Hey guys, Brownells has a few colors of Cerakote ... not the colors I want unfortunately.  Is there anywhere else to buy similar coating for do it yourself?  I'd like a ceramic based bake on finish, ultimate durability for some handgun frames and slides.

Anybody know?

I purchased mine straight from NIC Industries. They were the only ones that would ship to Alaska. Brownells also carries it.

http://www.nicindustries.com/cerakote.php

I contacted NIC directly and they have a sample kit they send to you.

It consists of metal plates painted with several colors of Cerakote.

Mine shipped last week and should be here this week so I can see what the different colors look like actually applied to metal.

Give them a call.

Yea, called the Friday and got all setup.  I was always thinking that Cerakote was only for certified finishers, so I never bothered calling them.  They said it used to be that way but they sell to the public now.

Ordered some color swatches, and will likely be ordering a big batch of colors soon.

Anybody tried Cerakote with an airbrush?  I've heard it will gum them up, but find it hard to believe ... just wondering if anybody has tried.

I have used Cerakote with an air brush and had zero issues with it gumming up. It sprays thinner than Duracoat and I think it is be best finish available for the do it yourselfer. I base my conclusion after having used Duracoat, Norrells and Gun-Kote.

Got my samples yesterday and ordered my OD green from Brownells this morning.

The folks at NIC Industries sent a nice sample book with 34 different colors applied to metal plates approx 2"x3" in size.

This gives a great way to compare the different colors to what you want to match or mate with what you're coating.

Yep, I got the same thing ... very cool reference to have.

How did you get 34, I only got 5?

I don't know, that's what they sent. A small black plastic binder with sample plates.

BTW - I first tried the OD green bake cure finish on my ParaOrdnance slide, then I bought some air cure OD green and refinshed a Superior Arms AR15 stripped lower.

I have to say, I like the air cure more. It's easier to appy than the oven cure and you can pour the unused amount from your paint gun or airbrush back into the bottle and use it again.

The oven cure you can't do this with becuase you add hardener to it. So if you overestimate the amount to use for the bake cure then you have to throw it away.

The only drawback on the air cure is the time to cure, a full five days.

Both sprayed fine in my airbrushes. If you're going to do a camo or multiple color finish then I'd surely recommend the air cure as it goes on quickly and partially dries in a few minutes, enough to apply another color or two.

With the bake cure, you have to flash cure the first color coat in the oven for 30 minutes, they appy the 2nd coat and flash cure, then the third coat and finally cure for 2 hours in the oven. A lot more work than using the air cure stuff.

BTW - hard contact points will wear off, such as 1911 ejection port if it getting repeatedly hit with ejected brass will chip.

Other than that, the finish is quite durable. I hit the finish with a punch by accident installing the front sight on my PO 1911 slide and the finish didn't chip.