Nerf Gun Props? YES!

JohnsonArms

Very nice job. I've got enough parts now that I think I'll be doing more mash-ups akin to this. Well done

Hypercats

You should. Start looking at attaching more pieces to guns that aren't already too busy visually, and isolate and emphasize all the different parts on the guns that already have a lot going on. Like this one from the above article:

Tyxlaog

Man, looking at all the other ones on this page makes me want to redo the NERFs that I've already modified. Over the last month I'd been taking various NERF guns and spay painting them a flat black, then adding detail with gold and silver rub n' buff on finger tips. Compared to the ones up here however make them look mediocre. I'll just have to keep practicing.

I found this website while listening to Monday's episode of Backyard FX where Zack mentioned that this was a community that he got inspiration and advice from. I can certainly understand why.

I'll post images of a few of what I've got before the redo when I get a chance.

Soulinertia

Excellent thread!

champjb25

a tutorial on weathering would be great

JohnsonArms

Thats really cool, RPF has been a great place for me to meet folks interested in the same stuff I enjoy. I started this particular thread in January and I'm still inda shocked that there's over 50 thousand views already. All the other great pieces give me a fresh perspective on guns that I've become very familure with, which is a great thing. Helps me to try new color schemes

JohnsonArms

Thanks! Glad you're enjoying it!

JohnsonArms

What I'm up to this weekend...











Just getting the prep out of the way, but I should be moving right along on these this coming week. I've also got another halo-esque stampede in the works that should be done by the end of the week as well. Fun stuff!

Hope all you fathers are having a great day!

Max Replica

I just finished my first Nerf repaints. I figured I would post them here instead of starting a new thread. Hope that's okay.
There's nothing all that original with these, I'm just imitating the great work I'd seen done by others. But they were fun to do and I'm happy with the way they turned out.
I've got several more in the works...

The first thing I did was to sand off all of the Nerf logos and the "made in China" text, etc. To me, those logos really distract from an otherwise nice repaint. Then I filled in all of the screw holes with epoxy, since those holes tend to give away a toy vs. real gun. Some people don't want to do this since it means you basically can never open up the gun again to do repairs or mods. But for me, these guns are visual props first and Nerf second, so I didn't mind.
(This pic is of my Vulcan all sanded and patched as an example. More pics of that gun when I finish it.)
Attachment 56709
This is the epoxy I use. (It's from Home Depot). Along with it are two of the paints I used - Duplicolor grey primer and Duplicolor black primer (I also tried out the flat black Krylon Fusion but didn't really like it).
Attachment 56708
My first gun was a Nerf Recon. I've seen extended barrels on these and like the look of it, so I decided to make myself a Recon sniper rifle. For the longer barrel, I found a threaded piece of pipe at the hardware store that happened to fit perfectly. I was actually able to screw the threaded end in to the end of the recon barrel, screwing it in to the plastic so that I didn't need to use glue or anything. For the business end of the barrel, I found a slightly larger piece of pipe that I was able to fit over it the other one. There was a bit of a gap between them, but I filled this in with epoxy on both ends, which also held the end onto the barrel. The plastic piece was tapered with threads so I used a dremel tool to sand down the threads a bit and make them less obvious.
Attachment 56695
Once the barrel was in place, I realized I liked the look of the gun better if I extended the magazine down. So I glued it in that way. At this point the gun is no longer usable for Nerf, but that's okay. I prefer the way the extended mag looks. I sprayed the whole thing with flat black primer:
Attachment 56699
Next, it was time for some silver dry brushing to give it a weathered look. I may have overdone it a bit on the weathering, but here's the finished gun:
Attachment 56701Attachment 56702Attachment 56703
For my second gun, I did a Nerf Longshot. I basically left this one as it was out of the box with no mods (but I chose not to add that second pistol grip on the front barrel, or the spare magazine in the stock). So this one is still fully nerf fucntional.
As before, I started with a coat of flat black. Then, I carefully masked off all the areas I wanted to keep black and sprayed it with some grey primer. (I'd seen some two-toned paint schemes like this on other Longshots and really liked the look).
Attachment 56696
Here it is after the two paint colors have been applied.
Attachment 56697Attachment 56698
After this, I added a wash of black to get into the various recesses and add some grime to the rest. I could have gone heavier with this, as it turned out pretty subtle, but this one is going to be paired with a sci-fi costume that isn't heavily weathered, so I didn't want it to look TOO battle-worn.
Attachment 56700
Finally, I did some silver dry brushing on this gun as well. here is the finished product:
Attachment 56704Attachment 56705Attachment 56706Attachment 56707

