Table of Contents
If you want to take your airsoft games seriously, then you need to camouflage both yourself and your weapon. If you don’t, you are going to stand out like a sore thumb. Luckily, camouflaging your weapon isn’t all that difficult.
On this page, we are going to teach you a couple of the simplest methods for how to camouflage an airsoft rifle.
What is the Purpose of Camouflage in Airsoft?
The idea behind camouflage is to help conceal you during airsoft games. While camouflage may not be able to hide you completely (you won’t have that awesome military tech behind you), it should break up your silhouette enough that people quickly scanning the environment may not be able to see you. This means that you can live to shoot another day!
Using Camouflage Tape on an Airsoft Rifle
Perhaps the quickest way to add camouflage to an air rifle is to pick up some camouflage tape. It isn’t going to look the most aesthetically pleasing thing ever. But, hey, at least once everything is wrapped up, you will at least have an airsoft gun that is properly camouflaged, right?
Obviously, the main benefit to camouflage tape, other than the money you will be saving, is the fact that it doesn’t permanently change your gun. You can take it off whenever you want. This means that if you ever plan to sell your airsoft rifle, this is the route to go down.
How to Paint Camouflage on an Airsoft Rifle
There are plenty of different ways to paint your airsoft rifle. Since we assume that many of the people that are reading this page are not that artistically-inclined, we are going to stick to an incredibly simple method. You could spice it up a little bit and make some more brilliant patterns and different colors if you want. However, the method that we are going to discuss here is going to be more than enough to stop people from being able to spot you easily while you are out there on the field.
We are going to give a ‘lazy method’ here too. So, if you want a way to paint your gun in mere minutes, then use that method. Your gun won’t look pretty, but it will be functional.
Materials
You do not need much here. Just pick up the following:
- Dark green spray paint that is safe for plastic.
- A base color. Preferably a far lighter green. This should also be plastic-safe spray paint.
- Masking tape
- Paper
- A knife
- Pens
Use the masking tape
The first thing you will need to do is mask off the parts of the airsoft gun you don’t want to be getting paint on. While you could probably paint most of the airsoft gun if you are careful, we do suggest that you mask off both the muzzle of the airsoft gun, as well as the area around where the magazine enters. You may also want to avoid painting the magazine. That way you don’t have to worry about thick paint stopping you from putting that magazine into your gun.
As you can probably guess, you should be using masking tape for this.
A lazy method: This is SKIPPABLE.
If you want the laziest possible method for painting your airsoft gun, then this section is going to be perfect for you! If you don’t want to be lazy, then skip this section:
You can grab your masking and use it to mask off areas on the gun to create a striped pattern.
You can then use your dark green spray paint to cover the area. Once it is has dried, pull off the masking tape and you have some basic camoflauge. You can then stop here. Congratulations. You succeeded in being lazy, and you ended up with something that looked half-decent. Who said it couldn’t be done?
Cover the Airsoft Gun in Base Paint
If you are using the non-lazy method of doing things, you can crack out your base paint (the lighter colored one) and cover the entire airsoft gun with it. Obviously, the masking tape will help to protect some areas. Try to ensure that the paint is even, but still ensure that there is no original color from the gun shining through.
Hang up the airsoft gun to dry.
Make up some stencils
The next step is to make up some stencils. You will need your paper, pen, and a knife for this.
Since you have gone this far, we reckon you probably want to make the airsoft gun look as brilliant as possible. Therefore, we suggest that you look at various types of camouflage from militaries around the world. The UK and the USA have the most well-known patterns.
Draw some of these patterns onto a sheet of paper and cut them out with your knife.
Stencil the Airsoft Gun
By now, that base layer should be dry. This means that it is time to start stenciling your airsoft gun.
Feel free to be as creative as you want here. Move the stencil around the airsoft gun, putting different shapes in different places. Try to make sure that the stenciled areas don’t overlap. It won’t break up the pattern quite as well.
Try to control the amount of paint you are adding to certain areas. Some areas should have heavy paint, while others a bit lighter. This is why you are using spray paint. A soft spray will lightly cover things, and a long, hard press will cover add a ton of paint and make the pattern more prominent.
Once you are done stenciling, wait for everything to dry. You can then remove the masking tape. Hopefully, by this point, you will have a work of art that you can be proud of…or at least one that won’t have you being shot quite so much out there in the field.
Related Questions
Do you need a specific type of paint for airsoft rifles?
Yes, especially if you have a plastic airsoft rifle. You need to ensure that the paint that you choose is safe for plastics. This ensures that the paint will stick to the plastic while, at the same time, ensure that it doesn’t weaken the plastic.
Does it matter what the camouflage looks like?
Not that much. The whole purpose of camouflage is to break-up the silhouette of something. As long as the airsoft gun has some contrasting colors and a broken pattern on it, preferably one that matches the environment you will be doing airsoft in, then you will be perfectly fine. You can try and replicate the colors of real camouflage, but we can’t help but feel that this may be a touch difficult for most people.
Will camouflage paint impact the use of the gun?
As long as you are not painting the muzzle, then you should be fine. You probably shouldn’t be painting too close to the magazine slot either. This will ensure that the magazine will go into the weapon easily. Even the smallest amount of paint can cause resistance, which is the last thing you want when you are out there on the field.
Can you camouflage your airsoft rifle with natural materials?
Absolutely. If you don’t feel like painting your airsoft rifle, you can stick small twigs, branches, and leaves onto your airsoft gun while you are out there in the field. Although, do bear in mind that it can be tough to keep everything held in place, At least it is cheap though, right?
How to Camouflage an Airsoft Rifle Final Thoughts
There more than one way to camouflage an airsoft rifle or pistol. Some people use spray paint and others use camouflage tape. Personally, I prefer to use the camouflaged tape.
I don’t always play during the same time of the year and under the same conditions. If playing in the winter, a summer camouflage patter would stick out like a sore thumb. With a the tape camouflage method, I can just easily replace it before a game to match my surroundings better.
I hope you liked our article on how to camouflage an airsoft rifle or pistol. What method do you like to use? Let us know in the comments below and feel free to checkout our latest article here.