Basic Guide To Spray Painting Your Airsoft Equipment

Troyad21

I've had a lot of people asking me questions on how I do my Camo paint jobs so I decided to make this Guide on how to do it yourself.
I'm going to underline key points so to make it easier to follow at a glance.

What you'll Need:
The number one thing you will need is PATIENCE.
Without this don't even attempt to try this, you will mess it up and be even more P***ed off.:mad:
Krylon Camo Paint (Ultra Flat/Matt) (Olive Green, Tan, Brown, Black) (Available in MIA)
Also found Plasti-Kote Spray paint (Matt finish)(Satin finish only if there's nothing else) pretty good and great selection of colors.(Available in B&Q)
Hard paper/card.
Pencils/pens.
Ruler/Set square (Digi Camo only)
Scalpel or similar (Make sure its sharp or stencils won't have as good finish)
Painters tape.
Bluetack.
Twine for hanging.

Hints and Tips:
Draw and cut out stencils using hard paper/card.(You'll be left with a hollow and fill)
Leaves, grass and netting also have great effects.
Start with the lightest color then gradually work to the darkest color.
Always spray diagonally across the surface starting OFF the object sweeping over and OFF.This will leave a nice clean even finish.
Hold can as upright as possible and about 8 inches away from surface.
Tape up or remove any sensitive parts or areas you don't want painted.
When doing the base coat try hang the rifle on string it'll make your life a lot easier.But when doing the detailed parts make sure its on a steady surface so it doesn't move while spraying.
Always give 20 - 30 mins between coats (more if possible)

Work in a well ventilated place and take breaks often for fresh air.

All colors depend on what look or style your going for but generally all steps are the same for all styles.

Down to Business:
1: Before applying the base coat, clean everything down with white spirits then dry completely.

2: Apply an extremely light dusting coat (for paint to stick to when dry).Leave for about 20 - 30 mins.

3: Apply your main base coat (lightest color ie. Green/Tan/White).Leave for 20 - 30 mins.

4: Depending on style of camo your going for, start using (next darkest ie. Brown/Grey) with stencils, leaves, netting, ex.....(keep this color going in same direction ie. diagonally left to right or right to left).Leave for 20 - 30 mins.
(FOR EXTRA EFFECT, BLUETACK THE FILL PART OF STENCIL TO AREAS BEFORE SPRAYING IT'LL LEAVE A NICE LIGHT DESIGN IN PARTS YOU HAVE COVERED)

5: Do opposite to Step 4 (Darker/Darkest this time ie. Black) I personally only use black with the hollow part of stencils as you don't usually find Black leaves, grass, ex.....
(FOR EXTRA EFFECT MEET BLACK TO BLACK ie. IF YOU HAVE AREA YOU WANT TO LEAVE BLACK LET THE HOLLOW STENCIL MEET THAT POINT SO IT WILL GIVE THE IMPRESSION THAT THE BLACK AREA IS RUNNING INTO OR IS PART OF THE CAMO PATTERN)

6: When you feel your happy and finished leave in a well ventilated area for 1 - 2 (more if possible) days to dry and set.Trust me it'll be worth it in the end.:D

And there you have it that's pretty much a basic guide to spraying across the board.
That's all I do and it's worked pretty well so far.
I'm sure you can use Primers and Sealers and all that but I haven't and its pretty durable so far.
Hope this helps anyone who is stuck or wary about trying it out.
I know this seems a lot but its not as hard as it might seem.
Try it on something small first and most of all have fun with it.

I only got into Airsoft 2 months ago so it cant be that hard if a so called "NOOB" can do it.

Hopefully I didn't miss anything, haha.;)
I've no experience in spray painting so anyting I missed or extra tips would be great.

Thanks for reading and have a good one.
Brian.

P.S. I'VE EXAMPLES DOTTED AROUND BOARDS ON DIFFERENT THREADS. I'M SURE THEY CAN BY ACCESSED THROUGH MY PROFILE THOUGH.

