View Full Version : Jumping on the duracoat bandwagon.
Ordered a Multicam kit this weekend and some stencils. Will be applying with a cheap airbrush (hopefully if it's works well enough).
I know prep is key but does anybody have any tips to share?
I will be doing my SPR type rifle that I use for coyote hunting.
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Long Range Trigger Monkey
01-09-17, 19:21
I like Duracoat, it's pretty easy to use, the finish is pretty good, it's no Ceracoat, but it is durable, and air dries pretty easy. I mean it's pretty hard to argue with a product that is chemical resistant, comes in a multitude of colors, and you can reassemble your firearm the next day. Definitely take your time with prep, if you are painting anodized aluminum you should only have to degrease the parts, the anodizing is already pretty porous and the Duracoat will adhere well. If you are doing a steel barrel too rough it up with a scotch brite pad or similar. Duracoat sells a degreaser that works really well but I've always used Acetone from the hardware store without any ill effects, just be sure to use a clean rag and get all the nooks and crannies. One thing that I've found helps is to do the paint job in a heated and ventilated space and also have a blow dryer or heat gun handy to heat up the parts before application and during to help the paint flash off. It's been my experience that it helps the first couple of coats adhere and in the end will give the matte and flat paints a better finish. I remember the first time I did a duracoat job it was in the garage of our new house, there was no heat, I tried to set up some space heaters but they weren't working so I charged ahead. In the end the job came out looking like crap, the paint didn't adhere, I was light in some areas and could see barrel steel, it was shiny when it was supposed to be matt. I stripped it down and started over by going to my parents' house where their garage was easier to vent and heat up and making sure I took my time. In the end the job came out great and the finish lasted quite well until five years later when I had the gun rebuilt and blasted. I will also suggest that you do the painting in some place with really good lighting, it sucks to do it a dimly lit area and then when you're all done you realize that the paint went on lighter than you thought and you see speckles from where the finish is thin.
Prep is key.
The surface must be clean.
It will stick to rougher surfaces better than smoother ones. Flat anodizing, as opposed to shiny. Parkerizing is a good base for it. You can rough with scotchbrite, emery cloth will be better. Aluminum oxide blasting is best. Glass bead blasting is to be avoided, just scotchbrite it.
The surface must be clean.
Don't touch with fingers after degreasing.
Spray in relatively low humidity. Warm room is good, you can preheat parts if that's not available, just keep the duracoat in at least room temp. Too warm and it will start to harden in the jar after mixing.
The surface must be clean.
Oh, BTW, you can speed cure it at 150-160 degrees for an hour. If you use the oven in the house, it will smell, but it will dissipate and not leave odor behind in the oven if you leave the door open for awhile. Put it on heavy paper or cardboard, on the racks.
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Thanks for the tips so far guys! My shipment should be in this week and I will start the process. I will keep updates and progress in this post. Time to start the disassembly and degreasing process.
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Too glossy for me and the most recent aerosol can I purchased was a dud..............
Aerosol can?
Never used that, used the two-part.
If talking about canned air, I have a compressor.
If using canned air, do not let the can tip over. You then get liquid. Take your time, to reduce humidity in the canned air.
Compressor is best, with inline dryer.
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Aerosol can?
Never used that, used the two-part.
If talking about canned air, I have a compressor.
If using canned air, do not let the can tip over. You then get liquid. Take your time, to reduce humidity in the canned air.
Compressor is best, with inline dryer.
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They sell an aerosol can with a two part chamber, break the inner seal and the two parts mix inside the aerosol can.
I found it worked surprising well, and made for an easy clean-up. The same rules apply as to ensuring the parts mix well, cleaning, heating, drying, etc, as the two part liquid stuff.
Long Range Trigger Monkey
01-11-17, 20:12
I just got done doing a little refinishing job on an old shotgun using the aerosol spray and for that kind of project it worked great. All of the prep is the same but the spray can made it pretty convenient to basically just spray it like I would a can of Krylon, albeit with a more durable finish at the end. I had just enough paint to refinish a 28" barreled action, magazine latch, magazine guide, bolt body, trigger, and some other small parts, in addition to a Marlin Model 60 receiver. The finish came out a nice matte black, looks good, I'm debating stripping down a chassis and refinishing it too over the winter.
They sell an aerosol can with a two part chamber, break the inner seal and the two parts mix inside the aerosol can.
I found it worked surprising well, and made for an easy clean-up. The same rules apply as to ensuring the parts mix well, cleaning, heating, drying, etc, as the two part liquid stuff.
Oh. It's been a number of years since I used duracoat, they didn't sell it like that back then.
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I just got done doing a little refinishing job on an old shotgun using the aerosol spray and for that kind of project it worked great. All of the prep is the same but the spray can made it pretty convenient to basically just spray it like I would a can of Krylon, albeit with a more durable finish at the end. I had just enough paint to refinish a 28" barreled action, magazine latch, magazine guide, bolt body, trigger, and some other small parts, in addition to a Marlin Model 60 receiver. The finish came out a nice matte black, looks good, I'm debating stripping down a chassis and refinishing it too over the winter.
My uncle gave me some old shotguns to refinish including a turd of a S&W 916. Was thinking about using the Brownells gunkote in spray can form on it....
Long Range Trigger Monkey
01-14-17, 18:38
I have no experience with Gunkote but I thought it was an oven cure product. I don't have a full size oven that I can use to bake a barreled action so I stick with the air cure stuff and as long as the metal prep is done well the performance is quite good. I've tried the Brownells Aluma-Hyde and I still prefer the DuraCoat to that because of the long cure time with the Aluma-Hyde.
OP, if it turns out the way you like, please post some pics!
OP, if it turns out the way you like, please post some pics!
