AR Painting ?

puppypopper

puppypopper

New member
What are the do's and don'ts of painting AR's .
Once my parts and pieces come in I am going to start the paint job. I just need know if there is any precautions needed to be done.

Thanks ,Chuck
 
You don't indicate if you are going to paint it as 'parts' or after you get it all together.

Your primary goal is to have it as oil free as possible and thoroughly dry before you apply the first spray effort. Wear latex or lint free cotton gloves when handling it.

Set up your paint station so you can rotate the item(s) and have high intensity lighting available so you can see the item with no shadows. Mask off any openings to the interior. I used masking tape on the inside of my upper receiver as it does not have a dust cover.

Use several light coats rather than trying to get total coverage on the first coat.

Your initial prep work will dictate how good the finished job is probably going to look...
 
Quote:
You don't indicate if you are going to paint it as 'parts' or after you get it all together.

Your primary goal is to have it as oil free as possible and thoroughly dry before you apply the first spray effort. Wear latex or lint free cotton gloves when handling it.

Set up your paint station so you can rotate the item(s) and have high intensity lighting available so you can see the item with no shadows. Mask off any openings to the interior. I used masking tape on the inside of my upper receiver as it does not have a dust cover.

Use several light coats rather than trying to get total coverage on the first coat.

Your initial prep work will dictate how good the finished job is probably going to look...



Theres the best advice you could ask for.
 
Quote:
I just kept the dust cover closed and painted the rest.



Did you have any problems with the moving parts such as the mag release, safety, etc. when you painted over them?
I'd like to paint mine too but I'm chicken.
 
I painted mine while it was assembled. I have had zero problems as of yet. It is Duracoat so it may be a little diffrent than regular paint(I am not a painter).

RKR-AR_2.jpg



RKR-AR_4.jpg


Good luck! As Old Turtle said the time you spend in prep work is time well spent!! - RKR
 
Nice looking paint job! That's a great color scheme.
Did you just add the black and tan camo designs over the existing black rifle or did you paint a basecoat on first?
Looks like you used an airbrush to paint it?
 
I was PM'ed about the same question and here is my reponse.
It was black to start with. If you have any more question I would be happy to answer them. I think it turned out pretty cool too!!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif

Quote:
That was airbrushed on freehand. I agree it does look great. It was my first try at it and I am by no means "artsy-fartsy". I degreased it with brake cleaner and a used (3/4 wore out) green scrubby pad first, and then used the Duracoat cleaner for the "final rinse". I started with a base coat of light color (stone). Then the patches of brown, green, and tan (all "woodland" colors). Then the black lines that break up the pattern. I found it easy to work with and very forgiving (hard to make it drip or sag). The colors also cover each other well so if you get a little wide with the black (or any other color), you can make the line/ patch more narrow/larger by touching up the patch that the black (or any other color) covers. The airbrush is a Harbor Freight cheapy, so it does not take expensive equipment. I have only used this rifle this season, so far, but it appears to be holding up very well. I am pleased with it. I have done my shotgun and will do a few more guns as long as the kit I bought holds out. - RKR




RKR-AR_5.jpg



AR1.1-1.jpg



OK, I'm done showing off.........for now.- RKR
 
After degreasing , would it be safer to paint it as one unit . Safer meaning that as one unit I would not have to worry about getting paint on the internal moving parts . Or does it realy matter ?
 
I was not completely correct in my above method. I did take off the float tube, the scope mounts, scope and gas block for the original coat of paint. I wanted complete coverage of all exposed parts. Other than that, it was assembled. Then after they dried, I re-assembled it and finished the job. I did not figure that my pattern would match up very well if I tried to do it in parts. I know the coyotes would not care, but it would not look as cool. I only worried about getting paint into the bore (the duracoat guys claimed once it dried you could not shoot it out!). I have not had any trouble so far. In hind site, I probably should have masked off the ejection port as this is a slick side upper with no dust cover. The bolt and carrier were not degreased so I figured any paint that got on them would come off when it gets cleaned, probably should have done it differently though, chalk another one up to hind site! -RKR
 
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