11- Protect your Nerf Gun with clear coat

It’s a pretty important one too!

What you will learn in this step

• How to protect your hard work with clear coat
• The difference between glossy and matte clear coat

What you need to get started

• Your clear coat
• A thin, solid board to place your pieces on
• Good lighting

The last and final step to painting a nerf gun is to top it off with a nice protective clear coat. The clear coat is an important last step because it helps preserve all your hard work!

Allow me to educate you a bit on the styles of clear coats.

There’s an important distinction between glossy and matte that you may not be aware of. When something is shiny, it is referred to as being glossy. When something is dull it is referred to as being matte. This is important to know, as gloss and matte are widely used to describe the shine (or lack of it) of a spray paint —even clear coat ones.

So, when picking a clear coat to use on your blaster, you should pick one knowing whether you want a shine or no shine over your paint-job. This is simply knowing whether you want your blaster to look shiny and new, or used and beaten.

Since you spent all that time detailing and weathering your blaster, you will probably want to use a matte clear coat like I did. A matte one makes the most sense to use for this kind of paint-job.

Clear coating tips

• Choose a clear coat that is the same brand as the spray paint you used for your colors
• Apply 2–3 light coats
• Make sure to clear coat all painted pieces
• Wait for each coat to dry before applying the next (drying time will vary based on outside temperature and brand of paint used)

You just finished the last step to paintYNG! But wait, you may be wonering why the status bar at the top hasn’t hit the 100% mark yet… well, that’s because there’s just one tiny little thing left for you to do.. and it involves something I probably mentioned before. Ready? Here’s the super easy and fun last step. Go buy another Nerf Gun to Mod!