Nothing really special about how I paint, anyone can do it.
The most important part is the prep work, make sure everything is as clean as you can get it. I prefer acetone.
I put the stock in my hot box set at 80 degrees to warm it a bit prior to spraying. I have found I don’t get runs in the paint if I get a little heavy with the spray if the stock is warmed a little.
I use Brownells Aluma-Hyde epoxy. The colors on the Tikka were matte black base coat with stainless and dark parkerized for the accents. The most important part of using the Brownells spray is giving it ample time to cure. At ambient temp it can take up to 2 weeks to fully cure, it’ll seem dry at 24 hours but it’s still gonna be a little soft and will easily mark. I made up a hot box to speed up the cure. I‘ve found 48 hours at 90 degrees will fully set the paint.
For the accent colors natural sponges are the best route, they are completely random shaped and pretty cheap. Most craft stores sell them. I use the ones from Joann fabrics.
After the base coat is cured you simply spray a puddle of your accent color on a paper plate and dab the sponge in it and apply as desired, just dab don’t smear it. Again, give it ample time to cure before handling.
The hot box…
It uses a 150watt radiant element as a heat source.
Just started playing with the sponges, here’s a couple of the earlier efforts.
The base coat colors on the Rem muzzle loaders are a Coyote on one and Magpul FDE on the other. The accents are earth brown and OD green.
