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New thread from the Castle...day 1 & 2 final results now posted!

KingTotsalot

Official Tot Lot King
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Mar 18, 2011
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Mabelvale, south of Little Rock, Arkansas
OK, today KT will start the camo painting process on a Hatfield SGL 20 gauge shotgun.

First on the agenda is to post pictures of what the long gun actually looked like when KT purchased it. For those Forum members who might think this will be the ruination of a perfectly good shotgun, camo painting changes nothing about the action or use of any gun, just its appearance, allowing a "personalization" of the gun by the owner. It can be stripped and removed in short order if someone does not like it.

That being said, here are pictures of the original look of the gun. Today will see KT clean the gun thoroughly with brake cleaner to remove all traces of oil, grease, skin oil, etc. to allow the paint to adhere better, and masking off of everything that that will not be painted. After that the first step of painting is to lay down a couple of light coats of whatever KT choses for the base coat, with adequate drying time....30 minutes or so...between each coat. KT will take pictures of these steps and the gun during each stage of painting.

With all that being said, here are the first pictures!
 

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Prep and start of painting - day 1

So today KT preps the shotgun and paints the initial stages, including 2 coats of base paint (sand camo) and then adds two colors of breakup stripes at random angles. The first stage of prepping is to thoroughly clean the gun, done using brake cleaner and a shop towel. This removes all grease, hand oils, and other gunk, as well as any dust. Then His Majesty decides on what He does not want to paint, so the butt plate is removed and a hanging set up installed using the butt plate screws and some small chain with an S-hook on it. Masking of the rest of the unpainted items on the stock comes next, including the trigger housing and trigger, the safety button on both sides and the hammer assembly. Finally a cotton ball is placed in the end of the barrel and a bit of blue painter's tape is placed along the rail and over the brass bead, where the new fiber sight will be located. :yes::yes:

Then the gun is hung, butt up, and receives two light coats of camo sand to gain complete coverage and prevent any runs. This is done by holding the spray can about 12 inches from the gun and using rapid stroking motions, not starting on the gun but in the air next to it. Caution...paint in an open area, in this case, the back deck of the Castle. Wear a painter's mask as you do NOT want to breath the paint fumes. :no: Let the first base coat dry to touch, about 30 minutes, before applying the 2nd coat.

After the 2nd coat is dry, then chose at least 2 other colors, preferably darker than the base coat, and apply them at various angles onto the gun. These are to break up the solid base coat color, giving an effect of light and dark, as seen when sunlight filters through the forest trees. You will see that effect in the last two pictures. That's all KT will do today as He wants the paint layers to cure or harden off overnight.

KT understands the pictures are somewhat lengthy in number, but they follow the sequence KT laid out in the text above. Tomorrow we will have more fun! :laughing::laughing:
 

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That looks like so much fun KT! Nice job on the shotgun. Don’t leave that one laying around in a field, would need a metal detector to find it :laughing:

Enjoyed the post! I’ve been wanting to paint my old mountain bike, maybe I’ll camo job it! I was originally thinking bed liner spray.
 
That looks like so much fun KT! Nice job on the shotgun. Don’t leave that one laying around in a field, would need a metal detector to find it :laughing:

Enjoyed the post! I’ve been wanting to paint my old mountain bike, maybe I’ll camo job it! I was originally thinking bed liner spray.

GroundSweeper! :lol::lol: That's just day 1. The next step will come later in the week, when KT paints various plant patterns on to that background already on the shotgun. Presently it looks a lot like some of the old style military camo, so His Majesty understands why you might think the job was finished! :D:D
And you are very correct, it is a lot of fun taking a stock ordinary looking shotgun and turning it into a one-of-a-kind item. KT's "aim" with this post is to just show how easy it is to learn something like this, and perhaps encourage a few folks to try this out. However, KT would never do this process to a high dollar rifle or shotgun, even though if you look around on YouTube you will find many amateur efforts on AR 15s and other high dollar guns.:shock:

And hey, that would be a fun project to camo a mountain bike, just don't forget where you left it in the woods! KT would love to camo the Royal Chariot, but perhaps the Queen would think that's a bit too much! :laughing::laughing:
 
Well, the Royal weather is not working out for a speedy conclusion to this project. Too cool this morning to spray paint! So...day 2 of the camo painting will have to wait for a warmer day...looking from the forecast like this coming Sunday. We shall see!

