Now is the time to get out the gloves, and start spraying things down. I would do this outside if you value your brain cells. Don't go easy on anything, it is only a buck for the can, and it is important to get all the oils out of the metal and finish. Spray it all down, then spray it again. Pay particular attention to the areas where there are cracks, joints or seams. Your front sight assembly, Delta ring, and the inside of your ejection port cover are all areas that will need special attention.
Once you have it all degreased, hit it one more quick time, just to make sure.
Are you finished? Are you sure? If you have any doubts, now is the time to go back and recheck. If you are doing a weapon that may have been in grease or cosmoline, you may need to preheat it in the oven. Leaving it in the oven for 30 minutes will bring anything out of the pores that may be lurking about.
If you look close, you can see fingerprints on the upper portion of the carry handle and sights. This would be a mistake to spray it in this condition.
Last edited by Stickman; 2 December 2007 at 11:51.
So far so good. There really isn't anything that we have done so far that is very difficult, and even if you have never broken your weapon apart before, you are probably happy with how easy things have been.
Now we need to concentrate on our preparation. You need to run into your bedroom and grab the hairdryer, don't worry, we won't hurt it. Take your bottle(s) of Norrells, and start to shake them up. Shake it for a minute or so until you are certain all of the large chunks are broken down. Now go fill a bucket with hot water, and put your bottle of Norrells inside. We want to warm the liquid, so it will spray easier, dry better, and shake up well for us. Once it is warm inside the bottle, it is ready to spray. Before you spray it, you will need to shake it one more time. You will also need to shake it every time you refill your airbrush.
Preheat your parts. Using your hairdryer, get your parts nice and warm (borderline hot) to the touch.
Hopefully, you have an area setup to do your spraying. I do it inside my garage (with the cars outside), and a large fan going to keep everything well ventilated. Don't have a fan blowing in your face, as eating the sprayed finish won't taste good.
Once your parts are warmed, and your airbrush is filled and ready, take a minute and check yourself to ensure everything is laid out the way you want it. There is nothing worse than to forget something and go racing through the house while you are half way through a project.
Norrells lists sandblasting as a good way to prep the surface, but blasting the anodizing off AR15 receivers isn't a great idea in my book. Blasting would be a good prep for heavier metals.
Note the below picture has us coating the inside and outside of the ejection port cover. The inside center piece is what soaks up a lot of oil and grease. Get this part super clean, spray it a bunch of times. Get that section around the Delta ring clean as well.
Last edited by Stickman; 2 December 2007 at 11:52.
The hard part is done. Spraying is a matter of using the airbrush, and getting familiar with the various spray shapes. I like to use a more focused spray pattern, while others like to use a wide spray. It is hard to explain exactly how to figure what is best for you. I set it slightly narrower than a can of spray paint, and that coats well for me.
One of the recommended way to practise spraying, is to fill the airbrush with water, and to spray cardboard. This is a simple method of seeing how your spray pattern is going to look. The cardboard gets wet, turns dark, and you get an idea of how things are spraying.
I spray each piece as an individual part. Then, when everything is complete and dry, I reassemble and spray it again. This gives the same finish, color and texture to the entire piece. Make sure when you do this that you have preheated the entire weapon, which can take awhile if you are using a hairdryer like me.
Norrells figures on three coats for maximum protection and wear resistance. For high wear areas, I try to go with an extra coat or two, which is probably over kill, but doesn't hurt.
Spray from as many different angles as you can. Use light passes, and don't try to get "heavy" coats on. With nooks and crannies in areas like below, you are going to need to figure out your angles while you spray.
*** Make sure you have good ventilation while spraying, go outside if possible ***
Last edited by Stickman; 2 December 2007 at 11:59.
Areas like the gas tube that you don't want to coat can be simply taped. I use blue painters tape as it doesn't leave any residue.
Small areas like the Carry Handle/ A2 Sight Assembly do not need to be pulled all the way apart if you are looking for a solid color. Rotating the elevation dial several times while spraying can ensure a even coating for the dial, and the Norrells finish is fine for most plastics.
Last edited by Stickman; 2 December 2007 at 11:53.
The sight assembly seem to be a sticking point for a few people. I've done a few by pulling them all the way apart, I've done a few by leaving them together, and I have done a few by pulling the A2 Sight Assembly off the carry handle. I can't tell them apart anymore, with the exception of the ones I have done in different colors.
The end result is that if you preheat, and move the adjustment knob up and down, it is going to turn out fine. If you like the idea of having your rear portion of your sight a different color, it isn't that hard to pull the sight off the carry handle. Just remember where all the little springs and ball bearings go, because it doesn't work right without them. The manuals online can help you if you get forgetful.
This is a rear view of the A2 sight on the carry handle after it has been coated.
Last edited by Stickman; 2 December 2007 at 11:54.
The barrel is a pretty simple piece of the weapon to do. I spray up and down when I do a barrel, mainly because the spray pattern is football shaped. It gives me a heavier coverage, and I waste less doing it this way. Under the handguards gets three coats, but the sight assembly forward portion of the barrel get a little extra. I figure this portion of the weapon sees a little more wear than much of the rest of the AR.
I coat the flash suppressor separate from the barrel, but there is no reason why you couldn't do it all assembled. If I were doing a completed weapon, I would do it together.
There is no reason to get super excited about protecting your barrel when doing this work. A simple Q-tip or other similar object down the barrel will be more than enough to protect it. If you are leaving a FS on the end of your barrel, it should be a moot point.
If you are coating a bare barrel, I would simply spray at an angle. You don't want to be spraying directly into your barrel extension, or chamber. I have found spraying from the side is is a fine way to avoid overspray into these areas
Last edited by Stickman; 2 December 2007 at 11:54.
If you have been heating your parts as you spray, you should not have any wet or damp items. Nor should you have any sags or drips in your finish. About the only thing I've seen with Norrells is when I have let the paint get too low in the sprayer, and it sputters and throws a blob of paint instead of a nice spray.
I can't blame the finish for mistakes I've made. Thankfully, a few passes with the sprayer and it was looking fine again.
Heating your finished is done in three stages. First is making sure it is dry to the touch. Even though the finish dries as it is applied to a warm surface, I hit every area with the hair dryer again, just to make sure it dried all the way. Second, I let it sit for awhile. I try to wait overnight if possible. This just ensures that all the solvent is out. Then it is into the oven at 300 degrees for an hour. Lastly, I let everything cool down before I try grabbing anything out of the oven.
The temperature setting of 300 degrees is important. Norrells Moly Resin is not a paint, and it will not cure on its own. It may seem to dry, but it won't cure, and the curing is what gives it a hard and durable finish. My new oven is right on when I check it with an oven thermometer, but my old one was off by 30+ degrees. This is enough to ruin an otherwise good project! Take the temperature and make sure it is correct. A $5 oven thermometer is a cheap investment if you don't have one.
Once you have taken it out of the oven, and everything has cooled, there is a simple way to check and see if it has properly cured. In an area that isn't easily viewed, take cloth with lacquer thinner or acetone, and rub on the surface. Nothing should come off, even though Norrells say a minimum amount of color should be visible.
Last edited by Stickman; 2 December 2007 at 11:55.
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