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Steampunk Sledgefire - Painting Tutorial

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These are photos taken during the painting process on my "Shotty Workmanship" project.
Shotty Workmanship - A Steampunk NERF Sledgefire by CaelynTek

Below I'll provide some descriptions of the mediums and techniques used.

Here is a list of the paints and other tools used:
Krylon Fusion - Satin Black Spray Paint
AMACO Rub N Buff:
Pewter, Silver Leaf, Spanish Copper, Autumn Gold, Gold Leaf
Vallejo Acryllic Paints:
Black, Dark Brown, Khaki, White
Citadel Washes:
Badab Black, Devlan Mud
AMACO All Purpose Sealer
Number 7 blade brush
Number 1 fine point brush
Paper towels, paint palette (spare card stock works great)
Brush cleaner
Small Phillips screwdriver

1. Initial disassembly and sanding: NERF's latest lines have been significantly streamlined and are very easy to disassemble. Removing all the screws and taking the side panel off allows you to remove the stock/ammo holder. I also tend to disassemble guns for priming. This allows you to mask things easier that need masking and allows you to spot trouble points where paint may cause moving parts to bind. I sanded off all the text and logos that I didn't plan to cover with anything.

2. Added details and priming:  As you can see I added some filigree and some decorative gears and spikes. I scored the areas of the gun where these pieces would be attached and used E-6000 glue. I used Krylon Fusion spray paint, satin black. Krylon's plastic adhesion is the best I've seen on spray paints. I'd prefer a slightly less satin finish, but their flat finish is too rough for Rub-n-buff application. I used to use Rustoleum's 2X Cover Satin, which is a better finish for Rub-N-Buff, but I had too much chipping with age. For this gun I used Black, but keep in mind that you can get certain interesting effects by using other dark colors as your primer coat for Rub-N-Buff.

USING Rub N Buff: Rub N Buff techniques are very similar to dry brush techniques except you apply it with your finger instead of a brush (most of the time) The trick is to use your pointiest finger and get some of the Rub N Buff (from here on I'll call it RNB) on that finger, then use a paper towel to get any excess off your finger before rubbing it on the surface. For larger flat areas with no details, you can use more RNB to cover the area faster, but in areas where there are engravings, bumps or other corners, you want to use less on your finger. Practice this on a gun you don't care about first to get the technique down. The reason you should use your pointiest finger tip is so you can get in closer to edges. You DO want corners and edges to remain darker for depth and wear, but sometimes you need to get in closer for it to look right and a big round fingertip isn't going to make that easy. For times when you just can't get close enough to an edge or corner, you can use a small or medium bladed brush to apply RNB, but be carefull not to cake it on or it won't look right once you clear coat it.

3. Rub-N-Buff Copper color: I wanted to get some worn down copper look on this gun so I used two different colors for all the copper areas. I started with a RNB basecoat using Spanish Copper, leaving the deeper recesses dark to almost black. Then I used Autumn Gold, (which is a darker gold than say, Gold Leaf) I used Autumn Gold, in very light coats on the very edges of the vents and on corners and wear locations. Next I used the Autumn Gold to cover the entirety of the large gear using a very light touch to ensure all the circles stayed black, then I used Gold Leaf only on the very edges of each gear tooth.

4. Rub-N-Buff Steel color: To get more depth out of the steel sections of this gun I used two RNB colors, Pewter for the base coat then Silver Flake to accent edges. My bottle of Silver Flake RNB was brand new so it was the perfect thin consistency for highlight application. Unseen in this photo is that the other side has equal sections completed.

5. Rub-N-Buff continued: Adding more copper and steel. I did the steel sections first so that after I did the steel barrel I would be able to touch up the barrel shroud with black acrylic paint before beginning the copper on the shroud. I often do this to ensure I'm starting from a smoothly primed surface with each section.

6. One side completed: I jumped ahead here because I forgot to take any photos of the last RNB sections. The top of the barrel, sights and sight rail were all done with Autumn gold as the base, and Gold Flake as the highlight, the metal parts of the grip were all done using only Gold Flake so it would have a shinier look. There were "snakeskin" sections on the grip, these were done by painting them with Acrylic Khaki paint, then they were washed using Citadel Devlon Mud wash, then washed again using Citadel Badab Black. If you are unfamiliar with washes. A wash is basically a very watered down paint or other pigment which you generously brush over a brighter surface so that it flows into all the cracks and crevices to make them show up better. The "tape" section on the grip I painted with Dark Brown acrylic paint, then used the Citadel Badab Black wash to paint in and bring out the lines at the edges of the tape. I didn't use the wash as a wash, I used it as a thin paint instead, if that makes any sense.

7. Finishing up: This photo was taken after I primed and Rub N Buffed the hammer and trigger. I primed with acrylic brush paint, then used Pewter and Silver Flake. This is also after clear coating. I always use AMACO's own All Purpous Sealer, which is what was recommended to me by AMACO support. It turns out that spray on clearcoats can damage the nice shiny finish of Rub N Buff because the propellents in spray paints can melt the wax base of the Rub N Buff. All Purpose Sealer goes on milky and dries to a nice satin clear.  As with Rub N Buff, it takes some practice to get it right. You need to brush the sealer on just that perfect thickness, then brush back over the same section a few times without getting any more on the brush. This makes sure you get a nice smooth finish with no mottling.

8. All Done.

 
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© 2016 - 2024 CaelynTek
Comments6
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Null-Entity's avatar
What model of Nerf is that ?