Another duracoat question

S

sigpros

New member
I am wanting to duracoat my ar. Can I duracoat the controls and everything in the lower or do I have to taki it all apart? I want to spray the whole thing butstock handgaurd and all. I bought the dura coat and cleaner. still have to get an airbrush and will be ready to go. Thanks for any help
 
for a a complete job I disassemble, for a quick and dirty, go ahead and leave it together, mask any holes you don't want to get it in.
 
Duracoat is thick enough that I would disassemble the lower, and mask off anything that I didn't want painted. And FWIW, a $25 made-in-China detail spray gun will do a better job than an airbrush.
 
Do not Duracoat your fire control group take every thing apart before you spray. you really don't want it inside the receiver at all
 
SigPros, If you are really careful in your masking, you do not have to disassemble everything...

The photos below will give you some idea...You do need to use some tweezers and small pieces of masking tape to get on the back side of some areas to plug the potential problem areas, but there is no way I have the talent to match stripes, if every thing was taken apart on mine...

204RugerAR.jpg

0312.jpg

ArmalitePaint2.jpg
 
I guess it would depend on the circumstances. If I was camo painting the gun, then no, I wouldn't disassemble. I personally would still mask off any sights, though.
 
Could one of you elaborate on how to do it? I have a bolt gun about to get the krylon treatment. I'd rather have a more durable finish. I used to be a painter but am unfamiliar with how to apply it. How flat does it come? Can you get it with zero sheen?Do you buy it from the manufacturer?
 
Brendan43... If I had to do it over again, I don't know that I would go the DuraCoat route over the Krylon....For the three colors, clear coat, hardners, stencils, etc, my DuraCoat wound up costing me about $200 and I had to have it bead blasted after a couple of years because their technician advised me that I did not need to prime it first, and it started chipping off... So add the cost of $70 for bead blasting the whole rifle...

I primed it next with a self etching auto primer and shot it with Krylon, followed with a matte clear coat and have had no problems with it and that's been three years...

Original DuraCoat:
204RugerAR.jpg

Beadblasted:
204ARStrippedb.jpg

Primed:
204ARPrimed.jpg

Krylon:
0312.jpg


Any others that I decide to paint will be done with the self etching primer and less expensive paint, as it's easier to remove the Krylon, but the primer stays intact...

In answer to your question, you have to mix the hardner and apply the paint with an airbrush gun...It's not really hard to do...
 
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Quote:Where are you buying your self-etching primer...I get mine at the local NAPA auto parts store in the rattle can for about $10...One can will usually do 3-4 firearms easily...
 
Originally Posted By: OldTurtleIn answer to your question, you have to mix the hardner and apply the paint with an airbrush gun...It's not really hard to do...

OT: What size needle/nozzle did you use in the airbrush to get a good flow of paint?

I've got a Paasche internal-mix and all the nozzles/tips, but is this fairly thick when mixed, and do you need a thinner?
What did you use to clean/flush the airbrush when finished?

Thanks.
 
I haven't painted dozens of guns with DC yet, but here are a few random observations based on my fairly limited experience. DC is very, very thick; it needs to be thinned, and I use DC Reducer for that. I clean up my spray gun with lacquer thinner, because it's 25% the cost of DC Reducer and performs acceptably well.

Airbrushes/spray guns: Before I bought the $25 made-in-China detail spray gun, I had difficulty getting DC to flow in my airbrush. I tried one of the cheapie Testor's spray outfits first, and it did throw paint. The second time I tried it, the adjustments from the first time didn't work. I threw it in the trash after that, and bought a real airbrush. It works pretty well once you get the DC thinned adequately, but an airbrush covers such a small area that I only use it for detail work now, like tiger stripe camo.

Stencils: Unless you just hafta have official DC camo stencils, buy the stencil paper and cut your own. It's much, much cheaper!

Paint: It has been demonstrated that DuraCoat is (at least very nearly) identical to Sherwin Williams Polane(TM), repackaged in either 4 or 8-ounce containers and marked up about 1000%. If you're going to do more than 3-4 guns, I strongly recommend going to your local SW paint store and have them mix it up for you in whatever colors you want. They should be able to fix you up with pint cans of your favorite colors, hardener, thinner/reducer, and whatever else you need for 10% the cost of DuraCoat. And yes, they can match colors.

If you insist on using DC, I recommend experimenting with the amount of hardener you add. IME, using the recommended amount yields a fairly glossy finish with matte paints.

Take your time doing surface prep, and be absolutely certain that your gun is totally degreased before spraying it. I recommend using non-chlorinated brake cleaner - outside. I also recommend wearing a respirator while spraying DC; you can get them at Home Depot or Sears, and they're cheap insurance.

This is based on my admittedly limited experience, and like all good things, YMMV.
 
Quote:OT: What size needle/nozzle did you use in the airbrush to get a good flow of paint?...While I have a nice Badger Air Brush, I picked up a craft airbrush and propellent kit at Walmart for use with the DuraCoat since it was so thick, even after thinning with their thinner, and I wasn't sure how it would react to the hardner that had to be mixed in as well...
 


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