How to Multi-camo your Rifle – On the Cheap

MulticamRifle1AR 15 – by fivepointoh

Okay guys I’ve taken lots of requests on making a how to on rattle canning the ol’ rifle and some even wanted me to do it. Problem is by the time some could get the rifle to me it wouldn’t be cost effective. (Going through an FFL and all). Therefore I’m posting this DIY step by step in order to try and help some that may want to take this project upon themselves.

I plan to do some mags down the road but for now I’m happy w/ just having the rifle. One thing should be noted…I am going to attempt to lay down some Alumahyde II Matte Clear to help protect the finish. I have heard mixed reviews on this stuff so I may try it on a mag first…so there is no guarantee if anyone tries the AHII before I do it. Some may have already tried it and feel free to chime in.

PHASE 1

Okay so lets go over the list of items you’ll need.

-A rifle/object/whatever you’re painting
-Wal-Mart brake cleaner (costs less than $2 and degreases your rifle)
-Some heavy duty gloves…to keep your greasy paws off the rifle
-Manilla folders (wal-mart or wherever)
-Ink Pen
-Exacto knife
-Hanger
-Cloth patches…to plug the muzzle
-Something to rest the rifle on while painting
-Paint

For the paint you will need to find these Krylon Ultra Flat colors…I found them at Ace Hardware Online

The colors you need will be these.

-Brown #8142
-Khaki #8141
-Medium Brown (Coyote) #8147
-Sand Dune #8148
-Satin Hunter Green #2424

PHASE 2

Okay now that we have the items needed done. You need to prep the object that is being painted….in this case a rifle.

I actually broke down all my parts and stripped most of the rifle as I wanted to get a good base coat on everything.

To do this I threw on the gloves and began hosing down the parts with brake cleaner. Make sure you are outside when you do this and where gloves, mask, and eye protection.

Once everything is degreased and dry you need to begin painting.

For the first coat I threw on some Khaki. I used about three to four light coats. Light coats is the key to keeping the Krylon from running.

REMEMBER!!! BE SURE AND ROTATE THE FIRE SELECTOR SWITCH SO YOU DON’T HAVE A BLACK SPOT UNDERNEATH WHEN YOU GO FROM SAFE TO FIRE OR VICE VERSA!!!!

Once you have applied each coat and allowed proper time to dry, reassemble the rifle and take a deep breath.

You seriously have completed the most mentally challenging part of the whole ordeal. The rest just involves taking your time and doing it right!

Here are pics of the rifle assembled!

PHASE 3

Well I realized that this base coat was too light for the base coat of Multicam so I need to throw some satin green on there. This should be done by misting the satin green onto the Khaki. In the pics I will show what happens when you mist too much and therefore have to redo it with more misting..only using khaki to lighten it up. Keep doing this until you get your desired effect.

PHASE 4

Now you need to begin prepping yourself for the next phase of the Multicam Rattlecan Project. In this phase you will need the manilla envelopes, exacto knife, and ink pen. It also helps to have a patch of Multicam or print a large piece of the design off your printer/computer. This will help you free hand the stencils.

Cut the manilla envelope in half as you’re only going to need one piece at a time. I originally was putting two large designs on each piece but found it better to just use one large design for each piece…that way you don’t actually spray two designs at the same time.

So take your pen and start drawing/free handing the patterns. These don’t need to be large as your rifle/object will probably not be that large.

After drawing them out to your satisfaction place the sheet on a surface that gives a little but you don’t mind cutting up and cut out the shapes.

This is the end result in what you should have. The shapes do not need to look exactly like mine as the more variety the better but should give you an idea of what to do. Also I found that you only need 5 or 6 patterns and then you can rotate, use half a stencil or all of it to make your pattern on your rifle.

