Nerf Maverick, love it or hate it?

So after a long period of time thinking that painting a Nerf Maverick bronze and such was an overdone steampunk accessory, you know that you see them in the hands of steampunk conventionists everywhere, I finally broke down and coughed up my ten dollars to Target and bought one. the picture above is not mine; mine is still in pieces with a first coat of brass coloured spray paint. Fun tip by the way, as you dismantle your Maverick take pictures of the inside with each little piece you remove because average folks like me will not remember how to put it back together again. I shall take pictures of the second one I now need to purchase in order to reassemble the first. But anyway, getting to the point of the discussion . . . what are you views on this ubiquitous steampunk accessory? Overdone? So what, love it anyway? It's a cliche? It's a classic? What do you think?

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Permalink Reply by CoastConFan on September 15, 2012 at 4:54am

The Maverick is as iconic as goggles, which makes it a mainstay. Consider that some 370,000 first generation Colt Single Action Army revolvers were made and nobody can call them campy or overused and nobody is going to sneer at a good 19^th century example in your collection as cliché or boring. Check out what a good example costs in collector’s circles. Just so with the Maverick – produced by the good old mass production method and available anywhere, just like the SAA.

So paint up, chrome up, doll up, grunge up, disassemble, mod, tinker, and play around with that basic iconic gun and make it your own. If you mess up, hey it’s just ten bucks, get another and keep on modding. The Maverick is the SAA of steampunk.

I really dislike it when somebody is trying their best and proud of what they made themselves, only to be shot down by some insecure steamnazi, rather than being nurtured, guided, and helped by a more experienced persons. Like all reenacting, you have to start somewhere and generally, it’s with the basics. I’d sure hate to see the steampunk genre become set in stone, there’s a lot of creative minds out there.

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Permalink Reply by T.R Harrison on October 3, 2012 at 1:21pm

I agree with CoastConFan, it does seem to be a staple weapon. Being new to Steampunk, it's price point was great for a mod and there are a lot of examples out there. I took mine and made it like no other and have gotten a lot of compliments on it. Being a cheap and easy gun to mod, I do think that the simple paint jobs are a tad bit boring but then again that is just my opinion. Even though just paint, it does look much, much better and people take their liberties with it. I know one both of mine are complete, I'll have about 70 hours in to the weapons and some people just don't put that kind of time in to it. Being one of the people that say steampunk is a simple summary of everything that I have enjoyed my life and just being late to the actual scene, I love what ones mind can make a simple object in to and that each person makes it their own. The maverick is a great example of this. To each their own.

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Permalink Reply by T.R Harrison on October 3, 2012 at 1:38pm

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Permalink Reply by CoastConFan on October 3, 2012 at 5:18pm

You are not late to steampunk, only to this phase of steampunk. It will continue to evolve due to new, fresh blood bringing in new ideas and innovations. BTW, I really like your mod.

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Permalink Reply by T.R Harrison on October 3, 2012 at 7:54pm

Thank you, looking forward to finishing the second one.

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Permalink Reply by Lucas Merriwhether Buford on October 26, 2012 at 5:53pm

It's a classic. I haven't seen many of them lately.

I've never made one, but it's akin to those plastic googles most of us have owned (repainted ourselves or by an etsy person).

Really, I love how clean yours looks, the fleur de lis is a nice touch.

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Permalink Reply by CoastConFan on October 26, 2012 at 6:40pm

Fleur de lis? Darn, I thought that was a peeled bananna!

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Permalink Reply by kirk dorton on October 26, 2012 at 10:31pm

ya know its just that everyones uses them,i choose not to for that reason.i m fond of c96 mauser pistols or amer model 3 revolvers or webley fosberg.you get my point.anyhoo here my 1st steam mod one , still in the works and heres my proto lewis gun getin closer to done

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Permalink Reply by CoastConFan on October 27, 2012 at 4:10am

The blaster has a real Buck Rogers feel to it -- I like that. The Lewis gun mock up look really good too. I personally like the French Chauchat for a weird plumber's nightmare kind of gun. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chauchat

This one is rather odd because it has Finnish property marks and an antiaircraft sight, which only adds to the weirdness. This one could be mocked up with some PVC pipe and an rifle stock.

The S&W Number 3 is a substantial gun with lots of presence. The Russian Model is just a little more exotic with the trigger guard.

It wouldn't take too much to steam this one up.

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Permalink Reply by Captain of The Lost World on December 28, 2012 at 8:08pm

My love of Mavericks will continue till the end. I've done many others, just look at my images, but the M... Still tops.

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Permalink Reply by CoastConFan on December 29, 2012 at 5:44am

As far as complaints about the ubiquitous Maverick in steampunk, consider how common the Colt Single Action Army revolver is in fact and in depiction in books and movies. Nobody complains about the SAA’s iconic appearance in westerns nor should people worry about how many modified Mavericks are at a convention. Mavericks are a baseline just as Winchesters and SAA’s are in Western fact and fiction.

From there you can create a tangent of an ultra modified Maverick or other models. Not everybody is going to have an absolutely one-of-a-kind, custom made piece. The Victorian Era is the heir of the industrial revolution, bringing mass produced items to market cheaply (or at least cheaper) than previously along with the convenience of interchangeability when repair or mods are needed.

Think about the fact that nearly all cars, while not cheap, are within the reach of nearly everybody due to mass production and interchangeability. Even custom car makers are not producing one-of-a-kind hand made engines, each one entirely different from the other. Hand made luxury cars use machine made interchangeable screws and many parts available over the counter, so let’s extend the thing that was one of the earmarks of the Victorian Era, namely the expansion of the industrial revolution to be part of steampunk.