Nerf Scout Trooper Blaster Repaint

[13doctorwho]

So I bought a Nerf Scout Trouper Blaster so I could repaint it and make a passable prop for display.

The first step (for me) was to sand off all the logos and warnings. Finished that pretty quick! I love toy plastic (until painting).

A question for people that repaint these kind of toys... Do you completely disassemble them and paint the parts or do you paint it as an assembly? I definitely want to paint the scope separate to make sure I get good paint all around, but what about the rest of the blaster?

 

[The Goon]

I'm far from an expert, but considering this particular blaster is pretty much just semi-gloss black (except for wear marks here and there) I'd probably paint it all as one assembly and add the "wear and tear" after that.

How big is this thing, roughly? I mean, is it sized for "kid" hands or can adults handle it without too much trouble? I didn't even know this existed before reading this thread, and now I want one.

 

[Noeland]

For me nerf guns are a lot of fun to tinker with. For this model I would leave it together. I would fill the screw holes with putty, sand them flush, then primer and paint.

 

[13doctorwho]

Noeland yeah, I had planned to fill the screw holes. I'm already filling the holes in the handle for the spare darts. It makes the most sense to paint it as one piece to be able to putty everywhere I want.

Thank you all for the replies. More photo's soon!!

 

[The Goon]

...I would fill the screw holes with putty, sand them flush, then primer and paint.

D'oh! I wanted to mention filling the screw holes, but forgot. Glad you mentioned it!

 

[13doctorwho]

The Goon , by the way... the prop is roughly the right size. If anything it's a tiny bit big. There is a discussion on the accuracy in another thread on the Star Wars section of the forum. (I accidentally put this in the wrong place, it should be over there too)

 

[The Goon]

The Goon , by the way... the prop is roughly the right size. If anything it's a tiny bit big. There is a discussion on the accuracy in another thread on the Star Wars section of the forum. (I accidentally put this in the wrong place, it should be over there too)

Thank you! I'll try to find that other thread too...uhh, y'know, just to see what they have to say about it.

 

[13doctorwho]

Here's the thread discussing it Hasbro Scout Trooper Blaster

 

[13doctorwho]

Made some progress. Filled the screw holes, spare dart holder, and gap on the pull. Sanded everything and almost ready for primer. Unfortunately, it's too cold to start priming, but later in the week it's warming up.

 

[13doctorwho]

Weather warmed up enough to do some priming (and a little painting)!! The scope is primed and painted. The main body was primed. I did spray paint the body, but it needs some touch up. I used Satin Black, it's kind of in the middle of gloss black and flat black.

I haven't decided on weathering yet. I like the weathered look on most things, but I feel an Empire gun would be well maintained and repaired. I understand the rebellion weapons being extensively weathered because they don't have the resources or strict discipline to maintain them, but it seems the Empire being a huge military organization would be very strict about that sort of thing. I expect that the Empire is the kind of organization where an officer at random would randomly inspect weapons and such. Just my opinion.

 

[Halliwax]

this looks awesome! im a man on a mission this weekend trying to find one

 

[13doctorwho]

Thank you!! It really doesn't take much work to get a pretty decent blaster with this toy... especially for under $20.00!! This plastic is so easy to sand it was relaxing to work on. I'm in Houston and our weather is up and down, so I have to schedule my painting around the weather. I'm not complaining, in colder areas they have to wait till spring to paint.

Good luck on your hunt for one of these!! They're worth every penny!!!

 

[Jamesfett]

The trigger is triggering me. No triggers on Biker Scout blasters. Just the button.

 

[division 6]

Being used by a scout that would probably be out in the elements and getting beaten up by the terrain and being in a boot holster there would probably be a fair amount of weathering, at least in the exposed areas.

 

[Mara Jade's Father]

The trigger is triggering me. No triggers on Biker Scout blasters. Just the button.

The project is quite motivating. I am rethinking taking it on. If I had the ability and patience, I think I might trim down the trigger and replace the muzzle (no longer dart firing).

Painting blasters are always a dilemma with me because if the weapon was cast or the parts were cast, they may not have weathering but for collection and display purposes, they look better with weathering. It has been my observation that in the OT, they don’t faux weather the actual weapon. Any weathering is either real from existing history of use or the greeblies. When you are talking about the scout blaster, these are resin cast, correct? And if so, were they cast in black? If so, then no matter how knocked around they got, they would still be black. I believe the scope mount is real… right? And did they add the trigger guard after casting and is that metal or a separate cast piece? If so, those might have obtained some bare metal wear.

