Guys,

What are you using to color the letters? I saw pics of a red "fire" and white "safe" that looked pretty nice

Thanks.

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Search here for "tacticrayola". It's crayon, melted into the lettering. Works really well.

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M&P40c/15-22/SD9VE/Mossy500

Gotta love this board. Thank you.

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You don't even have to melt it. Just rub it across until its all full then get a credit card, or something, and even it out. Works great and takes 5min.

True, but melting it gets rid of any bubbles beneath the surface and flows the wax evenly throughout. :-)

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M&P40c/15-22/SD9VE/Mossy500

Use your wife's or girlfriends blowdryer. I used my daughters crayons. Lol. She was watching Me like a like a hawk. She is 5 and coloring is a favorite activity. Awesome cheap cool mod. I highly recommend it. I used white for the sw logos. Red for fire and green for safe. I really like my combination of colors.

That's funny. How long did you keep the blow dryer on it?

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I like that idea, I tried to use the little Testors hobby paint, but it seems that the finish on my M&P SPORT RIFLE, has a rather matte finish, and it holds the overage of paint. I did the S&W logo with white, it looks like it is stuck in a cloud. I used many different solvents to remove the surface paint, but still stuck in the clouds.

Chuck

Not long you will get the hang of it. Just heat while you go back and forth with crayon. it will fill the area very nicely. I suggest cleaning the area with achohol before applying the crayon. Be very patient and do it several times on one are. Trust me it is easy and you will be proud of your ability to go back to being a 5 year old.

You can also use a lighter. (torch lighter works best) Just heat for a couple of seconds, rub the crayon into the grooves. Once filled, heat the grooves and watch for the bubbles to disappear. Let dry, wipe gently with clean paper towel until excess is removed.

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M&P40c/15-22/SD9VE/Mossy500

color in black it looks awesome actually

I've done 5 AR variants with crayon.

Great. Thanks for the tips.

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I used these. You can get them from Walmart in any color.Even variety packs.
ImageUploadedByTapatalk1359722797.905068.jpg
Search for a thread "color crazy" I believe it was called. I linked the thread I followed in there and couldn't be happier with the results. I haven't used the crayons so couldn't say anything towards that method, this just worked well for me. Here's the XD I practiced on, my 15-22 lower, and my girlfriends bday present.ImageUploadedByTapatalk1359723122.655022.jpgImageUploadedByTapatalk1359723199.027706.jpgImageUploadedByTapatalk1359723280.438800.jpg

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-Dik

Very nice. That shield looks especially good.

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Ya I was so jealous of how it came out, decided to get me one in .40 that and it's such a comfortable lil gun.

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-Dik

I had this problem the first time as well. What I ended up doing was filling the entire area with plenty of paint, than let it dry for about 3 minutes. Overage and all. Than take a q-tip with brake cleaner on it and lightly go over it. Just keep letting it dry a tiny bit and take a little more off. What's happening is the top layer is hardening than your taking that top layer off instead of spreading around wet paint. Worked great for me anyways. There's many methods so you just gotta find one that works for you. ImageUploadedByTapatalk1359727636.643704.jpg
This was my cloudy attempt. The brake clean and a bit of elbow grease got it back to black. ImageUploadedByTapatalk1359727704.328506.jpg
This was my second attempt, I caught on quick.

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-Dik

Bought my crayons today at the $1 store and will go to town tomorrow.

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$0.57 for crayons from WallyWorld, 15 minutes of my time, and the best part was my girl saw the finished look and asked me to do her 15-22 in pink and white. And she started the evening with a "that's dumb looking" statement!! She loves the way her stands out from my red and white job. I did the melt trick. Lightly heat the area first, then run the crayon across it, let it dry, then clean excess with a paper towel. Repeat process if necessary. I'll try to post pics later. Now to find a riser for the red dot.....

I'm done. The white came out very nice for the symbol and safe but the fire in red did not. Note: Don't use $1 store crayons. They crumbled like paper.

