Painting plastic skins??

[coldboremiracle]

For those of you who have painted your AI skins or other plastics, what kind of prep did you do on the plastic? I was thinking a fine sanding to rough up so the paint will stick, followed by a degreaser like TCE. Also does it depend on the paint? I was going to use some Krylon followed by a couple coats of matte clear.

Any suggestions or advise? A helpful picture? or detailed procedure?

 

[dangerdan87]

Re: Painting plastic skins??

Krylon is going to chip...no matter if you put a clear coat on it. I've messed with flat clear coats in art class before and they all came out kind of shiny.

I would use Duracoat for plastic since it doesn't need to be baked, and it holds up pretty well.

 

[coldboremiracle]

Re: Painting plastic skins??

Well I kind of expected that anything I use would chip. Any other comments? How is this being done?

 

[Ultraman550]

Re: Painting plastic skins??

The AI skins need to be sand blasted a bit to rough them up like you said. I don't know how different it is if you sanded them by hand or with a blaster but they definitely need to be more adhesive. I think it was Chad Dixon of LA Rifles whom I was speaking with about painting mine a while back and he compared the plastics consistency to the type of plastic you get when you buy a tub of butter. Needless to say, I never sent mine and just kryloned it myself. It's holding up "pretty" well but it does chip easily. If you dragged your nail across it the paint will easily come off. Try sanding down some plastic with the same smooth consistency, spray it and see how it comes out before you take a sander to your sides.

 

[chubbles]

Re: Painting plastic skins??

i don't know coldbore if you're thinking about painting some used AI skins maybe you oughtta give me a call first. i've painted a thing or two in my day and i think we can do better than krylon.

 

[coldboremiracle]

Re: Painting plastic skins??

So I've decided to go with air brush and Duracote, whats the best way to prep the plastic for paint? a light sanding??

 

[deadly0311]

Re: Painting plastic skins??

someone with a blast cabinet with ALOX at about 40-50 PSI, just enough to rough em up and give the plastic a tooth. Shoot me a PM if you would like and I can help.

 

[jagged77]

Re: Painting plastic skins??

I've used a white plastic primer straight onto the skins with no other prep work other than a degrease, then straight on with the Krylon followed by a couple of clear coats. The stocks taken some use and abuse and is holding up extremely well. Never going to be as good as a professional paint job, but it looks good and serves a purpose.