23 replies to this topic

[232524z]

I was wondering if any one had suggestions of how to make darts more visible/easier to find, I have looked around but have not seen much. I have tried with spray paint, but it doesn't work well, and it wears off really fast. I would really appreciate some suggestions, because i am using the McMaster FBR, and it is a pain to find. In the picture, from left to right, it is Red spray paint, White spray paint, plain.

Edited by 232524z, 01 May 2014 - 07:49 PM.

[titanium2]

Try arranging your darts head down into a box and spray them like that. This creates a solid layer on the part of your dart that should poke up out of the grass, the backs. I recommend using orange or another bright color to mark the darts.

[Langley]

That paint is going to mess up your barrel fit something fierce, and it's all going to crumble off after a shot or two anyway. You can try painting the ends of your darts with neon colors, but it's rarely worth the effort vs making more darts or spending more time dart sweeping.

[Mully]

You can't color darts without messing up barrels, just buy a colorful foam. White foam is good, pink foam is good, even beige foam'll do it.

[Draconis]

I just cast my silicone dart tips in bright, noticeable colors.

[shmmee]

I tried mass spray painting darts to mark them for a mass war - It was awful! Paint transfered from darts to barrels and hands, and then from hands to blasters. It took me quite a while to get blasters back to a normal working order - some of the worse ones (maverics) never recovered.

Perhaps dye instead of paint could be found, but I think titanium2 might be on to something. Marking the tails would be like raising a "find me flag" with every shot. My first attempt at darts included a bright neon disc (ear plug foam) glued to the tail. The darts were awful but recovery was great. I bet craft foam would be a good substitute. Hot gluing them on the tail would throw off your center of gravity and make the dart unstable. You would want to switch to a lighter glue. 3M makes several spray adhesives that could work. Application would be quick that way too - you could spray several discs at once and touch a tail to them to complete them.

[Daniel Beaver]

You can spray paint the back of your darts. But painting the entire dart will screw up your barrel fit.

[Droid31]

i did what shmmee sugjested and it actualy turned out pretty good. i used super glue to attach the craft foam, and it flew very straight, but ranges did decreese a little bit but not much just a few feet or so



link to photo: http://s1285.photobu...5a5f2d.jpg.html

[232524z]

Thank you guys so much for the input, I really appreciate it. I will probably try painting the ends with neon orange spray paint.

[shmmee]

I had once considered finding a paint/filtered eyeglass lens combo that would make darts pop out like they were glowing. I never was able to find anything though.

[Droid31]

what about a light coat of neon nailpolish on the end of the dart?

Edited by Droid31, 01 May 2014 - 06:44 PM.

[Liska]

what about a light coat of neon nailpolish on the end of the dart?

I tried this out, and it works pretty well: http://www.amazon.co.../dp/B00EYIE0WS/ "Jail Bait" flavor.
This one is cheap if you buy it at CVS or Walgreens and goes on thin enough to get into the back of the dart.

Edited by Liska, 01 May 2014 - 07:11 PM.

[Daniel Beaver]

That looks like a workable solution.

What we always did in the Midwest to mark our darts was to just put them all into a shoebox backside-up, and blast them with spray paint. I can't find a very good picture of our setup, but it ends up looking like what Liska posted (while taking no time at all to do).

[Draconis]

Well, if you are going to go that far... Use glow-in-the-dark spray paint (available at home improvement stores). Collect straggling darts at dusk when they begin to glow. Even better, get a UV LED flashlight and some yellow UV detector glasses and go looking at night. The reactive bits will glow very well. Works with stock darts too.

[Zorns Lemma]

That looks like a workable solution.

What we always did in the Midwest to mark our darts was to just put them all into a shoebox backside-up, and blast them with spray paint. I can't find a very good picture of our setup, but it ends up looking like what Liska posted (while taking no time at all to do).

There's probably a photo in Ryan or Zeke's photobucket deep in there.

Here's a video of how they look:


DISADVANTAGE: While slugs stack nicely in a box for you to spray the back of them, dome darts are more difficult and tend to slide around in the box. Also if you get paint on the tips they will have even a harder time feeding.

BIGGER DISADVANTAGE: Painting the backs of these darts is nice and fast, but because foam is porous, most of the paint sticks to iteself rather than the foam which means every time you fire a dart -- or even jostle it in a bag -- a bit of it will flake off and turn into spray paint dust ruining bags, hands, barrels, and plunger tubes.

[Ivan S]

I use a red permanent marker to mark the backs of my darts. It doesn't flake off like paint does.

[232524z]

I use a red permanent marker to mark the backs of my darts. It doesn't flake off like paint does.

I have tried this, but it turns out really dark for me, can you post a picture of this? What color, and brand marker did you use?

[232524z]

Well, I went for painting the backs of the darts. I used neon orange paint and primer, they came out really well, and are a lot easier to find. It was also pretty fast to do. A small disadvantage is that yes, some paint will end up in barrels and plunger tubes, but that can easily be cleaned out every six months or so when you clean/re-lube your guns. I would like to see a picture of Ivan S's permanent marker colored darts, that could also be an alternative.

Edit:
Here are my completed/painted darts, I used a primer, and neon orange spray paint.

Edited by 232524z, 06 May 2014 - 04:03 PM.

[soloz1]

On top of red foam, I added contrast by dying my heads.

If you have white felt tips, you can dye them. Done correctly, it will not color your barrels.

Picture:

Spoiler

(Photo courtesy of Pause)

Learn to do that with my shitty tutorial.

[Bobololo]

I use a red permanent marker to mark the backs of my darts. It doesn't flake off like paint does.

We have people who do this down here. Sharpie stays on for quite a while, and you can draw symbols to differentiate even further.

Edited by Bobololo, 09 May 2014 - 12:40 PM.

[Pacific]

Honestly, I'd really recommend just buying some colored foam that is easy to find in grass/dirt/etc. Foam in general isn't too pricey, and you most likely will have to buy some sort of paint in order to paint your not so visible darts. It's overall just easier to buy foam with good contrast.

Edited by Pacific, 10 May 2014 - 05:25 PM.

[Ivan S]

I have tried this, but it turns out really dark for me, can you post a picture of this? What color, and brand marker did you use?

I use red generic marker on white darts. Back when I used gray foam, I used and orange sharpie oil-based paint marker, but white marker might be more visible for gray.

Ultimately I'd recommend just getting some colored/white foam though. It costs more yeah, but that's mostly made up for by the fact that you lose way fewer darts.

Edited by Ivan S, 10 May 2014 - 06:38 PM.

[Mehku]

To be completely honest, painting anything or marking anything on darts is annoying and just isn't worth the effort in my opinion. No matter what, you're going to lose darts. If you really insist on it though I'd use a sharpie. It's what I used to use before and it stays on for a long enough time.

[232524z]

Where should I get white foam. I am considering buying some beige foam, unless I find some decent white foam that is not too expensive. Where do you recommend buying white/colored foam? (besides Kane's red foam)