Two-tone paint removal "When 2 become 1"

RostokMcSpoons

RostokMcSpoons

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With the disclaimer that I have a UKARA number, and I'm an active skirmisher, I've decided to do a proper paint job, so I'm stripping off the bright blue paint from a gun, and I was intending to prime and spray it black. (Black to start, I might go 'camo' in the near future)

  • The blue paint is on top of the factory black finish
  • I don't mind if the factory finish comes off too, I'll just spray the whole thing
  • The only part I need to attend to is a decent quality aluminium upper, but that does involve a long set of RIS rails... so... lots of corners!



I remember seeing that brake fluid does a job on two tone, so I've bought some, did a brief test on a small patch (blue comes off, reveals black beneath... no initial sign that the black was also coming off)
So I went 'all in', stuck the receiver in a plastic tray and poured the bottle of brake fluid over the top, to let it have a soak.

Now I came back here to look again for hints, and found mention of 'rubbing gently' (yub yub) to remove the paint to reveal the finish beneath.   
It appears I've gone off a bit half-cocked (wibble)
Have I gone a bit OTT with the 'bath' technique?

Was brake fluid even the best idea, should I have gone for a 'proper' paint stripper?

Any handy hints on my next steps much appreciated!

Edit:   I guess this will become less of a 'question' thread and more of a 'personal experience / how-to' thread :)
I went to have a look at the soaking receiver, and already the brake fluid is turning blue.   A bit of light work with a tooth brush revealed the black paint beneath, and so far the factory paint has remained intact - no sign of breaking through that so far.   So this is good progress...  I've turned the receiver over to let the other side soak.

 
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I mean...paint stripper is made to strip paint so....

Brake fluid will do the job but probably not quite as well as something designed for the task. Scrubbing/rubbing/agitating (call it what you will) will help but make sure you wear decent gloves.

Make sure you properly wash the brake fluid off too, otherwise you'll have problems with paint adhesion when you respray it.

 
Lozart said:
I mean...paint stripper is made to strip paint so
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It was, until a certain trading block made us remove dichloromethane / methylene chloride from domestic paint strippers in 2016.  You could then buy the stuff neat on eBay, but that's been nixxed now too. Some industrial sellers are still flogging it, but only in bulk, or with postage that far exceeds the cost of the product.

If the brake fluid doesn't get it all, then acetone or isopropanol might work, depending on what's in the paint. I'd do an isopropanol clean before re-painting anyway.

 
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A lot of the paint is already off... I'm just waiting for t'wife to go out so I can spend some quality man-time with it (and some soapy water and a toothbrush)

View attachment 83480

 
It could be a bit late ….. but if parts are still in a bath of chemicals keep a good eye on it all

Back in the mists of time I was planning to repaint model soldiers which had been drowned in paint by someone else 

I dutifully tested some and all was good, paint softened and could be brushed off with no effect on the figures 

Then I put them into a bath of thinner (in the garden to be wise about fumes() and stepped away …. After a couple of hours the thinner was looking like soup, I reached in and lifted out sagging moulten figures ……

 
Yeah, got to be careful with chemicals and plastics. That's why I just painted over the two tone rather than try to strip it.

 
Unexpectedly good news to report!

Well firstly, no plastic involved... CNC'd aluminium upper receiver, and so 'monolithic' in its length that there was nothing else on the gun to paint.

Secondly.  It only bloomin' blinkin' well worked perfectly.   The blue just washed off in the soapy water!   I 'encouraged' it a bit with the toothbrush in some of the harder to reach bits, but it basically wiped off, leaving the underlying black paintwork in as-new condition.   A good blast from the garden hose to really clean it out, and job done! 

Perhaps this was a special case, as the paintwork seems to be a very nice quality, but I'm definitely going to try the brake fluid again, if I buy another two-tone gun.

View attachment 104774

"Can you tell what it is yet?"

I'll post on the What Have You Just Bought thread later, but have to rush off to footy now 

 
Aside, while we'd all probably agree not to use harsh solvents on a plastic toy, do we know of anything that would be safe?  I risked it and used isopropanol on my CYMA handguard, and while it took the paint off, it also desiccated the plastic a little. Not too bad, and it's very cheap plastic to begin with, but is there anything better?

 
So it went from this

View attachment 104834

to this

View attachment 104835

I still can't get over how easy it was, even compared to the idea of just spraying over the top of the blue.    (I don't 'baby' my guns too much when I'm out on a skirmish, so they're going to pick up a few light scratches - every chance I'd have had the blue showing through in short order)

So "tea and medals" for @Cr0-Magnon and @Snakeeyes75 for coming up with brake fluid as the very thing
 

 
RostokMcSpoons said:
So it went from this

View attachment 104834

to this

View attachment 104835

I still can't get over how easy it was, even compared to the idea of just spraying over the top of the blue.    (I don't 'baby' my guns too much when I'm out on a skirmish, so they're going to pick up a few light scratches - every chance I'd have had the blue showing through in short order)

So "tea and medals" for @Cr0-Magnon and @Snakeeyes75 for coming up with brake fluid as the very thing
 
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Shall I just comment that you have not even changed an IF into a RIF?

Two tones don’t exist in the law, the VCRA requires an IF to be over 50% of one of the specified colours 

Blue is not a VCRA compliant colour, bright blue is, one part of the frame is not over 50% of the body - (though in this case it could be a matter of measuring some areas)

(Rhetorical question)

Why do retailers bother to paint a part of the body a non compliant colour ? 
But they have tried a little bit harder than those who promote false defences 

………

Well done you for fixing a well executed but flawed attempt at making an IF

 
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Maybe that random blue sticker on the mag well got it past 49.99% 'bright' blue ?

I'm very grateful for the way it was done though - if some of the lower, or the plastic stock had been done, then it would have been that much harder to do a nice job on it.   I'd probably have just gone for a typical slap-dash rattle-can-camo job instead.

Edit: Actually the stock is all-metal..  that could've been blued as well, without making my job any harder

 
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Talking of 50% of a two tone being painted…

Just out of interest, what do you think the legalities are of one side of the gun being painted blue 100%? ??‍♂️

 
We'll have to ask the Black Belt Barrister.   That is if he's not storming embassies and freeing hostages with his Bestest Budz ;)  

 
Enid_Puceflange said:
Talking of 50% of a two tone being painted…

Just out of interest, what do you think the legalities are of one side of the gun being painted blue 100%? ??‍♂️
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Good question (particularly as I often refer to >50%) …. So on that basis paint one side plus a bit more.

The wording is ‘size, shape or principal colour’.
Its an interpretation / my interpretation that 50% or less is not a ‘principal’ colour.

There is also the matter of patterns, I can’t remember if it’s in the legislation / statutory instruments etc or was just in a guidance document.  But I have see a reference to solid colours / patterns which would render a gaming style bright camouflage pattern as not necessarily compliant

I personaly would consider a one side bright colour to be a much better attempt than many I’ve seen

 
RostokMcSpoons said:
We'll have to ask the Black Belt Barrister.   That is if he's not storming embassies and freeing hostages with his Bestest Budz ;)  
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SBS, right? Does anyone have an embassy on a riverboat casino? If not, they should.

<Ackchyually> if my gnu is in 9 distinct shades of very-very-very-very-very-dark-grey, and 11% blue, that's the "principal" colour, right?

 
Ah yes, good point.   I'm sure he's storming oil rigs and battleships and setting Erika Eleniak free instead

(to be fair, I would, if we were back in 1992)

 

 
Earth, Principality of Sealand, 1967.  Princess Penelope preparing to repel boarders.  Oh, I say.

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