Question:
What do you Nerf repaint pros use as a top coat to seal in your paintjobs and prevent the paint from chipping? (Bearing in mind that I don't have access to an airbrush). Thanks for any tips, and thanks for all the inspiration.

Gideon Vanguard

Sounds like a great way to spend the weekend. If you don't mind me asking what are the brand/vintage of the dart pistol and revolver in the above pictures?

Gareee

Can you dye the nerf bullets? I'm modding the clear green Vulcan, and the orange bullets look bad with the green. (I'll be adding some kind of lighting.)

Also, has anyone taken the nerf bullet strip apart? Any tips?
I'll also need to dye the bright orange nylon strap it came with to black as well.

Majonaise

Really nice custom job there, Variant! I'm all for a really flaming, well thought out and executed repaint like the one that Hypercats posted (one of my fave that I've ever seen.) But it's really nice to see such a solid heavily customized effort.

I instantly recognized the base gun (one MIGHT live in the footwell of the passenger seat of my Nissan) but you've made it something totally new, and something totally cohesive in design. Vera Nice. =)

zinnatty

i liked that steampunk effect.

JohnsonArms

It sure has been, I've got some more photos to post in a moment This is the Lanard X-8 and there's another one with the magazine called the Lanard Shell Shock X-6. Both are currently sold, but they sell them in some odd-sounding stores that are not in Florida. You can find them marked up on Amazon.com if you can't find it elsewhere Good luck!

JohnsonArms

Not sure the foam will take the dye, but it's worth trying the RID or something for dying dashboards of cars. Let me know how it goes. I would suggest buying a bunch of the digital camo or black foam/oranger tip darts, they look better anyways

fuelish

To distress or not distress. I looked thru some gun mags, for inspiration, before painting this and I like the look as it is. Should I age it or leave it be?


Funny thing, can you see that little spot of orange? I took this apart and painted everything I thought you could see thru the gaps in a contrasting color. But I missed part of the trigger mechanism. Oh well.

JohnsonArms

Here's some more WIP photos from the Lanards. The Shell shock is close to being done, just need to get my other paints back at the shop

JohnsonArms

Looking great! Ya, there's always a spot of orange somewhere. It's part of the fun! Wait, no it's not...but there, non the less

Jodo

Johnson, is that 1911 the little green pistol from Walmart? Does that rail come off? If so, what does it look like under it? I need two 1911's, and that would probably be the cheapest alternative to airsofts....Thanks man!

Wicked

I'm pretty sure that's the same one I have Jodo, the 92f's that I did that are back on page 2. I've been looking for some decently cheap 1911's too, so far the best I've found are some $10-$13 airsoft guns on Amazon. I've decided to use those for my costume rather than the 92f's.

JohnsonArms

Great looking stuff! Thanks for sharing and all the detail on the builds

JohnsonArms

Actually those are airsoft, but they're pretty reasonable. Check in the airsoft isle!

Max Replica

Thanks! Any advice on what to use as a sealer to protect these paint jobs?
(P.S. I went back to the beginning of this thread and read about why you don't usually sand off logos or fill in screw holes, and it totally makes sense for your situation)

TaD

A friend of mine posted this thread on facebook today.......I read every post lol. Amazing work everyone. Absolutely amazing.


Now I'm off to view the rest of the forum

Engelnicht

A ton of good work on here folks. I am looking forward to starting my mods soon. I think I want to work on a longstrike, as a kind of futuristic sniper rifle. Are the prices about the same everywhere, or do they differ from store to store?