I have a cheap eBay handguard I'd like deburr and recoat. I've been eyeballing rattle can jobs, but like Pat riot says, I'm concerned about the finish looking ratty fast. Pity cerakote is so blasted expensive. Maybe I can do something with alumahyde
The paint job actually gets better with age, use, and wear. "Ratty" isnt necessarily a bad thing either. If it really bothers you, its usually easily touched up.
I have used Aluma Hyde II on a number of guns and a few other things. It works well "IF" you follow the directions "EXACTLY". Whatever you paint, you need to put it somewhere safe for a couple of weeks, and not touch it. You also have to be very anal about prep.
When done right, it works great. It also isnt coming off short of a bead blast.
I've tried it and the paint flaked off bad. Should've primed first.
Prep is probably more important than the paint you use. If you don't degrease well, its not going to stick well.
I picked up the paint habit from my dad back in the 60's. He used to paint some of the guns he hunted with.
Up until about 10 years or so ago, all I ever used was Testors "Military Flats". They were readily available at most model/hobby shops (for those who remember them), and they had pretty much any color you might need to match most patterns. They hold up well too.
These days, they arent as easy to find, and its much harder if you cant take the pattern along and try and match up the colors. I now use a mix of Testors I still have or at least know what to get, and Krylon "flats".
I prefer the paints I can remove completely, or as close as possible, and those two will come off with Hopes and Gun Scrubber and some work.
Watch the Kylon Fusion paints, as they are supposed to bond with plastics, and Im not sure if they will come off or not. If youre worried about it.
Brownells has a number of videos on painting things. Most of them are aimed at the Aluma Hyde II paints, or were last I looked (its been a while), but the techniques work with most paints as well.
