Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from
the Tacticool Nerfer!

Merry Christmas from the Tacticool Nerfer!

NEWS FLASH:
Nerf Darts caught in unnatural holiday positions! Who could be responsible for this?

In the spirit of the season, you my devoted readers get a special post dedicated entirely to Christmas! Well, that's not entirely true. It wouldn't be on my blog if it didn't also pertain to Nerf. Hence the dart-Christmas-tree, the dart-stocking, and the dart-wreath (which has been modified to be my signature crosshairs).

Merry Christmas from the Tacticool Nerfer!

Since I'm going to take a break for Christmas shopping, decorating, and family time, this will be my last post till the New Year. So that means you guys and gals get a break, too. Take advantage of it! "Chill with the Fam", eat lots of turkey, mashed potatoes, and plum pudding, and play lots of Nerf.

Remember to stay on the nice list, because Santa's watching! Good girls and boys get good presents, whereas bad girls and boys get bad presents. Like the N-Strike Deploy. Santa decided that this year, instead of coal, he's going to give Deploys to naughty children. Yeah, Deploys are that bad.

Anyway, enjoy your Christmas!

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Because I can. It's MY blog, after all…        <|:-)

Nerf Longshot CS-12

Zombie Strike Longshot CS-12

The repaint isn't the only thing updated in this re-release of the Longshot, originally seen in 2006 as the yellow N-Strike Longshot CS-6. Hasbro originally touted it as their longest gun yet, a sniper-rifle of sorts. They discontinued it soon after, since $35.00 - $40.00 was apparently more than most people were willing to spend at that time on an "oversized" toy. But when modders discovered that it actually had monstrous firepower capability, demand spiked for the somewhat hard-to-find Longshot. It became a sought-after status symbol, an HvZ staple. In late 2014, Hasbro noticed that supplies were running low among the Nerf Nation, so they re-released it under the Zombie Strike Z.E.D. Squad sub-series.

The hopes:
When the Nerfing community heard that the Longshot was coming back, the forums and YouTube channels exploded with speculation and glee. Since the N-Strike Elite line had repainted and improved previous N-Strike guns and Zombie Strike was, loosely speaking, a sub-series of Elite, many assumed that the internals would be significantly upgraded. Some speculated that it would come with a new, different barrel extension. A few even thought Hasbro might remove the AR for us. A far-out hope, but still a pretty cool thought.

The reality:

Ummm… Yeah.
Ugly.

Sorry, folks. Hasbro clearly acknowledged that modders are capable of modding the Longshot on their own. They left it exactly the same inside, and on the outside they just repainted it. And removed the frontgun. :( At least they gave us a more capacious clip. But they took away the bipod, leaving an ugly and uncomfortable… thing. What would you call that exactly?


Now for the pros/cons.
Good:

• Performance. Hasbro chose not to upgrade it for a reason- they probably couldn't have done so without breaking some sort of regulation. When shooting Elite or Zombie Strike darts, even the original Longshot can outshoot most Elite guns.
• Scope. If you look up "Nerf" on Ebay, half of the items that come up are Longshot scopes. They're popular- after all, they look sweet. And very tacticool…
• Clip storage. Don't see it? That's because this gun is designed with functionality and realism in mind. The stock securely holds an extra clip (not included). And when it's not holding a spare clip, no-one will even see that it can…
• Handle.   The. Best. Nerf handle. Ever.  It's universally comfortable; I can almost guarantee that you will feel like your hand just wants to hug that handle.

  

  It's like a Shrinky-Dink!

• Modability. This gun is perfect for any skill level. You can literally do almost anything to this gun, and tons of companies make mod kits for any level of modification, making it even easier for you. Not to mention that it can figuratively "shoot lasers" when heavily modded.
• Simple. Forget modding. Some Nerfers can't even figure out slam-fire. For those of you, the Longshot will be your dream. It's simple and intuitive; a baby could probably shoot it.
• Collapsibility. It can shrink quite a bit without the clip or scope. And when you collapse the stock, it gets even smaller.
• Bipod. Oh wait, they took that off. Never mind.
• Z.E.D. Squad darts. They look like they've got built-in syringe with cc measurements! How cool is that?

