milkyspit
Flashlight Enthusiast
A while back Skalomax requested a special build, something unique to him. It became his favorite light and possibly the one he's kept in his possession for the longest amount of time before selling. 
The Skalamander was born!
Skalomax' thread on the original Skalamander is over here.
Fast forward to present... Skalomax has long since sold the Skalamander, come to miss it, and wanted another... but this time we kick it up a notch. Since the old one used McR16 reflectors and those fit into the KL2 head nicely, this time we of course needed to push the envelope a little further. So, after some lathe work, custom lower-profile heatsink fabrication (in copper no less!), and a bunch of very delicate fitting of everything together, the Skalamander II has been born. May I proudly present the first baby photos!
Skalamander II in her baby blanket... er, nestled in some springtime magnolia leaves.
The McR18 reflectors in the light will NOT fit a stock KL2 head... but it occurred to me that with a little fiddling, they could be coaxed into the thing. The head needed its inner diameter increased AND I needed to come up with some additional vertical space inside, as the McR18 is also taller than the usual McR16 in this sort of build. Why go to the trouble? McR18 reflectors will give the light additional throw that's simply not possible with the smaller McR16 reflectors, while still maintaining the smooth hotspot-to-sidespill transition that's come to characterize this particular series.
Already climbing trees!
The heatsink sits lower in the head and is somewhat smaller than usual. To compensate, I fabricated a solid copper heatsink to rest on the central bulkhead inside the light. This reduced physical space for the circuitry so assembly was particularly delicate.
The baby body.
The modified KL2 head rests on an M2C adapter and C2C 1x18650 body, both by Leef... and the tail is an SW01-like standup clicky tailcap recently produced by RPM. Anodize match between parts is particularly impressive given that these pieces came from THREE different sources. IMHO this is one of the more elegant combos of SureFire parts out there! Me likes.
Using this parts combo, the light will run fine, in full, ruler-flat regulation on 1x18650, 1x17670, 2x123 primary, or 2xRCR123 cells.
Standing!
Thanks to the RPM tailcap, this light can tailstand... and the fins offer a widened base for greater stability. The body is also a nice diameter to hold and the tailswitch serves like the knob of a baseball bat to keep the hand from sliding off the end. The body, being 1 inch diameter, is also sized well for weapon mounting if one might be so inclined.
That's about it for now... maybe Skalomax could chime in once he receives his new light.
The Skalamander was born!Skalomax' thread on the original Skalamander is over here.
Fast forward to present... Skalomax has long since sold the Skalamander, come to miss it, and wanted another... but this time we kick it up a notch. Since the old one used McR16 reflectors and those fit into the KL2 head nicely, this time we of course needed to push the envelope a little further. So, after some lathe work, custom lower-profile heatsink fabrication (in copper no less!), and a bunch of very delicate fitting of everything together, the Skalamander II has been born. May I proudly present the first baby photos!
Skalamander II in her baby blanket... er, nestled in some springtime magnolia leaves.
The McR18 reflectors in the light will NOT fit a stock KL2 head... but it occurred to me that with a little fiddling, they could be coaxed into the thing. The head needed its inner diameter increased AND I needed to come up with some additional vertical space inside, as the McR18 is also taller than the usual McR16 in this sort of build. Why go to the trouble? McR18 reflectors will give the light additional throw that's simply not possible with the smaller McR16 reflectors, while still maintaining the smooth hotspot-to-sidespill transition that's come to characterize this particular series.
Already climbing trees!
The heatsink sits lower in the head and is somewhat smaller than usual. To compensate, I fabricated a solid copper heatsink to rest on the central bulkhead inside the light. This reduced physical space for the circuitry so assembly was particularly delicate.
The baby body.
The modified KL2 head rests on an M2C adapter and C2C 1x18650 body, both by Leef... and the tail is an SW01-like standup clicky tailcap recently produced by RPM. Anodize match between parts is particularly impressive given that these pieces came from THREE different sources. IMHO this is one of the more elegant combos of SureFire parts out there! Me likes.
Using this parts combo, the light will run fine, in full, ruler-flat regulation on 1x18650, 1x17670, 2x123 primary, or 2xRCR123 cells.
Standing!
Thanks to the RPM tailcap, this light can tailstand... and the fins offer a widened base for greater stability. The body is also a nice diameter to hold and the tailswitch serves like the knob of a baseball bat to keep the hand from sliding off the end. The body, being 1 inch diameter, is also sized well for weapon mounting if one might be so inclined.
That's about it for now... maybe Skalomax could chime in once he receives his new light.
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