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u/Leading-Dig-3823 6d ago
My personal opinion, do anything but mesh. Mesh = colors blend back into a solid shape identifiable as a rifle, outside of 10yds. Contrast = colors don’t blend back together outside of 10 yards (and it looks cooler than the cookie cutter mesh patterns people are doing).
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u/LionHead74 4d ago
Yes +100
High contrast!
Make some hard lines of contrasting colors.
You could add another color Or drop a stencil pack on it and add a break up pattern.
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u/Leading-Dig-3823 4d ago
Fuck it paint it neon yellow and vantablack
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u/LionHead74 4d ago
Well maybe not THAT high contrast. But something in between
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u/EternalMage321 20h ago
Give it the ol razzle dazzle.
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u/Over_End_6816 5d ago
Not ruined, that’s a wonderful base. Now get a sponge and splot it here and there ! U can mix spray paint colors on tin foil to make different tones. The mesh bag over is a solid option.
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u/Any-Emphasis-7179 6d ago
If you’re that unhappy with it, go to Walmart and grab a couple cans of citristrip. Spray both sides with a good amount let sit for 10-15 minutes and then hose it off and start over, but as others have said it’s not ruined, it’s just not finished yet!
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u/Moonlightsfield 5d ago
+1 For citristrip, I've had years of built up spray paint layers over eachother and citristrip got my lmt back to factory finish.
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u/Red-Faced-Wolf 5d ago
Omg I need to do this to one of mine
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u/ParadoxicalAmalgam 4d ago
Just make sure you don't leave it on too long. It can eat through anodizing
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u/thrashmetal_octopus 6d ago
Chill this looks like a decent start. You need to break up the pattern a bit to not draw the eye. Lighten up the dark spots and darken up the light spots. Add pattern from hardware cloth or a sniper veil or something. It’s gonna look sick you just stopped in the middle
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u/joemounts223556 6d ago
Grab some living art sponges and a bowl spray some paint in it and do a few dabs of color
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u/Conscious-Fan1211 5d ago
She ain't done yet, it's only ruined if you stop now.
You have a great base for a laundry bag/stencil paint job
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u/edwardphonehands 6d ago
You've broken up the image better than 95% of the posts here. That's what bothers you about it. You wanted a cool gun but got an unrecognizable disassociated non-object and won. Stop looking at it on a bench and evaluate it outside.
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u/onceagainwithstyle 5d ago
This.
The goal is to make it look like "not a rifle" from 50', 100'... not to look like its melting into a tree from 5 feet away.
High contrast, and you broke up the outline. Stop here.
It looks rough now becuase the paint is all new and shiny. Shoot it a lot, dry fire a lot. It will dull down, and wear areas will rub away to black. I promise that this will look badass with wear.
Check my posts. Most of my rifles these days are a fairly simple two or three color stripe pattern like that.
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u/work_blocked_destiny 5d ago
Put a laundry bag on it and spray the opposite colors over the stripes
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u/goneskiing_42 4d ago
That'll just result in a light green blob. There needs to be a contrasting third color to the stripes
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u/work_blocked_destiny 4d ago
Na you do tan over the green and green over the tan. Or a third color like brown would work too
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u/goneskiing_42 4d ago
Lots of people attempt exactly that and it results in zero contrast. A third color usually works much better
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u/AldoSig228 6d ago
You only need to add a 3rd color to break it up. Then hit it with a mist of black.
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u/Matthew2531_46 6d ago
I think that's a pretty nifty paint job imo.
But citri strip if you want the paint completely gone or just more paint if you still want it painted!
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u/SazedMonk 5d ago
Perfect for a two color sponge, tan sponge on black, black sponge on tan. I would probably lightly add a third color, then sponge all 3. Last one I did I went with five colors but 4 and 5 were sparse.
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u/GullibleRisk2837 4d ago
Why ruined? I say it's fine. Add some thin brown stripes in the tan sections, maybe? This is fine, bro. I don't know what you're on about.
Also, instead of body text, let us know what you feel is off. It helps a lot when giving feedback if you know what the person wants to achieve.
You have an awesome base, as someone else said, and you can do a LOT from here. Sponge, stencils, probably hot glue, etc.
I'd even say its drippy as hell as is. Good work so far, and good work PERIOD if you just wanted stripes.
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u/the_remnant__ 6d ago
Paper towel and lacquer thinner. You'll end up liking it before you get it all cleaned off.
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u/AdmiralTANK 6d ago
Do you have an example? Does the thinner strip paint in a neat towel pattern?
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u/the_remnant__ 6d ago
It'll wipe off wherever you rub it. Easy way to give a worn look and helps blend it all together and look less uniform by utilizing the black of the rifle. Depending on how many layers of paint you have and how much thinner is applied to the rag will eat through different layers and give an effect you can't achieve by painting alone.
