Not happy with my painting technique

Blacklab1 said:

Are you guys using natural sponges regular household sponges?

Click to expand...

waspocrew said:

His and hers 22lr crickets for my kids. Use a clear coat over it and the paint should last quite a while.

View attachment 599968View attachment 599969

Click to expand...

Blacklab1 said:

Thanks guys, now I'm starting to get somewhere. I got done with work early today and had a little time to experiment, all the videos I watched no one mentioned to wet the sponges before they were used, I had it in my mind that you wanted them on the stiffer side but that's not the case. After they were wetted things started coming together for me. A little more practice and I'll be ready to do my McMillan.

Click to expand...

Blacklab1 said:

Thanks guys, now I'm starting to get somewhere. I got done with work early today and had a little time to experiment, all the videos I watched no one mentioned to wet the sponges before they were used, I had it in my mind that you wanted them on the stiffer side but that's not the case. After they were wetted things started coming together for me. A little more practice and I'll be ready to do my McMillan.

Click to expand...

waspocrew said:

His and hers 22lr crickets for my kids. Use a clear coat over it and the paint should last quite a while.

View attachment 599968View attachment 599969

Click to expand...

BigDon said:

Are you wetting the sponge with water or thinner?

Click to expand...

Rick Richard said:

Those are super cool.

Click to expand...

crazymonkey said:

Are those the target model? I'm looking for something for the younger kids that might not make the age limit for the giveaway I do.

Click to expand...

Blacklab1 said:

I'm trying to figure out how to do a decent camo paint job for my new rifle. I tried sponge painting and a Bob Ross approach with dabbing a round brush but I'm not really happy with either one. I'm trying to get close to something like a Manners sponge paint like the one I have a picture of but can't seem to get the bigger blotches. I tried trimming the natural sponge into different shapes but it's just not working out. I tried different pressures but if I press too hard it turns into a smudge and too light it's more like speckled. Any advice on how to get closer to a Manners?

Click to expand...

nwmnbowhunter said:

You can go broke finding "good deals"

You need to decide what you'll be happy with and stick to it. Otherwise you'll be upgrading forever.

Click to expand...

lancetkenyon said:

This stock only had the Olive spots from Manners. I added the grey and light green, plus a matte clear coat.
View attachment 599907
View attachment 599908

This stock only had the Dk grey from Manners. My buddy wanted a LOT of orange, and some lighter grey spots.
View attachment 599909
View attachment 599910

This was originally a Manners GAP camo, but there was a lot of black left. So I added the darker tan and the lighter sage green to fill in some of that black. Then matte clear overcoat.

View attachment 599911
View attachment 599912

This had the Manners Tan/grey. I added the orange for some "pop" on these next two rifles.
View attachment 599913
View attachment 599916
View attachment 599917
View attachment 599915


I have a bunch of rattle can paint jobs too, if you want reference.

Click to expand...