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Painting/camouflaging Cache Boxes


mrking

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Having a chat about Lock n Lock's in the Canadian forum and someone suggested a topic on painting and camouflaging would be usefull to many.

 

Please post your tips/techniques and past experiences with what worked and didn't work when painting plastics, rubber, metal, etc.

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For plastic it is important to sand (rough up) the smooth surfaces of the plastic before painting it so the paint will stick better.

 

I have been using three colours to paint my boxes, a dark green, rust and black colour (in that order) sprayed in various areas so they melt together and provide a very nice camouflaged box.

 

lnl.jpg

 

Edit: Added Image

Edited by mrking
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I use black and brown on my ammo boxes and if they are to be hidden among rocks, I add grey. Plastic containers I usually wrap in camo tape. I've also used a textured stone finish paint for ammo boxes when hiding among rocks.

 

Here are two of my normal ammo box patterns. The one in the front was done using an oak leaf as a template. The one in the back is just random squirts of paint. The Lock 'n Lock has camo duct tape.

 

edf83031-10c3-4391-a24b-3d5a3883dbc0.jpg

Edited by briansnat
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Having a chat about Lock n Lock's in the Canadian forum and someone suggested a topic on painting and camouflaging would be usefull to many.

 

Please post your tips/techniques and past experiences with what worked and didn't work when painting plastics, rubber, metal, etc.

-----------------

For plastic it is important to sand (rough up) the smooth surfaces of the plastic before painting it so the paint will stick better.

 

I have been using three colours to paint my boxes, a dark green, rust and black colour (in that order) sprayed in various areas so they melt together and provide a very nice camouflaged box.

 

lnl.jpg

 

Edit: Added Image

I just bought some of these Lock 'n' locks! what grade sandpaper do you use to rough them or does it matter?

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Having a chat about Lock n Lock's in the Canadian forum and someone suggested a topic on painting and camouflaging would be usefull to many.

 

Please post your tips/techniques and past experiences with what worked and didn't work when painting plastics, rubber, metal, etc.

 

I use a spray-on plastic primer to prep my lock n locks that I got at Home Depot -- comes in a can like spray paint. It adheres really well, dries fast, and saves trying to sand all the little nooks and crannies on the lock n locks.

HC

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e4ca6497-6192-4b09-979d-febaa034ae49.jpg

Heres a Ammobox I camoed - made with about 1 quart of autobody filler and ;) 1 shoefull of sand :o

I got the body filler at the autoparts store and the sand is from the area I want to hide it!

just mix up ALITTLE of the bondo and smear it on the container (thick or thin)

the bondo will dry fast (a few minutes) mix up more and put it on repeat untill you get the shape your looking for. on the last coat of bondo pour the sand on and push the sand in before the bondo hardens. :D YES it is messy rubber gloves and a place to do this outside would be good) and dont bondo it shut its gotta open too!

;) Although Camo tape is very hard to find on a 35mm film can!

:D and Way easier to do!

:D THIS BOX WAS FUN TO MAKE! :o

Edited by rustybeercan
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I dont have any picts but I use natural tree limbs from the area I am going to place the cache....then I use that camo paint from walmart...start with a solid color of light...then I lay branches over it and the paint the other colors until I am satisfied...whle moving the branches and sticks around to cause the pattern to break up....

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I need an answer soon, cause I need to do this to a cache that has had a lot of complaints about being too exposed. I thought that I would use the camo duct tape, but the cloth stuff would be a lot better for this cache. It is is in a very wet area, and I need to be sure that the material will stay on well.

 

This cache is several hours away from me, and I am hoping to visit it in a few days. But it has to last a while, since I don't travel to it more than once a month, or once every other month.

 

Thanks. :P

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I need an answer soon, cause I need to do this to a cache that has had a lot of complaints about being too exposed.  I thought that I would use the camo duct tape, but the cloth stuff would be a lot better for this cache.  It is is in a very wet area, and I need to be sure that the material will stay on well.

 

This cache is several hours away from me, and I am hoping to visit it in a few days.  But it has to last a while, since I don't travel to it more than once a month, or once every other month.

 

Thanks.  :D

Ambrosia,

I've had good luck with the camo tape holding up outdoors.

 

Walmart sells it in large rolls -- unfortunately it's quite shiny and isn't the best quality. You'll find it in the archery and bow hunting section of the store.

 

They also sell mini packs of the camo tape that are flat (like it's wrapped around a small piece of cardboard), probably about 10 yards. This is a much better quality cloth tape, has a better camo pattern, and most importantly isn't shiny but has a matte finish. That's what I've been using and had good results with. It's in the same section of the store at Walmart.

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I have had good results using camouflage fabric on caches. This is on of the micros I have done, These are very hard to find when hung in bushes, I use these for urban caches.

 

ce3d44e4-ed7f-4bf6-a9ec-2c1588c9d59b.jpg

 

I have also spray painted larger caches with Brown, Green and Dark Green paint.

 

ad32496b-09e6-4666-a55b-01a202738f72.jpg

 

I bought an Air Brush about a week ago to try my hand at doing camo paint jobs

with that. These are two I am working on now.

