I built this marker during the summer of 2010 as a preliminary concept prototype for the new Zealot platform. At the time the marker was known by a different name, Kelevra or K1 for short, but eventually the design was changed to its current name of Zealot.
This marker was one of the first that I fabricated from start to finish on my own. Previous to this, I had built specific items like bolts and other internals, modifications to bodies, upgrade frames, and other parts. Additionally, lots of those items were outsourced to other shops. When it came time to fabricate this marker from the ground-up, we needed to make 30+ components in total. As a result there was a lot of learning and experimentation along the way; I worked with an associate of mine and together we manufacturered 4-5 prototypes in the end. Some items were different between the prototypes, but much of the overall design was the same.
Fabrication:
Much of the marker was made using a Haas SuperMiniMill that can be seen in several of my youtube videos. This machine was very capable of doing the job however the work envelope is relatively small, so large components like the bodies were made using a larger Haas VF2 instead. I later purchased this very same VF2 secondhand, and use it for plastic parts production as of 2013 (at the time of this writing)
Lathe components were made on the same Okuma LC20 lathe that we had recently purchased to manufacture the TAS 4B bolt kit. Some of the items were the same between the Quest 4B bolt and the Zealot bolt, so many tools were re-used between them.
Ultimately I had the markers anodized burnt orange (seen below). We embedded several pictures into an investor relations presentation, but the images were leaked onto the internet afterward. Each and every picture you see of the orange markers were photos I personally took (the markers are lying on my driveway). I never took the time to watermark the images because I didn't think they would see the light of day.
You can see the triggers from this series marker being cut in this video here:
Later, this marker evolved into its next iteration, version 2.28. As the fabrication process continued for the v1.19 markers, the design was continuously shifting around to make light of new goals and features. An ancillary goal was also to simplify the production process. The most important aspect of these orange v1.19 markers was indeed the manufacturing, although they also served to test features of the 4B bolt and other components that would carry forward.