KT spent part of this afternoon gathering the leaves, cedar twigs, and pine needles needed for the principal template elements. The leaves and cedar were inspected, and inserted into a large dictionary to press them flat for a few days. Flat templates are better than 3 dimensional templates. One can purchase various templates on Ebay, but why do that when vegetation templates are readily available in your yard and nearby woods? And they are easy to press flat!:lol::lol: They need to be pressed for a couple of days....right in line with the weather's timeline for the day 2 painting effort.

As for pine needles, using a piece of duct tape, KT first pulled off a fair number of long needles from the pine twigs collected. Lay a 5 inch piece of duct tape sticky side up and press the base of the needles into a 2" length of the tape, then fold over the tape and press flat to make a pine needle "brush", this is then the spray through template for giving a grass pattern...picture to follow in day 2 narrative. KT made 4 such templates, one for each of the different color spray paint colors.
 

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Painting on day 2 !

Alrighty now. KT arrived back at the Castle at 2:00 pm after a leisurely lunch and visiting a couple of yard sales. Nothing KT could not live without! :laughing::laughing:

So the painting started in earnest today!

First order of business was to take all the pressed foliage from the Royal Dictionary....that is the first picture below. A quick bit of experience on gathering foliage...get something with interesting patterns and small leaves, most trees have leaves that are too large. Shrubbery works well, cedar, and pine needles. The next few pictures display portions of the first side of the long gun that KT worked on...but it is not finished. Later examination by KT indicated a fair amount of small fill in detail was needed, in the Royal Opinion.

Anyway, you can see the right side stock, right side receiver, and right side barrel and sight (taped up). KT later came back and added some black shadow effect on the lower half of the stock and receiver, using the pine needle template brushes. This is not yet shown in these close up pics.

After the first side was completed, KT took an hour break to watch some college football. Then was back to do the other side. After that was done, another 30 minute break, and then sprayed patterns down the ribbed vent, around the hammer, and on the top of the stock. After another 30 minutes then KT sprayed the lower edge with some grass patterns, making certain that there was plenty of detail to the break up patterns. After another hour, KT came back and hung the shotgun up for its final matte clearcoat coating. That will happen on Sunday...day 3. Before that happens, KT will do a close sunlight inspection to see if any area(s) lack patterns. If so, then that will be painted in. If not, then 2 light coats of matte clear will be sprayed, giving 30 minutes before the 2nd coat. After another hour of hanging, the gun will be brought into the Castle and given around 24 hours to harden off, before the butt plate is replaced and the masking removed. Then KT will give you all the final images of the project, mostly close ups so you can see the detail.

Please realize these patterns are somewhat random and it is always amazing to see what results, even to His Majesty! If He does not like something, it just gets sprayed over with some other pattern! That is what is so easy about camo painting. There is no perfection, and the project is only finished when the painter is satisfied with it!

Anyway, enjoy the pictures. KT tried not to duplicate the photographic efforts, since spraying one side gives you the same effect as spraying the other side, however the patterns will vary from side to side, just as in nature!
Note also, KT had to use the flash on the Royal Camera to take the hanging pictures at the end. That is what caused the minor reflections on the stock in those two pictures.

The temps dropped fast enough that KT decided to wait until tomorrow afternoon to spray the matte clear final coat. Otherwise it might not be dry until late tomorrow to complete the final spray coat. KT recommends not spraying below 70 degrees F due to long drying times needed!
 

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Neat step by step pics KT !!!! :thumbsup:

......looks like you couldn't help doing your face with camo paint also :laughing:

"Then there was this dusky gal in Bangkok, a real crossway breezer I swear."
 

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This project is looking good KT! Thanks for posting the steps with photos. Curious how the finished product will look. Not sure I like the little fringes on the bottom of the stock, but you're the arteest, let your muse loose. :)
 
This project is looking good KT! Thanks for posting the steps with photos. Curious how the finished product will look. Not sure I like the little fringes on the bottom of the stock, but you're the arteest, let your muse loose. :)

Easy enough to remedy if His Highness decides he does not like it at a later date! Just paint the base color over that area and then another pattern on top!

You never know what you might like until you see the finished project!

