Duracoat?? is the $50 kit worth it?

[futureranger]

i have a sti spartan 1911 that i got for my high school graduation and i have used and abused it. the 1911 had a parkerized(dont know how to spell it) Finnish and i polished that off and blued it a few years back, well now that cold blue i used is all rubbed off and my spartan looks like trash. i want to refinish it but do something more durable then a blue job, i was thinking one of the 50 buck duracoat home kits. now i would get it pro done but with a young wife and baby on the way i dont have much spare cash but i do need to clean up this pistol so i can keep it next to my bed without it rusting. is duracoat a good option? thanks for the help
Pat

 

[s4s4u]

Being I value my time as well as money, I would send it to the folks at CCR and have them refinish it. I learned long ago to stick to what I do well and leave the rest for others that do. By the time you buy all the stuff and then add the time it takes to do it, you'd be better served to put in a little overtime or rake some leaves for the difference in $$$ ;-)

I think you need an airbrush for that stuff too, IIRC.

If you keep a light coat of oil on that pistol it won't rust, but after CCR got done with it you'd feel like a new papa.

 

[futureranger]

i have access to air brushes, compressors and painting hoods plus i have painted auto panels with them so i have a little know how, but i have never used duracoat and im not sure how well it holds up.
Ps right now i have to keep it soaked in rem oil and in a case now to keep it from rusting

 

[wditto]

go for it - with all the colors and ease, it oughta' be neat - follow directions too....

 

[AndyJ]

If you have airbrush experience it is a snap. Just follow the directions on the surface preparation carefully! Surface prep is the key to Duracoat

 

[mljdeckard]

I am not at all artistically inclined. My stick figures suck. But I plan on doing duracoat anyway because I want to make a whole bunch of things ACU. (Knives, gear, etc.) I also plan on doing some rifles. (My SKS in particular.) BUT, it was suggested to me, GET SOME OLD/BROKEN AIRSOFT GUNS TO PRACTICE ON FIRST. Run the experiment on an expendable control subject, and then reset the chamber for Skywalker.

Part of me says, "Don't paint up your NICE guns, beat up your BEATER guns." But if you already hammered it anyway, oh well.

 

[The Wiry Irishman]

If its your bedside gun, keep in mind Duracoat takes something like 2-3 weeks to fully cure, you might not want to have it out of commission that long.

 

[futureranger]

thanks for the help, and i have a sks that works for now but its too big to be really practical. how long does duracoat last and how well does it handle humidity? it get nasty sticky in VA summers without ac

 

[m2steven]

I believe the curing time is a week or two at normal room temperature, or 2 or 3 hours in a 2 or 3 hundred degree oven.

 

[Norinco982lover]

I have considered doing this on my Saiga conversion...I'm still debating. Can't you just buy the duracoat itself for $16 and then the disposable airbrush for like $12?

~Norinco

 

[rcmodel]

Yes you can.

The airbrush that comes in the kits sucks.

You would be better off to buy a good airbrush with the money spent on the kit.

rc

 

[doc540]

"i have access to air brushes, compressors and painting hoods plus i have painted auto panels with them so i have a little know how, but i have never used duracoat and im not sure how well it holds up."

You're good to go. Just order the paint and hardner that comes with it.

1. degrease the gun and wash it down with denatured alcohol

2. MIX THE PAINT PROPERLY

3. Shoot it

4. hang it in an oven for a hour on lowest possible heat

5. LET IT DRY FOR A WEEK (ignore what the directions say)

6. Reshoot a second coat, hang in oven, wait a week

That's all there is to it. Go for it.

before


after (2 coats)