That's a lot of good stuff, am I right?  But unfortunately there's also a couple cons.

Bad:

• NO bipod. I'm a little put off by this. It's actually not the lack of a bipod that bugs me, per say. It's what's left over. Seriously, what is that?
• Only one tac rail. Of course, the design was from back before tac rails were even a thing, but I still wish it had another rail. Maybe where the bipod used to be?  cough*redesign*cough...
• Paint scheme. Teal and pale orange just doesn't jive with me. It's just not tactical or cool. Certainly not tacticool.

Well that's it. This powerhouse was hard to beat when it first came out, and it's still high up on the totem pole. It's well worth the price, especially if you want a good platform for a great mod. But Hasbro, if you're listening, please, please, put the bipod back on. Or just redesign it slightly with a tactical rail there instead. Please.


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Modulus Strike and Defend Upgrade Kit

Modulus Strike and Defend Upgrade Kit

The Tacticool Nerfer is happy. Hasbro decided to make something that is designed for nerf-war practicality, and then they threw in a bunch of awesome. The Strike and Defend kit has something for everyone- the sneaky offense, the practical defense, and the extra tactical rail. One of these ranks higher on my list than the others…

Let's start with the cons.

Bad:

• Ergonomics. Hardly a complaint, but the handle is not one I would like to be holding all day.
• Shield? What shield? You mean they included a shield in the package? Oh yeah, I guess they did. Hadn't noticed it there.
• Wobbly for a stock. The Blaster Stock is less stable at the connection point than most if you're using it on a flywheel blaster. If your attachment point includes that odd protrusion found on most springers, though, it's plenty stable.
• Switched proportions. The shield is too small, whereas the stock is slightly overlarge. See pictures below.
• Unwieldy to remove. I feel like I would have to set the blaster down each time I wanted to pull off the stock to shoot its dart. The catch is just too, too far from the trigger.

Neutral:

• The shield. It hardly will protect you from darts, but I guess it's not that bad.

Good:

• Tactical rail. You can now put extra attachments ON YOUR STOCK! How cool is that?
• Easy to paint. All the gray parts and most of the orange you see can be separately removed, so you can do awesome paint jobs with much less taping.
• Simple. The Blaster Stock is easy to prime, and easy to fire. Intuitive? You don't know the meaning of the word until you've used this product.
• Darts. "And if you call now, you can get not one, but TWO darts in the package!" Just kidding. It always comes with two. It's like an automatic "double-your-darts" deal.



Blaster Stock size comparison with a Doublestrike

• Okay, okay, the shield. It's growing on me. It folds down, flips up, and looks pretty sick. Who cares whether it will actually block incoming darts?

Strike and Defend Upgrade equipped!

Mod guide: http://tacticoolnerfer.blogspot.com/2016/01/mod-modulus-blaster-stock.html


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Nerf Zombie Strike Hammershot

The hammer-action revolver that changed the course of HVZ: the Zombie Strike Hammershot. A small, simple, and powerful Nerf sidearm with reasonable capacity and fine ergonomics. Not to mention a wood-inlaid handle and a "cloth-wrap" that is strangely symmetrical…

Zombies, have fear- your bane is here!

Good:

• Size. Not too small, not too large; juuuust right. The Goldilocks of pistols.
• One-hand prime. A hammer-action revolver is great for dual-wielding.
• Snappy trigger. Very fun to use.
• Handle. It's comfortable and grippy, with plenty of room for larger hands.
• Bandolier attachment point. This is a sidearm, and as such it makes sense to attach a bandolier to the bottom of the handle.

  

  Ahh, so well-proportioned.

• Tac-rail. Who puts tactical attachments on top of a revolver? ME!!!
• Ranges. 95 feet is pretty good for a gun that doesn't even claim any ranges. And modded it can get various insane levels of performance.
• Easy to reload. Just slip 5 darts in, smooth as butter.
• Aesthetics. It looks pretty darn cool.
  

