DIY Duracoat - It can be done

[SupressYourself]

I'd like to start this post by thanking Slim aka: Bed Wetter for giving me the inspiration. He showed me his duracoat rattlecan job and knew I could do better .

You need a decent airbrush, a good degreaser, and a lot of patience.

Here's a few things I've done over the last few months.

My Savage 22-250:



My brothers FoxPro (the original color was a bit glossy for our liking):








Mags are really easy:



And my pride and joy, my AR 10 (243 win):












Doing the Kryptec-style camo was a major pain in the ass, but it turned out great.

 

[LBrandt]

WOW nice job.

 

[Vollmer]

That's really cool. Have stencils for the artwork?

 

[Zogman]

SWEET! I am impressed.

 

[Bed Wetter]

I'd like to start this post by thanking Slim aka: Bed Wetter for giving me the inspiration. He showed me his duracoat rattlecan job and knew I could do a better job.

Hahahaha! Well you did a hell of a nice job polishing those turds!

Duracoat is great. Rattle cans are great. Duracoat rattle cans are not great. Of course that won't stop me from doing it again.

 

[SupressYourself]

That's really cool. Have stencils for the artwork?

Yeah, I'm not much of an artist, but I can run an airbrush over a stencil. To do anything fancy, I would recommend getting some vinyl stencils. They're pretty cheap on Amazon or Ebay. The adhesive-backed ones are really one-use only, but they give you the sharpest lines.

 

[MuskyManiac]

That is some cool stuff, SupressYourself!!!

 

[SupressYourself]

Some more tips for the aspiring duracoater:

-- Non-chlorinated brake cleaner works as well as any other degreaser.

-- I recommend the Tactical Ultra Flat colors of Duracoat. They are, well... ultra flat, perfect for hunting weapons.

-- Spraying over moving parts is usually ok. For example, I just left the mag release and forward assist on the AR and sprayed over them. No big deal. Also sprayed right over the magnification ring on the scope - no issue.

-- However, there can be tolerance issues for parts that slide over each other. I sprayed the bottom rail and my bipod adapter. Now it takes some effort to slide the adapter on the rail. -- That's why you typically see magazines only painted up to where they meet the mag well.

 

[DirtyMike]

I'll be hitting you up for some more details. I need to do this on my AR.

 

[BDub]

So how is the adhesion?

 

[SupressYourself]

I'll be hitting you up for some more details. I need to do this on my AR.

Sure thing. ARs are definitely more time consuming than a bolt gun, but not bad, at least to do one solid color. Where it gets really tedious is doing a specific camo pattern with a stencil. As long as it's done within a few days, you can spray one color over another, so doing freehand camo by just spraying various shapes it quite do-able, but I don't think I have the airbrush skills for that just yet.

 

[DirtyMike]

I have the airbrush, obviously, but I don't want to spray ceracoat through it. Wags and I did his with rattle cans and it turned out alright. I like the kryptec pattern though.

 

[deleted_account]

1. I'll be hitting you up for some more details. I need to do this on my AR.

im still diggin the krylon paint job we did on one of mine! looks better every weekend with the use and abuse. #tacticalasfuq

 

[SupressYourself]

So how is the adhesion?

Like most things, it's all about the prep work. Get it good and clean and rough it up a bit and the adhesion is excellent on most surfaces.
In my research, some plastics can be problematic. My brother had his AR done a few years back. He taped a ballistics dope sheet to the stock with clear packing tape. When he peeled the tape off, some paint came with it. Someone else did the job, so I can't speak to the prep work there, but it's held up on the stuff I've done so far.

 

[deleted_account]

I have another we need to paint as well

 

[SupressYourself]

I have the airbrush, obviously, but I don't want to spray ceracoat through it. Wags and I did his with rattle cans and it turned out alright. I like the kryptec pattern though.

I'm using Duarcoat, which is much different from cerekote. It cleans up nicely with laquer thinner. Then I spray a small amount of duracoat reducer through it. After several jobs, my airbrush still looks and performs like new.

 

[Kurtr]

that kryptek is awesome i love that patern

 

[deleted_account]

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sorry for double posts. not the best site for mobile uploads. anyway this ar dirty and I did. flat dark earth base, olive green top coat, took a rag with break cleaner and wiped down the "high wear areas" to give it a different appearance. then took a small sponge with silver paint and dabbed on some to look well worn. turned out pretty cool. a lot has already worn off just from riding in the pickup all fall but I like it.

 

[svnmag]

I'm a blue steel wood guy and still must say there's some fine work here. If I had to pick, Wags wins the AR award. My favorite is the look of Sup's boltgun.

 

[SupressYourself]

That is cool. I like the distressed look.