How to match color of special coating, M249

[swatti]

This is driving me crazy.

 

I got a ridiculously pimped out 249 in a trade, she's an old TOP 249 certain retailer used as a cute sales girl and my god, she's hot... Apart from the acm top-cover / feed cover whatevah.

 

According to a real steel gun-expert it's gone thru the same coating as the real gun, also according to him, that ain't cheap and can't be done to aluminum the same way.

For those who don't know, TOP didn't use cast aluminum for the bodies, yup, magnets stick.

 

The color is as perfect as it can be, someone even put in the real steel weldings where they should be.

 

The shade/tone/color is a problem, one, it's matte, so paintshop "color meter" won't give a proper answer and it's actually quite limited how many shades regular paints can make.

 

I believe the name was "phosphate coating" and the top cover is just adonized into black, the dull, boring black.

 

Someone clearly put more than just money into this gun and I want to finish the job.

 

I can have the part sandblasted but after that it's a mystery to me.

 

Paint is out of the question. There is no matching color.

 

There was a way to color aluminum somehow by sinking a "source color" item into liquid(water?) and somehow the color transferred to the aluminum part. Followed by putting electric current thru the alu-part to make the coating stick.

 

This is where my English skills fail me, apologies in advance.

[renegadecow]

Paint is out of the question. There is no matching color.

 

See Cerakote's offerings. Many of their swatches were made to mimic the color of finishes where certain finishes can't be applied like parkerization, phosphate, melonite etc.