rookelkhunter

I am in the process of painting my treestand and have been searching the internet for days Looking for some suggested patterns, possible technique ideas, or ideally some patterns I could print out, cut, then spray. Possibly a leaf outline, etc.

Does anyone know of a website offering this type of free info?

Thanks in advance.

*I know i am being a little more particular than I should be, but a buddy of mine and I are having a little 'dual' on the best finished product...AND I HATE LOSING!

mrfritz44

Start with a the lightest color in your scheme and spray the entire stand. Then spray streaks of successively darker colors. Finally, cut out a pattern of an oak leaf from plastic sheet, or whatever leaf grows natively in your area, and lay the pattern on a portion of the stand. Finally, take black paint and lightly spray around the edges of the pattern. Lift the leaf and repeat all over the stand. You may have to wipe off the leaf from time to time to prevent dripping. You'll get a shadow effect that hides pretty well, especially if you choose base colors that are prominent in your neck of the woods during your primary hunting season.

The key is to not use too much black and only create the outlines of the leaves. Also, if you want to do it right, rough up the existing basecoat and spray first with some auto primer, but you probably already knew that.

Good luck,

Fritz

rookelkhunter

Thanks Fritz,

What are the odds you have a pic as a reference for me...you know how us fellas are visual type creatures...or at least that is what my wife continually complains about!

Rook

BobCo19-65

I just paint the stand in a flat color depending on what type of tree I plan on hunting out of. For example, if I'm planing on putting it in a beach, I'd paint it flat gray. If in a shaded area, I'd paint it flat black. But I think I paint it more so other hunters will not see it more then I worry about deer seeing it. Since it is stationary I don't worry too much about the deer seeing it.

I believe that there is a paint out there atsko for hunters that does not contain any uv brightners. You may want to check that out.

mrfritz44

I'll search for a picture of my old Tree Lounge that I had painted in this way.

rookelkhunter

Fritz, please don't tease me like this...I'm re-painting a tree lounge as well.

mrfritz44

Can't find my eBay auctions item from last year...........you'll have to wait until I get home and rifle through hunting pics.

Shockwave

I "decorate" most of my treestands with a couple of patterns I made myself. One is just a maple leaf that I found on the lawn and traced on a piece of cardboard. Then I cut it out with an exacto knife. This gave me a negative and positive version of the same pattern to play with. Then I did the same with the picture of a big buck off from a magazine (since I don't have any of my own to use!). The leaf patterns I'll use all over the stand and then put a couple of deer head pictures right on the seat (a couple of my stands have plywood seats so they work great for this).

Mrfritz gave you the right ideas about starting with a lighter color and using darker over it. I've been using just flat auto spray paints .... light grey for a base, Rust / primer color for a brown, flat black and sometimes some dark green depending on how I feel. They come out looking good and they prevent the hardware from rusting up.

Have fun!!! ... Shockwave

BobCo19-65

Be careful with doing that. Metal primer is made to prime the area, it is made to be an in-between metal and final paint. As such it is quiet porous and will absorb moisture.

davidmil

You don't need a pattern to follow. If this is a wood stand paint it now so it'll cure out. Just paint the whole thing real heavy with the first coat for weather protection. Then just open 2 or 3 cans of mixed colors. I like a black, grey and a brighter green. Also maybe a small can of white. Just start and dob or slash streaks across the stand. You want to break up all horizontal and vertical lines. If you have major pieces joining at intersections you want to hit those two. You can get different shades by streaking another lighter color or a little white over the streaks you just made while they're still wet. Make sure you do the reverse sides too so there are no solid lines. Big streaks and blotches are better than small. On something like a 2x4 you should make the blotches about 1/2 way across the thing and alternate sides as you go up. Throw in a couple small light streaks of white or light grey streaked while wet with white. Don't try to make a pattern repeat. Just whack it here and there and everywhere. To see where you're good and where you may need more just stand back a ways and squint at it.

If it's a climber or something like that I make the platform area all one color on top and maybe a little light. It kind of catches your eye and subconsciously gives you limits to walk on when you're up in it. The leaf cutouts are pretty and all that... but really a lot of unnecessary work with little or no value. The key is to break up the verticle and horizontal edges. A little streak of red or rust here and there helps in fall woods. Again, just whack, streak, blend while wet etc. If you get a bad look in a spot just do it again.