Custom Magazine Finishes

[Spacehog 2,218]

While waiting on parts to finish trickling in for a couple of Saiga conversions, I decided to play around with some extra Tapco black polymer mags I have around. The goal was to achieve a Bakelite appearance that could be customized to precisely match the color of any installed wood. Did it for fun more than anything else, but the end product was interesting:

 

 

If there is any interest, I will post up a tutorial.

[DLT 1,646]

Interesting. These were originally black?

[Spacehog 2,218]

Yep. Standard Black polymer. The process is to start with a base color of Krylon Fusion, (the two mags in the pics were a rust color base coat). After it dries, I stained the mags with a uniform coat of Minwax Early American. Give it a few hours to tack up, and then use different stains dabbed on with paper towels to match up with the wood. The two mags in the pics both used Early American, Red Mahogany, and Jacobean stains in different amounts. Where the stain is too thick and the color is too prominent, I just used a dry paper towel to dab and remove some of the stain. I also used some Saran Wrap to give the mottled appearance where the color underneath shows through. Once dried to a tack, I use polyurethane in rattle can to give a durable clear coat, and followed that up with a thin coat of Duplicolor Matte Clear wheel finish. I am working on another with a different base coat. I will document the process and post it up as soon as I have time.

Edited August 18, 2014 by Spacehog

[Cobra 76 two 2,677]

Pretty cool man. Reminds of me some material I saved from a Russian website years ago about doing faux wood grain finishes on the regular stock black sporter furniture. It turns out looking really good.

 

Found it...

[DLT 1,646]

Cobra please post directions, that looks really interesting.

[Cobra 76 two 2,677]

Well if anyone wants to give it a go themselves, here's where we were discussing it back in the day here.

 

http://forum.saiga-12.com/index.php?/topic/82-wood-finish-on-original-black-plastic-stock/?hl=%2Bwood+%2Bfinish+%2Boriginal+%2Bblack+%2Bplastic+%2Bstock

 

 Otherwise I have a lot of takeoff sporter furniture I've been saving just to do this kind of thing with for those who keep their Saigas in stock configuration.  I just haven't made time for it yet but can do this if anyone is interested.

 

 I actually have a set of original Russian imported sporter furniture that has a faux wood finish from the factory. Thought that was neat, only one I've ever seen.

[Spacehog 2,218]

Pretty cool man. Reminds of me some material I saved from a Russian website years ago about doing faux wood grain finishes on the regular stock black sporter furniture. It turns out looking really good.

 

Found it...

Saiga Faux Wood Finish.JPG

That is awesome Shannon. I would love to know what technique was used on that furniture as well. I also picked up a graining tool that is nothing more than a rubber stamp that it formed to look like wood grain. I am going to play around with it as well. Lord knows I have enough take off Saiga Sporter stocks to experiment on.

[Spacehog 2,218]

That is the exact post, that I vaguely remembered that inspired me to try this little experiment. I thought I remembered someone doing something to give a wood appearance to polymer. Thank you for linking the two together.

[Cobra 76 two 2,677]

Right on brother. Click that link in my other post it's all there.

[Spacehog 2,218]

Finally had a chance to do a tutorial on this process. It is going to be pic heavy so I will probably have to break it down into a couple of posts:

 

After stripping the follower, spring and floor plate from the magazine. Wash the mag in hot water and dawn dish washing detergent thoroughly. I use an old toothbrush to scrub it to make sure I am removing all traces of oil and mold release compounds.

 

 

Once the mag is cleaned use a paint of your choice to lay down a base color. Spray just enough to cover the black. You don't want a heavy film build. During the process, you will build color and depth from lighter colors to darker.

 

 

For the purpose of this tutorial, we are going to try to match the polymer mag to some RPK furniture I have been working on. I tried to match the base paint color to the lighter burl in the wood furniture. The pic above shows the base color painted mag and the wood we are going to try to match.

 

 

During this step, a uniform film of Minwax Early American stain has been brushed on the painted mag to tone down the orange in the base coat. It is OK if the stain pools up or runs a little, we will take care of that during the next step.

 

 

The next step is to take an empty grocery bag, wad it up, and start dabbing the wet stain. You will begin to see the color mottle where the stain is heavier in places. You will have to do this for a couple of minutes, as once it is mottled, the stain will self level, making the mottling less dramatic. Once the stain starts to thicken the mottling will stay put.

 

 

Here is a close up of what the mag will look like after the first stain application. Stain takes a long time to dry and the subsequent application of stain will dissolve a wet stain film. You can either wait a couple of days between steps or you can use this shortcut:

 

 

This is a method to speed up the waiting time between stain applications. A thin coat over the tacky stain will allow it to dry within 20-30 minutes allowing you to continue adding addition stain.

 

On the next post I will start adding Minwax Jacobean stain to match up the wood.

Edited September 14, 2014 by Spacehog

[Spacehog 2,218]

After the stain is very tacky or almost dry. Coat with the next darker stain color (in this case, Minwax Jacobean) using the same method previously used. This process required two stain colors and a base coat, but you can use as many stain colors as needed to build more complex patterns and depth of color.

 

 

After coating the mag with the new stain color. Begin using more wadded up grocery bags to remove stain and mottle the surface.

 

 

Continue to add stain or take off with the bag until the color and pattern resemble the wood you are looking to match.

