I want to paint my AR...

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I'm going to be following this thread closely as I'm doing a rattle can job soon.
Today I bought an air soft AR for testing and three styles of mesh bag to use as stencils. All for $30 from Walmart
I'm using rustoleum camo paint (bought all colors) and I'm testing 2x ultra cover Matte clear seal/protect on some pmag paint jobs as well.
The aluminum I have to test on is minimal (charging handle) so I'll only do durability tests on that and do patterns on the little AR.
Doing the two sides of the rifle in different colors and patterns to see what I like. Figured something cheap with similar shape and contours would give the best results.
I'll post some pictures after the pattern is applied if you're interested.
 
Here is my AR. I layered my paint, starting first with a foliage green (all paint was Krylon Camo). I then used a home made stencil to put stripes on it. Forest green, Earth Brown, and a few Sand highlights.

I think it's perfect. Posted are pics of it on dirt ground, grass, and tall grass. In each location, it blends in very well with the background. I think it's very important to use multiple colors for that reason.

In grass:
AR2BetterLight-Copy_zps004ca5a0.gif

On dirt ground:
AR1BetterLight-Copy_zps641d6394.gif

In tall grass (Find The AR):
ARFindTheGun-Copy_zpse7eca6f8.gif
 
You guys are artists! I wish I could make mine look like the "wolf" pattern AR
 
Awesome camo schemes fellas. I am still mostly undecided on what camo pattern to go with on my carbine.

Small problem though with my paint job: the paint is still tacky on the rubber pad off the buttstock after three days . Should I remove that paint somehow?...or would a coat of matte clear finish seal it up?
 
The only time Ive run into "tacky" (other than some of my camo schemes :D) has been over doing it with lacquer flat matte finishes Ive used.

From what Ive been told by those who know paints, enamels and lacquers dont mix well, and the lacquers tend to stop the enamels from completely curing, or something like that.

Ive found that if you just give a couple of very light coats of lacquer, it works out well. "Very light" is the key though.

As for the rubber, maybe its a chemical thing between the paint and rubber? The only issue Ive had with rubbery stocks and pads, has been the paint tends to crack and peel/flake off under use, as the rubber expands and compresses, and stresses the paint.
 
After a couple weeks, my AR is still sorta 'tacky' on the buttstock. I'm not going to worry about it. If it peels off there, oh, well.

These 'paint guns' will eventually peel all over the place. That's part of the fun. You get to paint them all over again. :)
 
Ok I finally bit the bullet and painted. All rustoleum camo selections.
Still not sold on my own ability to paint the scope so I left it and the sights untouched
ImageUploadedByTapatalk1401985749.178377.jpg
I worked darker to lighter back to front to help break up the linear look of the rifle, then also added some vertical lines for further break up. I left about an inch of the carbon fiber exposed on the end of the hand guard mainly so I could see it. Ha!
Haven't been able to take it to the field yet for pics but I will soon.
 
Looks good! :)

Painting the scope is no biggie. Just mask off what you dont want painted and have at it. I usually have the flip up caps on mine, and put a some tissue under the cap while I paint to keep any over spray from getting to the glass, but have yet to have any paint get past the caps seal onto the tissue, so dont think its really an issue.

If you dont use the caps, Id just do the tissue thing, and then tape off the the ends.

I taped off the power ring on my one scope, and the turrets on another.

On my BUIS, I just taped off the tops of the sights while the sights were "up", and painted the rest.
 
Nicely done, Collector! Now you just have to get that last little bit of the handguard
 
I did the tan with Krylon. The other colors are Testors model paint that I brushed on. This is a S&W 15-22 so it is all plastic. The Krylon sticks great.

4163e10d.jpg
 
2h51h1w.jpg

my savage done up with krylon camo colors, was going for multicam ended up a little too green but still hides pretty well
 
Looks good. :)

Reminds me of the M14/M1A jobs we used to do. :)

Ive used the "tan" (its really not a tan, but more of a tan-ish) Krylon "Camouflage Ultra Flats" for the base on a couple of guns. The one was real close, the other, a different lot, while again, tan-ish, it was more on the grey side, and while it still came out OK, it didnt work quite as well as the first batch. If you go that route, may want to test check the color first and see what you get.

For the Multicam, you want the base to be "light", and the tan (almost greenish tan) and lighter green colors are the more prevalent.
 
overall im happy with the way it turned out, i spent a lot of time on prep and making my own stencils, it was about a 5 hour process, and everyone who sees it asks how much i had to pay for the paint job, i can take the rifle out into my back yard and lean it on a creosote bush and it pretty much disappears, so I'm happy
 
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