Rubies DL-44 Custom Paint Job

Who's scruffy looking?

After watching Punished Props and Cosplay Chris do the same, I had to try.

This is my custom paint job of the Rubies Han Solo DL-44 Heavy Blaster.

I found it really satisfying to do and fairly straitforward

With hindsight, I should have been more careful removing the packaging, I could have then put the gun back in the packaging once complete

You will need:

Rubies DL-44 BLaster

sand paper, wire wool

drill and drill bit (I think I used a 3.6mm bit)

spray primer (grey)

spray matt black

spray 'metal' (I used aluminium)

spray varnish (I used gloss as I had it from another project)

Brown paint (i had some burnt umber acrylic and so used that)

Not necessary, but I sanded all the raised text down from the side of the blaster to give it a more 'real' look

Pop out the end 'cap', this may take a little wrangling, but comes out relatively easy, I did need to do a little sanding to remove some rough edges

Then, drill out the holes in the Flash Suppressor to give it a more real world look

gently spray the blaster with the grey primer, better to give a few light coats for an even finish.

I just laid it on some cardboard and did one side, waited for it to dry, then did the other, walking around it to get coverage from all angles.

I had wire hoop, from somewhere that i was able to use to hang the gun from its trigger guard, a section of wire coat hanger would do the trick.

I waited for the primer to dry and then coated the entire gun with the aluminium paint, the picture is of it drying in my shed!

I actually sprayed it while it was hanging from my washing line, as you can see in my next step

After the aluminium paint, i masked off the flash suppressor to then paint with the matt black

I didn't take a photo of a step that really made a difference to the finished product and so I will try to explain it as best i can.

I used a paint chipping effect by gently applying Vaseline (toothpaste or mustard or liquid latex can be used) to the hard edges of the blaster that would be wiped off after the black paint.

I looked at reference photos of the real prop to decide where to add the Vaseline masking, but in the end just decided to 'get creative'

Once the black paint was dry, I wiped the gun down with kitchen roll, this removed the paint along with the Vaseline, to give the worn look.

remove masking tape, very satisfying

I painted the grip with the brown (burnt umber) and then once dry added some grime!

using some black paint, get into the all the nooks and crannys of the handle, then wipe most of the paint back off, just leaving the grime behind.

After weathering, it is nice to add some 'highlights'.

Using a dry brush technique with the 'metal' paint, (adding paint to a brush, then removing most of it till the brush is pretty much dry)

gently brush over the blaster, softly and concentrating on the raised areas.

this will add to the weathered and used effect.

Once this had dried, i applied a clear varnish to the entire paint job. I only had gloss varnish available, so after it had dried, i 'removed' a bit of the gloss with some steel wool. This added to the overall look, as some areas still had a little gloss which contrasted the 'used' areas.

Very pleased with the results of this.

I will probably try to sell it at some stage, if i stop admiring it.

I would recommend this as a start project for anyone interested in customising toys or trying their hand at painting and weathering.

Watch the above videos, they both inspired me to have a go