How to Sand Your Nerf Gun

Sanding is the step everyone wants to skip, and it is the one that decides whether your paint survives a season. It takes about 15 minutes. This page shows you how to sand your Nerf gun properly, which grit actually cuts plastic, and how to tell when you are done.

It is step 2 of the full painting tutorial. Skip it and every step after it is wasted effort.

What you need to sand your Nerf gun

Short list. Everything you need to sand your Nerf gun costs less than a single can of paint.

1. The shell pieces of your blaster, already taken apart
2. Sandpaper in 100 grit and 220 grit, silicon carbide
3. Good light, from the side rather than overhead
4. Newspaper or a drop sheet, because this makes dust

Do not start until the blaster is apart. Sanding an assembled shell drives plastic dust straight into the mechanism, and you will be picking it out of the plunger tube later.

Why sanding decides how long the paint lasts

Blaster shells come out of the mold smooth and slightly glossy. Paint has nothing to grip on a surface like that, so it sits on top as a skin. The first time the shell flexes, that skin cracks and lifts.

Sanding scuffs the surface into thousands of microscopic gouges. Painters call it creating tooth. More tooth means more surface area, and more surface area means the paint bonds mechanically instead of just resting there.

Here is the thing. This is not a Nerf trick. Every trade that paints anything sands first, on metal, wood and ceramic alike. When you sand your Nerf gun you are doing exactly what a body shop does to a car panel, at a smaller scale.

But my can says it bonds to plastic

Plastic-bonding spray paints are genuinely better on blaster shells, and they still want a scuffed surface. The manufacturers of those paints recommend light sanding before you spray, in their own instructions.

So the honest answer is that the bonding paints raise your floor. They do not remove the step.

Which sandpaper actually cuts plastic

Two things on a sheet of sandpaper matter here, and most people only know about one of them.

Grit number: how rough it is

Sandpaper is graded by the size of the abrasive on it. The higher the number, the finer the paper. 220 grit is much finer than 100 grit.

• 40 to 80 grit is coarse. Too aggressive for a blaster shell.
• 100 to 120 grit is medium. This is your first pass.
• 150 to 220 grit is fine. This is your finishing pass.

The professional method is two passes: a rougher grade to cut the tooth in, then a finer grade to even it out. That combination gives you plenty of grip without leaving scratch marks that show through the paint.

Grit type: what the abrasive is made of

This is the part nobody mentions, and it is why cheap sandpaper feels like it stops working after 5 minutes.

Silicon carbide is the one you want for plastic. It is hard enough to keep cutting instead of glazing over, and it works wet or dry.

You can sand your Nerf gun with paper meant for wood. It works. You will simply go through three or four times as much of it, because the abrasive rounds off almost immediately on plastic.

How to sand your Nerf gun, step by step

Here is how to sand your Nerf gun from start to finish. Fifteen to twenty minutes of light work, in this order.

1. Set up somewhere you can make a mess. Plastic dust is unavoidable. Lay out newspaper to catch it and cleanup becomes one fold instead of a vacuum job.
2. Tear off a small piece of paper. A quarter sheet is easier to steer around a blaster shell than a full one, especially on small parts like a flip-up sight.
3. Start with the 100 grit. Go over every piece you intend to paint.
4. Use a circular motion on flat areas. Circles cut evenly and do not leave directional scratches.
5. Switch to back and forth in narrow areas. Circles do not fit in a channel.
6. Finish every piece with the 220 grit. Same coverage, lighter pressure.

Let the paper do the work. You are not removing material, you are removing shine. Pressing hard just wears the paper out and rounds off crisp edges you will want later.

Detail lines, crevices and small parts

Most blasters are covered in molded detail lines, and paint peels first at the edges you could not reach.

Fold the paper. A folded edge gets into a channel that a flat sheet rides straight over. This is the main reason to use a paper-backed sheet rather than a sanding block.

Work the fold along the line rather than across it. A few passes is enough.

For small accessories, hold the part and move it against the paper instead of the other way around. You get far more control over a flip-up sight that way than by chasing it around the bench.

