Evening Gents, Blues, phosphates and Dura Coat. Sounds like a Moody Blues tune. ( Sorry, hard day, and winding down )
Bluing, is an acid type finish, good to look at, but not very protective, better than bare metal for sure. I don't do hot blues, ( which is best ) because very few people will pay for it, and it takes up a lot of space, with burners and tanks. If you don't do a lot of it, after the initial investment, the chemical will eat up your investment, by just sitting. I do use a lot of cold blues, all Brownell's, Oxpho blue, 44/40 and Dicropan, liquid and paste. Why 3, because they all react differently to ferrous metals. Depending on the alloy, one will be beautiful and another will have a distinct hue, that is not pretty, but on another gun will be just right, with that deep blue/black, that does not have a metallic background, almost like the blue color in case hardened guns.
Preparation is every thing when applying finishes. Degrease #1, the metal has to be bare, removing the old finish, on a complete reblue, or removing the oxidation or rust on others. Touch up blue works well, and heating the metal really helps the metal to take the bluing in deeply, I use a heat gun, in between coats, you need to CARD, the metal, in the old days that meant after the blue is applied, it will take on a look like when waxing your car, kind of a, frosty look, you would and can use CARD board to rub it until it is shiny and all the frost is removed. Apply again and again until you get the desired hue, and color match. The books will tell you to use water to take the previous applied excess blue off, that is not necessary if you intend to do it in 1 setting. Steel wool works best for a fine finish, like touching up a nice polished receiver or barrel to keep the original look. Bead blasting will get the metal down to bare metal, and soaks up blue like a sponge, and it will come out a matte finish.
Usually very nice on a hunting gun. In EVERY instance, once you stop applying blue and carding, you MUST, put a barrier chemical to prevent rust, nothing rusts faster than a newly blued anything without something to keep the air and moisture out. I use FP10 but any good rust inhibitor will work.
Parkerizing, = phosphate finish, a great all around finish, can be done on the kitchen stove, with a container big enough to go on the burners, that will hold the work piece. It comes in gray, green and black, not as expensive to set up like hot bluing, and penetrates well into the metal. The advantage is that once done, it is like a matte finish, lots of pores to hold lube and corrosion inhibitors. Not pretty as some, but I like it for working guns, much less upkeep, and very forgiving. Plus it does not eat up the container that is holding it like hot blue.
Dura coat, very nice for protection and personalizing your firearm, plus it comes in matte solid colors, it is an epoxy finish and very durable, it's use is limited by your imagination, as far as color schemes and patterns. Very easy to apply, not that easy to remove if you make a mistake or just want to change your mind. Although you can paint over your mistake if you want to. It makes sense to paint extra layers on high wear areas, like the sharp corners on slides or rifle muzzles or flash hiders, where they rub on holsters or gun cases. The video was pretty well spot on.
Common for all, remove all lubricants and protective chemicals before starting, after removal, don't let them sit unprotected, as they are very vulnerable in that state. Rough finishes are easier than fine finishes.
If you want to use the template style appliques for a definite, repeatable pattern, think hard before you start, the templates have to be worked in reverse, base color, then template #1, next color, then template #2 and so on, the templates stay on until the work is complete, and as you remove them, the underlying pattern and color will come through. For a working gun, you can free hand it and get a very blend in look. The templates do make for an artsy look, I don't hunt in the frozen wasteland, but the winter patterns that Dura coat has are beautiful. My favorite, that is easy to do with only 2 colors, is tiger stripe, black and gray, black, gray and rust, green, rust and black, make the stripes wide, at least 1/2" against the base coat. Space the stripes around 2 1/2" apart.
I can't answer everything with this post, but I hope, I gave all a good starting point.
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