Dura-Coat ICD Owners’ Group http://www.icd-owners.com By Jesus “Toklas” Leyva ICDU: Your Best source for Tips, Tricks, Mods, and Information on ICD Markers Section I: Research I have been looking around for a product to refinish paintball guns. I had a few basic requirements before I started. The product would have to be priced comparably to the most common method of finishing paintball guns, anodizing. Depending on what colors and patterns, a good anodizing job for a complete paintball gun can cost between $100 and $500. Although finding an alternative that was cheaper would be good, I was only looking to come close to those prices. Second, the product would have to be as durable and scratch resistant as type II anodizing. One thing that I also wanted to do is take this as a project one could do at home. This requirement was the overall guiding principal. Most gun owners only think to send their guns out to someone to have them anodized. This is because anodizing is somewhat expensive and dangerous to set up. The chemicals involved in anodizing are very caustic, think of electricity and acid! I’m pretty good with all sorts of DIY projects, but I don’t think I’m ready to mess with home anodizing just yet. So with that in mind, I set out to see if there was anything close to what I was looking for. I began my search by looking at what other paintball players where doing. I found pretty much what I thought I would find, most people send there guns out to be anodized. There where a few people I found using Krylon spay paint with pretty good results. It looked good, but I don’t think it had the durability I was looking for. Powder coating was another method being used. This had the durability I was looking for, but the process seemed a bit too involved for someone to easily do this at home. This is when I started looking outside the paintball world for alternatives. It only seemed natural to look into how real firearms are finished. There are quite a few methods for finishing firearms, I found information on everything from Parkerizing, bluing, molyresin, ceramic coatings, lubricated coatings, alumihyde, and a product called Dura-Coat. Most firearm coatings where limited in one way or another. Either they where to hard to do on your own or they lacked any flexibility like available colors or the materials they adhered to, but the DuraCoat product struck me as something close to what I was looking for. Page 1 of 5 Dura-Coat ICD Owners’ Group http://www.icd-owners.com By Jesus “Toklas” Leyva ICDU: Your Best source for Tips, Tricks, Mods, and Information on ICD Markers LCW Dura-Coat is applied via airbrush or HVLP guns, like the ones used in the automotive industries to apply automobile paint jobs. The hardness characteristics of LCW Dura-Coat seemed to be inline with what I was looking for. Here are some of the characteristics: • Advantages: Aesthetically pleasing appearance. Ideal for the firearms industry, with resistance to most lubricants, cutting oils, and bore solvents. Full gloss range available from flat to high gloss. Unlimited color range. Excellent hardness and adhesion. Excellent impact, mar, and abrasion resistance. Excellent water and chemical resistance. • Characteristics: Volume solids 21.0 to 32.5 +/- 1%. Film thickness can be varied from .25 to 1.5 mils dry. Flash point 37 to 65 F Pensky-Martins Closed Cup. • Performance: Conical Mandrel Passes 1/8” mandrel. Direct impact resistance 100 in. lb. Reverse impact resistance 80 in. lb. Salt Spray test 300 hrs. Pencil hardness H to 2H. As you can see the product claims to be very resilient and able to take the abuse that would be sure to come from a full day of paintball. Not only was this product claiming that it was tough as nails, but it had a color range that no other finishing product had, over 70 standard colors and a whole selection of camouflage patterns and templates. It also is able to coat various types of materials like ferrous metals, alloys, wood, and plastic. Will Dura-Coat adhere to hard coat anodizing and Parkerizing? Dura-Coat loves hard coat anodizing and Parkerizing as a base. Both processes leave a good rooting surface for Dura-Coat. I started looking around the internet for reviews from users of LCW Dura-Coat to see if the product had any major flaws or dissatisfied customers. I found many happy users and many comments as to how forgiving of a finishing product it was. This gave me added assurance that I wouldn’t screw my gun up. I did not find one mention of anybody not getting exactly what the product claimed. So with this information I decided to take the plunge. Now came the difficult part. With so many options for colors and patterns it took me a couple of days of staring at all the colors and options to try and make up my mind of what I wanted. I decided not to go all out and try one of the camouflage patterns, but would stick to a 2 tone solid color scheme of olive drab green and oxide black. Thinking I