Painting over the clear plastic
 

I have been looking everywhere on the net and cant seem to get a clear answer.

Is it ok to paint over the clear plastic of AEGs'?

If yes, why is it transparent in the first place?

If no, why?

If you do what will happen?



Thanks

I think it is because of the border laws. Gun replicas can't be imported into Canada without having a special license(which most don't have). Clear guns are not considered replicas by customs. Painting an aeg is not illegal(I believe), but brandishing one in public would definitely attract the police. They will also treat the situation as if it were a REAL gun.

Technically no, you shouldn't do it... To my knowledge, painting clear receivers black constitutes some form of manufacturing replica firearms. Hence why none of these retailers offer it as a service. That being said, if you want to do it, don't do anything stupid with it and draw attention to yourself. The newer tinted ones with black mechboxes are great. You can't even really tell with the mag in the receiver is clear unless you're nice and close.

They're clear to begin with for a lot of silly reasons with our laws. If you're really interested, do a search here on ASC, there's been lots of discussion. Basically if the receiver is clear, they're allowed to be imported legally without special licenses.

Based on what I've read, the idea is that the clear receiver makes it legal to buy and import (for a business with a license to sell firearms). What you do after you buy the gun is your business as long as you don't wave it around in public. If you do attract attention to yourself, the gun (being painted) is nearly indistinguishable from the real thing and thusly will be treated as an illegal firearm. You WILL be charged with possession of an illegal firearm and any crimes committed will be tacked on with dangerous weapon charges.
In short, do what you want to your gun, but after you paint it, don't expect to be able to explain to the average police officer that your gun is legal (they'll pretty much treat it as real), although you shouldn't be taking your gun out into public to begin with.

Out of curiosity, since this question is up in the air, what would be the best method to paint if one were to do so? Just a decent can of spraypaint, or...?

Spraypaint; Krylon being what gets specifically mentioned most often. And lightly sand the plastic with a very fine grit paper to help the paint hold (so I hear).

And check out this thread...

http://www.airsoftcanada.com/showthread.php?t=47519

It's all about painted guns.

SIG 2022 paint job
 

I got a can of krylon flat mat black (good paint and dried super fast so i did 2 coats) then hit it with the tremclad clear. (Any clearcoat to protect the gun from sweat and anything taking the paint off) Use the clear very lightly!!!! From a good distance. This gun was more the 1/2 clear plastic with a orange tip. Make sure you cover all the working black parts with masking tap very well. I did all the trigger,hammer,safty,grip,number plates (so they can still be read). Then use a sharp exacto knife to cut the tape perfect. Paint and let er dry.

I give them a light sanding and use a 'Non-Metal Surface' primer found in the automotive paint section at C-tire. Then use flat black tremclad or krylon, I haven't had an issues with paint coming off at all.

It's a rather odd situation when it comes to paint. Having a clear receiver classifies the gun as an imitation firearm, which is legal to import and transfer, whereas a solid colour receiver classifies the same gun as a replica firearm, which is illegal to import and transfer, but NOT illegal to own. However, the act of painting the receiver itself can be constituted as "manufacturing a replica firearm" by some interpretations of the law.

I would have no qualms about painting a clear receiver black myself...

Thanks guys!!

so... how many of you painted your transparent receivers? and how many of you kept it as is?


I keep looking in this site for cool guns, i never see the transparent receiver type lol.

as for preventing malfunctions, my plan was to disassemble the whole gun and paint just the receiver i don't want any of the internals touched. and i was planning to paint it tan not black, im going for a two tone m4

Its just sooooo hard to find a tutorial on how to disassemble a well r12 m4

Well, that's because most of us don't have clear guns. When you're age-verified, you have access to the black, all metal guns.

For disassembly, go to www.mechbox.com and check out the M733 disassembly guide. It's really quite easy to do.

I didn't disassemble any of my guns, I just masked off any parts I didn't want paint to touch or get into.
A squirt gun can constitute a replica firearm, if you act improperly, and people think its real, you'll be charged like its real.

If you are a good taper its not that important to take the gun apart. just look out for moving parts and don't paint to close and to heavy. Spray paint goes a long way. I only have painted that one handgun and im very happy with it. As for the Krylon paint comming off when the gun is held, i found it to just a bit and a nice clear coat will protect it longer. I taped the inner barrel as well to make sure no paint got inside the barrel. Fires the exact same and looks good doing it. Take your time and dont rush the drying. Good Luck!!!

It s the bug spray ya gotta watch out for, it strips paint pretty good, even off your hands, I wear gloves.

Like others have said, and I'm stressing this point aswell, paint and moving internal parts do not mix. Be careful when taping and painting. If taped improperly, the paint will seep under and cause all sorts of problems.

The responses are all much appreciated, thank you. Sorry for the hijack.

Whats that.... hijack? Get Em Boys!!!

Thanks again guys! especially for the tips on painting!

