Nerf Raider CS-35 “Nihilist” Mod

A couple of months ago I stumbled across my old NERF Raider.  I got it back in 2009 when I started as an undergraduate.

The Raider is fairly pants now as NERF blasters go, but I figured it’d be a cool modding project! I wanted to do a vaguely videogame-inspired paint job (a lá Mass Effect, or Borderlands), and I think it came out really well in the end.

Nerf Raider Mod: Gallery

I used Plasti-kote 3101 in Matt Black for the base coat, and Plasti-kote 22106 Real Red Satin for the top coat. Weathering was the best bit– liberal application of Pewter Rub N Buff provided the gunmetal effect. I did mod the internals but the larger spring ended up breaking the plunger system, so I’ve made do with removing the air restrictor for the finished version.

I didn’t mod the drum which came with the Raider, as I don’t really like the look of its design– even if it is the largest capacity dart feeder Nerf ever sold. Instead, I grabbed a couple of 6-dart capacity magazines from eBay, though I did end up modifying them to fit as I assume they were designed for a different blaster series…

Overall, I’m really happy with how it came out in the end!

Nerf Raider dart blaster side view