Officer K's blaster kit build

I've bin working on this kit for a few days now to get it ready for painting. So I thought why not start a build thread here.

The kit is magnificently made and sold by CreationsOne2one on Etsy:
https://www.etsy.com/de/listing/603...uery=blade runner blaster&ref=sr_gallery-1-15
He also offers an finished version.

The kit includes:
8 cast resin blaster parts, plastic pieces to connect the blaster parts, battery holder, cables and LED's.


Rough assemble:


I will surely keep you updated on my build of this awesome kit!

Update 1:

I did a lot of sanding, filling and decided to switch out the resin screws with actual screws.

So I sanded them of


Drilled some holes and glued the screws in


I know everything still looks pretty rough. I'll keep you updated

Need help with the paint job!

The main color of the blaster is a bit tricky. Some people painted theirs flat and gloss black. It does't look black to me though.
This is what I found out from my research:

Red: flat grey with gloss finish
Blue: metallic dark grey with gloss finish

This is what I see on these pictures


If you can give me any confirmation or you see something that I don't see please tell me, it would help me alot.

Update 2:

I taped off the handle to get it ready for painting.


I sprayed the taped off handle with a silver lacquer and removed the tape.



After that i darkend the handle by lightly spraying on some black laqcuer. To finish it I´m applying multiple heavier coats of clear lacquer which are still drying.

And I painted the front barrel with the grills in metallic dark grey and blueish flat grey.



Next is the main body of the gun which I´ll paint in flat grey with some weathering.

Looking great so far! I'm going to have to pick up one of these

It's really looking great! I'm seeing what you are seeing as far as the colours go...

To me the finish is truly a head scratcher. I wouldn't call that gloss black either. To me it gives off a metallic effect. I think your best bet is to finish it with a metallic finish be it chrome or stainless steel and then hit it with a transparent black paint. This will give off the black appearance with the chrome shine underneath.

(edit) ugh... just noticed that you already decided on the paint you were going to use, sorry for the rather late response.The grey base actually looks pretty great either the case. Looking forward to more progress for sure.

ReplicantPolice said:

Need help with the paint job!

The main color of the blaster is a bit tricky. Some people painted theirs flat and gloss black. It does't look black to me though.
This is what I found out from my research:
View attachment 833014
Red: flat grey with gloss finish
Blue: metallic dark grey with gloss finish

This is what I see on these pictures
View attachment 833016View attachment 833015View attachment 833017View attachment 833018View attachment 833019View attachment 833020

If you can give me any confirmation or you see something that I don't see please tell me, it would help me alot.

Click to expand...

The finish is definitely a headscratcher. I spend hours looking at pictures & videos. And right after I painted the barrel I saw something different again in the video where Adam Savage examines the blaster:
Now I think the whole thing is chrome/stainless with a flat grey finish which is heavily weathered (making it look like gunmetal).
And the only part that metallic grey is this one:

In that video it is apparent that the rest of the gun doesn't seem to have that same shine that the front shroud does. The rest of the gun does look like a really weathered gray for sure. At first I wasn't seeing the gray but in the video as he's constantly angling it it is obviously gray and not black.

Thanks to confirm that I´m not color blind. The video also seems to have some color grading which makes things look more blue.
But I´m just going to go the weathered flat grey way.

I've not got that kit, but I did print a (not very accurate) version from Thingiverse, this is the work in progress on my paint job, it's hard to know from the videos and photos what colours are involved, I've gone with a gunmetal grey as the base, and then matt black over the top and planning on adding some Rub'n buff next.

Looking great ReplicantPolice.
I think you are correct with the chrome under colour finish. I did an elilay resin version a few months back and used a hydrochrome system for the base. If you fancy checking out the finish over a chrome base heres a little vid I did of the completed model.


I'm looking forward to seeing your finished and interested to see how you approach the final rendition.

Flyscriber Your vid was one of my main motivations to build the blaster in the first place! You really did some magnificent work there. I'll be posting updates on my build soon, I just wasn´t that happy with my original paint job so I started to paint it all over again.

- - - Updated - - -
Vex666 Looks pretty good so far! I also decided to switch to matt black, It's not accurate but I think it looks the best. I'll be posting new updates soon.

Hi Flyscriber,
Can you tell me a little more about your hydrochrome system? How it's done and is it expensive? Thanks!
Steve

ReplicantPolice said:

@Flyscriber Your vid was one of my main motivations to build the blaster in the first place! You really did some magnificent work there. I'll be posting updates on my build soon, I just wasn´t that happy with my original paint job so I started to paint it all over again.

- - - Updated - - -
@Vex666 Looks pretty good so far! I also decided to switch to matt black, It's not accurate but I think it looks the best. I'll be posting new updates soon.

Click to expand...

That's a great compliment, thanks for checking it out.
I have made and painted about 20 blasters of various types, there are a few ways to get it to look about right.
I start with a super gloss automotive black, then mask off the front barrel area and do the main body and trigger guard in Tamia silver chrome. I then mask off the scratches using latex masking solution, super subtle on the edges only using the edge of a cocktail stick. Then I hit the silver area with a satin black, keeping it translucent using an airbrush, thin layers until you like the look of it. I find solid colours don't have the shine from the silver showing though when the light hits it.

As for the hydrochrome, its a different animal to use altogether. It uses silver nitrate in solution and an activator, mixed through a two nozzle spray bottle, onto a wet base coat solution. Before chroming the whole thing needs to be primed in Two Pack lacquer, as normal paints will react with the chemicals and give strange results.
Here is a video showing the system.

The difficulty with it, is keeping the chemicals, air and rinse water super pure. There can be zero conductivity in the rinse water or the system will not be up to scratch, also there must be zero moisture in the airline. I tried many times using different moisture filters, base coats and got some nice finishes, but never a true chrome due to the spray being too focused through a hand held spray bottle (if you apply too much silver nitrate solution to the same spot it will oxidise into a nickel or burnt stainless look) and contaminants in the airline will also have an effect.
It is however, (even with its more nickel look), the best looking version of all the blasters I have painted so far, purely because it shines like metal, and actually feel cold to the touch.

I am planning to do some more in this way soon, but I will definitely get the company to do the chrome system.

As a side not, I have just finished a blaster using a metal spray as a base coat from the same company. It replaces he silver in the painting order and there is no need to mask the scratches, as they can all be done after the satin black by carefully buffing he edges using super fine ire wool, and it looks fantastic. It also goes on thicker than normal paint, but when buffed seems to self level and fill in small surface imperfections, so I guess it acts like a primer filler as well as a buffed metal look.
I am going to experiment some more with this. its great.



Here is a link to the metal veneer spray I used.
http://customcreationpaints.co.uk/liquid-metal-paint/Liquid-Metal-Rustique?product_id=177

What an incredible system! Thank you so much Flyscriber for the in-depth description and the video. I would LOVE to try this but it seems like an expensive set-up for me. It really is the way to go if you can though. I really appreciate the work you did on your blaster even more! Absolutely incredible!