I have a two tone airsoft rifle can I cover the blue without ukara?

[ThomasH9]

Hi, So about a year ago I got my Cyma CM515 in blue two tone and recently I have wanted to cover the blue to better be camouflaged when playing airsoft but I’m under 18 and using my dads airsoft gun am I allowed to without me or my dad having a UKARA license? I am planning on going to airsoft matches regularly after my school breaks up for summer (I have purchased a gun case to cover my airsoft gun whilst transporting to my local airsoft field) is this all okay? Also my field does allow under 18s

 

Thank you for reading 

[Cannonfodder]

Welcome to the forum

 

23 minutes ago, ThomasH9 said:

without me or my dad having a UKARA license

Nobody has a ukara licence, they don't exist. Now I've got that out of the way on to your question.

 

By cover the blue do you mean temporarily while playing or permanently? The former is absolutely fine and can easily be done with a roll of sniper tape. If you mean permanently then IIRC it's technically illegal but if you can show you're using it for playing airsoft (at a proper site, not dicking about in a mate's garden) and don't do anything stupid with it you'll be fine

Edited June 21 by Cannonfodder

[Pseudotectonic]

To cover the blue, you need to have evidence of you playing airsoft:

• Name of the site (needs to be listed on the UKARA website)
• Your attendance at this site

This could be booking receipt/email, plus a selfie photo of you at the safe zone with an identifiable logo or sign, or something like that.

[ThomasH9]

26 minutes ago, Cannonfodder said:

Welcome to the forum

 

Nobody has a ukara licence, they don't exist. Now I've got that out of the way on to your question.

 

By cover the blue do you mean temporarily while playing or permanently? The former is absolutely fine and can easily be done with a roll of sniper tape. If you mean permanently then IIRC it's technically illegal but if you can show you're using it for playing airsoft (at a proper site, not dicking about in a mate's garden) and don't do anything stupid with it you'll be fine

What I mean is I would use some sniper tape and some fake foliage to cover the handguard and stock and possibly a scope

11 minutes ago, Pseudotectonic said:

To cover the blue, you need to have evidence of you playing airsoft:

• Name of the site (needs to be listed on the UKARA website)
• Your attendance at this site

This could be booking receipt/email, plus a selfie photo of you at the safe zone with an identifiable logo or sign, or something like that.

Thank you

[Sd96]

Just paint the bugger, won’t end up on Britain’s most wanted 😅

[ThomasH9]

3 minutes ago, Sd96 said:

Just paint the bugger, won’t end up on Britain’s most wanted 😅

Yeah 🤣 I just want to be able to quickly switch between camos and solid colours using sniper tape 

[Cannonfodder]

38 minutes ago, ThomasH9 said:

What I mean is I would use some sniper tape and some fake foliage to cover the handguard and stock and possibly a scope

That would be fine as the tape is temporary, I'd recommend the self adhesive stuff as it won't leave a sticky residue when removed. Something like this 

https://www.military1st.co.uk/28301b-mfh-fabric-self-adhesive-camo-tape-5cm-x-4-5m-od-green.html?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwydSzBhBOEiwAj0XN4F76tE9X9PqYJAF1BRYZY-iqKCJ2CljeG7VIk4CILjWGaylylL3iqRoCumAQAvD_BwE

 

Personally I wouldn't paint the parts as the blue will start to show though when the painted parts get dinged and scratched through normal use

[ThomasH9]

21 minutes ago, Cannonfodder said:

That would be fine as the tape is temporary, I'd recommend the self adhesive stuff as it won't leave a sticky residue when removed. Something like this 

https://www.military1st.co.uk/28301b-mfh-fabric-self-adhesive-camo-tape-5cm-x-4-5m-od-green.html?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwydSzBhBOEiwAj0XN4F76tE9X9PqYJAF1BRYZY-iqKCJ2CljeG7VIk4CILjWGaylylL3iqRoCumAQAvD_BwE

 

Personally I wouldn't paint the parts as the blue will start to show though when the painted parts get dinged and scratched through normal use

Thank you

[Rogerborg]

On 21/06/2024 at 19:23, Cannonfodder said:

Personally I wouldn't paint the parts as the blue will start to show though when the painted parts get dinged and scratched through normal use

 

Urgh, tell me about it, by the time I pulled the trigger on buying an XR-5, I could only find it in DayGlo Blue, and the paint and varnish keeps wearing through on the rub points. I'll likely just start taping over it.

 

Thomas, the legal position is that it's a strict liability offence to modify a non-realistic imitation firearm into a realistic imitation firearm, even temporarily, in private: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2006/38/section/36

 

However, it's a defence to do so for the purposes of playing airsoft at a site with 3rd party liability insurance: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2006/38/section/37 as amended by https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-violent-crime-reduction-act-2006-commencement-no-3-order-2007-firearms-measures

 

There's no age limit on the defence, or particular criteria to claim it. The UKARA-style 3-games-over-8-weeks scheme providing the level of evidence that retailers considered necessary. You can make your own decision on it.

 

Practically speaking, it's only going to come to the attention of the state if you do something silly with the gun out in public. At that point, Firearms Act 1968 Section 19 applies, and it doesn't matter if it's a realistic imitation or not. Since you already have the gun, and haven't gone on a rampage with it, I think you can be trusted not to do so if it happens to get blacked out.

 

However, I'd agree that the lowest risk option, particularly while you're under 18, is to use sniper tape, which comes in solid colours or camos. If you tape up on site then remove it at the end of the day, then you're satisfying the letter and the spirit of the law.

[simonh]

Before you put any tape on it give it a good clean with fairy power spray.

[Tommikka]

Ensuring it’s clean before covering wouldn’t hurt, but if using a wrap tape such as CamoForm, cohesive bandage types of tape there is no need to do any special preparation as opposed to degreasing etc before using a stick on type of tape.

 

The camo tape that @Cannonfodderlinked to is a self clinging cohesive tape - there’s nothing sticky involved

 

CamoForm etc comes in an assortment of camouflage patterns, VetWrap comes in a wide range of plain colours, patterns, camouflage patterns etc

 

 

 

[Rogerborg]

Fairy power spray (before they changed the recipe) used to be recommended for "cleaning" paint to the point where it wasn't paint any more, so I suspect that might be a bit of a ...

 

[RostokMcSpoons]

Do be very careful not to spill any brake fluid on that blue paint, it might spoil the finish

 

Edit: unintentionally correct advice 😌🥴😅

Edited June 24 by RostokMcSpoons

[Rogerborg]

10 minutes ago, RostokMcSpoons said:

Do be very careful not to spill any brake fluid on that blue paint, it might spoil the finish

 

I would be a bit careful, as the plastic on the CM.5xx series is easily desiccated, even by isopropanol, let alone brake fluid.

[GiantKiwi]

Biostrip for plastics.