Pay attention to these, because they are where paint fails:

• Raised edges and corners
• Recessed detail lines and panel gaps
• Around the grip, where hands go
• Anywhere the mold left a glossy patch

Not every blaster is the same plastic

Open up a few blasters and you will find at least 3 different plastics, and they do not all sand the same way.

The hard shell plastic

Most of the outer shell is a rigid ABS-type plastic. This is the stuff this guide is written for. It sands predictably, holds a crisp edge, and takes paint well once it has tooth.

The soft orange and grey parts

Triggers, tactical rails, muzzle tips and some grips are molded in a softer, more flexible plastic. It gums up sandpaper quickly and it flexes under paint, which is exactly where a finish cracks first.

Two options. Sand it lightly with the 220 only and accept that the paint there will wear sooner, or leave those parts unpainted as a deliberate design choice. A lot of good builds keep the orange tip bare, and on many fields that is a rule rather than a preference.

Rubber and vinyl

Do not sand it. Rubberized grips and vinyl straps need a vinyl dye rather than a spray paint, and dye soaks in rather than sitting on the surface. Sanding just tears them.

How to tell when you are done

You are looking for 2 changes, and both are visual.

1. The color goes slightly pale. A sanded surface scatters light, so the plastic looks lighter than it did.
2. The shine is gone. Tilt the piece under a side light. Any glossy patch left is an unsanded patch.

That is the whole test, and it is why you sand your Nerf gun by eye rather than by the clock. When the piece is uniformly dull and slightly lighter, stop. There is no benefit to going further, and you risk softening the crisp molded edges that make the blaster look sharp under paint.

Removing the shine takes very little work. If you have been at one shell half for 20 minutes, you are pressing too hard rather than sanding too little.

Sanding a blaster that is already painted

Maybe the last paint job failed, or you bought a used blaster somebody else painted badly. You can still sand your Nerf gun back to a paintable surface without stripping it to bare plastic.

If the old paint is sound

Scuff the whole thing with 220 grit until the gloss is gone, clean it, and paint straight over it. Old paint that is properly bonded makes a perfectly good base. This is the fast route and it usually works.

If the old paint is peeling

Anything lifting has to come off, or your new coat lifts with it. Work the loose areas with 100 grit until you reach either bare plastic or paint that will not budge, then feather the edges out with 220 so the transition does not show as a ridge under the new color.

Feathering is the part people rush. A hard edge between old paint and bare plastic telegraphs through primer and every coat after it.

If it was painted with the wrong paint

Enamel that never bonded will come off in sheets with very little persuasion. Let it. Once it is off, sand your Nerf gun back to a uniform dull surface and start the process properly.

What to do with the dust

Every time you sand your Nerf gun you produce a fine layer of plastic dust on everything, including the shells you just finished.

Do not blow it off with your mouth, because you will put moisture on the surface. Do not wipe it with a dry cloth either, because that pushes it into the tooth you just made and leaves cloth fibers behind.

The dust comes off properly in the cleaning step: soap, water, a sponge, and an old toothbrush for the detail lines. That is step 3 of the paint guide, and it exists specifically because of the mess this step makes.

Fold up the newspaper you laid out and bin it. Sweep rather than vacuum if your vacuum has a cloth bag, because fine plastic dust goes straight through it.

Mistakes to avoid when you sand your Nerf gun

• Skipping it because the can says no sanding needed. The paint looks perfect for about 3 weeks, then peels in sheets from the edges.
• Sanding the blaster assembled. Dust goes into the mechanism and stays there.
• Pressing hard enough to make a pile of shavings. If there is more dust than progress, ease off. You are rounding the detail off the shell.
• Stopping at the 100 grit. The coarse scratches telegraph straight through a thin coat of paint.
• Forgetting the small parts. Sights, stocks and clips get handled most and peel first.
• Painting straight after sanding. The dust has to come off first, which is the next step.

