Painting tips for a blaster

[bluehickey]

I bought a Hasbro blaster (the white one with the blue and orange trim) and am in the process of painting it with black spray paint. I wanted to know if anyone here had any advice on what I could put on it after it is done being painted to keep the paint from coming off through use, and exposing the white plastic.

[dashrazor]

did you already paint it? just asking because i have a trick i used when model building. first i lightly sand the plastic with wet/dry 500 grit, then color the plastic with a permanent black marker (this kinda dyes the plastic underneath black) then coat with black or dark gray primer, finish off with metallic black rustolium (i just used the hammered metal texture on my dlt-19 and it is awesome) if you want further protection use a clear acrylic spray..but rustolium should protect pretty good

[pandatrooper[TK]]

I would be careful with that trick, because depending on what type you use, some marker inks will bleed or some paints may not stick.

 

Personally, I find that if you prep the surface properly (sand, wash with detergent / rinse, then primer, and paint) peeling is minimal. Any chips can be touched up with black or silver, making it look more "worn".

[bluehickey]

Good tips, I wished I hadn't already went in and just started blasting away with the black spray paint and didn't even think about priming or sanding it.

[TK6237[501st]]

I´ll be painting a Sci-Fire E-11 later this month, after turning it into a ESB version, removing the counter and power cylinders. After sanding and priming it, I think I´m gonna use a satin black for the body, but a gloss black for the handle and scope, as these parts seem to be more shiny in the reference pics I´ve seen. It´ll also give the blaster a bit more detail. I was also contemplating on rubbing the main body of the gun with a rough, but none-fuzzy type rag (like an old, washed-out towel) after spraying it, in order to try and replicate the craquelured surface finish, characteristic of vintage weaponry. To finish it off, I plan on painting the ejection port silver, give the front and back rings on the scope a light brushing of bronze, and add some small specs of weathering, like silver scrapes and a bit of black pigment on the ejection port (to tone down the silver) and perhaps some tiny spots of rust. After that, I´ll do what I did to the Hasbro E-11 I started with a few years back - emptying a can of satin clear coat to make sure nothing will rub off on my armor.

Edited April 1, 2010 by TK6237

[TK bondservnt[501st]]

the best way to look at painting and any other type is to look at a photo of a blaster from the film

and copy that look.

 

the original sterlings, scopes, and other parts all have slightly different finishes.

 

if you understand all the original colors of the parts before they were painted, then

you can age the parts correctly.

[Chunk[501st]]

I sand the entire blaster with 400 grit sandpaper. Making sure I get all the unwanted lettering off. Wipe with warm water & a paper towel. Make sure all unwanted letters are removed & fill in any unwanted screw holes with bondo. I use the premixed Bondo in a tube(redish toothpaste tube in the autoparts section). I get mine at Walmart, I think its about $3 a tube. Wait a day & sand the bondo smooth. Now I use grey primer, maybe 4 coates. Next I use silver paint. Maybe about 7-8 coats. Finally I use flat black paint with only 4-5 coats. (MAKE SURE YOU LET EACH COAT DRY INBETWEEN PAINTINGS) Now I take my 400gt or finer sandpaper & sand the entire gun lightly. Hitting the edges more where I want the silver to show through. This will give it the look of real metal underneath. You don't have to buy expensive spray paints, I use the Walmart brand at .98 a can. Here is what the finished blaster could look like. i've had my gun like this for about 3yrs now & not one paint chip.

Edited April 7, 2010 by Chunk