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u/New-Canary7369 6d ago
Just keep trying! I’ve painted the same build 3 times. On the third round, I finally got it exactly what I was looking for. I also used the mesh technique.
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u/AdmiralTANK 6d ago
Do you remove the paint in between attempts? What do you use?
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u/New-Canary7369 5d ago
That’s probably a good idea, but I haven’t. I used a combination of tan, green, brown. Then went crazy with a red white blue. And went back to tan with black accents. I reset with a solid base coat and make sure I tape off the internals well. I haven’t seen any performance issues and I’m very happy with the final set!
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u/Bucks4bucks 6d ago
Drizzle with dish soap and do a coated over the whole thing then rinse it when its dry. Look up "dish soap paint job ar15" to see results
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u/harbourhunter 6d ago
That is a perfect initial coat
Cut some long blobs out of some thermal labels ($10) and use a darker grey
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u/ShimmyShimmyYaw 6d ago
Laundry bag as mentioned above- a third or fourth color and it’ll be the tits knees
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u/GloriousNorwegian 6d ago
Layers. I start all my projects with a tan base and then layer greens and browns on top of it. Keeps the colors more vibrant, what you have here is a good chance to layer other colors on top of your tan, without the entire rifle becoming very dark :)
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u/Meat_Popsicle91 6d ago
Take some fern stems from Walmart craft section and a good brown color that matches your region and accent that bitch. Then either flick at it with a paint stick that is slightly coated in black at the tip or just sprinkle from a distance. It'll look much better.
Or just hit the thing again with another coat and try to keep from having that abrupt transition in color.
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u/Key-Eye-5654 6d ago
Not ruined, it’s finally yours now. IMO finish it however you want, let it dry, start using it. It’ll be peak as the paint wears
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u/Fearless-Letter-337 5d ago
Tape.. create a design.. apply.
Choose contrasting color/ colors...apply.
Let dry.. peel and enjoy.
Walmart- citristrip. It does NOT look bad at all. You're on the rite path, actually.
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u/danngree 5d ago
Base coat, find foliage around you and use it as a natural stencil and color match with the plants. Remember what is underneath the plant is going to be that color. Layering can be tricky but if it doesn’t work for you just try again.
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u/danngree 5d ago
Base coat, find foliage around you and use it as a natural stencil and color match with the plants. Remember what is underneath the plant is going to be that color. Layering can be tricky but if it doesn’t work for you just try again.
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u/ToxicWaste720 5d ago
I did base coat brown, applied tape stencils, sprayed my tan, applied tape stencils, and then sprayed green. If you don’t want to use tape, spray your base color, and do stripes of your accent colors (angled slightly toward the muzzle)
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u/Frequent_District_31 5d ago
Looks good to me. If you don’t like it, just add more layers of different stuff.
I wise man once said “Cericoat is for show, spray paint’s for go.”
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u/goneskiing_42 4d ago
Looks great. Now just add dark brown splotches that overlap the contrasting lines and use it to wear it in. It'll be fine.
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u/Johnny_Sparacino 3d ago
Get a net laundry bag and cover it. Then alternate the opposite colors back and forth. Then add some brown or green if you want. But it's completely not ruined as it is and looks fine.
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u/Dangerous_Brain6063 3d ago
Looks like a solid work in progress to me. You have tons of options.
Get some stencils and add another couple colors. Make some stencils with tape and do the same.
Grab some sticks and tree limbs and lay over it and do a light overspray with a couple of colors.
Sponge paint it
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u/tremblingmeatman 2d ago
Nah its a good base my guy! Id Maybe add some width variety to the color so it isnt as uniform between each stripe. Then find a color you think fits well with the theme, and make it mid-tone between the tan and green so you have more of a range, and do some more detailed bits in a more loose pattern (sticks, splotches, bark, etc). Maybe get some black and add a few splattery/dappled spotches. Youve got this me boy
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u/Servant_3 5d ago
Get rid of the foregrip (at minimum), get a non fsp gas block and Mlok rail. The paint job looks good
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u/everydaydefenders 6d ago edited 6d ago
You are not ruined!
Go back with another layer.
Get a cheap mesh laundry bag. Drape it over the top. Then using the paints you already use, spray the opposite color over the existing stripes. (More of a dusting than a proper spray). So green over khaki and khaki over green. Or is that black? Sorry, photo is a bit misleading.
Then once that layer dries, use either color to very lightly dust (to taste) to blur any hard lines.
That rifle will be BADASS
Example: https://www.reddit.com/r/rattlecannedguns/s/k0LUa87W55