Bad:

• Handle. Who will seriously look at the handle and think that's real wood? And the "cloth wrap", on top of being semi-pointless, neither looks nor feels remotely like cloth.
• Not for small hands. The prime can be quite difficult for the little people. I'd recommend the Doublestrike for them instead.
• Sporadic. Accuracy decreases exponentially the farther away from your target you are. Only effective for aiming at 40 feet or less. (Modding fixes this)

So there you have it. The good points far outweigh the bad if you're in it for the tacticool zombie-killing action. If you're a kid just looking for a fun toy to play with, I would recommend this, but with reservations. Know that it may be a bit too big for ease of use. But it is well worth the price.

And don't put a Stampede shield on top. It looks exactly as dumb as you'd expect.

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P.S. I will not be doing an internal modification for this blaster. However, there might be a cosmetic mod coming soon… ;)

MOD: Demolisher missile launcher

Unfortunately, as previously stated, this gun was not very well-designed for power-boosting. Yet at the same time, it does have a nice little wiring-clip so that you can completely split the two halves apart. Hmm. Didn't think that one through, did you, Hasbro?

I found that it will be more trouble than it's worth to me to improve the performance of the main gun. But the good news is that you can double the performance of the missile launcher!

Difficulty: Easy (but not for a gun that will be used by younger nerfers
What you'll need: A narrow phillipshead screwdriver and electrical tape (or plumbers tape). And, of course, a good arm with which to operate the launcher…
Optional: Drill with a half-inch bit, or a dremel tool with a utility bit.

There are two ways to do this. If you want to increase airflow, you'll need to drill out the grating in the front of the tube. To do this, I would suggest taking the whole gun apart. But if you just want to increase the seal, which provides almost all of the improvement, you hardly have to take anything apart.

Seal Upgrade 

1. Unscrew
You'll only have to take off the grey handle of the missile launcher to get to the little part we care about. I also like to take out the batteries just to prevent the possibility of any electrical accidents, but you don't have to if you don't want.

2. Remove Plunger
Pretty easy and fool-proof. Just pull it straight out.

This is actually what it looks like after the
mod, but it's enough to go by.

3. Seal Improvement
Pull the O-ring off the plunger head and wipe the lubricant off the head. This is so that the electrical tape will stick better, and you won't have to wrangle it around for ten minutes just to get it on there. Anyway, after you wipe it off, you should wrap the head with 1-3 full wraps of electrical tape. After that, pull the O-ring back onto the plunger over the electrical tape .Note: The number of wraps you use will proportionately increase the force of launch, but it will also make it much more difficult to use. It will be much harder to pull the handle out, and slightly harder to push it back in. I put two wraps on, but I'm a strong teenage boy. Mod wisely.

From here on out, you pretty much just reverse what you did in steps 1 and 2. The extra long screw goes on the top right of the handle.

Airflow Improvement

1. Unscrew and Clamshell

Take out all the screws. Short ones go in the topmost sections, and the super-long one goes just to the left of the stock attachment point. The rest are all the same size. And, while not at all necessary, I like to remove the batteries for safety.

Then just pull it apart carefully. There are some wires attaching the two halves at the tip of the handle.

2. Remove launcher

Here all you have to do is pull out the tube and apparatus that actually launches the missile.

3. Drill out grate

Get out your drill/dremel and make the tip look like one large hole instead of looking like a jail window. I won't tell you how best to do this, because it all depends on you and your tool. If you aren't familiar enough with it to know what to do here, you shouldn't be trying this. The final result should look like the hole has never had bars across it, or you might risk damaging your missiles. So yes, you should sand it down.

Put it all back together, screw it tight, and you will have better airflow.

Note: After removing the grate, it is possible to modify it to fire elite darts as well with a coupler system. However, you would slightly restrict the airflow again, and you'd run the risk of completely ruining the launcher if a dart got sucked back inside it. For moderately advanced modders only.


Congratulations! Now your missile launcher will dominate anybody on the field! (Unless of course they've performed this mod too…)

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Modulus Pictures

90 ft/27m range claims.

With just the main gun,
there are over 30 combos.

1000+ combinations?!?!?
Sign me up!

The lonely Modulus without
any of its buddies. :'-(

Size comparison with the Longshot scope.

Closeup of the storage stock.

What do you know? It holds an extra clip!

All the current Modulus toys/accessories in a nice little circle.