In the other post, you mentioned you liked the subdued look of the pump....that is done as the last step by hanging the gun, then from about 18", giving it a light dusting of black spray paint....it just tones down the overall pattern. On wrapped and factory produced camo, the patterns to me are just so strong as to look a bit unrealistic, kinda cartoon like. Even if KT owned a gun with that popular oak leaf pattern, He would likely give it the black spray effect to tone it down some. To His Highness, a bold pattern would stick out in the woods as much as a black long gun, but that's just His Royal Opinion. The patterns KT is painting are effective most of the year, except on the rare occasion of snow in the Royal Realm, which is typically less than a week a year.

Come back tomorrow to see the finished product! :yes::yes::D
 
Finally, day 3 and finishing this camo project!

Now, posting this on Sunday evening, but it is dark outside and so there are presently no photos of the finished long gun, but that will come in this post tomorrow!:D:D

KT wanted to complete the narrative while it is fresh in His Royal Mind. So here we go...
After lunch this morning, KT inspected yesterday's painting efforts, and as expected found a few areas He was not satisfied with. A bit of touch up paint applied and the gun was hung back up. The pattern was a bit too bold so a light dusting of flat black was sprayed from 18" distance to cut the boldness, and an hour hanging for the touch up and black paint to dry. Air temps got up to 72 degrees F today, so a stand fan was directed onto the hanging gun. Around 3 pm CST, KT took another look and everything was dry, so turned off the fan and made the first light matte clear coat, then fan turned back on. About 4:30 the first coat was dry to the touch, so the second coat was applied. After the Royal Dinner (pizza and coke zero, followed by ice cream), KT revisited the gun and it was dry. So it was brought inside and had the butt plate reinstalled. Then the masking tape was removed from the hammer, the trigger assembly, and the front sight area on the rib. And the cotton ball inside the barrel was taken out. Inspection of all the taped areas was made and some cotton fuzz removed. The top of the rib next to the bead was cleaned with alcohol and a new light gathering fiber sight was installed with 3M double sided adhesive tape. The sight will be given 24 hours to set up to full strength before testing the gun by shooting. Tomorrow morning KT will take both overall pictures and several close up pictures of the stock, receiver and barrel area, as well as a couple of pics of the gun folded over for carry in a backpack or duffle bag. KT does have an elastic shell sleeve that He will slip onto the stock, but since it is black and covers up some of the camo work, it will not be shown in the final pictures, unless someone wants to see it on the stock.

So...pictures tomorrow morning. Actual time in prep for painting...about 45 minutes. Time in painting, about 1 hour, time waiting for paint to dry, around 6 hours, time to remove masking and reinstall of butt plate, and installation of the fiber sight, 20 minutes. And of course, KT is not going to do any work on this type of project after dark, simply because once the exterior lights on the Castle are turned on, the bugs swarm and manage to land in any wet paint! Ask KT how He knows about that!

So you can see that the biggest time consumer on this type of project is waiting for paint to dry! Ha ha. Reminds KT of a joke about a man who cut lawns for his living...when asked what was the hardest part of his job, he answered...waiting for the grass to grow! :laughing::laughing:

Here you go...there are 2 pictures in this set, just to give you all a better view. Started off with pics of the gun leaning against a pine tree on the Royal Grounds and 1 pic of the gun broken over for transport or backpack. Hope you enjoy! Could not get the other pictures to load so will have them hopefully below in another comment!
 

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More pics!

Hopefully here are the rest of the pictures!:lol::lol: Enjoy! KT will now install the stock shell sleeve and the project is complete!
 

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Well now how does one so comment on something invisible to ones own eyes. Very nice portraits of some trees and underbrush though.:laughing: KT you did outstanding on this mod. I have seen some homemade camo jobs you couldn't hide unless you buried them. Yours is excellent. Well done.:cool3::yes:
 
Well now how does one so comment on something invisible to ones own eyes. Very nice portraits of some trees and underbrush though.:laughing: KT you did outstanding on this mod. I have seen some homemade camo jobs you couldn't hide unless you buried them. Yours is excellent. Well done.:cool3::yes:

Hoser, thank you very much for your comment and compliment! It is KT's hope that this tome might inspire one of our Forum members, who perhaps due to our present restricted life style, wishes to have some fun painting one of their old stored away long guns. The patterns and methods are numerous, and every result different!

Yesterday KT saw another camo video on how to do tree bark camo. If KT is lucky enough to lay His Royal Hands on another long gun in the future, He may try for that result! :D:D
 
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