Nerf Shooting Galery with Blaster Safe

thingiverse

My son adores his Nerf blasters, so I'm crafting this magnificent Nerf target gallery for Christmas. It boasts a competition tree, three shelves of thrilling knock-down targets, ingenious dart storage, and a secure blaster safe with a combination lock that my son can crack the code on (and change it with my guidance). I'm building the case from MDF - as a seasoned industrial designer, I've worked extensively with this material to create stunning furniture pieces. It's better for the environment since it's made from sawdust and wood glue, and more dimensionally stable than plywood, making it remarkably sturdy if used correctly. However, the only downside is that it can be quite heavy. You can beautifully stain MDF, giving it an intriguing look when you use water-based stains with polyurethane in them. You can even add faux grain by leaving streaks in the stain or seal it with a primer and paint it - just remember to wear a dust mask while cutting it and choose the formaldehyde-free variety. This material has the added advantage of being free from voids, eliminating the need for edgebanding. I plan to use Poly Staining dark walnut or an even darker shade. For the knockdown targets, I'm reusing DVD cases - they also make fantastic kid-friendly photo frames, as you can see in my project: 3321894. Eventually, I may add a reset feature for the knockdown targets and random pop-up targets with scoring - but that would require collaborating with someone who's an expert at Arduino programming. That's not really my area of expertise. Cut lists and plans assume MDF (coming soon), but you can use plywood and edgebanding as well, just subtract the thickness of the banding from your cuts (x1 for one edge, x2 for both edges like on a door). If you decide to build it in this configuration, you'll need to print: * 2 Tree supports * 6 Tree spinner bodies * 6 Tree targets * 2 Target stands small for each freestanding knockdown target. Use the smaller one for normal Nerf blasters and the bigger one for Mega blasters or other powerful shooters. Total filament used: approximately 250g Other materials required: * Two sheets of plywood or formaldehyde-free MDF (I'm using MDF) * 6 pieces of 1/4" hardboard or plywood, 5" x 5" (for tree targets) or you can print them * Wood glue (I prefer Titebond 3) * Nails or screws * Paint or stain (and edging if using plywood and desired) * One piece of 1/4"-20 allthread (36") * 12 R4-R2S bearings (1/4" ID) * 12 1/4" washers * 24 1/4"-20 nuts (or 12 Nylock for added security) * A hasp and lock for the blaster case or wait for my combo lock design, which is still in development.