Removing a Paint job from and M4R.I.S
 

Hey everyone,

I have a M4ris and it has a sort of camo paint job. it just doesn't jive with me and i would rather just have it all black. how would I go about removing the paint with out damaging the plastic, or even the metal. and when repainting it what are some good way of paint a M4 to have a nice finish on it? Also what is the best paint to use, witch will again, not harm the plastic or metal... thanks for your time

-Choda

Edit: It looks as Though it has already had a paint job under the visible one, so repainting it i would lose even more detail, and rendering it un sellable incase i don't like it later on.

http://www.airsoftcanada.com/showthr...t=remove+paint

I used the search button with "remove+paint" as my search string.

Acetone eats plastic

Great advice :lol: Be sarcastic and give the guy the wrong advice, how ASC of you. Acetone in nail polish will remove the surface of the plastic, and if you leave it on a second too long you will forever alter the integrity of the plastic.

And I can see that you're simply jumping at giving him advice. If you had read to the bottom of that thread you would have also seen that people who have been working with modles for years have said Easy-Off oven cleaner works on plastic without damaging it's integrety.

Way to be productive skippy.

And on that note, I have heard others say that the Easy-Off oven cleaner works quite well. I might give it a try on my AUG before I repaint it.

Go right ahead sunshine

Christ can't we all just get along, i am just asking for some advice

dd

OK, after +30 years of modelbuiling, I may have some insight into this. There are two ways to remove paint, chemically (thinners, strippers, etc) and physically (sandpaper & mediablasting). Chemical is by far prefered on plastic as the item being stripped won't be damaged if the right remover is used.

Since you didn't say what kind of paint it's painted with (acrylic or oil), start with isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol). It will strip pretty much any acrylic paint I've encountered. You might have to let it sit and probably scrub it with an old toothbrush.

If that doesn't work, try paint thinner then turpentine if that don't do much. But don't soak the plastic in these as it will do damage if you let it sit too long. Put it on, want a few minutes & scrub with aforementioned toothbrush.

If that doesn't work, Easy Off will almost certainly work. Same rules as above, but it may take a but longer to start working. This will damage plastic if left on too long. making the finish crackle (cracklike). Do not leave unattended, keep area well ventilated and use gloves & newpaper to protect you and the work area.

If by some freak of nature that doesn't work, brake fluid will. Be advised, this is last resort and can severly mess up the plastic if you leave it on too long. This stuff will strip off pretty much anything short of powder coating. Hopefully you won't need to go this far.

With all the stripping methods, disassemble the gun as much as you can, wear proper ppe and wash off the area in some warm soapy water when you're done. Let dry and go over it again if you couldn't get it all off the first go around.

Repainting is much easier. Poison of choice is Krylon camo paint from Crappy tire. It's fairly cheap, sprays easy and wears really well. Comes in khaki, olive, brown & black, all matt colors. I painted one of my G36's with it and didn't use a primer and it's holding up really well. Just don't paint it on in one thick coat. Thin, multiple coats will give the best results. One little trick I like to use is after you shake up the can, put it in a pot of hot (not boiling, but hot out of the tap) water about half way up the can and leave it for about 5 minutes. It increases the pressure in the can a bit and the paint "atomizes" better for a smoother finish.

Hope this helps.

well said darklen

One other point. Easyoff is caustic and will damage metal parts is left on. Aluminum is really bad. It'll probably just damage the finish and not do any structural damage or eat holes in it, but I wouldn't want to take my chances.

About how long would you say to leave it on? Or is it one of those, just keep your eye on it and test it until it starts wiping off type things?

Paint will start to blister.The idea is not to go overboard with the stuff, work in small sections.Clean the finished area then move on.

Thanks for the info.