M7 Airsoft Project (ongoing)

[Wayward Flood]

Oh wow that looks great *watched* Look forward to seeing how it progresses. I wish I could play with firearms more, but unfortunately the UK is scared sh*tless of them.

That's what happens when politicians on both sides just use firearms as a stand for browny points and not serious discussion.

On a lighter note, you should visit the states. We can shoot explosive stuff here with enough money and patience for legal papers!!!

 

[Sean Anwalt]

Please be responsible, though. We don't wanna end up like the UK or California. Blow up one to many things and all of a sudden it's "come talk to me" this. And "how do you plead" that! Sheesh! Nosey meddlers!

 

[Wayward Flood]

Please be responsible, though. We don't wanna end up like the UK or California. Blow up one to many things and all of a sudden it's "come talk to me" this. And "how do you plead" that! Sheesh! Nosey meddlers!

Next thing you're gonna tell me is something crazy like people don't enjoy Tannerite being used within city limits!

 

[Sean Anwalt]

Within city limits? Probably not kosher. ANYWHERE ELSE WITHIN REASON? * YEAH! Tannerite is bomb, man.

EDIT: In your locale, do you need papers and the like for tannerite?

 

[Wayward Flood]

Within city limits? Probably not kosher. ANYWHERE ELSE WITHIN REASON? * YEAH! Tannerite is bomb, man.

EDIT: In your locale, do you need papers and the like for tannerite?

I have no idea. I haven't used the stuff and I was completely joking

I been thinking about messing about with it though.

 

[Sean Anwalt]

It's a lot of fun. We once stuffed it into a BYU teddy bear and blew it to smithereens with a .50 Beowulf round. It was a great time.

 

[Wayward Flood]

My cousin used it for stump removal once. Unfortunatly I couldnt be there...

 

[master_colt_117]

Wow I'm amazed the amount of planning you've put into this. I really hope to see it come together soon and be functional!

 

[BurnItWithFire7]

So, I've been looking at paints. I don't really know too much about painting and different techniques past doing a basic primer and then matt spray for my airosft guns. Does anybody know of a method of getting a subdued metallic look to the parts? Say, so it looks metallic, but painted matt black. Couldn't find anything from a few of searches. All I found was to use black grate polish (with graphite). The issue with that is it's not permanent.
Any help appreciated, cheers.
Going for a kinda matt gun metal look.

(cheers for the feedback, good to know people like it )

 

[TurboCharizard]

So, I've been looking at paints. I don't really know too much about painting and different techniques past doing a basic primer and then matt spray for my airosft guns. Does anybody know of a method of getting a subdued metallic look to the parts? Say, so it looks metallic, but painted matt black. Couldn't find anything from a few of searches. All I found was to use black grate polish (with graphite). The issue with that is it's not permanent.
Any help appreciated, cheers.
Going for a kinda matt gun metal look.

(cheers for the feedback, good to know people like it )

I'm personally a fan of Vallejo Metal Color for the metallic sections on weapon props.

The gunmetal and wear that I have on my M7/Caseless is working up through a few paint mixtures from 77.720 Gunmetal to 77.717 Dull Aluminum.

 

[master_colt_117]

The tamiya "gunmetal" paint is pretty good for metallic parts too. I usually mix in a little tamiya black to darken it up as halo 3 human weapons all have a pretty dark metallic color.

 

[BurnItWithFire7]

I was mostly looking at spray paint cans, but I do have an airbrush sitting around, so I'll certainly look into it. How much paint did you get through to cover those? Obviously you'd do a clear coat on top, but airsoft it pretty high wear and I'm not sure if thinned model paints would stand up if the clear coat wears through.
(both look amazing btw). I really hope they bring back the classic BR and CQB armour in Infinite. Really love that red, and I like the metallic wear effect on the BR.
Did you do anything special for the black parts? (as opposed to the lighter metallic parts)
Cheers.

