Showing off a bit

[NeoMoses]

Here's some pics of my mostly finished Spyder paintball gun. This gun started off as a nasty green color, not very cool looking IMHO.

Originally, the entire gun was to be stripped and anodized with a blue to silver fade. Upon re-anodizing the grip frame, the cast alloy it was made out of turned a dark gray, so black was the only logical color choice for it. Since this messed up the entire color scheme for the gun, I decided to play around.

I tried to fade the flame drop forward from blue to black, to match the black of the grip frame and the blue of the elbow/air line. I think I succeeded fairly well. What was left wasn't exactly what I was going for in the beginning, but nonetheless I think it looks better. Enjoy!

First, an overall pic:




Blue to black fade on flame drop forward. The numbers indicate the colors I was trying to match (elbow and grip):



Another view:

[non-stick]

I have to totally admit.... the anodize work I see from you and the users on this site is simply stunning. First class all the way, I really mean that.

[jbrink]

Here's the first thing I did..used the ole let it rip method too...i was lazy

[NeoMoses]

Here's the first thing I did..used the ole let it rip method too...i was lazy

Your image link isn't working.

[mcaswell]

I think the reason the image isn't working is because its a bmp file.

If you copy and paste the actual link, it works, but not within the forum text. Perhaps it doesn't like bmp files?

http://www.nethertech.com/images/ano/jesterano.bmp

[annodizer]

hey, Im anodising paintball guns aswell but im having a few problems and am about to give up... I sandblast the part looks great, ano it, dye it, when i take it out some parts are darker than others!

And some pieces dont even take charge!

[NeoMoses]

hey, Im anodising paintball guns aswell but im having a few problems and am about to give up... I sandblast the part looks great, ano it, dye it, when i take it out some parts are darker than others!

And some pieces dont even take charge!

Why don't you start a new thread, describe your system, surface prep, and anodizing method. We'll be better able to help you with full information.

[Sid03]

how is the finish in that last pic(black with blue spots) obtained?

[NeoMoses]

how is the finish in that last pic(black with blue spots) obtained?

I believe that is called an 'acid wash' finish. I have some ideas on how it might be achieved, but have never tried one myself. That question has been asked a couple of times (here and elsewhere), and those who know are not answering. Although I personally don't like that finish, perhaps I'll figure out how to do it and write an article and post it. The largest obstacle I've seen for anodizing is the lack of freely shared information, which really aggrivates me.

[jbrink]

neo, this is smiley/jbrink.

Acid wash is obtained by dying the item the base color, in my case black.

The taking a sponge or rag soaked in bleach, and dabbing areas you would like a different color. After dabbing give it about 30 secs and it should leech the color out where the bleach touched.

RINSE very well.

Dip in another color of your choice.

Presto..instant acid wash.

To do splash..use bleach and a paint brush..and splatter the stuff with bleach. Do not forget to RINSE WELL.

[jbrink]

If there are any other style you have questions about let me know. I may suck at getting the aluminium anodized..but once it is, I can get some pretty nice effects.

[Sid03]

What concentration of bleach are you using? I tried that before, and had to REALLY REALLY water the bleach down or it would turn where the sponge touched, as well as most of the rest of the part, back to silver in about .004 seconds!

[NeoMoses]

jbrink, that is pretty much what I thought for the acid wash effect, but I've never tried it myself. Thanks!

[jbrink]

I use straight generic bleach, Clorox is too strong. The sponges pattern and how hard you press is also the trick. Very light pressure, and not alot of bleach on the sponge.

This can also be done with sulfuric acid, but doing it with bleach is more safe.

Tip: NEVER get bleach near your sulfuric acid..cause combined they make deadly Chlorine Gas.