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Try a brighter color like the orange/red. Plain red doesn't show up as well for that area.

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M&P40c/15-22/SD9VE/Mossy500

This was a real cheap box. I used the brightest I could find. I may have to dip into the crayolas here when someone isn't looking. Thanks.

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Mineral oil NOT mineral spirits cleans off excess paint like it was water. I used the paint sticks from Amazon. Yes crayons are cheaper but I had seen this question on another thread and they recommended paint sticks. It turned out great!

Telling you guys..Try black!

Check post #14 those are the paint sticks I used. There's tons of colors, even sparkle-style if that's your kinda thing.

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-Dik

Do you have a picture?

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I really like the idea of the Elmer's Painters. Besides, I just discovered my daughter (7) has a whole stinkin' set of'em.

What scares me to death is the post about the "cloud effect" above. It's the little things. It would break my heart if I screwed this up. Has anybody found anything that's safe to remove the Elmer's paint from polymers like the lower on the 15/22? If not, what do you use on the lower of the 15/22 to clean it up?

Brake cleaner is pretty harsh stuff (I was raised in my daddy's professional garage.). Not as bad as carb cleaner, but once you've swiped it on, the damage is done and it's too late!

Ever seen what Goo-Gone does to some plastics? NOT pretty.

I am into this and want to do it badly. I just want to be sure I can clean it up safely. Measure twice and cut once. Just want to make sure I do it right the first time. Lowers ain't as cheap as they once were and they're damn sure not as easy to FIND!

Any suggestions?

Dikinalaska? Really need some self-assurance here!

Thanks!

I was afraid of the poly and brake clean as well, but my LGS guy told me he cleans his 15-22 with it and never had an issue. I asked to see his and there was no trace of anything that I could tell. The cloud effect is a little bothersome, but after you get the technique down its really easy. Look around your house for something that's poly to practice on. There's tons of things with recessed lettering you can practice. The porous poly is a little more work than the, say, slide on the XD, that's why I did my XD first. Didn't think about trying it on something not firearm related...duh on my part, thought about it after I was trying to remove the cloud, cursing myself for not thinking about it sooner lol. I haven't seen anything suggesting a compromise to the poly from the brake clean on the 15-22 or Shield. Not even discoloration, so IMHO you'll be fine.

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-Dik

No, no picture. But I could imagine it would look pretty badass lol

Not S&W, but I had tried various other ways to letter my Glock G32..mainly because I have a G23 as well..Same size and accepts the same mag, just a different round..Did not want to confuse the two..
I settled on using some of my wifes white nail polish, wiping the excess off with a rag and nail polish remover...No need to touch up after firing, just clean and oil as you normally would...

^Hmm, my next project.

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And note my bicycle inner tube grip...

Like I said Mineral Oil...safe and effective.

It will work better if you put a layer of white in before the red. Learned the hard way.

I wonder if that helps when you use something like the Elmer's pens. Probably not, since it's supposedly opaque but I know we use to do that to a lot of things we painted at the shop to make the paint stand out even better.

Always better to have a white base, generally speaking.

Anybody know on the pens for sure?

uni® Paint Markers | Staples®

I've used these for years in the nuclear power industry. +1

It'll be a couple weeks before I get back home to try white under a color, but the final orange color I used on my 15-22 was identical in shade (at least as far as I can tell) as it is on the white towels I cleaned it up with and I don't think the pink could be any brighter on the Shield, it dried the exact color of the tip of the pen it came out of.

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-Dik

What is the technique used with the Elmers pens? Do you use a fine tip and stay in groove, or do you expect/plan to wipe off over flow with a solvent (brake cleaner, WD-40, etc...).

Where were you two days ago?

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Good question.

Picked up some Sharpie Painters (Fine tip) this morning. No Elmer's at Staples. Figured bird in the hand thing. I'm going to Hobby Lobby at lunch to look the Elmer's but my initial thinking is that it's just a waste of time and money. The Sharpies are Acrylic Enamel so they should be fine anyway.