 

[master_colt_117]

You just have to get creative with different parts of the weapon as far as mixing up colors, guns are pretty easy when you really get into it. Look closely at the game and just try to match the individual colors as best as possible. I can tell you that the tamiya acrylic paints are crazy tough! Just as touch as any other paint really. I've been having great luck with deco art matte sealer lately as a clear coat. It's crazy tough as well and doesn't even come off with rubbing alcohol. Problem I've always had with spray paints on firearms, they all tend to have a tacky sticky feeling in the hands especially the more hand sweat works into them. They're all going to chip and scratch eventually. It's just picking your poison. If you want crazy bullet proof industrial paint, checkout Lawsons Paint. It's hard to order and about $30 a can. They won't have metallic colors but they would have a matte black. It would be really boring looking after all this hard work you put into you gun though, but I can swear to you it's the toughest paint I've ever encountered. I used to camo real firearms with it, and it insane how well it held up out in the field. I can say this, the tamiya paints are seriously the easiest paints to work with. One little 2oz bottle of the gunmetal would probably paint 4 smgs.. haha there is also cerakote, which is a baked on ceramic coating, that requires high heat and probably not recommended for your build. (Cant remember want material your making this from)

 

[BurnItWithFire7]

There's a brand of spray paint called Krylon that's fairly hard to get in the UK which is supposed to be very good. Waiting on one of the few companies that stock it at a reasonable price to get it back in stock. Unfortunately Duracoat is almost impossible to find in the UK, and I couldn't find anything for Lawsons either.
I was thinking one way of doing it would be to just apply a normal primer, metallic layer, then a layer of matt black Krylon, with matt clear, then allowing it to wear naturally. As you said that would be boring, but I'm still a bit sceptical about model paints standing up to abrasion and salt / acidity. The issue is that there aren't really any suitable metallic spray paints. I don't know if there's any way of partially painting over that with matt black so as to not completely hide the metallic aspect, or to simply darken the metallic gunmetal paint, then put a matt clear coat over it.
I don't know if those would look any good. I may just have to test some methods out.
As for the cerakote, I had a quick look and it's apparently 120'C/250F. I baked my PETG filament in the oven at about 80'C to dry it out which caused the filament sticking out to sag and the filament to stick slightly together. The print temp is around 240'C, but I don't think it would be safe to heat it up for an extended time at 120'C and expect it to be the same shape.
Also for the sticky thing, are you sure it's not your sealer? If it doesn't set properly (sometimes chemical reaction), it can stay sticky. I haven't had any issues with my guns being sticky / tacky (I didn't use a clear coat, and it did wear through eventually).

 

[master_colt_117]

There's a brand of spray paint called Krylon that's fairly hard to get in the UK which is supposed to be very good. Waiting on one of the few companies that stock it at a reasonable price to get it back in stock. Unfortunately Duracoat is almost impossible to find in the UK, and I couldn't find anything for Lawsons either.
I was thinking one way of doing it would be to just apply a normal primer, metallic layer, then a layer of matt black Krylon, with matt clear, then allowing it to wear naturally. As you said that would be boring, but I'm still a bit sceptical about model paints standing up to abrasion and salt / acidity. The issue is that there aren't really any suitable metallic spray paints. I don't know if there's any way of partially painting over that with matt black so as to not completely hide the metallic aspect, or to simply darken the metallic gunmetal paint, then put a matt clear coat over it.
I don't know if those would look any good. I may just have to test some methods out.
As for the cerakote, I had a quick look and it's apparently 120'C/250F. I baked my PETG filament in the oven at about 80'C to dry it out which caused the filament sticking out to sag and the filament to stick slightly together. The print temp is around 240'C, but I don't think it would be safe to heat it up for an extended time at 120'C and expect it to be the same shape.
Also for the sticky thing, are you sure it's not your sealer? If it doesn't set properly (sometimes chemical reaction), it can stay sticky. I haven't had any issues with my guns being sticky / tacky (I didn't use a clear coat, and it did wear through eventually).

Nope on the clear coat thing. trust me, I have years of experience in the firearms industry. The guns I use to paint camo I would not clear coat because it didn't matter in the end. they all start feeling sticky after a while the more oils work into them and all paints scratch and chip regardless of spray or airbursh. This is why cerakote has become so vastly popular in the firearms industry because it's not really paint. It allows all types of colors in a tough ceramic finish that will last on real firearms because it is impervious to oils. BUT now knowing that your m7 is a 3d print, no you would not be able to use cerakote. You would melt the gun in the process. So you can definitely rule that out as an option.

