Anybody else have problems with little pieces of natural sponge sticking to the gun? I tore them apart which is what I read to do, now I’m thinking maybe not so much

I was wondering if you guys could give me an idea of what to do to mine. I'm not wanting to sponge the entire rifle . . . at least I don't think I do. I do want to sponge a different rifle at some point.

I used Rust-Oleum -

Khaki as my base coat
Deep forest green for my first set of stripes
Earth brown for my final stripes.

I'm trying to get the technique down of feathering but I'm not doing it on my rifle. I don't want to keep adding layers if I don't have to.

Untitled by Kevin Wimer, on Flickr" />" />

Untitled by Kevin Wimer, on Flickr" />" />

Someone also suggested to me using a paint brush. I am looking at a thread now that used a paint brush and it looks interesting too. I think I want to blend the brown and greens into the tan. The pics of the rifle were right after painting it, so the tan has toned down some.

Here's mine sponged at the end process. All Rustoleum camo from Walmart. I didn't see color names on the can we just chose from cap colors.

Here's my recent effort.  I used Krylon Camoflage colors - Khaki, Olive, Forest Green, Brown.  My local area is North Alabama, so I didn't want to go too dark.

I degreased and blue taped anything I didn't want painted beforehand.

First let's spray the rifle in a broad pattern:


No interim photos since I was having too much fun doing it!

Final overview view:


Final closeup view:

Great work

Brownells has a free shipping on Aluma Hyde II promo running right now. You can stack with an additional discount code, TA10 = 10% off 150 or more. GIFT10 = $10 off $100.

https://www.brownells.com/tools-cleaning/paint-metal-prep/paint-finishing/aluma-hyde-ii/

For what it's worth there's a thread where a guy bought a can on Amazon and had problems and then posted that one Brownells rep said there was a problem with some of the cans.
https://www.ar15.com/forums/Armory/Aluma-Hyde-is-putting-out-bad-cans-confirmed-by-Brownells/19-548639/
Another user here, @Baron_Von_Savant , responded in that thread:




Also, for those curious...In my experience, Aluma Hyde II, applied by spraying from the can directly on parts, as well as sponge applied, will adhere to all of the typical firearms finish surfaces if you clean them properly. Despite some reports of it not adhering to Cerakote, in my experience it will adhere to backed on Cerakote so long as you clean the Cerakote with 90% alcohol and let it cure once applied for at least a week. I also have had great results with spraying multiple colors onto mixing surface and custom blending colors for sponge application.