Nerf Paint Job - Retaliator

So, since I am going as a Spartan to Anime North 2015 and have put so much effort into my cosplay (started it June 2014!), I decided I needed to have a good looking badass weapon. So, I decided that going as a Spartan with a non-Halo related weapon would be fine.

So here is my Nerf Retaliator, with a custom paint job!

So, how do you go about doing something like this?

Materials:
- Matte black spray paint
- Matte olive green spray paint
- Matte brown spray paint
- Matte beige spray paint
- Nerf Retaliator
- Green ferns from outside (must be alive and very green!)
- Work gloves
- Rough grit sand paper.

1) Always wear work gloves! The paint likes to stay on skin.

2) Sand off all Nerf logos and warnings. There is no fast way to do this, it just takes some hard work and approximately 1 hour to do.

3) Spray paint the whole gun black on one side. Let it dry (10 min), flip and spray paint the other side black. Let it dry (10 min).

4) Remove the clip and the front handle! You don't want to get any other paint on these!

5) Start with olive green. Place a fern on so it is lying FLAT on the gun. Spray in quick bursts over the fern. Wait a few seconds (10 - 15 secs). Carefully, pick up the fern. Reposition it on a different angle, in a different spot and spray paint again. Repeat all over the parts you wish to have covered. Remember! You don't have to cover everything. You will be layering on other colours! Let it dry (10 minutes).

6) Repeat Step 5 with each of the remaining colours.

7) Flip the gun over and repeat steps 5-6 on this side.

8) Once COMPLETELY dry you can take your gun apart. When my gun was together, some areas of white would still show through. I just used a sponge brush and painted it black. HOWEVER, I kept the orange parts on the inside, and did NOT paint the half of the clip that is inside the gun. Why? It makes it very obvious it is a Nerf gun when I show the Weapon's check people. You can still see way the Nerf darts would move up in the clip when you take it apart.

WARNING: DO NOT take this gun off private property/have it visible off private property! You can have fake weapons at conventions with in certain limitations. I transport this gun by taking it apart and having it in a backpack. When I am not on convention grounds, IT STAYS IN MY BACKPACK! Trust me, mundanes are not smart...they will call the cops on you even over a painted Nerf gun!