Quickie unique addition to your game room...?

[arcadebasement]

On a different forum I posted about this. But I think this is worth repeating for those of us with an arcade style room in our houses.

 

I got the original idea from an old projects thread on somethingawful.com but through experiment added my own touch. Everyone asks me about it so I thought I'd share...

 

On SA they had a running thread about modifying the nerf maverick. It's a cheap ($10) kid's toy and shoots those little foam sucker darts. The idea is to alter the gun to work like a revolver and look uber cool by modding its power range and/or the paint job.

 

This piqued my interest and I went out and bought one. It looks like te attachment when you buy it-

 

Cheap as chips and very plastic.

 

I wanted a weathered heavy look - a weapon that had seen some use and been retired. So I went to the local h/w store and spent about 4 bucks on small cans of paint and one of those chrome/gold pens.

 

After dismantling the sod, doing the revolver mod (so you can open it properly like a revolver - and play russian roulette) I sanded off the silly warnings and nerf logos and then smooth sanded all the pieces. I layed down a base coat of brown, then black on the main gun parts in blue and then individually painted each bump and screw gold including the remaining maverick text. I then dry-brushed the gold to weather it. I chromed the holder and cocking action. It looked cool - but FAR too clean. I wanted blood. I tried flicking red paint at it using a match but it looked bad. I then had the idea of using a can of compressed air and a piece of wood to spray the thing. I was kind reluctant to do it since if it didn't work then I'd have to start again - but it actually worked just like I wanted. The red/purple even looks 'wet' several days after drying. I wanted a 'this thing was placed against the zombie/bad guys head just before firing' look.

 

So there you go. Childish? Maybe - but the result is awesome. More pics and extra stuff to follow.

Edited October 11, 2006 by arcadebasement

[arcadebasement]

:!:

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:!:

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Close up of the 'blood'.

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Final shot of the gun detail...

[arcadebasement]

To address some questions I've been asked in the past...

 

Firstly - yes take it apart. It's complicated inside for a toy but take a pic of it with one side off and you should get it back together with ease. It has about 30 screws in all, maybe 5 springs and probably 5 items of plastic inside.

 

Do the RR mod if you wish. Instructions are available online. A dremel will help loads.

 

Sand it down. You'll want to anyway to get rid of the logos and 'don't be stupid and point this at your face' silly warnings. I used 150 and 60 and 400, you may want to get a finer grade if you want a smoother look. If you don't sand it, the paint will flake through use,.

 

Don't paint the insides if you want it to work as it used to. This especially includes the barrells.

 

I recommend a can of spray over a can of paint. Consider putting on at least two layers. Hold the can about 1-2 feet away from the gun then start spraying a few inches before the target. In one smooth sweep move across and *go beyond* the gun. Do this until coverage is good. Then leave it an hour or more and do it again.

 

Dry-brushing afterwards really adds to the effect and gives the gun 'weight' as it removes the look of plastic. Buy a silver or gold pen (those ones with paint in them and they rattle if you shake them). Blob about 1/4" of paint on a piece of paper then dip a small crafts brush into it. Now dab, dab, dab the brush on newspaper until nothing comes off it (it's now effectively 'dry' hence the name). Now lightly brush on hard corners around the handle. Slowly you'll build up a 'worn' look. The more you do it the more worn it will look.

 

Blood. Get some watery red paint (don't stir it) and mix in a little purple. Grab a stirrer of some sort and dip it in. Hold it up about 1 foot away of your now reassembled gun, closer for more coverage, then hold a can of compressed air about 1 foot from the wood. Spray in one shot controlled burst for about 2 seconds. Repeat until you've got the look you want. Don't fuck this up as you'll go back to sanding and painting if you do.

 

Hope that helps future modders.

 

The attachment shows the kind of crap that can fall out when modding it...

 

Onto the next phase

Edited October 11, 2006 by arcadebasement

[arcadebasement]

oops double post

Edited October 11, 2006 by arcadebasement

[arcadebasement]

Okay - now either get a a plank of wood about the size of a small desktop which is cut into four to make the outer box shape. You may get away with an old desk drawer but you'll probably have to remove the drawer base to do the wiring. If you can find one big and deep enough you may get away using a 'Shadow Box'

[arcadebasement]

You might like to get a hold of some cold cathodes like people put into PCs for fancy lighting. Keep in mind these are usually DC... they run around $10-$20 and have a PC molex connector which we're going to chop off.

[arcadebasement]

You'll also need an old power block - you've probably got lots lying around. A 12 V with DC out 500mA or 600mA should do it. You'll also need a regulator/rectifier if you cathodes didn't come with one - but they probably did. I would also recommend a switch - just for safety.

 

For the front of the box I used a simple steel picture frame and made my box to size.

 

Basic instructions.

 

Power block : Cut the end of the power block off (the small tiny and metal cylinderical bit that would normally stick into the device it was powering/charging).

 

Cold cathodes : Cut off the white plastic modelx adapter that would normally plug into your PC (the IDE hard drive type power plug) (PIC ATTATCHED) -

 

Wire the switch inbetween the cathodes, regulator and power block. It would be easier to make a diagram of this but it's a fairly simple logical set up. It won't matter which way you wire the pos/neg off the power block (you shouldn't damage anything) but it will only work one way. It might be easier to wire everything up without the switch to begin with just to make sure the block is working with the cathodes and regulator. The ones I bought already had the cathodes and regulator wired up so it took about 5 mins to do this bit.

 

Bet you thought it would be complicated too.

 

That's it. The cathodes that used to have to run off the PC's power but can now be plugged in to a normal mains outlet.

 

Paint, assemble and mount. I cut out an area for the switch on the actual box but it can but tucked around the back.

Edited October 11, 2006 by arcadebasement

[arcadebasement]

The result - a really nice talking piece. Looks neon and suits your bar/game room!

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The cathodes are REALLY bright and don't get hot...

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And if you put a switch in, you can turn the device off to reveal your hard work on the gun itself...

[arcadebasement]

Anyway, good luck and have fun. If you burn your house/office/bar/work down I'm not responsible! But my zombie gun killer fires up everynight without issue.