Captain Chaos

Nice guide, came in handy as I'm planning on doing a custom cammo job on one of my snipers in a few weeks when I get some time.

Just a question about stage 2, the dusting coat. What does that entail, is it a special spray that lightly grits the surface or something similar?

Troyad21

Captain Chaos wrote: »

Nice guide, came in handy as I'm planning on doing a custom cammo job on one of my snipers in a few weeks when I get some time.

Just a question about stage 2, the dusting coat. What does that entail, is it a special spray that lightly grits the surface or something similar?

Thanks man,
Just had a lot of people asking questions so doing this will save me time in the long run.
By dusting coat all i mean is just give it a really quick light spray with your base coat color paint all over.
That's it.
Hope that helps.

Sorry yeah your on the right track it lightly grits the surface so the main base coat has something better to stick to.

phlegms

Thanks for the guide Troyad!
I have been meaning to do this for a while but didn't know where to get started, this should sort me out nicely!

Troyad21

phlegms wrote: »

Thanks for the guide Troyad!
I have been meaning to do this for a while but didn't know where to get started, this should sort me out nicely!

No worries man.
Glad to help.

TNTQ

Very good. I'd like just a few things.

Get some old AEG you don't use for trials.

Always strip AEG apart before painting.

Before Camo painting its very important to preper surface, you can use 300grit sand paper.

After that same as Troyad21 said, de-grease, doesn't have to be white spritits can be methylated alcohol.

I don't really like to use stencils for spraying on small patterns, you are gettin a lot of overspray and it's very difficult to get crisp edges (if you go for such a look)

To get a crisp edges I use frisket film. Draw the pattern on it and then stick it to the model. Cut it with the scalpel and sprey over that.

Apply same colour few times so you wont have leaks of bottom colour.

Using frisket film you can keep the pattern consistent even when takin your AEG apart.

For finishing touches I recommend an airbrush.

Troyad21

TNTQ wrote: »

Very good. I'd like just a few things.

Get some old AEG you don't use for trials.

Always strip AEG apart before painting.

Before Camo painting its very important to preper surface, you can use 300grit sand paper.

After that same as Troyad21 said, de-grease, doesn't have to be white spritits can be methylated alcohol.

I don't really like to use stencils for spraying on small patterns, you are gettin a lot of overspray and it's very difficult to get crisp edges (if you go for such a look)

To get a crisp edges I use frisket film. Draw the pattern on it and then stick it to the model. Cut it with the scalpel and sprey over that.

Apply same colour few times so you wont have leaks of bottom colour.

Using frisket film you can keep the pattern consistent even when takin your AEG apart.

For finishing touches I recommend an airbrush.

Thanks for the input TNTQ,
I usually sand myself, sorry forgot to add that, haha...
I'd love to get my hands on an airbush but like i said i have no previous experience with spraypaint or anything like that.So i wouldn't know where to look for things like that.
Thanks again.

TNTQ

I had few cheap brushes, but they break to fast. 2 years ago I decided to upgrade to Badger Anthem 155 (great tool).

Painting with airbrush gives you the advantage of much greater control over the spray pattern and excludes need of using stenciles. Saves you a lot of time when you are spraying complex shapes.

It's rather difficult to get a good paint for airbrush in Ireland, but there is always a frisket.

Troyad21

TNTQ wrote: »

I had few cheap brushes, but they break to fast. 2 years ago I decided to upgrade to Badger Anthem 155 (great tool).

Painting with airbrush gives you the advantage of much greater control over the spray pattern and excludes need of using stenciles. Saves you a lot of time when you are spraying complex shapes.

It's rather difficult to get a good paint for airbrush in Ireland, but there is always a frisket.

OK barely understood half of that, haha....
Thanks for the extra tips though.
I'll look into the airbrushes because I've a pain in my ring cutting out stencils, haha....