Steampunk'd Maverick Gun

This is our take on a Nerf Maverick REV-6, which is probably the most commonly Steampunk'd gun of all and a first project for many a budding gadgeteer. We couldn't resist this one that we found at a thrift store for $1. To our delight, it still functioned. And, of course, we chose to keep it that way.



I'd planned to delay posting this Nerf gun mod until I had some pics of the leather holster that was made for it. But SO hasn't got around to repairing a strap that fell off the holster at the Scarby Faire Steampunk Invasion, yet.



Ours is pretty simple. No frills on it. Mostly just paint and a few of the typical nerdy mods. (If you want to mod your own Nerf gun, youtube.com and the many Nerf forums are loaded with ideas.) The first step is always to sand, clean and prime the outer parts. I used flat black and rust spray paint primer painted/stained with waterbased acrylic paints, and sealed with clear acrylic spray paint.



We opted to do the barrel mod so that it would be easier (and funner) to load the darts. And, I also altered the "air restrictors", which is supposed to improve the power. We noticed a somewhat increased range. I also sanded off all the logos and such. Some of them had been damaged by rough play of the previous owner.

The only big alteration was the cutting out of shapes on the barrel and trigger. This was an attempt to lighten up the bulky look of this model. The cutouts on the outer casing of the barrel were done with the Dremel tool with drill and grinding bits. It's turned out pretty cool and didn't effect the working of the gun. You can see light and the pin though the center of the gun barrel. Wish we'd taken off a little more.



Upon reflection. I wish I'd painted some of the interior parts. I failed to coat the bright orange pieces in the center of the barrel and the pump. So they stick out like a soar thumb when you flip the barrel out. Ah well, I'll do that another day. Don't really feel like taking the whole thing apart again any time soon. :) SO may do some more alterations to this gun at a later date, as well. I'll post the holster as soon as he repairs it. We didn't manage to get any pics of it at faire.

I've future plans of my own to work on a couple small Nerf guns and a cap gun. Wish me luck, and time!