DIY camo paint job: I'll show you mine if you show me yours!

NV Bill

NV Bill

New member
I decided its finally time to nut up and paint one of my rifles. I was going back and forth between trying a hydrodip or painting it myself. I went with paint this time, but may try dipping something in the future.

I started with a flat earth/khaki base coat (2 layers). Next I tried using sagebrush, grass, and pine branches as stencils, but I wasn't impressed with the results. So I put on another coat of khaki. After drying I started sponging. I started with light green, then went to a darker green, and then went with brown. To tie it all together I sponged on some more light green and khaki. To finish it, I applied three coats of matte clear coat.

While it's not quite what I had in mind when I started this process, I'm actually pretty pleased with the results. Especially for my first try at it. At least it should blend in better than solid black and bright stainless.

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Well there's mine, so let's see yours!
 
Good looking paint job! I was hesitant to try it as well, it seemed so sacreligious; bought a used 870 Express that hasn't lived the sweetest of lives, and it was either reblue it and refinish the stocks, or paint it... So I did.


 
Originally Posted By: Skinnypete73Looks real nice I think. Is that the 6x6.8 you just used to take all those yotes? What kind of prep work to it take?

Yes, that is the same 6x6.8; for prep work I made sure to degrease everything thoroughly with brake cleaner. Then I taped off parts I didn't want painted. Which was just glass and numbers on the scope. I also made sure to put a cleaning patch in the bore to avoid getting paint in the barrel.

Rocky, I had to do a double take on that 870. At first glance it looked like realtree!
 
That's sorta what I was after Bill, but it's all rattle can. Picked up various leaves out of the yard, a pine branch, and the entire selection of camo Krylon at the local Wally World. Just kept layering paint and applying leaves with rolled up masking tape stuck behind them. Hung it off my engine hoist to paint it, with a fan blowing on it the whole time; it went relatively quick. On the Branches I used a textured spray paint. It gave a nice mottled bark like look and feel to it with one coat. Then I finished up with a small artist's brush, some black, brown, and a little John Deere Green sprayed into the can lid.

Wasn't sure if I'd like it when I got done, and didn't want to try and dig all of that paint out of the checkering if I didn't, so I taped the checkering off to keep it clean. Also, taped the top of the Vent Rib off to maintain a flat clean surface for sighting. Otherwise taped off the butt plate, end of the barrel, loading and ejection ports on the receiver, action bars, and everything inside the outer perimeter of the trigger loop, to protect from paint buildup in the safety, bolt release, or trigger.

Electricians' tape and styrofoam has been replaced with a proper clamp on barrel mount for the flashlight. Hadn't really thought about one for the shotgun at the time; bought the light for my AR. Had about 20 hogs move in, strictly nocturnal, and needed a quick fix for shooting at multiple running targets in the dark. It was crude, but proved effective.



 
I'd probably come up with something quick too if I had that kind of action show up after dark! Sometimes quick and crude is just the ticket.
 
Originally Posted By: Livn68Wow Bill, That looks great! Here's my first go at DIY paint on my 277 Wolverine

Thanks, but I think you might have me beat there. That thing looks amazing! Very nice work.

What did you use to get that pattern?
 
Originally Posted By: NV BillOriginally Posted By: Livn68Wow Bill, That looks great! Here's my first go at DIY paint on my 277 Wolverine

Thanks, but I think you might have me beat there. That thing looks amazing! Very nice work.

What did you use to get that pattern?

I did a base coat in FDE, then ripped and placed strips of masking tape for the tiger stripes, spraying OD green over it. After peeling off the masking tape, I used a laundry bag over the rifle to lay some dark brown over some areas. It was tedious, but turned out pretty well, I think!
 
Good looking paint jobs...I've done a few and thought I'd pass on what I've found for paint removal in case you get to the point you want to either redo or take back to original...
First Paint Job:

Bead Blasted to remove:

Primed:

Repainted:

Paint Remover: Best I've found (at Ace Hardware)

Scope from AR after 5 minutes: Paint rolled off with a course rag.


Rifle and Scope now back to bare metal awaiting new paint...
 
Some very nice work so far fellas. Here is my old 835 I painted quite a while back. Its seen its share of field use and bounced around the truck enough to have some wear marks.
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