could use the same 2 colors later, with the addition of one more color called ACU gray green, for a camouflage pattern on a different gun, if the first project went smoothly. LCW offers many packages for the first time user. These kits include pretty much everything you need to get started. Packages start at $50 for a basic kit including an airbrush, paint, and everything else you need to coat a gun with one color. For $99 you could buy yourself a camouflage kit which includes everything you need to complete a camouflage pattern. I already had an airbrushing kit so I opted to just buy the paint in the colors I needed. LCW suggests that if you’re using an airbrush that you also purchase Page 2 of 5 Dura-Coat ICD Owners’ Group http://www.icd-owners.com By Jesus “Toklas” Leyva ICDU: Your Best source for Tips, Tricks, Mods, and Information on ICD Markers some Dura-Coat Reducer to thin out the paint so that the airbrush can properly atomize it. I purchased 4oz bottles of the OD Green, Black Oxide, ACU Gray Green, Clear coat, and a 2oz bottle of Dura-Coat Reducer. This should be plenty enough to finish a few guns. At this point I would like to mention that Steve from LCW has very quick to answer all my questions and I am very satisfied with the level of support that LCW provides for its products. I had a few questions regarding exactly how to apply the paint and pointers on what to do and what not to do (I’ll let you know these are later). He replied quickly and with lots of useful information. Let’s get on to the good stuff. Section II: Application I received my package about 5 days after placing the order. Upon inspecting the package I noticed that each bottle of paint also came with a .5 oz bottle of hardener. Duracoat is a two part paint which requires a hardening agent. Proper mix ratios are important so reading the instructions are vital. I will supply that info a little later. So the first thing after unpacking was to review all the literature that came with the product. A nice full color catalogue and a one page instruction sheet was included. If you purchase any of the kits you will also receive a DVD instructional video. These kits are a good idea if your just getting started as they contain everything you will need. I would also suggest buying some cheap model paint to get used to working with an airbrush. Tools needed • Lint free towels • Wire • Cleaner/Degreaser • Toothbrush • Masking Tape (3m Blue Medium tack) \ 1. Disassembly I started out by completely disassembling my gun. Take this time to inspect every part being coated. All parts should be clean from burrs and deep scratches. This took me a while and I ended up with 22 parts that needed to be coated. • • • • Latex Gloves Airbrush and propellant Dura-Coat/Hardener/Reducer 5 gallon bucket 2. Cleaning/Degreasing A thorough job of cleaning and degreasing needs to be done. This is very important you must have a clean surface free from any residues including any oils. this means you should not touch the parts after degreasing them as human skin contains oils that can cause the coating not to adhere. Use latex gloves to do your cleaning and to work with the pieces after they have been cleaned. LCW provides a cleaner/degreaser that evaporates with no residues called Tru-Strip. You can find pretty much the same stuff at Home depot. The key is to use a product that makes sure that no residue is left behind. Do I need a special degreaser? Yes. Some degreasers, especially those used in the automotive industry, can leave a residue. This residue will form a barrier between the surface and Dura-Coat causing a coating failure. We manufacture TruStrip degreaser solely for the firearms industry. TruStrip is capable of cleaning contaminates which are commonly found on and in firearms, and will not leave a residue. Page 3 of 5 Dura-Coat ICD Owners’ Group http://www.icd-owners.com By Jesus “Toklas” Leyva ICDU: Your Best source for Tips, Tricks, Mods, and Information on ICD Markers I put all the parts I had in a 5 gallon bucket and began to clean. Spray each piece with the degreaser and brush using the toothbrush. Then spray again to make sure all particles and any residue is removed. I then used some of the wire to hang each part in a clean dry place to dry. The degreaser dries quickly and leaves nothing behind. From this point forward do not touch the pieces with your bare hands. Latex gloves should be worn when handling the pieces from now on. 3. Prep and Masking Prepping and masking took a while. Using the 3M blue masking tape, start masking any area you do not wish to coat. High tolerance areas such as regulator piston housings and ram piston housings should not be coated. Some high tolerance threads should not be coated also. I found that most of the threads for my paintball gun had enough room to allow for a thin coating without causing trouble. I did however make sure the inside of my barrels where covered. The inside of most barrels are