Gunsmithing DuraCoat Stencil Woes...

S

Sgt_Jamez

Sergeant
Full Member
Minuteman
Dec 24, 2009
265
0
Carmichael, CA
#1
Ok, so a friend of mine asked me to do him a solid and digital camo an AR for his woman. Yeah yeah... pink digital.
smile.gif
Anyway, up until this point I've only done single color DC jobs and some minor multi-color in the form of a flag-themed 10/22. So I order the DC, digital mirageflage stencils, and get started. I spray the white, lay down the male stencils and spray the pink. Now when lifting the stencils, I am having issues with the stencils lifting the pink paint. I figure I can cover those spots with the female stencils when I do the grey. But this time I got some minor lifting with both the stencils and the painter's tape as well. Although the lifting on the painter's tape was very very small and seemed to only happen at the edges of the camo pattern.

- Did I not prep something correctly after applying the white layer? I did wipe it down with acetone before doing each color.

- Mixed the color wrong? Standard 12:1... 1T paint : 1/4t hardener.

- Did I not wait long enough or wait too long before removing the stencils? What's the usual dwell time before removing stencils/masking?

I hope you guys can tell me where I went wrong. Thanks!

Here's one of the spots where the pink lifted up:
82d43ce5.jpg


White layer w stencils
b4bc50ae.jpg


Pink layer w stencils & mask
85ad1f2e.jpg


Pre-Clearcoat
e042d4da.jpg
 
#3
Re: DuraCoat Stencil Woes...

I think there's more to factor in. What temp is your room setting, as this will effect drying time. Time allowance between coats and after? 1t to 1/4t is not 12-1....it sounds more like 4-1, but my math could be off. I'm don't think that's there's a problem with the in between prep. I use wax/grease remover and not acetone, but that's me. I suppose it could be q flash time problem. Do you let it flash over (paint goes from wet look to dull/dry look)? It could simply just be an adhesion issue for some unknown reason too.
 
#4
Re: DuraCoat Stencil Woes...

By "T", I meant Tablespoon. The ambient temp in the room was pretty cool. It's a garage... I'd guess 55-60F. By the time I'd painted everything and started removing stencils, the paint had dried to the touch. Maybe 30 min had elapsed.

Do you guys spray a few parts and then remove stencils before moving on to painting some more parts? Or coat everything at once and then go back and remove stencils?
 
#5
Re: DuraCoat Stencil Woes...

I would try and preheat your parts above 60 deg. b4 applying the duracoat, with heat gun, or in front of the kitchen oven with the door open etc.
 
#6
Re: DuraCoat Stencil Woes...

If the stencils are pulling paint then your prep work was possibly not done well and / or you are using too much paint and also not letting it cure long enough. I leave stencils in place until done.
 
#8
Re: DuraCoat Stencil Woes...

I was also wondering if you were wearing latex gloves when you applied the stencil? I was just curious if maybe a little of the oil off your skin had gotten on the previous coat and that didn't promote adhesion. Just a thought. I've not done much stencil work. I've done color over color with an area that was taped off and not problems. All I did was wipe it down, tape it off and go. I waited probably an 1-2 hours before I removed the tape to uncover the masked areas though. So, I'm not professional. Most paint situations base all there information on 70degree time frames and mid humidity levels. So if it's colder, you probably have to wait longer and if it's hotter you probably won't have to wait as long. I use latex gloves when I'm painting to keep any possibility of skin oils getting involved and to keep my hands from getting painted. Like I said above, I use a wax/greaser remover, but I don't really see why acetone wouldn't work. I don't think there would be any reason you should have to scuff, unless you waited 6-8+hours between coats. Once it's fairly well setup then scuffing would probably not be a bad idea. I try to give 20-30 minutes worth of flash time between coats. Probably over conservative, but I've had experience (in automotive paint) where it was believed that there was not enough flash time and solvents got trapped under other coats, which created a lifting problem. Still not sure on that one, but the paint company believed that to be the case. Also 1 tablespoon to 1/4teaspoon is 8-1, as there are 2 teaspoons in a tablespoon, so mix ratio could be an issue. to get to 12-1 in that manner, it would take 3tablespoons duracoat to 1/4 teaspoon. Again, I just woke up, so if I'm wrong I appologize. I bet it's something little in the end though.
 
#9
Re: DuraCoat Stencil Woes...

I was wearing nitrile gloves every time I handled it from when I started the initial scuff/degrease all the way through.

I am guessing it's a combined issue with too much paint, too cool of ambient temp, and not long enough of a wait time.

Also Google shows 1 Tablespoon = 3 teaspoons.

Temp probably is the main issue here. I wasn't able to heat the metals at all before starting and the room was cold.
 
#10
Re: DuraCoat Stencil Woes...

Ah well there you have it and I stand corrected! I really should think before I speak....or at least search. I thought it was funny because it sounded right in my memory of how I mixed mine, but it just didn't seem right in my brain! Sorry for the confusion there.
 
#13
Re: DuraCoat Stencil Woes...

I have finishd about 25 guns in Duracoat and the only time it peels is when you have not prepped the surface correctly or if you didn't let the paint dry. If this gun was used exentensively prior to you trying to paint it, then it is almost certainly a prep problem. Used AR's are the hardest guns in the world to get clean. I would suggest copious amounts of Oreilly's brake clean with fine wool scrubbing while the the gun is still wet. This may take 4-5 applications over the entire gun to get it clean. I never spray more than one layer of paint a day. Put your stencils on and when you have the gun ready to paint, wipe your areas to be painted off with a damp(not wet) paper towl containing either Duracoat reducer, alcohol, or Oreilly's brake clean. This will remove any oils from your hands. Then blow the gun off with low pressure air to remove any lint from the paper towels. You should be fine spraying at 55-60 degrees but you should always let the rifle sit 24 hours before removing the stencils. Yes, you might get away with less time but you might not. What I am telling you will work every time! I messed up allot of paint jobs trying to rush this process. Spray, wait 24 hours, spray, wait 24 hours. It will work.....The stencils are not the issue and my guess is that the gun is dirty. Go ahead and get you about 4 cans of Oreilly's brake clean (only Oreilly's) and soak the gun in it and the Duracoat will start to bubble up. You will have to strip the gun and start over, this isn't what you want to hear but I promise you that is where you are headed.

Looking at the pictures I can also see that you are removing the stencils prior to the paint being dry because you are not getting clean lines in some places....

Don't feel bad, I learned all this the hard way....
 
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