Very nice, but what I am liking the most is your paintjob. What paints did you use, and if you have time can you explain how you painted it? Thanks.
I'll tell you what I can about the paint job. I really wanted it to turn out well, so I went the extra mile to get a high-quality finish.
I started out by sanding the whole body down. Any glossy surface - what all Nerf blasters come with stock, was removed to a uniform dullness. Use a coarse sandpaper (60-80 grit) to get rid of the raised logos (Nerf, N-Strike, etc.), then go finer (Anywhere from 150-200 grit) when covering the rest of the blaster. Regular sandpaper works fine, but I went whole-hog and gave wet sanding a try. Using waterproof sandpaper (it exists), sand your blaster under a constant stream of water - which I found wasteful - or just fill a tub with water and dunk it in every so often. Wet sanding gives you a tidier surface to work on because it washes away all of the plastic dust that accumulates when you're sanding with regular sandpaper. Most importantly, be patient. Even on a small blaster like the Maverick, it took me the better part of an hour and a half for each side to be sanded down completely to my liking.
Next, prime it. Mask off the areas that you want absolutely
no paint on - vital sections of moving parts and stuff like that. I actually masked off the majority of the inside of the slide rail because I knew it wouldn't be seen once the blaster was assembled and I didn't want to gum up the inside works. I used a grey primer and coated the whole blaster with it - a single, flat, even coat should give you the surface you need, as well as hiding the bright yellow plastic inside.
For the specific color scheme, notably the crackle effects, I kind of cheated. At my local Ace Hardware, they were selling kits of Crackling Spray Paint - big for the arts and crafts type, and does exactly what it sounds like (and looks like on the blaster). You spray a base coat down, then apply the crackle coat evenly on top of if, and the paint quickly dries and shrinks, giving the crackle pattern. Just Google "Crackle spray paint" if you want to order it online, or try calling hardware stores or craft stores. When applying these, it's pretty straightforward - mask off what you want to keep your base coat, then spray on the crackle with the included directions.
Once everything's dried and I'm satisfied, I grabbed a Matte finish Clear Coat spray. Depending on your preference and the paint job you're looking for, you can also go for a Satin or Gloss clear coat - I felt like the Matte finish would work with my scheme the best. Spray it on, let it dry, and you're all set.
A final note on masking: TAKE YOUR TIME. Sit down with a hobby/exacto knife and apply your masking tape carefully and purposefully. It's more than worth the effort to get a solid masking line on the finished product to spend the 30-45 minutes I spent with my blue painter's tape.
If you need anything else, let me know!
