I'm not the type that likes to dress up for Halloween.
Usually, things go like this,
"Nope, not planning on dressing up," which
inevitably leads to, "Shit, it's two days before Halloween! What do I dress as for the
party?!?!" So this year, I decided ahead of time that I wasn't going to do the
last-minute scramble and that I was going to go as Star Lord. Yup, just like thousands of other
people, I'm sure.
I imagine that due to the fact that the Guardians film was
considered a "long shot," this is the reason that there are so few options in stores. Star Lord's mask was a bit challenging to find for a decent
price. Though I did find it eventually on Amazon.com for $15.00. Then I decided on a
replica jacket found on eBay for $100 that was shipped from out of the country. Then of course, I needed a stuffed Rocket Raccoon to come along on my misadventures.
The only major piece left was a blaster. There were only two
options; one was a child's-size blaster which was too small and the other was
Nerf's Star Lord dart gun. Of course, I opted for the Nerf version. The bad part about
that is that the gun comes in a grey and orange color combination (for safety reasons) that
is nothing like the film version.
To correct that, I decided to paint the blaster in black and
silver. After doing some research, I decided to go the faster/easier route (because
life is busy) and paint the blaster without sanding it down. I used the Krylon Fusion
silver and black paints and the Krylon gloss spray sealant for this project. The Krylon
Fusion paints don't require you to sand and it is made to bond to plastic. The sealant is
good to use so that the paint doesn't rub off on anything, like clothing or your hands if
you're carrying it around for long periods of time.
The first step was to take the gun apart and document the
process (through pictures), so it would be easier to put back together should I get
stumped. I made sure to put all of the screws in a cup so they wouldn't get lost. Before
proceeding to paint, I made sure all of the pieces were clean and dry.
The next step was using painters tape to cover all of the
pieces that I didn't want painted. After that, it was all about putting a few coats of
paint on each piece. The paint dries rather quickly, so it only took a couple of
hours of coming back to put on another coat. After all of it was painted and dry, I applied
the sealant. After all the pieces were painted and sealed, I put the blaster back
together again.
The whole process can be done in a day with a bit of
patience. The results weren't bad for my first foray into painting Nerf guns. The final cost
of modifying the blaster for my costume was roughly $40.00 for the Nerf gun and
paint/sealant/tape.
*NOTE: Please be aware that modifying a blaster this way could be potentially problematic as it could be mistaken for a real weapon.
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| Step 1: Take apart blaster |
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| Step 2: Tape off blaster |
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| Step 3: Paint blaster |
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| Step 4: Coat blaster with sealant |
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| Step 5: Put blaster back together |
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