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Nerf Modulus

I cannot contain my utter excitement at the release of this new lineup! It's almost as if Hasbro asked me what I want, and then made it! IT'S PERFECT!!!

The Nerf Modulus lineup is the epitome of tacticool. Just enough tactics and a lot of cool. I especially love that Nerf is finally bringing back the concept of Mission kits with the new Upgrade Kits: Stealth Ops, Long Range, Strike and Defend, and Flip Clip. I personally plan to review each of these, but no guarantees…

Anyway, here's the goods:

Good:

• OH MY GOSH THE TACTICS!

  

  TACTICS! TACTICS! TACTICS!

• Okay, okay. I'll get serious.
• Scope. This is actually the first Nerf scope I have owned, and it's a great start. Though sadly not actually magnifying, it does have built-in "crosshairs" for those who like the look. And it's nice and compact.
• Stock. It holds an extra clip. Any extra clip, not just a six-clip.
• That awesome banana clip is back.
• Dual rail barrel. It has another male connector on it's front end! You can literally now add as many of these to each other as you want. Or you could just add a different barrel extension to the front. And it has two tac-rails!
• Rail space. Seven tac-rails. Seven.
• Modularity. What can I say? The name just fits. With all the upgrade kits out there, you could configure this gun almost infinitely!
• Internals. I took this thing apart for a preview, and it's all very neat and compartmentalized.

Unfortunately, though, nothing (not even a dream come true) is perfect.

Bad:

• Flimsy stock. It's even worse than the original Recon detachable stock. No way it helps you steady your aim.
• Large. But, I mean, who really cares? Can't size be a good thing?
• Handle. While I grant it looks amazing, it's somewhat less than ergonomic.
• Color scheme. White and green???

But over all, this gun everything it was meant to be. The upgrade kits are really cool, too. Leave a comment with what you think about the new Modulus line-up.

Shout-out to Hasbro: a) Thanks for caring enough to read my humble blog. b) Thanks for making the internals so simple! c) THIS GUN IS AWESOME!!!!!

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I'm back!

I must make a confession. For a couple of months, I have been remiss and have ignored the responsibilities that come with writing a blog. Namely, writing. I have been enjoying new products, discovering new possibilities, and performing new mods and, to my great chagrin, I did not translate that into writing.

In short, I am sorry.

I now have a plan to not neglect updating this blog, and I value your continued readership.
Signed,
The Tacticool Nerfer
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New toy blaster company: PaperShooters

Disclaimer: This is not actually Nerf. But since it's still in the same genre of harmless toy guns, I thought I'd alert you to its existence.

There's a new company out there that's just getting off the ground. While the name- PaperShooters- is not the most indicative of good performance, I think this group has actually hit on something. There's currently a Kickstarter crowd-funding project for them, and apparently people are eager enough for this product that the goal of approx. $7,000 has been far exceeded.

But to get to the good stuff:

The premise of this product is a "build-your-own customizable blaster" that shoots biodegradable paper ammo. The gun itself is, I believe, made of plastic, but it comes with several cardboard "skins"- pre-cut designs to put on your blaster. They're claiming that it has "marksman accuracy" and will shoot 65 feet.

Pros:

1. Buildable. You get to have fun putting together the 124 separate pieces. Great for those who would like to know how their gun works.
2. Biodegradable ammo. The ammo is made of paper, and is therefore biodegradable.
3. Make your own ammo. The kit comes with a mold with which you can make your own ammo out of scrap paper.
4. Realistic. This would be a wonderful product for teaching gun-safety, because it's realistic but perfectly safe.

Cons:

1. Not a Nerf gun, not compatible with anything Nerf, not for nerf wars, etc.
2. Non-reuseable ammo. You shoot it, it splats, and that's that.
3. "Some assembly required." This will not be a piece of pie to put together. It has a hundred twenty four pieces, after all. A lot of them will surely be small.

Overall, though, I think this product would be well worth the buy. Go to PaperShooters.com to get more info, or just go to the Kickstarter page and check out the videos there.

What do you think about it? Tell me in the comments!

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Painted Sidestrike

Nearly a month ago, I gave you a preview of a project I was working on. I apologize for taking so long; I actually was hoping to get this out to you only about a week and a half after leaving you in suspense over it. Anyway, here it is: the repainted Sidestrike.

