded later on (with XML2 as I believed but didn’t show up to be any upgrade from this setup)…
This is “business” end, as some people call it… the hole around the LED is big enough to see my amateur soldering job (had to solder/resolder LED 4-5 times while looking for perfect solutions but at the end replaced everything which looks much better but am too lazy to take newer pics, sorry)…
Also, tailcap was upgraded with McClicky - rather easy mod that gave me ease of mind with great and reliable switch with minimal resistance (when taken in count it being clicky switch)…
So… finally… all this blabbering is nothing without some beamshots… following ones taken were my FIRST ONES ever taken so I hope they live up to reputation… they do represent 99.9% of my eye see in real life…
Comparing modded TNT-MPP1 with original MPP1 and with Malkoff HoundDog XML, first gen…
Pic ONE: TNT-MPP1 XML on the LEFT … Malkoff HoundDog XML on the RIGHT
Pic TWO: TNT-MPP1 XML on the LEFT … Solarforce MPP1 XRE (original) on the RIGHT
The hotspot of upgraded MPP1 is tighter than Malkoff HD-XML and much more intense (3Amps vs. 2Amps/smooth vs. OP reflector)… compared with XRE MPP1 is little bigger but it does appear brighter (and MUCH NICER TINT, hehehe)… rings that somewhat exist in XRE MPP1 are almost non-existant in modded head and NO DOUGHNUT HOLE (MPP1 XRE HAS doughnut hole that’s noticeable when shining against monochromatic object from around 10+ yards… not easily noticeable but still there)…
There you go… I hope you enjoyed reading thru all this as partly as I enjoyed making this (and now using it whenever I have a chance which is hard - urban area all around and foggy/smog weather at night that cut the throw)… I measured confirmed 200 yards throw but waiting for clear weather and bigger clearing to measure full throw against reflective and non-reflective but bright color object and compared to same two throwers from above…