Gun painting and weathering

Ghostsoldier

Ghostsoldier

Sr Member
I've got a Wells springer 1:1 airsoft M16A1 rifle that I want to weather and paint to look authentic, for my Vietnam living history impression (since a lot of venues won't allow real versions), and I need some advice on the best "metal look" paint and methods.

Here's the gun I have:

airsoft-m16-m16a1__62599_zoom.jpg

Here's the patina 'finish' I'm aiming to achieve:

8574516654_bcd7114503_o.jpg

Overall, the gun is relatively authentic in it's details. I've got to add the gas tube and aluminum shields inside the forward hand grip, lengthen the barrel and detail the flash suppressor, add some small details to the upper, get some shorty 20 round mags, fills some screw holes and a bunch of small things...but for a 20 dollar prop, it's not a bad copy.

I'm curious as to what color and brand of paint I would need to get the "look" of a battle-used rifle (as the stock molding color is all black), if anyone here has done this type of mod before.

Thanks,
Rob
 
Hi Ghostsoldier,

given you are in Florida you should be looking for the Krylon brand of rattle can paint, this is what most US modders seem to favorite. If doing a black base, I would use the drybrush technique to lift out the edging a little. Some modders also use the silver permanent marker technique, though that isn't one I favor. You just hit some of the pointy edges with it and drag your finger along straight away. Krylon also do a gun metal color I think.

The drybrushing technique will give you a finish something akin to this:

G36C-toy-gun-mod-nerfenstein.jpg


Hope that helps.
 
Someone once turned me onto Humbrol Metalcote Gun Metal paint.

I was painting a plastic gun. When the paint went on and dried, it didn't look like much at all. It wasn't until I buffed it with a kitchen towel paper that it looked incredible.
 
One tech I've used on weapons and armor, and metal in general is (can) primer, (can) silver paint and then sponged on black wait till it is 'mostly' dry then wipe it off so the metal shows underneath. you could also dry brush on the black carefully...

quick tip for metal scratches, silver paint applied onto sandpaper like you would a brush and paint 'scratches' on the metal if you want to go that route...good luck! Can't wait to see it finished...
 
KramStaar is totally right. To get it looking realistically old, it takes many different techniques and layers.

Here's something that no one else has mentioned that I think you'll really benefit from, especially based on the second pic you posted. To get that "sticky" uneven look, I lay down a coat of Krylon Flat Black and after it's dry, I spray the piece with a shot of Krylon Gloss Black and quickly sponge it off with a shop towel. I repeat this a couple times until the desired texture is reached. Then after that, I give the whole piece a wash with watered-down black acrylic and THEN get to the silver scuffs and wear and then I finish it with a light dusting of talcum powder. It's a technique I used on my Looper blunderbuss and I think it really sells the prop.

Good luck!

-Jonaas
 
DON'T PAINT IT BLACK!

An M16A1 is not black. If you're going for accuracy, the aluminum upper and lower receivers on a Vietnam era M16A1 were anodized a dark grey color. The rest of the metal parts (steel) were manganese phosphate coated, which is also dark grey in color.
The best match I've found, outside of specialty paints is, Rustoleum Dark Grey automotive primer. A benefit of that paint, is that it can be polished up to give the appearance of a worn and oiled finish.

If you'd like, I can post pictures of my "real steel" M16A1 clone so that you can see how the rifle should look "new".

I'm a huge retro M16 fan with a lot of reference material. I'd be more than happy to help you make it look "right". Gotta' head to work now but, I'll post how I would go about it later on. :)
 
Sorry I dropped out for a few days...life got busy, lol.

Thanks for all the awesome ideas, guys...I'm going to try combinations of all of them, to see what I can get. Grenadeking, since you're also a fan of the retroblackrifle, I would be interested in seeing photos of your "real steel" clone, as well as any reference materials you would be willing to share.

Since I already own a Thompson M1A1 SBR (SA) submachinegun, my next 'big' buy is going to be an M16A1 clone build, using a Nodak Spud full-fence lower, stock GI parts, and a comparable upper and trigger group; this is a long-term effort, so I'm gathering all the info I can on this fine historical weapon, and can spend my monies wisely. ;)

Rob
 
Layers layers layers. Look at the overall colour of the part you're painting and use a can of FLAT spray paint of the colour as your base colour. Then build up with progressively more subtle highlights using dry-brushing or rubbing with metallics or appropriate colours.

Try searching miniature painting techniques. The techniques for painting mini's is very transferable to weathering props.

Dry-brushing is definitely something to prefect. It requires not only careful application of paint, but also multiple passes with varying brightness or intensity of paint to create realistic wear detail. It's easy to go too far if you're trying to make something look as real as possible. You could also search for Nerf gun painting techniques. I've seen some paint jobs on Nerf's that are unbelievable. You'll also want to physically rough up your prop with scrapes and wear taking into account the material the part is supposed to represent. Metal will wear differently from nylon etc. They when you do all your highlighting/dry-brushing it will bring out those wear marks. Try practicing on something other than your final prop to get your techniques down. Better to screw up on something other than your precious prop!

MM.
 
The technique that I've found to be effective is applying soft graphite pencil over a black base. Then clear coat over the top to stop the graphite from being rubbed off. Something like a 6B works well.
 
Hey, Ghost.
I'm planning to scratchbuild a Vietnam era M16 for a costume. I can find length and height measurements easy enough, but could you tell me the width of the stock, receiver and barrel shroud (at its widest point)? Also the dimensions of the magazine would help.

Thanks
 
Yeah...that 'stepped' barrel is wrong, as well as being too short; it's weird, because all the other dimensions of the gun seem to be correct (at least when compared to my buddy's Bushmaster M16A1 clone).
Rob
 
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