Refinish Airsoft Bakelite Magazines

19Apr/10Off

Refinish Airsoft Bakelite Magazines

Refinish Airsoft Bakelite Magazines

Welcome to a small guide to adding a slightly more realistic finish to your Bakelite airsoft magazines. Over the last few weekends I've been experimenting with how to obtain a nice finish. I've included the steps I've used bellow, this is by no means the best or only method out there ( a simple search of youtube will give you a number of existing guides ) but i do hope this guide will be of some use.

Step One

I'm using the MAG brand AKM mid caps in this guide but any reproduction Bakelite magazine would do.

First you need to remove the base plate from the magazine, on the MAG version this is simply a matter of sliding it off, place this to once side safe as you will need it again once you have finished refinishing this magazine.

Next find your self a box or a block of foam or polystyrene along with a rod from the manual loading tool that you will normal receive with a new AEG ( any similar diameter rod would of cause work just as well ). You can then insert this rob into you box, foam, or polystyrene. You can know place your magazines upside down on this rod ( seeding the rob onto the body of the magazine where you would normally feed bbs). This will allow you to paint your magazines without getting fingerprints in the finish and allow you to rotate the magazine with ease, it also provides a safe way of leaving your magazines to dry over night without risk of them falling over for example.

Know we have all the preparation work done we can move on.

Step Two

Know is where you need a little bit of faith, you need to take sandpaper to the outside of your magazine. Know this may look at little dramatic at first but this is only the first step. I personal use a fine sandpaper in about a 5x5 piece at any time for ease of use.

The trick is to try and get uniform coverage as you maintain a random element to your sanding. The best way i have found to do this is to start with a vertical sand along the length of the magazine after your have finished giving your magazine a light sanding move onto a circular sanding motion. Alternate between large and small rotations and randomly move around the magazine. It is very easy to slip into a rhythm and for the sanding to become far to uniform, your best bet is to regularly take the sand paper off the magazine and start in a new location, jumping around the magazine like this helps to maintain the random look we want.

Please be aware that this process can produce a large amount of dust, it is best to do this outside.

**Warning: do not use an electric sander, although this may seem like an attractive option it will result in the wrong type of finish, where using sandpaper to only add texture to the magazine, an electric sander is far to aggressive**

Step Three

Before we apply the first coat of varnish it is best to take a damp cloth to the outside of the magazine, this will remove any excess dust created during step two.

Know place the magazine on the painting rig you put together during step one, this will allow you to easily apply the finish to the magazine.

I'm using a teak varnish made by Homebase, this is not the darkest varnish available but personally i like to use this due to my habit of applying multiple layers and using a lighter finish from the start allows me to build up the finish without getting too dark in the end.

To apply the varnish I brought a pack of cheap 1 inch synthetic paintbrush, no need to buy anything expensive. Know it is simply a matter of applying a thin coat of varnish across the surface of the magazine, be careful not to allow the varnish to pool or run.

Once you have covered the entire magazine you need to let it stand for 7 - 10 minutes ( there is no need to clean your brush at this time ). Over this period the varnish will start to become tacky. Once this has happened you need take your brush and lightly brush over the surface of the magazine, this will allow you to remove any excess varnish but at the same time add some texture to the finish. For best results again do not brush too evenly try and run your brush over the magazine in random directions and angles.

Leave your magazine to stand and dry over night.

Step Four

Once your magazine has fully dried over night it is time to take to your magazine with sandpaper again. I used the same grain as step two and using the same rotatory motion to create the random finish needed.

During this process I will normally sand the edges of the magazine, doing this means that the edges will appear lighter and i find this adds definition to the magazines at the end.

Step Five

You know need to repeat step three as you add another layer of teak varnish.

** You have know applied two coats of varnish to your magazine, depending on a number of things ( for example the type of varnish used ) you will have a nice looking magazine but the colour may vary dramatically it may not be as dark as you would like. If this is the case simply repeat the sanding and varnishing until the overall finish reaches what you desire ( it is advisable not to simply add layers of varnish, this will darken the finish but without the under layer of sanding your will start to loss the deep layered texture where aiming for). **

Finish

With my magazine i had to do 3 rounds of sanding and varnishing to obtain the look I was looking for. Once this point had been reached I applied a single coat of clear matt varnish to dull down the finish as i had been using a satin teak varnish.

You can also remove any gloss finish with a light coating of dust, mud or even charcoal at a pinch.