[Miggy]

I've been debating abou going plastic with my AK furniture or not. I still don't know. What I do know is that the metal finish is just that standard atrociously finished romanian black and I want to get rid of it. What kind of recomendations on finishes and techniques could you guys give? Baking is not a problem, I am pretty decent disassembling and assembling but I am kind of a ham painting.

Thanks way in advance.

 

[rocky]

2 options. A nice sturdy long wearing finish like Norells or similar, or say it with krylon. :smile: I have not tried the Norells yet, but AR15.com usually has threads on this topic.

 

[HotGuns]

DuraCoat...

best stuff out there...

http://www.lauerweaponry.com/

 

[ExSoldier]

I put the ROBAR finish on my M1A supermatch. ROGARD for the exterior and NP3 inside. I love the NP3 because it is essentially self lubricating and clean up is a mere wipedown, then run a patch thru the barrel. But....it ain't CHEAP! Dunno if I'd want to put those kinds of $$ down on a finish for an AK. Not to sound even remotely snobby! lol.

 

[QKShooter]

Dura Kote ~ You can do it at home.

 

[Miggy]

:biggrin2: Ex, Robar do sounds like overkill. I should have said that I want to do the project myself with the caveat that I am known for making big messes with paints and that the whole job shouldn't cost as much as the darn gun itself :ahhhhh:

I am guessing QK and Hotguns are refering to the same product. I like the package they offer for $50 but, how hard is to work with it?

 

[Rob72]

Duracoat/Gunkote are good, but somewhat less tolerant (IME you have to be careful about layering your coats and build-up) than the Teflon bakes. On the DIY end- do you have an airbrush set? The best weapon I've ever done was a BM 20" HBar, about 9 years ago. To this day, the friend I traded it to has people asking about the "cool factory finish".:biggrin2: Since that initial effort (using Brownell's spray cans) I've had problems with build-up and uneven coats.:tired:

If you go Brownell's, I would either have the compressor/airbrush set available, or go ahead and buy 4 extra spray nozzles, and two clean-out nozzels for the cans, and spend a weekend doing it. DO NOT HURRY, and you'll be very pleased!:wave:

Very similar, the Teflon/moly has more lubricity than the Kotes, which seem to be closer (but more durable, and less "gunky"than) the old laquer coat finishes.

 

[HotGuns]

how hard is to work with it?

Its not. The only catch is that you need an airbrush to do it. If you already have an airbrush, and you just wanto paint your stuff one color, a 4 oz bottle for 16.95 will do a couple of rifles.

Its easy to do. Even if you're all thumbs...

 

[BigEd63]

It's already been said but go light on the coats, keep the nozzle back a good ways and "dust" the paint on to give it a matte look. Plus give enough time between coats for them to dry good.

Best time to do this is when it's warm and dry.

 

[Miggy]

I have a small compressor for airbrush, but no airbrush. It can't be that expensive so I'll get one. Just one more thing, define warm and dry. Being in South Florida you can't have both as we define Hot being anything above 85 and dry anything under 75%. For us right now is cool and dry (65 degrees):wink:

 

[P95Carry]

Do it now Miggy!!!!

I regard room temp as 68º and that region coupled with lower humidity is workable - 72-75º is better but will humidity be still down? maybe right now it might some days.

This should not be your summer project :18:

 

[Miggy]

Good! Ordering the stuff tomorrow morning. Now I am headed for bed before I pass out...frigging cold is killing me!

 

[ExSoldier]

Good! Ordering the stuff tomorrow morning. Now I am headed for bed before I pass out...frigging cold is killing me!

You MISSED a HELLUVA good time yesterday!!! I won the raffles three times for five tickets. I'll post more later with pics. Gotta run errands with wife afore she kills me!

 

[Miggy]

If she doesnt, I will!!!:twak:

:danceban: :banana: :danceban: :banana:

 

[ExSoldier]

Poor Miggy....

If she doesnt, I will!!!:twak:

Ahhh Miggy Miggy Miggy.....what are we going to do with you? Look if your eyes are red with rage or red with flu, maybe you can borrow the neato shooting glasses with the dark tint lenses I won on Saturday. If you need to see in one of our Markham night matches perhaps you can borrow the Streamlight SCORPION flashlight I also won. It's near as bright as my SureFire 6P!

 

[Miggy]

Yeah, I heard you made a killing.....you suck!:haha:

Ok, I went ahead and ordered the Teflon Moly spray with the extra nozzles. I was told by my dear mother that the airbrush compressor we used to have passed away some 3 years ago and she is worried I am getting forgetful. Wait till I tell her I have to use her pristine oven to "cook" the AK!

 

[Miggy]

Ok, So I decided to try first on a mag before tackling the AKlon. I chose one that had some rust spots and dremmeled the heck out of it. Bathed it generously with brake cleaner to remove oils and assorted debris and even made a cute little suspension system out of a wire hanger to cure it in the oven. I grab the can and I read 2 things:

"For best results bead blast parts to achieve desired finish"

OK, now what is a good substitute? The Mag's finish is not that important, but I do not want to screw up the gun, any homemade substitute for that?

The second thing that I saw was:

"Do not spray parts for use in temperatures below 65 degrees"

NWS South Florida
Miami, Opa Locka Airport
Last Update on Feb 6, 9:53 am EST
Fair 63°F (18°C)
Humidity: 43 %

This is not fair damn it!:aargh4:

 

[BigEd63]

Miggy, anytime you bead blast you are just roughing up the surface texture. Sanding will work just as well just be careful about using too rough of a grit and leaving deep scratches on the surface.

BTW- If you have a decent sized air compressor you get get a fairly cheap sandblaster gun and sand bin. Sears used to have them and I bet some place like Habor Freight does as well.

If you do so that route be sure to get sand blast sand, otherwise you'll get small pebbles clogging the gun's nozzle.

 

[Miggy]

So something like a 400 grit? I have those sandpaper sponges and they are much easier than plain paper.

 

[Rob72]

Miggy,
Is your AK's finish fairly "new" park, or blued? If park, go ahead and just thoroughly degrease, pre-heat in the oven, and apply(this will give you the mil-spec equivalent, they do Tef over park). Blued, you'll have to blast or rub. I would use 200 (maybe 320)or so grit, so that you have a striated/porus surface for the epoxy to fill/adhere to. 400 will give a very smooth, almost polished, surface.
If you can spray in a garage, or similar, a 2 degree difference will be non-existant, particularly if you put the parts in the oven on "warm" (+/- 100-120 degrees) for 1/2 hour or so, before spraying.

Here's a pic of one I did (and traded off!:redface: ):
http://www.microholics.org/cgi-microholics/ib312/ikonboard.cgi?;act=ST;f=10;t=7749