I only painted on the plastic parts, and i coated it black first then tan just to thicken the coat and darken the plastic. i cant wait to see how it looks.

oh. I have a well r12(i dont know if its a good gun) m4, its battery is in the back using the stock for storage, i cant seem to find a metal receiver, just the receiver though no upper stock, online seems to only see both parts.

anyone know where i can get a metal bottom?

If you're 18+, get age verified. Metal receivers are occasionally available in the classifieds. That's your only option.

cool. ill get to it when i have time.

I work down town Toronto so i think theres a good 3-4 people that can verify me there

Welcome..
 

Probably not the best thread for the Welcome wagon but let me do it anyway lol!
Welcome to the Forums!

Thanks!!!

U guys are awsum!!

Illegal to transfer?
 

Would this make selling painted or even non-painted original metal or black receivers illegal? Would this make it a problem in ASC's forums? (OMG, I hope not...)

Any lawyers here?

Christian

Whatever. Don't do anything stupid with it, and no one will ever know you own it. If you don't call attention to yourself, no one will bother checking to see if you own a replica firearm.... Store it in a gun rack, or perhaps a gun case, LOCKED, in a closet or something. Don't take it out and test fire on your deck, using the neighbour's young children as targets... Common sense will keep you from getting busted.

I come from a gun loving family so im aware of proper storing of firearms and Canadian gun laws.

it gets boring when your targets don't fight back lol

thanks for your help and concern!

Looking forward to kicking ass with all of u guys soon!

post pics of the painted gun when you get em.

Hey guys!

Thanks for the support again,
It took a while but its done, i painted my m4 cqb, i disassembled it to keep the moving parts safe. Feel free to criticize.

Heres the result:

This painting of recievers is pretty much like speeding in my opinion. Almost everybody does it, like almost everybody drives a little faster then the limit. Stricly speaking it's illegal, but it all comes down to enforcement. Cops can't bust every drivers for goign 5 clicks over the limit, same way they don't bust responsible 18+ airsofters at sanctioned events. Like other have said, don't do anything to draw attention to yourself and you'll be fine. Its teh yahoos that are 12 years old with springer and a can of tremclad that make our lives hell.

Come to think about it, painting something to look exactly like the real steel version is one thing, but consider this: If you were to paint up your gun in camo, at that point it nolonger looks like a replica as all identifying marks are covered and it becomes an imitation.

paint looks good! One thing is i cant really tell if your filled your semi/safe/auto imprints in with anything, i think they would look good with a black crayon job, if you can get black crayons?

Stupidly cheap, and it looks sharp once your done!

http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/f...s/DSCF1295.jpg

My safe and auto were not colored to begin with so i just painted over it, but it is carved on the gun so it shows up more now because of the depth.

How does this black crayon thing work? I could use a tutorial, its sounds cool so im thinking of trying.

On a side note, i love it when the paint sort of fades, and the black underneath shows. I has the battle damage look, my butt stock is getting alot of that lately.

That looks really good man, especially because you have other tan parts.

Black crayon? I'm certain you use white crayon to fill in trades and engraved markings.

i think he meant that i color it black for the tan, instead of the white that he did.

Do i just fill it in?

yeah because its already indented, you just rub the crayon over it until its all filled in then wipe the excess off with a damp cloth.

No they specifically say that altering its colour doesnt matter- its still considered a replica at that point. The clear ones are not replicas (because there is no way to make a real steel metal gun invisible lol) but a camo job on it is still a replica (same reason why they didnt go with a red tip law- real weapons can be painted all sorts of colours).

http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/cfp-pcaf/f...me_air-eng.htm

section 3 specifically covers airsoft guns:

'Many of these devices have to be assessed on a case-by-case basis. As a general rule, however, those made out of clear plastic and those that are significantly smaller than the real version are not classified as replicas. Brightly coloured paint does not necessarily exclude a device from the definition of a replica'

Bit of a hijack but it makes sense as real steel weapons are camo'd as well- in fact we ordered in some duracoat to paint some of our clear receivers. Duracoat is the paint they use on actual firearms. Looks pretty decent and wont wear off after a season the way Krylon does...


http://img513.imageshack.us/img513/5323/g3sas.jpg
Pic of a 'Cansoft' Multicam G3 SAS (JG Mechbox and rearwired); I have a few AEGS and this is my token 'legal' one for when we do some public awareness stuff later this year. I need to get a black mechbox for it though as the silver one makes it look like chrome :rolleyes:

richond: did you ever end up doing some crayon filling?

Quick question about your rifle Richand - did you put the Rail system on yourself, or did it come with it on? If you did it yourself, was it a pain in the ass to get the old delta ring off?

No i didnt get to crayon it, i figured it looked ok lol. and its quite visible too even from 3 feet away.

The gun was "as is"(rails and suppressor included) apart from the paint and externals i.e. picatinny protector and front grip. I couldn't get the ring off, theres supposedly a tool for it but its 35 bucks... which id rather spend for something els.

I don't think that painting over it would be a problem, so long as you left the orange tip on there.

This is Canada; no orange tip required. And it wouldn't save him from prosecution anyway (should some wacky, overzealous Crown Counsel want to do so). Any real gun can have the end of its barrel painted orange.