I'm certainly hoping it will. The only delay right now is finding a warmish place to start spraying the parts. The wife would kill me if I spray in the basement (again).
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Long Range Trigger Monkey
01-15-17, 08:13
I did two jobs in the basement and she said no more lol. The last time I even constructed somewhat of a paint booth out of plastic drop cloth that sealed off a part of the basement and connected to a window for venting and fumes still got upstairs. Luckily my folks live close by and I can use their garage for painting activities, it warms up pretty good out there, there's a TV, a frig, it's a pretty sweet set up actually.
I did two jobs in the basement and she said no more lol. The last time I even constructed somewhat of a paint booth out of plastic drop cloth that sealed off a part of the basement and connected to a window for venting and fumes still got upstairs. Luckily my folks live close by and I can use their garage for painting activities, it warms up pretty good out there, there's a TV, a frig, it's a pretty sweet set up actually.
Looks like I'll be planning to paint Tuesday. Temps will be up in the 50s out side and I'll be setting up a heated paint booth (groundblind) in my open air barn. Results will follow....
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I have no experience with Gunkote but I thought it was an oven cure product. I don't have a full size oven that I can use to bake a barreled action so I stick with the air cure stuff and as long as the metal prep is done well the performance is quite good. I've tried the Brownells Aluma-Hyde and I still prefer the DuraCoat to that because of the long cure time with the Aluma-Hyde.
KG1200 is air cure for stocks and scopes. In my experience of a few polymer pieces it didn't wear very well and having to use a heat gun to sweat mold release out of plastic parts prior to abrasive blasting was an added hassle.
I have no experience with Gunkote but I thought it was an oven cure product. I don't have a full size oven that I can use to bake a barreled action so I stick with the air cure stuff and as long as the metal prep is done well the performance is quite good. I've tried the Brownells Aluma-Hyde and I still prefer the DuraCoat to that because of the long cure time with the Aluma-Hyde.
Anyone have any experience with the Brownells branded oven cure gunkote?
I've got a can sitting on the bench I intended to use to refinish a zastava cz99 beater I picked up for <$150. Almost a year on haven't found the time...
Nate
NAAH Tool Works
Naahtoolworks@gmail.com
Well it's been a interesting start down the duracoat trail. After doing some initial testing with my airbrush I decided against doing my AR yet. The airbrush puts out so little paint it would take hours and hours to do the whole Ar with multiple layer. I will have to invest in a painters gun to finish that task. But after seeing some pictures online I decided to two tone my Glock 19 with multi beige and multi tan. I really like the way it came out and the finish appears to be holding pretty well. Only have noticed one blemish so far and that was due to a piece of lint or dust that was on the slide when I sprayed.
Here's the picture
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170128/3feaaf69cee12dc237ab60d57b1ac645.jpg
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
Well it's been a interesting start down the duracoat trail. After doing some initial testing with my airbrush I decided against doing my AR yet. The airbrush puts out so little paint it would take hours and hours to do the whole Ar with multiple layer. I will have to invest in a painters gun to finish that task. But after seeing some pictures online I decided to two tone my Glock 19 with multi beige and multi tan. I really like the way it came out and the finish appears to be holding pretty well. Only have noticed one blemish so far and that was due to a piece of lint or dust that was on the slide when I sprayed.
Here's the picture
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Damn that did turn out nice. Great job.
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Well it's been a interesting start down the duracoat trail. After doing some initial testing with my airbrush I decided against doing my AR yet. The airbrush puts out so little paint it would take hours and hours to do the whole Ar with multiple layer. I will have to invest in a painters gun to finish that task. But after seeing some pictures online I decided to two tone my Glock 19 with multi beige and multi tan. I really like the way it came out and the finish appears to be holding pretty well. Only have noticed one blemish so far and that was due to a piece of lint or dust that was on the slide when I sprayed.
Here's the picture
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I've used a horror freight detail gun to spray several non gun projects. They work surprisingly well for the $10 price tag.
Nate
NAAH Tool Works
Naahtoolworks@gmail.com
556BlackRifle
01-28-17, 11:57
Well it's been a interesting start down the duracoat trail. After doing some initial testing with my airbrush I decided against doing my AR yet. The airbrush puts out so little paint it would take hours and hours to do the whole Ar with multiple layer. I will have to invest in a painters gun to finish that task. But after seeing some pictures online I decided to two tone my Glock 19 with multi beige and multi tan. I really like the way it came out and the finish appears to be holding pretty well. Only have noticed one blemish so far and that was due to a piece of lint or dust that was on the slide when I sprayed.
Here's the picture
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170128/3feaaf69cee12dc237ab60d57b1ac645.jpg
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Your 19 came out great. Good job!
tigershilone
01-28-17, 14:50
Prep is key.
The surface must be clean.
Glass bead blasting is to be avoided, just scotchbrite it.
The surface must be clean.
The surface must be clean.
Never use glass beads for prep, they dimple the surface and actually make it harder for whatever finish you apply to stick properly. If blasting, using garnet or aluminum oxide in the 200-220 grit is best for etching the surface. The 200 grit leaves nice rough edges with lots of surface area for the finish to bond to. These edges are extremely small so dont worry about it feeling like a rough surface to your touch, the finish will fill in and it will feel smooth to your fingers.
Thanks for the kind words everyone. My prep was 220 grit sandpaper. Then a dish soap bath. 170 degree baking and mineral spirits.
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If using an airbrush, a medium or large tip is better. I've done patterns with an airbrush in just a few hours.
I use aluminum oxide blast media, in the 80-100 grit range. Works awesomely.
Haven't tried gunkote. I've used alumahyde, duracoat, cerakote, and moly resin.
As for durability, alumahyde was the worst, followed by duracoat, then moly resin, with cerakote the toughest.
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