 

2c4dd727-9c97-46b4-a482-4c3a306e5dad.jpg

Edited by JohnnyVegas
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Thanks so much for the response!  I've bought the camo duct tape, but didn't know about the cloth tape.  It sounds like it is probably more expensive, but for some caches it is needed. 

 

I'll go check out wal-mart again.  :D

I have been told Wallmart stock Camo fabric by the yard in the yardage dept. I do not have a Wallmart by me (What are the odds :D ) I glue the fabric onto my caches with a hot glue gun

These are two 35mm film cans I have done

0c79a94e-ef3e-4c32-9ec5-b5c63c09b893.jpg

Edited by JohnnyVegas
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Where do you get cloth camo tape, and how does it hold up in the weather.

I have a cache in cloth camo tape that has held up for two years. I did spray it with a few coats of sealer. I started using the camo duct tape about a year ago and the caches that use have held up. There is a little peeling here and there. Nothing that can't be repaired with more tape.

 

You can find cloth camo tape and camo duct tape in places that sell hunting supplies. Check the archery section.

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Out here in Western Nebraska it doesn't rain too much out on prairie and I have had very good luck hiding a few caches with homemade "pillow" cover bags made from camo cloth. I treat the fabric front and back 2 times with Scotch Gaurd and then 2 times with silcone spray drying well between each. Have my wife sew up simple bags that look like pillow covers and then stick my ammo cans in them. It acts as dual camo in that A) the camo pattern blends in well with prairie terrian and B.) Most muggles are VERY hesitant to look in any sort of bag left lying around. I get good feedback on these and 2 have been stolen by geocachers that left the cache behind!!

 

I also have had good luck with the fleckstone paint and clearcote finish on some left near sandy areas.

Edited by StarBrand
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I get the camo paint from walmart...Any brand will do, though...I use, in this order:

OD (olive drab) green, khaki, brown, black...I create spots and dots of all the colors in a camo-esque pattern, then I dust the whole thing with black...wait till it drys, rub it smooth with a rag, and usually put a "geocache" warning in white, and dust that with more black. The imortant thing to remember, get ULTRA FLAT paint.

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Well, I found some of the cloth camo tape in a local hunting store (Wal-Mart said that they only stock it at the beginning of hunting season, and when it's gone it's gone.).

 

I tried it out on a new cache that I placed locally last night. It is a small lock n lock. Picture is bad, cause it was dark.

 

84091784-142a-4708-9057-edb9ee68753f.jpg

 

Thank you to all who helped me! I am very happy about all the possibilities. :rolleyes:

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I use black and brown on my ammo boxes and if they are to be hidden among rocks, I add grey. Plastic containers I usually wrap in camo tape.  I've also used a textured stone finish paint for ammo boxes when hiding among rocks.

 

Here are two of my normal ammo box patterns. The one in the front was done using an oak leaf as a template. The one in the back is just random squirts of paint.  The Lock 'n Lock has camo duct tape.

 

edf83031-10c3-4391-a24b-3d5a3883dbc0.jpg

 

I love the art deco (trail blazes) tecnique you used to paint your basement floor. :rolleyes:

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Here is some fake dog poo that is suppose to be hollow inside.  hehe Now that would be fun  :unsure:

 

Fake Poo

Putting a micro in something like that wuld definitely keep the muggles away. :blink:

Not really, I have a cache that is a fake dog poo. I have had to replace it twice.

I keep a spare at home just in case

Cache's hidden in this manner usually get discovered/discarded by park gardeners or clean up crews.

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e4ca6497-6192-4b09-979d-febaa034ae49.jpg

Heres a Ammobox I camoed - made with about 1 quart of autobody filler and ;) 1 shoefull of sand :D

I got the body filler at the autoparts store and the sand is from the area I want to hide it!

just mix up ALITTLE of the bondo and smear it on the container (thick or thin)

the bondo will dry fast (a few minutes) mix up more and put it on repeat untill you get the shape your looking for. on the last coat of bondo pour the sand on and push the sand in before the bondo hardens. :D YES it is messy rubber gloves and a place to do this outside would be good) and dont bondo it shut its gotta open too!

:D Although Camo tape is very hard to find on a 35mm film can!

B) and Way easier to do!

:D THIS BOX WAS FUN TO MAKE! :D

What did you do to prep the can before adding the bondo? Did you sand it down to bare metal or will the bondo stick to the paint?

 

:D

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I need an answer soon, cause I need to do this to a cache that has had a lot of complaints about being too exposed. I thought that I would use the camo duct tape, but the cloth stuff would be a lot better for this cache. It is is in a very wet area, and I need to be sure that the material will stay on well.

 

This cache is several hours away from me, and I am hoping to visit it in a few days. But it has to last a while, since I don't travel to it more than once a month, or once every other month.

 

Thanks. :rolleyes:

I've bought old used Camo type clothing (t-shirts, shorts, etc.) at garage sales and used that cloth to camo various types of containers. I use 3M 77 spray adhesive then cut the cloth and apply it to the container. Works pretty good for me. Holds up in the rain too.

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Here is an attempt at spruce camo I made earlier this week. I used a little bit of speckle texture paint, black and brown paint. picked a couple spruce branches from the backyard for s stencil.

 

1stcamobox.jpg

 

I want to work on the dry reed/grass pattern that duck hunters seem to be so fond of but right now the best local camo is snow white :rolleyes:

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