I never really was a fan of the green/light gray color scheme on the original (click here to see my review with pictures). I much prefer a simple stealth black and the regulation toy-gun orange for my nerf guns. For one thing, it makes night missions in nerf wars much easier. And all the orange is there for two purposes: a) I doubt anyone will have trouble recognizing that this is not an actual firearm, and b) it looks cool.
Mostly b.

So basically, I coated the main body pieces and the cocking slide with gloss black spray paint. I left alone the orange pieces and the handle insets. I did the orange detailing with acrylic paint, as with the bits of charcoal gray detailing. The handle insets received several coats of the orange acrylic paint. Then all the painted parts got a coat or two of satin finish top coat. The combination of the gloss black and the satin finish resulted in a really nice, tactical non-reflective texture (which, interestingly, also gives it a good feel in the hand). The top coat also means that the gun can get a bit beat up, without showing any wear on the paint job.
As usual, the little parts that were already orange stayed orange.

I didn't take a picture of it, but I also lightly dusted the holster with black spay paint for a shadowy look.

Detail of the handle.

My "signature", and a close-up of the
detailing on the Nerf logo.

Close-up of the cocking slide.

What do you think?

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The Nerf Nuke!

I was stumbling around the internet the other day, and I discovered a rather interesting product. Since it might be of interest to you, I decided to write a post about it. So here it is: my review of the Nerf Nuke, by ThinkGeek!

THE NERF NUKE!!!

To start off with, I do not actually own this product. Neither have I gotten a chance to play with it. As such, this review is pure speculation.

Anyway, this nerf "gun" is marketed as "The Nerf weapon to end all Nerf wars!" Also, even though it's made by an obscure company called ThinkGeek, I'm almost positive that it is licensed by Nerf. (See the little Nerf logos on the fins? the color scheme? the fact that they're calling it "Nerf" instead of "foam-launching"?)

Here's my guesswork about the Nerf Nuke:

Good:

• Explosive! The website claims that the reverse plunger system is compact, yet fires darts up to 30 feet in all directions.
• Launch system. This product comes with a high-powered, tripod-mounted launching tube that can apparently launch the Nuke up to forty feet away.
• Capacity. The Nerf Nuke holds (and comes with) 80 old-school micro darts. I believe it will shoot any dart other than Streamlines, and it can most likely be modded to shoot those too.
• Unique. To my knowledge, this is the only foam-launching toy that explodes.

Bad:

• Overpriced. I wouldn't pay a hundred bucks (plus tax) for this. Would you?
• Probably hard to set up. The website mentioned that the big red button on the front is used for both arming and "firing". Crank it to arm it, push it to explode. I'm figuring on a lot of premature explosions while you're setting it up. And that would make a colossal mess.
• Reloading. Good luck getting your little brother to reload this.

That's my two cents. What do you think? and would you buy it? Please tell me in the comments section.


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UPDATE

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Since creating this post, I have learned that this product sadly does not actually exist. Booooo!!! Turns out, the company, ThinkGeek, has a great (if not horribly mean) sense of humor, and every now and then they'll "release" on their website an exclusive product that doesn't exist at all. When you go to its page, it seems perfectly legit-- until you try to buy it, then you get an "April Fools" message.

  So in summary, my excitement for this product was wildly premature. I've got my frowny face on now.

 

Nerf Sharpfire

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's a Nerf gun. The real question is this: is it a pistol? or a rifle? maybe a carbine? I think Hasbro got a little carried away when they designed this gun. I suppose they wanted to make another gun that had the same marketing ploy that the Recon CS-6 had -- many configurations. It's "modular". But why not just buy a Retaliator?

Whatever Nerf was planning when they made this, didn't involve much tacticool. :(
Ah well. After all, it shoots like a thunder-bolt.