I think I'm being way too nervous about this. You'd think I was getting ready to paint the ceiling at the Sistine Chapel.

I hold a lighter to the crayon for just a second to get it tacky then rub it into the the letters at an angle (like grouting tile).


I didn't put white in "FIRE" before the red and it turned out great. The crayons I used were older than I am, so that might have made a difference.

If you don't mind waiting a couple weeks I'll do a video on it, it's really not hard. Good prep work is key. Clean the lettering and surrounding area very well. I cleaned it as usual, than used a q-tip and a little rubbing alcohol just to make sure I got all the oils and such. What I did was apply the paint liberally to the lettering, making sure to kind of push the tip into the lettering, and kept tapping it just to help get everything settled and the bubbles out. I let it dry for about 2-3 minutes, with the overage and all. In my experience if I tried to clean the excess while it was wet it just smeared making more mess. So I let the top layer harden I tiny bit than rub over it lightly with a q-tip with brake cleaner on it. Once you see the paint start to smear instead of just remove, stop for a minute and let it dry a little more. Than go back over it again with a new q-tip/brake clean. Repeat these two steps until only the lettering is left and voila! I tried cleaning the excess while it was wet and ended up with the cloud(see XD). This is just what worked for me and others have had better luck with other methods. Best suggestion I have is try on something not important to you. I can't think of anything poly off hand that would be comparable to the lower to try on, but I honestly don't think material matters. It's technique and timing if you're going to use my method and let it dry. Any other specific questions about any of the steps that I can help clear up let me know and I'll try and help.

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-Dik

Folks,

BE VERY CAREFUL WITH BRAKE CLEANER ON POLYMER!

There are two different kinds, one chlorinated and one not. There have been reports of both damaging polymer and both not damaging polymer. I know, conflicting reports, but this IS the Internet.

Considering the cost of a can of polymer-safe GunScrubber, why risk damaging your firearm with brake cleaner to save a couple of dollars?

Helllo as I stated twice already...mineral oil and no fear of damage!

Just use Crayola crayons. It will stay as long as you want it to, and when/if you want to change the colors, just use a toothpick to dig it out and recolor.

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M&P40c/15-22/SD9VE/Mossy500

I would actually suggest this as well. I feel 100% confident that I didn't do any damage to mine. I'm not a scientist or anything and couldn't say anything about actual degradation from this, but as far as I can tell, nothing was harmed. The ONLY reason I suggest using something like the GunScrubber is because I was very very conservative on how I used the brake clean and others might be a little more liberal in their application. I tried a couple other things that didn't work as well is why I ended up at the brake cleaner. As many have said, there is a POSSIBILITY of adverse effects, but I haven't noticed one. I know I'm conflicting on my suggesting the brake clean, than the GunScrubber or the like, so to sum it up- I think the brake cleaner worked just fine with no adverse effects, but would feel horrible if I told someone else to do it and they ruined something. If you use it, use it as an aid to elbow grease, not a primary. And if you're worried about it, try using it on an area that isn't critical of function or can be seen, than the worst that happens is you have a little spot that only you know about.

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-Dik

Do the S&W logo on the mags to practice on and prefect your technique. I've seen some people number their mags so instead of doing that I used different colors in the mag logos before I ever tried coloring on the lower.


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I decided to take your suggestion and do some BLACK on my grip. I used automobile wheel spray paint and a syringe. Sprayed into a plastic container, sucked it up into the syringe and surgically filled it in. (Before anyone says anything about the lettering looking less than sharp, that's the way the engraving is.) Turned out pretty well!
Before and after pics.

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M&P40c/15-22/SD9VE/Mossy500

JZ,

Like the MOE grip... who carved the symbol.??? do they make it in OD Green.??? Your paint fill-in looks great.!!!
Only one problem, the crosshairs in the WRONG location... everybody should know, you can only kill Zombies with a headshot.!!!!

Paul

Good job, but I can still see some "ghosting" around the lettering( in particular around the safe, fire area).. Most likely from the wipe off process..Digital cams pick up on all the imperfections...