Lawsons you have to order on their website, not easy to order an its expensive. But it is the toughest spray paint you will ever find. It's because it's a high solids paint, meaning more pigment than aerosols compared to brands like krylon and Rustoleum. I don't know if they ship to the UK

Coatings - Chemicals | LawsonProducts.com

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www.lawsonproducts.com

Haha krylon is a dime a dozen here in the states. It's like the Honda civic of paints.. Its "ok" but probably the least durable spray paint I have ever used. Rustoleum brand is way better, but it is oil based product so it can take up 7 days for the tacky feel to go away. I always use Rustoleum brand when ever I choose to use spray can paints. It's a great product.

Tamiya paint is strong, at least give it a shot. That battle rifle I posted earlier got handled by hundreds of people this past weekend at Halo Outpost. It got beat around, rubbed on armor, smacked on walls, dropped, and even served as a walking cane when I got tired of standing in armor! It still looks as good as the day I painted it. Seriously! Also that deco art spray matte sealer is surprisingly durable and never gets that tacky feeling in your hands. (Can't say that for krylon)



As far as spray a metallic layer first then a black over.. doubt that's going to give you the effect you want, but try it out. Spray paints tend to cover up what ever is underneath. Sure you could mist the black on, but that may give you splotchy results as well as make it wear off even easier.

 

[master_colt_117]

The only other option we failed to mention is automotive paints. You might be able to get a custom blended automotive paint at a local car painting shop. They could probably even mix you up a sharp gunmetal color too. They're are alot of options in that area and honestly I dont have much experience with that other than seeing lots of youtubers paint awesome ironman suits with custom mixed auto paints using various airbrushes and sprayers. Cant promise it will be cheap and not sure about availability in the UK of course.

 

[BurnItWithFire7]

Alright, cheers, saved me a few bob on that Krylon Don't worry, I will give tamiya a try. I do have some local-ish shops that sell it I think.
As for the last bit, that's what I was thinking too. No good way of getting that effect with multiple colours of off the shelf spray paint. Sanding it maybe? Can't see that looking good. I'll certainly look into custom mixed auto paints as an option. See if there are any dealers around here and how much. Thanks for the insights.

 

[TurboCharizard]

Here's the fun thing though. Krylon absolutely loves bonding to 3D printed plastics and depending on the topcoats will fare better than Rustoleum primers unless you're only using Rustoleum.

Seeing that you're UK based you're kind of in the best place for hobby painting and miniatures supplies. Games Workshop/Citadel, Army Painter and a few others have production facilities there or nearby in Europe. Tamiya is great and I used to pick it up in Northern England ~20 years ago so unless things have changed you can likely find that brand and dozens of others in a hobby shop.

 

[BurnItWithFire7]

So... use standard Krylon matt black as a primer perhaps? There aren't any actual Krylon primers available unfortunately. Any idea how good Rustoleum clear coats are? There's also another type of paint called filler primer I was looking at. The U-pol stuff needs a layer of paint to bond to, but it would be good for covering up any imperfections not smoothed by sanding / filling.

Also for the Tamiya paints, I should have asked how many layers were used, and whether they were thinned?
Cheers.

 

[master_colt_117]

So... use standard Krylon matt black as a primer perhaps? There aren't any actual Krylon primers available unfortunately. Any idea how good Rustoleum clear coats are? There's also another type of paint called filler primer I was looking at. The U-pol stuff needs a layer of paint to bond to, but it would be good for covering up any imperfections not smoothed by sanding / filling.

Also for the Tamiya paints, I should have asked how many layers were used, and whether they were thinned?
Cheers.

The tamiya paints don't require much thinning for airbursh because they're alcohol based and pretty good from the bottle. They're very forgiving paints to use. I recommend thinning them just a little with tamiya acrylic paint thinner, which is pretty much just alcohol. I airbrushed on like 3 coats on the battle rifle I believe. I also mix tamiya into the gunmetal to make it a darker gun metal like the game. They also have a NATO black color that makes for a decent weapons black piece colors