Also, why assume that every blaster body or part of a blaster is metal? We use polymers and the canon states the Trooper armor is plastoid. So it is not outside the realm of possibility that such materials would be used on these weapons.

 

[Mara Jade's Father]

One more question regarding the real prop. Was the greeble (forgot the name) screwed on the grip added after the casting or was it added on the master and then molded and was then part of the cast weapon?

 

[Vagabond Elf]

Thank you!! It really doesn't take much work to get a pretty decent blaster with this toy... especially for under $20.00!! This plastic is so easy to sand it was relaxing to work on. I'm in Houston and our weather is up and down, so I have to schedule my painting around the weather. I'm not complaining, in colder areas they have to wait till spring to paint.

Good luck on your hunt for one of these!! They're worth every penny!!!

Usually Edmonton weather is pretty consistent in the winter, cycling from "not that cold" (just below freezing) to "really f'ing cold" (around -30C, -22F), and generally hovering at just plain "cold" (around -15C, +5F) for most of the season. This past fortnight we've been down at record-breaking cold of -40C (which is also -40F) -- and next week they're forcasting +7C! (45F). If that happens, I think that'll count as "up and down."

My thoughts on weathering are this: first, as Mara Jade's Father points out, polymers don't show weathering in the same way. Weathered polymer is scraped, scratched, and gouged but not usually discoloured.

Second, no organisation ever wasted tech time on purely aesthetic issues. I work for a delivery company; that company bought a bunch of new vans last spring and dire consequences were promised to the drivers who dinged them up. Well, eight months later they're all still in excellent running order (which is very not true for the older vans, which are mostly in "it will pass an Alberta Transport inspection and you can just cope with the problems" condition) but they have lots of little dents and dings.

In a military context, edge wear on the paint job or minor scratches and nicks - which is mostly what our prop weathering represents - that don't impede the function of the weapon will be ignored. There's probably a detachment of six or eight armourers supporting an entire Stormtrooper Company. Depending on your timeframe, the regular troopers might have been draftees; even if they're volunteers, they might never have seen a blaster before they joined up. Keeping all those E-11s in working order is, I'm sure, a full time job. If one of the Scouts brought them a sidearm - which, let's remember, is not something he's actually expected to fight with, it's a last ditch emergency weapon for when the Scout's Speeder Bike breaks and a cattle prod for herding prisoners - and said "hey, the blueing is wearing off on the handle where I grab this," I fully believe the armourer would ask "does it go bang when you pull the trigger?" And if the answer was yes, the armourer would be "well, then, piss off, McGinty jammed his resonating chambre in backwards again, the daft twit, and I've three hours to finish a two-day fix."

In other words, I think even a perfectly maintained metal weapon would show minor surface wear after a few months, but I also think it's very plausible that a weapon wasn't made from metal. Most importantly, it's your prop, and it's easy to come up with a story that justifies any level of visual wear so painting the way you think looks cool!

 

[joberg]

Being used by a scout that would probably be out in the elements and getting beaten up by the terrain and being in a boot holster there would probably be a fair amount of weathering, at least in the exposed areas.

Yes, being hit by small branches + leaves and other small animals I think that a small amount of wear & tear could add to the used SW Look

 

[Halliwax]

Any idea what the scouts in mando used ?

 

[Mara Jade's Father]

In other words, I think even a perfectly maintained metal weapon would show minor surface wear after a few months, but I also think it's very plausible that a weapon wasn't made from metal. Most importantly, it's your prop, and it's easy to come up with a story that justifies any level of visual wear so painting the way you think looks cool!

And for me that is where a lot of the dilemma hits. Most of the time I go for an idealized look, What I think a item might look like in the SWU rather than what the prop actually looks like, When talking about a item that is made from a casting like the scout blaster, A New Hope Fleet Trooper, or Greedo's blaster, those cast items with likely a quick black paint job, I would have to believe that if you held such an item in your hand and did not know it was a real prop, it would be unimpressive. That's been my personal experience with my own props, I often find a creative and idealized paint job brings a lot of life to a prop replica rather than trying to replicate the actual as-seen-on-screen prop.