Nerf Hammershot Dieselpunk Custom

Let me introduce you my new twin friends Lead and Ammo, which you don't want to deal with.

It's been a while now I'm thinking of creating for myself a new costume/character mixing Steampunk and Dieselpunk. Lastly, while I was in London, I get further on this idea. A little ride on Camden Town's market even allowed me to find the first pieces of my costume.I imagined this character in military or mercenary style, wearing two big guns.

My first idea was to choose heavy and long colts such as Python or Taurus Raging Bull, which I would be able to customise in a dieselpunk style. Guns from Destiny videogame were one of the visual references I had in mind.

This tutorial is an excerpt of the full tutorial that you can find on my website www.ethiscrea.com where you will find all the steps and pictures in detail.

My first idea was to choose heavy and long colts such as Python or Taurus Raging Bull, which I would be able to customise in a dieselpunk style. Guns from Destiny videogame were one of the visual references I had in mind.

So I decided to search for these old good Nerf toys which are sturdy, with sophisticated designs and fitting an adult's hand.

I invite you to also read my other articules dedicated to my previous Nerf customisations for Maverick or Sledgefire: www.ethiscrea.com

Most of the designs I saw were futuristic, which I did not want. I finally found a Nerf Hammershot which has a cylinder and a very good looking design which made me think of Blade Runner movie's weapons.

I've set my mind on long barrel guns but this one had no barrel at all, bullets were shot directly from the cylinder.

If I use this model, I'll have lots of modifications to make...

Go! Let's try to pass up the challenge, I'm done with simply re-painting a Nerf gun anyway.

Here we go! I scrapped off the Nerf prints with a cutter then I began the inevitable sandpapering to allow the paint to stick the plastic. I used a sand paper thin 120 and a small sander for angles to save time.

Let's open the beast in two and see what it's made of.

To open it, nothing more simple: with a small screwdriver take of 12 screws and separate the 2 parts of the housing. The cylinder and the propulsion system are just builtin, you just have to pull and they come easily. It seams to be made for customisation.

One blow of hacksaw later, I've cut the bottom paart of the gun to make it slimmer. I'll have to make a join to fill in the hole it created below.

And now, the biggest part of the work beggins.

Even if I have in mind a big idea of the result I would like, I should start the real work and know where I'm going.
I made several tests on paper to see how I should do, which forms and proportions I should get.

When I established the good pattern form, I cut MDF boards which are going to create the thickness of the barrel. MDF is really practical: it looks like compressed paperboard and it can be sanded and cut without letting any wood fiber seen. Astough, it allows smoothforms.

Sanding edges, I give a more sophisticated design to my work.

Sanding edges, I give a more sophisticated design to my work.

The wood glue is dry and I equalized the three parts thanks to a sander and a file in order to fit the barrel perfectely with the gun form. I also made a hole to snugly receive the cylinder's axis.

Ok, after small fittings and tinkerings with a lime and sandpaper, I validate the new barrels. And I start the first underlayer in black paint.

I also put an underlayer on the MDF barrel because MDF tends to absorb to much paint. So I put several layers of paint and sanded after each one of them to get a smooth touch.

Then I sticked the new barrels to the guns' bodices with epoxy glue. Before doing that, I sanded again the plastic just on the touching places to get the glue touching directly plastic and not paint. When it is dry I applied mastic on the fittings and the screw holes. And, in some parts, I sealed the fittings between the 2 housing parts with sintofer.

Here they are all in black which equalize, homogenize and hide the last imperfections. It allows me to see the final result and to detect where I should sand a little more.

Let's start the first paint blows. Here are the interesting things to begin. I've been inspired for the colors by the « Last Word » from Destiny video game, which you see up above on this page.

These weapons wil be a Steam / Dieselpunk character's ones, so I decided to put black and gold, adding evidence of wear but making them old guns completely worn out by time passing. The idea is to give them a used aspect no to transform them into antics. So I selected the parts I would paint and covered them with acrylic gold with a thin brush.

Then, dry-brushing: Made with a flat brush, wider and with thin hairs. The idea is to have the less paint on the hairs and to brush perpendicular to the edges. Asthough the paint only goes on protruding parts.

I also painted the butt in brown to give it a wooden aspect.

This step was an intermediate one because I knew I'll equalized the tinted color with a airbrush. So I put black on plain surfaces, let the metal brushed colors only on the edges. And doing this I reduced and mastered the used effect. I also added shades in hollows to give more texture to golden parts.If you don't have a airbrush, and you don't want to over exagerate the badass look, you shall be very careful during the dry-brushing step and only do it on the edges. Because if you have to step it up with a hand brush, you won't have a realistic effect.

After small fittings and tinkerings with a brush, the Hammershots are over. I must specify that Nerfs still shoot very well with this kind of alterations.
I sprayed 2 or 3 layers of varnish and here is the result

If you enjoyed this tutorial , I invite you to visit my website www.ethiscrea.com to discover this tuto with every step . You will also find other creations and Nerf's customizations.

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See you soon and be créative!

Ethis