 

 

The process can be used on both polymer and wood. The RPK furniture in the photos above is birch laminate that had an ugly grain so the above process was used to make it look more like burled walnut. (The paint base coat was omitted) The pistol grip below was a very old beat up Bakelite PG:

 

 

The process can also be used on stock Saiga furniture. To make it look like any wood your imagination can muster:

 

 

 

After the final coats of stain have dried finish out with polyurethane or the top coat of your choice to get a smooth matte, semi-gloss, or gloss finish.

 

Hope this was helpful. Let me know if you have any questions.

Edited September 15, 2014 by Spacehog

[RED333 1,025]

Well if that dont look real good!

[storm6490 2,768]

That looks pretty fucking cool but, be honest. You did this after your wife made you do a faux finish on the walls of the house....

 

 

awesomeness.

[Spacehog 2,218]

LOL! Your good....What color am I thinking of? (Wild Hogs)

 

 

Not Faux. Italian Plaster. It is an art form that is rapidly being lost. Limestone plaster with natural earth pigments applied by trowel. Same process minus the paint over wet plaster (Fresco) used in the painting of the ceiling in the Sistine Chapel. My mother did this for years and taught me at a young age to apply it with historical methods. (She also taught me to shoot skeet at the age of seven) And no the wife didn't make me do it. (but she likes it) I just like classically trained historical finishes.

Edited September 15, 2014 by Spacehog

[lbsrdi 1,078]

Wow! Amazing work, I am interested in learning more about the process you used on the wall.

[Spacehog 2,218]

Wow! Amazing work, I am interested in learning more about the process you used on the wall.

There are several types of Italian plaster. The crap at The Home Depot or Lowes is paint not plaster. There are several companies that import Italian plaster and some US companies that are making comparable products. The wall in the picture is from our dining room and is a three color unburnished "Veneziano" plaster. Veneziano is a lime based plaster that is very fine. As a result, the more you trowel it, the more polished it looks. You can literally get a mirror finish while burnishing while it is drying. I left this wall unburnished because I didn't want it shiny. It is still smooth as glass though. The method of application is called skip troweling where thin coats of plaster are laid down in short overlapping strokes with a trowel or knife. I started with the darkest color first. Once the entire dining room was done with the deep brown plaster, my wife came in and said it looked like..and I quote..."one giant turd". Once the process was completed with the two lighter color plasters, it toned down and what you see is what you get. I did this several years ago, and have lost touch with who the latest importers and available plasters are, but if memories serves me correctly I believe the plaster was either Arte Nova or Firenze.

[Cobra 76 two 2,677]

Great looking faux burl finish Spacehog! That turned out a near perfect match! 

 

I think it would also work great to make a more realistic looking bakelite type finish on those new Tapco AK mags that come in the orange color.

 

My mom is an interior decorator who does some cool faux finishes on walls and furniture, etc. She has used a similar method to the plaster method using tissue paper like a paper machet' kinda thing to do some pretty amazing looking faux antique brick or stone walls in her house. 3D is awesome.

[Spacehog 2,218]

Great looking faux burl finish Spacehog! That turned out a near perfect match! 

 

I think it would also work great to make a more realistic looking bakelite type finish on those new Tapco AK mags that come in the orange color.

 

My mom is an interior decorator who does some cool faux finishes on walls and furniture, etc. She has used a similar method to the plaster method using tissue paper like a paper machet' kinda thing to do some pretty amazing looking faux antique brick or stone walls in her house. 3D is awesome.

The orange Tapcos would be easy to do, since the stain wants to soften the base paint film on the black polymer until everything dries. Orange polymer would circumvent that challenge. The slab sides would make the process simpler as well.

[G O B 3,516]

I have had good results wood graining trim and such by using a flat latex in a cream color and oil stain applied with a clipped and beat up brush, and finish with spar varnish.

[YOT 3,743]

Nice tutorial, it looks great. This is something I might try on some scrap and then on the polymer that came on my AR. 

[Spacehog 2,218]

Nice tutorial, it looks great. This is something I might try on some scrap and then on the polymer that came on my AR.

 

I thought about doing the same thing on some AR glacier guards to see how it would look. I think it could come out nice.

[storm6490 2,768]

Amazing work on the house. Now we know why the wife keeps you around! Thanks for sharing.

[Spacehog 2,218]

Final pic of the items finished with the above method installed on my AES 10B RPK (I still like the metal mags better, but the thread was fun):

 

 

[YOT 3,743]

Wow, that looks great! Excellent job.

[kevinfreel 215]

that looks real sharp. Now I know how to pit some "wood" on my p64. Fill in the checkering with some epoxy, sand and faux wood the grips.

[Cobra 76 two 2,677]

Great job Spacehog. Looks fantastic... the whole thing! 

[SHOTGUN MESIAH 855]

Thats too purdy to shoot.

[Spacehog 2,218]

that looks real sharp. Now I know how to pit some "wood" on my p64. Fill in the checkering with some epoxy, sand and faux wood the grips.

 

You can leave the checkering if you want to. It will not affect the process, and would just look like wood checkering.

 

 

Thats too purdy to shoot.

 

No it's not.... 

[Spartacus 1,619]

I decided to paint the ugly brown furniture on my Daisy 880 flat black today, does that count?

 

 

 

Just didn't look tacti-cool like this......  parts are drying in the garage.

 

 

Edit: Just having fun with this post.... not trying to take anything away from Spacehog.

        His work is outstanding on that gun (and the house).

 

 

.

Edited September 18, 2014 by Spartacus

[james lambert 3,059]

Thats class act stuff