SHhhythingies which finish?!

[Madkoifish]

Well, Im stuck arguing about what finish to go with all stealth black, carbon wrap alum etc. Attached are some mock ups of some older pics of the 2 guns Im looking at adding some tubes to. The 22 I hope to fit a 16" barrel on. Im guessing an extra inch past the barrel end for the shushy bits. (guessing here) Anyhow,
the pc77 (the rifleish one) Im considering alum polished to match the trigger and bolt (possibly other bits) or go black or carbon wrap.
The pc22 again carbon wrap black or alum to match the stock bits?
If I go alum with the shrouds I plan to cover the barrel behind the bands in stainless or alum tube.

I do need to locate a bluefork or similar band for the pc22.

I am contacting Mike at TKO for the units, original plan was AC custom since I could go brass and add extra blingy bits. But he is not accepting orders ATM.  And really loads of searching and hunting around everywhere and I am still at a loss as to who has internal rings (for alignment not shushy bits) And well all the shushy details of who has what and how shushy. ATM I want to control the report of the guns for my sanity ears and the one neighbor raging about hearing the 22 in my garage. (yeah) That and well they look cool and uh, sorta to protect the crown on the barrel. One time I let someone use the pc77 and the barrel goes into the concrete floor.

ANYHOW your opinions?! Im sitting here scratching my head debating which way. I like the idea of alum because if it scuffs or scratches I can chuck it up and sand and polish it back up. Paint, baked on or whatever will scratch and Id have to repaint or whatever.  Carbon wrap I dunno. Sometimes I like it other times it is the same as plastic wood tape on furniture.  Only reason I'm considering it is durability to scuffing and matching what is already there.

Id love to get a riser and float one of these but that RIM has been too much fun so far and I think floating a co2 later on would be more fun.

[1377x]

i like the carbon fiber wrap myself!
thats going to be a killer rig when finished!!!
there is a guy selling bluefork style barrel bands his emial address is posted here somewhere

[Make MY day]

If your going to paint the barrel and worry about scratches try what I used to do when painting Lexan RC race car bodies back in the days.  Using Parma or Createx paint found in most craft and hobby stores and a lot cheaper than others or even Pactra spray.  Have a hair dryer handy, Lightly Warm the shroud or whatever you are painting, then spray or brush on a "LIGHT", almost noticable coat of paint, then use hair dryer to help dry and set the paint.  Do this several times until you get the color you want.  Heating the paint between coats helps the paint adhear(sp?) to the surface and will not spider web if dinged.  Also makes touchups or scratches a lot easier to blend in, when done in the same manner.  Just make a mask out of printer paper, cut out a little larger than the area to be covered and hold an inch or two away from the area while spraying.  If done right, you would never know it had been painted over in spots even if held on an angle. 

[laptopdragon]

carbon fiber ftw

durability, and weight has cf above and beyond the rest.

[Madkoifish]

The carbon wont affect weight or strength These would be TKO units so the carbon would be a wrap. If I went black they would come that way from TKO. In the past I have used lexan paint on things other than the polymer and it does not work that great, it peels off in sheets, heat or no heat. Not to mention the black has a fairly high gloss finish. Maybe what I will do is continue the carbon finish with the pc22 gun and have the fittings as bare alum to continue the look the stock has.

[laptopdragon]

not to be a cliff claven,
but if its peeling, your not prepping correctly...

metal should be acid washed, and have a base coat prior to painting.   or, you could seal the holes and powder coat it, thats a bit more heavy, but lasts a long time.

i will ask him if he can anodize some. even black anodize is very aesthetic

[Madkoifish]

No amount of surface prep will help. The lexan lacquers are not made a a hard surface finish. They are designed to bond and flex with lexan on the underside of the shell. Because of this they will truly never harden. The finishes vary from satin to high gloss depending on colour. These paints have very little abrasion resistance as well. Since these paints are not considered as a surface finish the final finish can vary from high gloss to a matte satin. Black finishes as a high gloss through a airbrush. Some CAN be textured by not thinning or altering the pressure. Used this on exteriors to fake bead liner etc.



Createx from my use is all water based finish. More often sold as a t-shirt airbrush paint, but I have used it for lexan in the past most of these finish satin but as all water based finish they are soft. It is a brand name though so I would not be surprised if there is a acrylic or enamel non water based paints out there.

However there is a static model paint sold for the styrene rc models, this is a acrylic enamel and could be used but it is like wood floor finishes the matte and satin have a chemical introduced to cut the gloss making the finish softer. If I was to "paint"anything (which I am not) I would use a ceramic finish or other HIGH abrasion paint.

Annodized would be nice and match the bluing sheen better than a painted coating. Might cost more than the tubes though, exp if I hve to do it afterwords through a third party. Powder coat would be optimal for a flat finish.  I do not know what TKO uses for the black finish. An additional email will have to be sent.

Reason I was looking at a bare alum finish is one of the grip frames needs refinishing, either paint or stripper and a buffing wheel. (well the seams will get ground smooth no matter what) So one of the guns might go all bare finish. Shrug.

Anyhow the thread was not intended as how to finish or what to finish with, but choices based on what is available from TKO.

Carbon fiber wrap, bare alum, or TKO matte black. Id go for a blued finish if he could do the main tube in steel but I think the weight would ruin the balance.