Stippling your airsoft gun`s stock

[Bloodsword]

Hi all! This is my short guide for how to modify your AEG/bolt sniper grips by stippling them with Marine epoxy. Plus additional painting in the end. Sorry for my bad english, I hope you`ll get the picture though.

 This is not my idea originally, I happened to see this mod floating around somewhere in the internet a time ago and tested it on my TM VSR-10 recently. The idea with the strippling is to make a rough texture in the pistol grip area and the front part of the stock where you grip with your other hand. There are many methods how to do this mod, IMHO this gives a very good texturing and adds to the looks of the gun.

 

Bits and pieces required:

-Sand paper 

-Tape

-Marine Epoxy + frozen food bag (or similar plastic bag)

-Protective vinyl gloves

 

The victim in line is this time a CM M14 AEG, this how it looks normally:

 

The suggested material for stippling is marine epoxy, as earlier stated. I guess some other type of epoxy might suffice too, this one seems to work with many different plastics which is important with airsoft stocks if you want the texture to last and look good.

 

Marine epoxy is a 2-component epoxy, which is mixed in a 50/50 ratio.

 

First you might want to remove the upper receiver, and after that sand the whole stock (especially if you intend to paint the whole thing) so epoxy and paint will bite better. Next you want to restrict the areas where you dont want the epoxy obviously. If you are familiar with the gun you should probably know which areas to stripple exactly. I applied the epoxy in 2 phases:

- First phase: Apply the epoxy on the stock with the plastic part that came in the epoxy package, I made a thin and a smooth surface, so I couldnt see the stock beneath the epoxy anymore. Dont let it dry too fast, so get to the next phase quickly!

- Second phase: This is the most important part in the project: the stippling itself! To get the wanted rough surface, you need to put your hand in a frozen food bag then dip gently your index finger in the epoxy and start tapping on the stock where you applied the smooth surfaced epoxy in the first phase. Obviously by dipping more material to the stock you get a more rougher texture and a thicker surface.

 

This is how it should look like afterwards (yes, we had pizza and beer when we had this project running):

 

Now, let it dry for a few moments (45 mins-1 hour should suffice), the stipple should be pointy like a needle when you touch the grip, then you`ll know that it is dry enough. Use your own judgement here

Ok, now we can start sanding the upper receiver (if you didnt do it earlier). Sand all the external parts, and put protective tape in the magwell  and flash hider. Clean the sanded parts with paper and alcohol so the paint will stick better.

 

This is the final setup before painting:

 

I added a Smokey`s VSR-10 cheek piece so I could get a comfortable view when using low scope rings (had to hacksaw a part in the corner to get space for my thumb):

 

Voila! Painted it with Krylon Tan, 2-3 times on each side to get a long lasting color. The krylon dries in 10-15 minutes, but it will completely dry in 5-10 days. I might be adding some other colors like brown and OD soon.

 

And here`s how it looks on the the VSR-10:

 

 

I hope someone got some fresh ideas for their gun projects from this "guide".

[Im going space]

Good guide mate, most people just hit them with soldering irons.

[Kenworth W900]

'Strippling'

 

Lol

[Bloodsword]

Added a few colors to the tan base:

 

[bankz5152]

Ruined.

[Short Stack]

This isn't really stippling, just adding epoxy to give the gun more grip. Cool guide though.