Here's the scoop:

Good:

• Simple. The Sharpfire is very simple and intuitive in both operation and build.
• Collapsable. If you don't have much storage space, this gun is for you. It can shrink down to less than 12 x 6 x 1.5 inches.
• Surprisingly accurate. For some reason, this gun is much less susceptible to wind and other environmental features (like gravity) that decrease accuracy. And you'll get even better accuracy with the barrel-silencer-thing attached. I guess it's pretty well-named.
• Stock/Holster. That's right, the stock doubles as a holster, complete with a belt clip on the side.
• Ranges. 65-70 feet with Elite Darts or Zombie Darts. And considering they didn't even make any range claims, and that it's a pistol, these are gooooood ranges.

Bad:

• No tactical rails. This one really disappoints me.
• Incompatible. In addition to being unable to accept Nerf tactical rail accessories, it is useless with any other accessories. And its accessories won't work on other guns. So much for being modular.
• The stock. To be frank, it looks pretty silly and it's not in a very good position. Kinda useless.
• Dart storage. The stock holds exactly 6 darts. Which I find interesting considering that the Sharpfire comes with ten Elites…
• Holster system. It's a pain to put the main gun in its holster, because you're actually putting it on the holster. The pin that sticks in the back of the handle to attach the stock is also the pin the you stick into the front of the handle to "holster" it.
• Uncomfortable handle. I honestly have no idea why Nerf designed the handle like they did. I find it rather non-ergonomic. Hopefully you won't...

BUT I LOVE IT! The reason is that this gun can easily be modified to be a far better sniper's-choice than any other gun I've used. It can be made to reach much more than a hundred feet, and still be weirdly accurate. And you get all that performance in a nice, compact, simple package.

At $15, this gun is sooooo worth the buy! Head over to your nearest Target right now, and buy one. Now. Do it.

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Mod: MEGA Centurion

Apologies for taking so long with this.

BE FOREWARNED. This is the craziest nerf gun I have ever tried to dissemble and reassemble, let alone modify. I'll give you a clue: if you don't like multitasking, this mod is not for you. The good side of it is that I was able to get a consistent 15-20 foot bonus in range, plus much better accuracy at range.
If you're willing to sacrifice your sanity for these advantages, proceed.

Difficulty: VERY difficult.
What you'll need: A strong person, a long, thin, hopefully magnetized phillipshead screwdriver, electrical tape, a place to keep screws organized.
Suggested: Needle-nose pliers and an insane amount of patience.


1. Remove stuff
You'll want to first of all remove the clip to keep things simpler later on.

The front barrel

Then get your strong person to pull the front barrel piece off. Don't worry, this won't damage the gun or the barrel, and you can put it back on when you're done if you want. Just pull it straight off the front, and you'll be fine. Final, crucial step before you take it apart: make sure it is de-primed. Otherwise it will explode. WILL.


2. Unscrew
There are 24 screws total in four sizes. Get organized, or stop here.
The screws come in short, medium, long, and LONG. The five short ones go on the tac rail and the farthest left spot. The two LONG ones go at the top of the stock and in front of the jam door. The three long ones go here:

The medium ones go everywhere else.

3. Clamshell

Pull the halves apart. The little orange piece in the tac rail probably won't go flying (for once), but it's still good to be careful.

The internals

4. Lock removal

The two locks you should remove are located behind the trigger system shown below.

The trigger system

This is what one of the locks looks like. The other one looks similar.

Trigger and locks removed

First, take out the 2 screws holding the trigger system in. Take that out, then pull out the two locks behind it. It should look like the picture to the right. Then put the trigger system back in. Make sure to slide the end under the catch system. Screw it back in.

5. AR removal/seal upgrade

First you need to take off the white gear and orange "gear shield". Then take out the whole big plunger system. In order to fully remove it, you need to unscrew the return spring, housed above the main plunger tube. After that, you need to unscrew three small screws that hold the narrow front section to the bulky rear half. Simply pull out the pieces shown below (along with the spring that comes with them), and screw the front back on.

Then, take your electric tape and wrap it around the plunger tube to seal off the vents on the side.

One vent sealed, one to go.

Both vents sealed.

