Hacking a Nerf into a Westinghouse Variable Cartridge Blaster.

I've seen lots of people buying this Nerf gun with the intention of turning it into Johnny Alpha's favourite sideArm. I have never seen a completed version. In the hope of encouraging you to come forward, I present my project. The first thing to do was to extend the gun.

I faked up A barrel cowling, and used an old doorknob to extend the grips. Then I had to decide what my source material was going to be. I decided on a combination of Carlos' drawn design for the proposed movie, and other drawings down the years, of the Strontium Dog universe.

I drew a load of stick on panels in PhotoShop, then got them laser cut, in the meantime looking out for any interesting bits and pieces, an old tripod proved particularly useful, the handle forming the extra barrel, and the catch making a nice detail on the barrel.

I tend to find with comic book replicas, bigger is better, so I made the cowl a good deal bigger than my initial mockup. I was intending filling in the Little slots which allowed me to bend the laser cut material, but I decided I liked the look of them.

This gun always looks like a bit of a plumber's nightmare. All versions seems to have those two little bits of piping, and not a lot of symmetry, so I just stuck it all in any old how.

I sprayed the whole thing black, then at an angle, sprayed on gun metal silver. I then used the technique of painting acrylic on, letting the paint partially dry, then scrubbing it off, to produce a distressed look. I stuck on an SD badge, just because I thought it could do with a bit of branding, and took other liberties, but I don't think there's much mistaking the final outcome. This is very unergonomic, poorly balanced, and tiring to hold, but Johnny Alpha is a pretty tough guy, and I'm sure he'll cope.