The Tacticool Nerfer: 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.