prep shmep. sponge er down with dish soap and hot water. blowdryer. tape off the magwell, ch slot. if paint gets where it shouldn't be on any moving parts....it won't stay long. shake n spray. the hardest part is working backwards in your brain. the last color you spray is the main "background" color. if you use the mesh, your base coat is only going to show as the scales. also...less is more. when you like it, STOP SPRAYING. its fun, but you can wreck a cool pattern with one brain fart. both of my krylon guns have a best side, because I couldn't put the can down and uglied up one side lol