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Posted: 4/8/2008 4:41:46 PM EDT
| Thinking about putting a coat of matte black on my 870. How easy is this to do? Is the quality of the supplied airbrush good enough? Any personal opinions of what you would do next time? Thanks guys! |
I haven't done it yet but I've got everything sitting next to the door for the first warm. dry day we get. |
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I say skip the kit. You will find the air cans a PITA, get a cheap hobby compressor if you need to. I paid a little over $30 for mine with a coupon. The brush that comes with the kit is a cheap HF model. It works OK, but they are on sale for $3.99 frequently. I just tried this one and liked it better. I didn't find the video too helpful, but that may just be me. The Duracoat is easy to apply and Lauer has great customer service. After buying one I just don't think the kit is that great of an investment. I just did one of my 870s in Matte and it was easy as pie. |
Are those airbrushes big enough to do a whole rifle? I just want to do some smaller parts, and I was under the impression that these air brushes where only for VERY small items and lines and such. |
I've been using a Harbor Freight airbrush (the one that Branspop said he likes better) hooked up to the air compressor I use for running nail guns. The coiled line I use for the airguns already has a moisture/debris filter to protect the nailguns but I wanted to be extra careful with the paint so I have the airbrush connected to an inline dessicant unit in addition to the filter. ETA, the airbrush comes with plastic pots and I've heard that they don't hold up well to thinner when cleaning them. Since it is such a cheap unit I'm just treating them as disposable. Once I've done 5 jobs with the cheap one I'll probably look into a better brush with glass pots that can be cleaned without melting. Mixing two table spoons of paint with the appropriate hardener is about right to fill the pot on the airbrush. First time out I painted three 20 round mags with 3 coats each. I mixed another batch of the same size and painted 3 coats onto a scope. Today I did another batch and that same amount was about right to paint a single additional coat on each of the three magazines and two thick coats onto a bobro forward grip. The grip is dissassembled so that's 2 coats on the handle section, 2 coats on thetop piece that clamps to teh rails and 2 coats on theinner core. With that in mind, when I paint a whole rifle I am expecting to paint the lower with 3 coats, mix another pot and paint the upper with 3 coats, mix a pot and paint the railed handguards, etc. |
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This is the one I have . A little spendy but well worth itif you're going to do a couple of guns. When using the air cans they work better and will not freeze up if you do this... Take a gallon milk jug and cut a hole opposite the handle big enough to get the air can in the jug. Fill milk jug with room temp water. The water keeps their can at a constant temp and keeps it from freezing up giving you a steady air flow. 
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| If you have a compressor big enough (25 gallon or so), you can use a HVLP gun. You wont be able to do fine lines, but you can use templates cut out of tape. With the HVLP gun, I can do an entire AR base coat with 3 tablespoons. You can probably find one just as cheap as an airbrush at harbor freight or lowes/home depot. |
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