Hi all, I'm looking for a little advice on the use of DuraCoat to paint a rifle. I'm assembling an FAL for a friend and the finish on the upper and lower receivers don't match and are pretty worn. My plan is to paint them using a DuraCoat "Shake and Spray" kit. I haven't painted a gun before, so I'm hoping for a few tips...
First off, does anyone have an estimate on how thick the resulting paint layer will be? Should I expect just a few thousands added, or something more substantial like 10/1000"? Basically trying to determine whether the paint buildup is likely to interfere with some parts fitting together.
Second question is really along the same lines -- how do folks usually deal with "assemblies" like gas systems and adjustable sites. Should they be fitted together and painted as an assembly, or completely broken down and all the individual pieces painted separately. If the latter, I'm assuming any "precision" mating surfaces should be masked before painting (to avoid the paint buildup affecting the fit)?
When prepping the parts I'm starting by completely disassembling them, then doing a thorough cleaning and degreasing. After a good degreasing, how long would I have before I had to start worrying about surface rust on steel parts? If I don't plan on getting around to the actual painting for a few days, or a few weeks, should I go ahead and dowse the parts in WD40 (or similar) to keep them from rusting? Obviously, if I do that I'll need to degrease again right before the actual paint-prep. Just trying to get a feel for how long I have to work with the 'raw' parts before I have to worry about them degrading.
Finally, anyone have any tricks for dealing with surface rust -- other than 400-1500 grit "sand" paper and elbow grease?
Thanks for any pointers!
First off, does anyone have an estimate on how thick the resulting paint layer will be? Should I expect just a few thousands added, or something more substantial like 10/1000"? Basically trying to determine whether the paint buildup is likely to interfere with some parts fitting together.
Second question is really along the same lines -- how do folks usually deal with "assemblies" like gas systems and adjustable sites. Should they be fitted together and painted as an assembly, or completely broken down and all the individual pieces painted separately. If the latter, I'm assuming any "precision" mating surfaces should be masked before painting (to avoid the paint buildup affecting the fit)?
When prepping the parts I'm starting by completely disassembling them, then doing a thorough cleaning and degreasing. After a good degreasing, how long would I have before I had to start worrying about surface rust on steel parts? If I don't plan on getting around to the actual painting for a few days, or a few weeks, should I go ahead and dowse the parts in WD40 (or similar) to keep them from rusting? Obviously, if I do that I'll need to degrease again right before the actual paint-prep. Just trying to get a feel for how long I have to work with the 'raw' parts before I have to worry about them degrading.
Finally, anyone have any tricks for dealing with surface rust -- other than 400-1500 grit "sand" paper and elbow grease?
Thanks for any pointers!