6. Extra improvements

If you want to make it easier to clear jams, you can pull out the jam door without affecting performance in the slightest. This is helpful for seeing when you're out of ammo so you don't dry-fire it. Another thing to do to make jams easier to clear would be to sand down the edges of the top of the clip so the darts can actually squish through the gap if you need them to. Additionally, if those green "priming indicators" bug you as much as they do me, you can safely remove the green parts ONLY. ----->

7. Homework

Take apart the clip well and remove the lock that prevents use when the barrel extension is not attached. You're on your own for this one, since I forgot to note down how to do it (and there is NO chance I'm doing it again). But I'm sure you can figure it out! Just remember to remove as little as possible, and keep track of where everything goes. Good luck!

8. Reassemble
Put everything back where you found it. You can use the picture above to try to tell where everything goes, and remember to screw everything in right. If you don't, you'll have to take it all apart again when the internals go kablooie the first time you try to use it. I'm sure you don't want that.
After everything's arranged, make sure that the priming handles are aligned, and put the top half back on. Easier said than done, so be patient.
When that's all through, you can screw it together. If you pulled out the lock in the clip well, you can stop here, leaving the barrel extension off to get slightly better range. Or, if you didn't, or you just like the tacticool "sniper" look of the complete Centurion, you can snap the barrel extension back on.

AND YOU'RE DONE!!!

Give yourself a pat on the back. Better yet, get someone else to give you a pat on the back. After all, you just disassembled, modified, and reassembled the Nerf MEGA Centurion. You deserve it.

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Teaser

I'm working on a rather long and detailed project, which I think you'll all like. However, I don't want to give away what it is. Here's a clue:

I'm painting a nerf gun, and I'll be giving it the best paint job I've done yet… I'm very excited!
However, it's up to you to theorize what gun it is that I'm working on. :-)

As always, comments are welcome.
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MOD: Nerf DoubleStrike

Finally, the Mod Guide for the Doublestrike!

Really, there's hardly anything you can do to improve the performance of the Doublestrike. You can't remove the air restrictors because of the "Smart AR" system it uses. You can't really upgrade the spring because it's already so tough. And there's no need to upgrade the seal, because it's already about as good as it gets. If you want to get better performance, here's LordDraconical's mod guide:

If you do want to take it apart for some reason, though (like to paint it), here's my input.

Difficulty: Easy
What you'll need: A phillipshead screwdriver.

1. Unscrew
There's seven silver screws to remove. They're all the same size, so you don't need to worry about which screw goes where. Keep them in some sort of bag or container, so you don't lose them.

2. Clamshell
Take the top half off and set it aside. Be careful that the little orange piece on top doesn't fly out.

3. Reassemble

Closeup of the internals

Assuming you have already taken out the internals and done whatever it was you wanted to do in the first place, here is how to put it all back together. Lay the trigger spring over the left metal post, then patiently place the trigger on that metal post so that the upright part of the spring fits into the tiny hole in the top of the trigger. That done, slide the spring over the cocking mechanism, slide the cocking mechanism/plunger into the barrel assembly, and arrange it all back into place. Then take the spring stopper and place it over the posts at the bottom of the handle such that it also fits over the spring.

The "shield"

Finally, place the "shield" piece (shown to the left) back over the pins to hold everything in.  Then place the tiny orange piece back under the tac rail, and lay the other half of the shell back on. And you're done.


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Painted Doublestrike

I like Black. Don't ask me why; I have no clue. I just know that I like Black.

Conveniently, Black happens to go very well with Nerf orange. One need only look to the Gear-Up series to prove this. Sadly, Gear-Up was discontinued, and most guns don't have an orange-and-black paint job. Let's fix that, shall we?

Pardon the fuzzy.

In my opinion, the Doublestrike never looked so good. And the nice thing is that it was very easy to paint, since all of the little pieces were orange. All I had to do was paint the shell.

Here's what I did:

1. Sand

I took the gun apart, then gave each half of the shell a good sanding prep. Drac has a good explanation of how to do this in most of his mod videos.

2. Spray Paint
I gave it several coats of gloss black spray paint. 'Nuff said.

3. Hand Paint
I gave it a cool detail job with a thin paintbrush and a few acrylic paints.

The "cloth wrap" handle

The orange parts
were all left orange.

4. Clear Enamel Coat
After the paint had plenty of time to dry, I took the shell back outside and gave it one or two coats of clear spray enamel. Let that dry, screw it together, and…

5. Voila!