PHASE 5

Now you’re ready to start laying on the colors. At this phase you can choose two different ways of going about it. You can lay down the Medium Brown first….or you can lay down the Satin Green patterns first. It is entirely up to you. I chose to lay down the Satin Green first, as my Medium Brown paint had not arrived in the mail yet. When painting on the patterns you should have your gloves on, lay the sheet as flat as you can on the rifle and then hold the can approximately about a foot away from the rifle. Just make sure you don’t spray too much on the rifle that you don’t intend on spraying w/ that color. Also it should be noted that the sheet/template will not lay perfectly flat as your rifle is not flat. I honestly think this is a good thing as it allows for colors to blend and keeps you from having to nice of defined lines.

PHASE 6

At this phase, upon proper drying of the Satin Green pattern you are ready to throw on the Medium Brown…or if you chose the Medium Brown coat first…then you’re ready for the Satin Green….in my case…the Medium Brown. Once again same as the Satin Green process. Just make sure you’re doing this randomly and spread out. If you truly study a large piece of Multicam you will notice that the colors are not evenly dispersed which adds to its effectiveness.

Here goes the Medium Brown.

PHASE 7

Upon drying it is time to throw down some Brown. For this phase you will want to use some of the smaller templates you cut out. Once again…BE RANDOM!!!…and use the same process of applying as the other colors.

Here is the Brown applied!

PHASE 8

The last phase is the Sand Dunes color. I actually used White in which I went back and misted with Khaki but I should have used Sand Dunes….but I did not have it. In your case…stick with the Sand Dunes. I will be going back and toning the white down more in a bit but not during this tutorial. Once again…use the small templates and be random!!!

At this point your object/rifle should be looking pretty darn sweet and close to Multicam. If it’s too bright at first let it dry…it will dull up a little bit. If it’s still too bright LIGHTLY mist it w/ some khaki to tone it down!

The end result should look something like this!

A COUPLE THINGS TO REMEMBER!

Go slow and take your time.
It’s Krylon…if you mess up…wipe it off or paint over it!
Once again it’s Krylon, don’t expect it to hold up to extreme conditions
I recommend against using blue painters tape. It is too strong for the Krylon and will strip the finish (the paint…not your park)
I have not tried mags yet so those will come soon.
I also have not tried the Alumahyde II Matte Clear yet…that will come soon too.
Don’t get frustrated if you don’t get it on your first time…PRACTICE ON SOMETHING ASIDE FROM YOUR RIFLE AT FIRST!

http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_1_139/565579_.html

7 thoughts on “How to Multi-camo your Rifle – On the Cheap

  1. wow.. that looks good, and I’m going to try it. I just wrapped my rifle in “camo wrap” that I got from Cabelas’s, which was a lot easier, and also gives it a nice grip, but you have to remove it and put it back whenever you disassemble the rifle.

  2. Clear shelf paper, the self adhesive stuff works great for those positive image cammo jobs. I love it for digital cammo, comes out great and its low tack!

  3. Hey All,
    This is just silly 15yr old kid stuff (in my opinion) anyway krylon is cheap ass paint,if you want to DECORATE your weapon(thereby destoying its value) invest in GOOD paint at least, as a painter (autos trks bikes) I would only use dupli color or rustoleum rattle cans but the point Im trying to make is gun maintenance, CLEANING AND SITEING your weapons will pay off more in the heat of defense than useless camo patterns ever will.just my opinion and ya know what they say about them.
    Steve

  4. If you have to expedite a camo process, IMO the most important thing to do is to break up the silhouette of long, straight rifles. Tie something like burlap strips spaced along the barrel with somewhat large knots and varying hanging ends. You can alter the single, plain burlap color by staining it with mud and some black shoe polish,etc. As always, try to incorporate some local vegetation, a twig or leaves stuck into the burlap. Pretty effective without at all altering the actual firearm.

  5. Key word there is cheap……

    Ive used the duracoat system and truly love it….last a very very long time and its pretty easy to use……..but its not Krylon cheap$$
    The duracoat kit runs around 69.99$ complete and you select the cammo scheme YOU want

  6. Though this looks nice, once you start rattling a couple hundred rounds through your barrel you are going to start losing your paint. You may want to find someone in your area that does adonizing for your metal hardware, the paint should be fine for the furniture.

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