General Preparation for painting
Shopping List
- Paint. (Duracoat, Krylon Fusion, Brownells Aluma Hyde , etc...)
- Xacto blade to lift stencil from backing and to trim stencils as needed.
- 3M Blue low tack Paint Masking tape.
--Cleaning Supplies-- - Denatured Alcohol for rinsing.
- M.E.K or Jasco paint stripper/cleaner.
- Stiff paint stripping brush
- Lint free towels for cleaning
- High grit sanding sponge
--Optional Materials:-- - Painting jig to hold the weapon. I simply dropped a chain from the ceiling with a hook on the end to hold the weapon
- Sandpaper for metal (for anodized parts)
You will want to clean your marker as best you can to remove all dirt and oil (include finger oils.)
Dirt and oil will interfere with paint adhesion.
Cleaning
Dissassemble your maker, then using latex gloves clean your weapon. The gloves will protect your digits from the cleaners and also keep you from depositing oils on the soon to be painted weapon.
Decide whether or not you want to strip the paint off of your old marker. M.E.K or Jasco paintstripper will peel it all off. Alternatively you can have your parts sandblasted/beadblasted by a local machine shop or paintshop.
When working with chemicals of any sort, its generally a good idea to test it on a small surface (Say the bottom of your marker) to see how it reacts. Same with your hopper. I had no problems with M.E.K on my Model-98 but when I applied it to an OpsGear handguard on my A5 is tried to melt the plastic.
Rinse it with water and wiped down with alcohol.
CAUTION
MEK and paint strippers are nasty chemicals to work with. utilize proper protective equipment and procedures.
Gloves, Paint respirator and work in a well ventilated area. DO NOT TAKE CHANCES WITH YOUR HEALTH!
Here you can see that I sandblasted my A5