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Custom Nerf Guns
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Tonight I'm
doing something a bit different. I'm looking at a custom project, and
rather than do my usual straight up 'review', I'm doing it more as a
feature. Why? Well, to be honest, I wasn't quite sure how to do a
regular review on these guys, since there's not really anything else
quite like them for comparison.
Ryan Siller is producing customized versions of Nerf guns. He's working
with the standard Maverick right now, doing it up with unique paint
jobs and improved internals. By adding new springs, plastics, tubing,
hot glue and other materials, he can upgrade the guns and bullets to
provide a huge improvement in power and distance. Along with that, he
can paint them in just about any scheme, and even produces models with
removable cylinders!
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There
are literally hundreds of combinations of his changes that you can
order, and I'm looking at three different versions tonight.
First up is the basic black gun seen in the first two photos. This is
actually one of the most basic paint jobs, although it takes about 10
hours of sanding to get any Maverick ready for painting. This basic
black with a glossy finish is the most commonly ordered, and is the
cheapest paint mod. However, the gun you're looking at here has the
highest Power Mod adaption. This "Type II" adds a tremendous amount of
oompf to every shot! Ryan says these can fire over 60 feet,
and I can tell you that in my tests the ammo hit a target at 30 feet
with real force.
The inside of the cylinder on this gun has smaller, tighter plastic
inserts. These inserts create a tighter seal with the ammo, adding even
more boost to the shot.
You'll notice that this gun also has a bit more weight to the front. In
the photo of this gun resting on the red bench, it tilts all the way
forward, resting completely on the bench. The other two guns tilt back,
having less weight in the cylinder.
The second gun is the camo paint job. This gun has the standard power
mod, but includes the swappable cylinder option. When you press the
button on the side that normally allows the cylinder to swing out, on
this gun it actually comes completely out! He includes a second
cylinder, allowing you to have one loaded and ready to swap at a
moments notice.
This gun was able to reach 30 - 35 feet easily enough, but didn't have
the power of the black gun with the extra power mod. It's still quite a
bit more powerful than a regular Maverick though, and can use regular
ammo if you prefer.
As I said, Ryan has tons of paint options, but I think my favorite is
the 'steampunk' version. That's the third gun you see in the photos.
Multiple paint colors are used to create the effect, and it's one of
the more popular versions that Ryan sells.
Ryan also produces special ammo for these guns. These are shorter foam
bullets with specially weighted ends. These weights are somewhat soft
rounded caps. They aren't designed to shoot someone in the eye though,
so take more precautions than you would with a normal Nerf bullet.
All
the guns have improved power and distance. I was impressed by how
smoothly the guns still operate, with no problems with the cylinder
rotating or ammo getting stuck. The mods improved on every aspect of
the original.
Ryan sells this ammo in quantity, but as I said, you only have to use
it if you've ordered the special power mod that includes the plastic
tubing in the cylinders. Otherwise, the regular Nerf ammo will still
fit. However, you don't get the same kind of distance and power with
the standard ammo as you do with Ryan's custom bullets.
I spent some time playing with these with my 8 year old son and
daughter, and they loved it. The highest power mods were tough for them
to cock, as the spring is much stronger, but the other two guns worked
great for them.
The swappable cylinders also worked a lot better than I expected.
Remember, these are originally $10 Nerf guns that are not intended for
this kind of mod, and yet Ryan engineered it to work smoothly with
fairly tight tolerances.
I had never considered custom Nerf guns, and yet once I saw Ryan's
work, it made complete sense. I've done some googling since then, and
sure enough, custom Nerf work is very popular!
If that's you're kind of thing, then you should really check these out.
They aren't cheap, as there is quite a bit of effort that goes into
every one, and you can expect to pay from $50 - $100, depending on the
number and type of mods you request.
Ryan is also trying out new techniques and mods. He just started
working with the clear plastic Mavericks, and he has a number of other
cool paint options - like glow-in-the-dark, or a 'woodland' camo - and
he's open to your suggestions as well.
Where to Buy -
Check out Ryan's
blog for all the details on ordering.
Discussion:
Want to chat about this feature? Try out one of these terrific forums where I'll be
discussing it!
KEEP SCROLLING DOWN FOR MORE
PHOTOS!
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Figure from the collection of Michael Crawford.
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