Where this fits in the paint job

Sanding is step 2 of 12. Every step lives on the complete guide to painting a Nerf gun, and these links jump straight to the one you want:

1. Sand your blaster (you are here)
2. Use a rotary tool and add blast marks
3. Clean the shells
4. Add primer
5. Add the base coat
6. Tape and mask
7. Add the accent coat
8. Mist for a metallic finish
9. Use stencils
10. Add details and weathering
11. Protect it with a clear coat

Next up is cleaning. All that dust you just made has to come off, or the paint bonds to dust instead of plastic and you have wasted the effort you spent to sand your Nerf gun.

If you would rather work on the inside of the blaster than the outside, our internal mods hub covers springs, air restrictors and flywheels. And if you want a pattern rather than a paint scheme, hydro dipping starts from this exact same sanded shell.

Where to buy what you need to sand your Nerf gun

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Any hardware store carries this. If you are ordering anyway, an assortment pack is the sensible buy, because you want both grades and you will use them on every build.

• Silicon carbide sandpaper assortment on Amazon
• 220 grit wet or dry paper on Amazon
• A cheap donor blaster to practice on

A used blaster is the low-risk way to learn this. Practice a full sand on something you do not care about. Then sand your Nerf gun for real.

Wet sanding, and when it is worth it

Silicon carbide paper works wet, which is unusual and useful. Run the piece under a tap, or keep a bowl of water on the bench, and sand with the paper damp.

Three things change:

• No airborne dust. The water carries it away instead of putting it in the air and on every surface in the room.
• A finer finish. The slurry acts as a lubricant, so the scratch pattern is shallower and more even.
• The paper lasts longer, because it does not clog with plastic.

The trade is that everything has to dry completely before primer, and water gets into seams and screw holes where it hides. Give the pieces a full day if you go this route.

Dry sanding is the right default. Go wet if you are chasing a glass-smooth, factory-looking finish, or if you are working somewhere the dust would be a problem. For a weathered military build, the extra smoothness is invisible under the weathering anyway.

Bonus tip: this is the cheapest gift list in the hobby. Two grades of silicon carbide paper and a donor blaster cost less than one can of paint. Put them on a free Nerf wish list with the rest of the paint kit, so the boring half arrives with the fun half. Nobody thinks to buy sandpaper, and it is the step that decides whether the job lasts.

Frequently asked questions

How long does it take to sand your Nerf gun?

About 15 to 20 minutes of light work for a mid-size blaster, split across both grits. A large blaster with a lot of parts might take 30. It is the fastest step in the whole paint job.

Do I have to sand if I am using a plastic-bonding paint?

Yes. Those paints bond far better than standard enamel, and their own manufacturers still recommend scuffing first. It is 15 minutes against a finish that lasts years instead of weeks.

What grit do you use to sand your Nerf gun shells?

100 grit first, then 220 grit to finish, with silicon carbide abrasive on both. Those 2 grades are all you need to sand your Nerf gun to a paintable surface.

Can I use a power sander?

Do not. An orbital sander removes molded detail in seconds, and the friction melts the plastic rather than cutting it. Always sand your Nerf gun by hand with a small piece of paper.

Should I sand wet or dry?

Dry is fine and simpler. Wet sanding with silicon carbide paper makes less dust and gives a slightly smoother finish, which matters if you are chasing a glass-smooth look rather than a weathered one.

What if I sand through the color of the plastic?

You have not damaged anything structurally, and primer covers it. It is a sign you were pressing far too hard, so ease off on the remaining pieces.

Do I sand between coats of paint too?

Yes, lightly, between coats of primer. That is covered in the priming step, and it is the single biggest factor in how long the finish survives handling.

Does this method work on things other than blasters?

The method transfers to any rigid plastic: model kits, prop replicas, RC bodies, helmets. Grit choice and the two-pass approach are the same. The only thing specific to blasters here is which parts are safe to paint.

Is the plastic dust dangerous?

It is a nuisance rather than a hazard at this scale, but do not breathe it. Work in a ventilated space, and wear a dust mask if you are sanding a large blaster or several at once.

How many sheets of sandpaper will I use?

One sheet of each grade covers a mid-size blaster comfortably if you are using silicon carbide. With paper meant for wood, expect to go through 3 or 4 times as much.

It’s Nerf or Nothin’!