I recently started work on the blaster pistol for my kit. I started with Nerf Sharpfire blaster.
Yeah, modding it is a lot of work; but I really liked the basic shape and proportions of it.
I started by making a mental list of the mods I wanted to make to it. Next I filed and sanded away all of the Nerf identifiers from the blaster - logos, nameplates, that weird embossed digital camo pattern. At this time, I decided to leave the triangles on the body below the cocking mechanism; I was planning on adding a 3D printed power pack in that area and figured I'd just model it in a way that covered them.
Next after that was cutting away the bits that didn't fit my vision, and in my opinion still made the blaster look a little too Nerf-y; this included most of the front pin sight, the rear sight, the two odd angled bars under the barrel (orange) and the body (white), the trigger web and the cocking mechanism guide rails (at which time both of these mechanisms were glued into place rendering the internal mechanics inoperable forevermore).
The last of the initial mods was to cut away that big bulbous swell at the back of the grip and that little triangular point under the trigger guard. The resulting voids, along with any other unwanted holes were filled using a CA glue and baking soda build-up technique that results in a rock hard structure that files and sands very nicely. It's a technique I learned from a guitar repair video; the technique is often employed by some professional luthiers to rebuild a broken guitar nut. In this case, I lightly packed openings with polyester fill (the kind used in plush toys) to create a sort web of fibers the initial layers of glue and baking soda could adhere to and fill to quickly close the opening. Then it's layer after layer of glue and soda until the desired shape and profile is achieved. After the big openings were suitably filled and built up, I then proceeded to filling smaller craters and imperfections with spot putty.
It was a good start; but I definitely had some more mods I wanted to do. Nerf blaster barrels aren't particularly thick; so I felt the barrel needed to be beefed up. I rolled up a sheet of paper, inserted it into the barrel and allowed itself to uncurl until it was snug; after that I soaked the paper with CA glue.
I then started modelling the various parts to complete the conversion. This started with the power pack. It was during this step that I decided to build a more compact pack, and sand the remaining triangles off the body. You can actually see how thin the plastic where the triangles were has become.
Once the power pack was printed and attached, I modeled the scope. I didn't want to print the main tube; however, I didn't have any suitable tubular materials on hand. So, being bored, I decided to use my rolled paper trick again; only, this time around I was creating a tube from scratch. I started rolling the paper, soaking it with CA glue to laminate the layers together. I finished the tube off by coating it in CA glue and rolling it in baking soda to add significant stiffness, then sanded the whole thing smooth. With the scope tube built, I finished modelling the front and rear portions of the scope, as well as the scope mounts. I finished my 3D modelling with a couple of thumbscrew designs, a thumbwheel, and a couple of small levers.
Once the parts were all printed, I attached them and did more filling and sanding as needed. This is when I decided I should fill in the panel lines and even out/eliminate the panel on the grip. I filed in a deeper seam line near the top of the grip. I decided I'm going to paint the grip in a wood tone; so obviously the panel lines had to go.
Finally, the blaster was ready for the first coat of primer. It was at this time that the universe chose to play a practical joke on me. I had four varied cans of primer and filler primer; all of which were almost empty. That's why the photo of the primed blaster looks a bit patchy. I managed to get it fully coated; but it took what little was left in all four cans of primer. Who knew there would be so many different shades of grey primer.
So this is where I've gotten so far. My next step is to do some smoothing sanding to see what pits, and imperfections remain. Then another round of spot putty, and another coat of primer. Then it'll be on to painting and finishing.