Walther Forums banner

Possible to dye OD frame?

4K views 20 replies 10 participants last post by  dakotaelkslayer 
#1 ·
Is there a way to dye the frame? I want and all black one but I found a really good deal on an OD frame. just wondering if it would be worth it to get the OD frame and dye it.
Thanks for all the help in advance.
 
#2 ·
A good deal is a good deal .....no matter the color of the frame. It won't make you shoot any better to have a black frame .....:) I have the OD frame and don't find it ugly or a bother.

I am not aware of any "dyes" for polymer frames ........ there are some paints available and I guess if you are good with an air brush, it might work - but that's a lot of trouble for something that might wear off pretty fast.

Ball is in your court.............


JF.
 
#3 ·
I would think you could dye it just like most HK USC or SL8 owners dye theirs black.... but not sure how it would turn out since the former are grey and not green.....
there is platic spraypaint you can buy at any hardware store... not sure on how durable it is..... (not sure if dura-caot will work on polymer)

However when you dye it you need to disassemble the P99..... and that is a lot of work and trouble just to have a black frame.....
 
#4 ·
Heck, there are guys who want green framed ones. :p

I would duracoat it instead of trying to dye it - they can do polymer frames.

Of course, I guess U can dye it and if it gets screwed up, then U can duracoat it anyway.

A lot of black dye jobs turn out purple.

A lot of people have been dying their green PS90s black - There are some places U can send the stocks to to do the dying. Go to Gunbroker and typed in PS90 - U will then see a bunch of auctions for PS90 stock blackening. Contact him and see what he would charge to do the job.

1 caution. He may not be an FFL - and, the P99 frame is the receiver. On the PS90s, the plastic frame is NOT the receiver - so its not a big deal to send that.

I do know that when dying the green PS90s, U add black AND green dye, or it will come out blackish/purple.
 
#5 ·
If it is a good deal then buy it. You can always sell or trade later if not happy.
But if you dye it then I would say you will have trouble if you try to resell.

Get the OD now buy a black later, my bet is you may want another one later too and will have wished you kept the OD original. Just wear dark sunglasses and that should fix things for you...:cool:
 
#6 ·
Jake-star ........ offers very good advise about tampering with your gun's finish and possibly affecting resale values.

I did some leg work for you :) ........ some of the stuff offered on Gunbroker is from some home brew dye process by who knows..... The one I checked out charges $100 for a weapon that has been fired !! And you are responsible to dissasemble most of the working parts of the weapon -- not an easy job removing the trigger group of your Walther and may void your warranty. And since the Walther frame is considered the firearm ....... you can only legally ship it to another FFL -- so look to tack on some fees for that service ??

He also warns, that heavy use may / will show the wear back to the original color -- just like paint would. More specifically he talks about scratches --he originally claimed scratches would show black, but after a complaint had to come off that claim. I am not sure how much wear you would have to worry about?

Also one important point I have not been able to ascertain, perhaps someone else here more familiar can comment............ is this process a "cold Dip" ?? .......because I would never allow heat to be used on my ploymer frame pistol -- ever !! But that's just me.


JF.
 
#7 ·
Well, the PS90 guys who have done it all seem satisfied. There are some vendors that do it too. But, off hand, the one on Gunbroker was the one I remembered. And, I think people have been satisfied with him too.

I wouldn't do it - and, I pointed out some issues above. But, the question came up, so I posted what I knew.

But, either wait for a black or enjoy the green... That's my advice.
 
#8 ·
when I entered the gun shop to buy my P99, I had set my mind on an all black one. Unfortunately the black gun that was showed to me 2 weeks earlier was no longer in stock and I went for the one available at that time : an OD. It took me some getting used to but now I like it so much more :cool:
 
#9 ·
So your dyeing to have an all black P99 are ya? If it were me, I'd try it myself in an inconspicuous place like the inside of the mag well or under the back strap. Some of that oil dye...
I'd advise however, to take good care of what you have and wait till you can get your beloved black, then sell or keep as a back up, your OD... They are not that expensive and it's always good to have more than one...
 
#13 ·
Shipwreck, when you say I have to ask the question, why? Would you please elaborate? There is generally more than one way to skin a cat and you appear to know more than you are letting on to...

To get a gun dyed to look like an original finish - you need to soak it in hot water with dye. That's how everyone does it that dyes guns. I've read the process many times for HKs and PS90s. Now, i'd never personally do it myself because I'm not gonna screw up an expensive firearm (I just wait and buy the color I want - like I did w/ my PS90). If I wanted it done, I'd pay someone who has the equipment and has done it before. I have seen many people complain that their gun comes out splotchy or purple.

What you talked about was a dye (putting it on the inside of the magwell, a little at a time) that would act like a paint. I do not believe this will work. U may as well duracoat (paint) the gun if you want to do it that way. I do not believe U can get a topical only die that you could just apply and come out with a nice black gun. It takes submerging the gun in the water mixed with die at a high temp to make it come out right.
 
#12 ·
To dye or not to dye that is the question? Here may be the solution. Go out and get you a used Kel-tec, one of their off colored ones and try dyeing that first. I guess you could try the same thing with a cheap Airsoft knock off but I doubt that the plastic would be the same as the polymere of a P99?
;) but now that you have brought this topic to the table you are going to have to try it so we can find out the results first hand from a WaltherForums guy?.
 
#14 ·
OK, I see what you are saying. What I was referring to was to try the dye before a complete commitment. To make sure it would take, or produced the desired results. Also assuming doing it for ones self... Duracoat is a paint, far different than a Dye... If the Dye just sat on the frame, then it would not work, but if it soaked in and oils/cleaners and such didn't make it bleed out, then it might work... Using a hidden area to test the Dye just sounds smart to me. A person can then say "F this" and not ruin their pistol...
Almost got me interested in trying it, except I like having a OD along with my black pistols... This has got my interest up. I've finished a lot of furniture in my day and this is not too far from it... Almost sounds like fun!
 
#18 ·
Not to beat a dead horse, but some are over-looking the most important part of the dying process and how that might effect the integrity of a Polymer framed structure.

The reason Polymer handguns work at all ........... is the fact that the polymer is structurally sound under high pressure and under various temp.s. Change that internal structure at the molecular level.....and you could begin to have serious problems.
Keep in mind that the P-99 rail system involves inserting metal rails into this polymer frame........... and it is that, which guides the slide perfectly each time the gun is fired.

Does the manufacturer apply "heat" to their finished frames ?? In order to achieve the desired color ?? I don't actually know for sure -- I would think that the color of the polymer is determined "before" it is injected into a frame mold. [ again - if they use an injection method, but that's not important for this discussion ] What is important is how much "heat" and for how long, can a polymer frame take before it might warp slightly ??? Perhaps the dying process uses only moderate heat, that has really no ill effects on the polymer -- it is pretty tuff stuff, or they wouldn't use it in Firearms :D These are the questions one needs answered before proceeding.

Thanks to Shipwreck, we now are pretty sure that the dye process involves some quantity (?) of heat in a chemical bath of sorts. I hope you gentlemen are seeing the dangers here. The whole process may be perfectly safe ........ but for my pistol, I would need a lot of evidence that Polymer framed handguns with an embedded rail systems have gone through the process without any dimensional changes - down to the thousandths of an inch.

It is a whole different Story, dying a weapon's stock a different color, I mean who cares if the stock warps a tiny amount.......... but you don't want that happening to a section of the handgun that controls the slide's movement and action. :eek:

JF.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top