Airsoft Plastic to Real Gun Metal.

[Gyro]

I, being the fantastic painter that I am figured out a way to make black plastic metallic. It's not that difficult to tell you the truth. In this occassion, I took a black plastic M-16 for PMW which needed to have a worn out desert look. So, I got a light grey paint, put as little as possible onto the brush and brushed back and forth in one direction (Because metal grains in lines) over the edges and metalic parts. I find the end result satisfying.


Edges highlighted


Barrel


A bright shot to emphasize where the painting took place.

[spoonstudiosintl]

Drop dead sexy.

[ALove]

Some of the Blacks look still like plastic, but other than that

Drop dead sexy.

[Gyro]

Well, where? Because alot of the M-16 is plastic.

[foxwood]

The part around the barral looks plastic, not the part at the end that you have highlighted but the area where your hands would go. Other then that it looks good.

[Gyro]

That's because it actually is a composite of plastic/fiberglass. It's there to cool down the metal barrel from firing, so naturally it's got a plastic look to it, like the stock.

[ALove]

I think where you highlighted the blacks look plasticy.

[2nd_Recon]

Side note:
If you wanted your cheap m-16 to look fresh out of the factory new, simply get a matte black paint for the heatshields and the stock, and a black gloss for the barrel and action

Side-Side note:
Spec-ops in desert conditions have custom M-16s that are painted to match their desert BDUs, where the whole weapon is three different shades of brown, because black really sticks out against sand.

[Gyro]

Side note: I don't want it to look out of the factory new.

Side-Side note: They're not spec-ops.

[Epsilon]

New rifles aren't glossy... that's the last thing you want.

[Sebas]

That looks awesome, im gonna try it myself but my main concern it to get a nice fake gun..Kapow!

[jcdenton]

Looks great. Maybe the plastic parts are looking too new and clean. Maybe use some sandpaper.

[cantoloupe]

nice, ive been looking for a way to do that for one of my old airsoft pistols, but now i got these new ones that, like the m16, are a composite of plastic and metal, but that looks tight

[lukeprausnitz]

The MOD didnt bother paying for the SA80 to be repainted for Iraq, so we sent troops over there with green rifles

[DEDFX]

I used an ultra-flat black Krylon on my mag and it turned out well, would using a primer first then the black make it look more matal like?

[Lawriejaffa]

lol thats quite a description Gyro for what is basically 'dry-brushing'

But good for you i think its an excellent look for the firearm, I will also have to do this for a bunch of airsoft weapons, more particularly the CYMA ak47, i will try to make the plastic (wood stock sections) actually look like wood... that should be fun *gulp*

[DEDFX]

or u could actually make them out of wood, easier than painting for a few days trying to get it just right.

[UFProductions]

Have yo actually worked with wood Its not going to be easy at all to create a replacement for a plastic part out of wood, painting is the way to go.

[Epsilon]

For wood grain effect, paint a dark layer. Then brown over that layer. While it's still wet, use a hard brush over the brown while semi-dry. It will smear away as lines and give the appearance of wood grains. Then you could use another light layer over that or whatever you want for a different wood effect.

[crossfire]

It looks ok but you might have better results scratching the paint with sandpaper or something of the sort, also i think the way you drybrushed your mag isnt that effective or at least from up close

[DEDFX]

use soft pine then and a Drummel

[UFProductions]

use soft pine then and a Drummel

No s***? Lets see something. As a fairly experienced woodworker I just have trouble taking this at face value. Even with a Dremmel tool (a hinderance more than a help) creating a perfectly fit repalcement for molded plastic out of wood is a daunting task.

[Lawriejaffa]

At the risk of sounding wildly unpopular, I have to say that making guns out of panels of wood is kids stuff,

muhahaha, for the film maker who earns more than 100$ a week.... lol, im sure they can scrape a plastic gun, and apply drybrushing effects like Gyro has done. Which OBVIOUSLY looks better than actually having to craft a firearm (in effect) from wood...

People forget, TIME IS MONEY too, time spent on cutting wood is time lost making movies.... In any case i just the whole wooden prop (unless it was for the most incredibly distant long shot) totally irrelevant. At least in representing modern firearms for a movie...

[DEDFX]

We're talking about the stock here Lawrie, and its only a daunting task if you're not skilled enough, a stock doesn't need to be the same exact one, it can be a little shorter or longer.

[UFProductions]

I don'f care if it's a friggin' rectangle. The task of getting it to attach to the reciever of the gun in a fashion even remotly similar to the fit of the original piece is a helluva difficult task. Telling any old shmuck that he can replace plastic parts with wood easily is bullshit. Post up a pic of a replacement job you've done, skill has nothing to do with it, the task of measuring, approximationg and slowly fitting the part is an arduous one, and anyone who thinks it isn't is kidding themselves.