Camo Tutorial (Pic Heavy)

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JesseR

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After numerous searches I did not see a good tutorial on a DIY camo job. I recently completed the build on my 308 thanks to a couple of awesome OSAer's like Mavrick for selling me the donor gun and QTRMOA for helping with the build, hand loading and general questions...

Well I had a really nice UGLY gun. The blue 700 action, black IOR scope, SS Fluted barrel, green AICS... Just not good lookin' at all! Well I decided to change that thanks to Mr Krylon, some painters tape, and some forethought.

I'm going to take you through process and show your steep by steep process. You can alter and modify as needed to meet your camo needs. Between each step of paint, I waited about 30 minutes for it to dry. It was warm outside with a nice breeze so it dried very quickly.

Before:
awww.jessereich.com_OSA_308_2.jpg


After:
awww.jessereich.com_OSA_308_camo16.JPG


How'd it happen?

1) I first started by cleaning all of the gun oil off of the outside of the gun. I cleaned the barrel, action, stock and so on until the gun was degreased. This is important as the print will not stick to an oily service.

2) I took 600 grit sand paper and buffed over the barrel and action just to make sure it would take the paint nicely. I used Krylon Camo paint with "Fusion" that is designed to adhere to the plastic skins of my AICS.

3) Tape off! I had started to tape off the turrets of the gun as well as the bolt and action opening so that no paint would get into the action. This is time consuming, but I felt it was very important to make sure the action, which is trued and blue printed, would not have any obstructions.

awww.jessereich.com_OSA_308_camo02.JPG

awww.jessereich.com_OSA_308_camo03.JPG

awww.jessereich.com_OSA_308_camo04.JPG

awww.jessereich.com_OSA_308_camo05.JPG


4) For paint I chose the Krylon Camo with Fusion in Tan, Brown and OD Green. Seeing as I shoot in lighter wooded areas I felt this would give me the best look. I also had a natural sponge to apply paint where needed (I didn't use this but had it) and some 600 grit sand paper. The plan was to start with a Tan base followed by brown and green accents. NOTE: Be sure to extend your Bi-Pod legs!

awww.jessereich.com_OSA_308_camo06.JPG

awww.jessereich.com_OSA_308_camo07.JPG


5) With the Tan base, I walked over and picked up some pine straw and some leaves still on the branch. Why on the branch? Because I didn't want to paint my hands and this allowed me to put the leaf on the gun while keeping my hands far away from the over spray... :thumbup3:

awww.jessereich.com_OSA_308_camo08.JPG


6) I then proceeded to use both the leaves and the straw around the gun alternating between and brown and tan. I did this because the brown was a very strong color and really showed over spray bad, I layered the patterns in both brown and tan for both the straw and leaves.

awww.jessereich.com_OSA_308_camo09.JPG

awww.jessereich.com_OSA_308_camo10.JPG

awww.jessereich.com_OSA_308_camo11.JPG


7) After getting the base tan and brown completed, I started going back with the green. I was surprised that it was not near as strong a color as the brown. I was able to be a little more free with the over spray as it blended the previous two colors nicely.

Just tan and brown:
awww.jessereich.com_OSA_308_camo12.JPG


Adding in some green:
awww.jessereich.com_OSA_308_camo13.JPG


8) I continued the process of laying the GREEN and BROWN with the leaves and straw. After completed, I would mist the entire gun with the tan as the gun appeared very dark.

awww.jessereich.com_OSA_308_camo14.JPG


9) Once I liked the look of the gun, I took off all of the painters tape and enjoyed my gun. All in all I'm very pleased with the result. This is my 1st camo job...

awww.jessereich.com_OSA_308_camo15.JPG

awww.jessereich.com_OSA_308_camo16.JPG


So OSA, what do you think? How did I do? I hope this can help others of you who might be afraid to attempt this yourself. It cost me $20 at Wal-Mart, and about 3 hours of my time outside with the dog and family.

Good luck! :thumbup3:

Jesse
 

NikatKimber

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Well, my home internet is the suxors right now, so the pics aren't loading. But thanks for the tutorial! I hope you don't mind me putting a link to this thread in the FAQ section.
 

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