honed to a mirror finish and need to stay that way for proper operation. As I masked each piece I also inserted some wire to make a hanging hook. I also made a small rig to hang parts so that I can work on them easily. Take your time and apply all the masking slowly and as precisely as possible. The more time you take the better it will turn out. 4. Applying Now comes the fun part! This is where all your hard work pays off. I split all the parts into two piles - the black pile and the green pile. I started with the black only because there were more of them. Begin by mixing your first color, in my case Oxide Black. Proper mixing ratios are important. Before even opening up the bottle, the instructions say to mix the paint for 4 minutes after hearing the little ball rattle inside the bottle. After your paint is properly shaken up, begin measuring out what you need to start painting. I worked with 2 tablespoon of color at a time. I placed the 2 tablespoons of black oxide, 1/2 teaspoon of Hardener (as instructed), and 1 teaspoon of reducer into my 2oz airbrush mixing bottle. I mixed that mixture for a couple of minutes. Test your setup on a piece of paper to make sure you are properly spraying the paint. It should come out nice and fine, there should be no spattering. If you need to add a bit more reducer, then add a bit more. The instructions say that you can add up to 20% by volume. Optimum DuraCoat Hardener Ratio: 1:12 (1 part Hardener to 12 parts DuraCoat). The best way to combine Hardener with DuraCoat using measuring spoons is: 4 Tablespoons DuraCoat to 1 Teaspoon Hardener or a fraction of: 2 Tablespoons DuraCoat to 1/2 Teaspoon Hardener. Page 4 of 5 Dura-Coat ICD Owners’ Group http://www.icd-owners.com By Jesus “Toklas” Leyva ICDU: Your Best source for Tips, Tricks, Mods, and Information on ICD Markers Take your time and apply thin coats. Keep your airbrush about 3-4 inches away from the object and use even strokes. Completely cover the part stopping every few passes to let the paint "flash" off. Keep building up with thin coats instead of one heavy coat. Apply more coats to high wear areas like the frame and vertical ASA. Normal wear areas received 3 coats and high where areas received up to 6 coats. I then shot every piece with a clear coat. I recommend the clear coat to get the most durable finish possible. This also helps to even out the difference in sheens. The Olive Drab Green was less matte than the oxide black. The clear coat really tied it all together. The final product looks amazing. I let the parts site for at least 2 weeks. LCS states that you can touch the product and use lightly after 1 hour but that it would continue to cure for 3 to 4 weeks. I let all my pieces cure for about 2 weeks before putting back together, and it will be a total of 3 weeks before I put it to the test. I carefully removed all the masking tape. LCW recommends using mineral spirits if any of the tape leaves gunk. 4. Cleanup Cleanup of your Airbrush is critical. This paint is tough and once it dries your going to have an impossible time cleaning it off. Immediately clean all parts of your airbrush as instructed in your user manual. I found that the Dura-Coat reducer that I purchased worked better than the cleaner I had so I used that instead. In fact clean it twice to make sure you get every bit of paint. Section III: Field Testing I just returned from a 24 hour scenario game. GI Joe Silent threat in Acton California was my proving grounds. The field we played on was out in the desert hills of Southern California. This is dry, rocky, hill country. If anything can put a ding in your gun this was going to do it. I made it a point to treat the gun worse than I ever had before. I would use it to crawl through brush. I heard rocks crunching underneath. I lent it out to kids with the hopes that they would treat it even worse than I would. When the game had finished, I threw everything in the back of the truck without putting it away in its case. It rattled and rolled all the way home. I didn't even look at it for another 2 days, I was so exhausted. When I finally got around to cleaning out my gear I was expecting to see a battered and scratched up gun (I was more battered than the gun). I would easily be able to tell if any knick or scratch was there because the gold and silver anodizing would shine right through. I was amazed to not see even a scratch on the finish. About the only place I saw any sign of wear was on some threads that I didn't want to coat but a little bit of paint got under the mask. Two days of unscrewing and screwing my barrel on and off scratched that bit of threading. Remember I didn’t want paint on this thread and I had masked it. So the paint that was on there was extremely thin. To give you some reassurance I did cover the threading on my ASA adapter using the multiple coats as with all the other parts. Two days of screwing and unscrewing my tank didn’t even faze it. Page 5 of 5