painting

I need to paint some of my plastic panels, how do I go about it, don't want it to fall off when it rains

 

light sand down with a fine wet n dry paper something like 2000-3000 grit. idea here is to remove the shine and have the panels look a milky white colour ( wipe with a tack cloth )

then we plastic primer spray them ( can use a sanding primer and then wet and dry fine paper sand again to get them nice and flat painting surface wise) wipe with a tack cloth

then you whack on the colour coats. its best to give them light sprays around 3-5 coats leaving each light coat for around 15-20 mins to flash off ( flash off means most of the stinky fumes evapourate and it helps to stop paint runs)

once those paint coats are dry ( a couple hours or so ) you wipe them over with a tack cloth ( it removes any dust and particals ) then whack on your topcoat clear aka clearcaot varnish, again spray a light coat, leave 15 mins or so then spray another light coat, do this around 3 times, then leave it all to flash off and harden up ( 24/48hrs ) you can add upto like 5-7 clear coats but 3-5 is fine keep them nice fine coats not heavy coats.

once its done install on bike BUT do not polish the panels for around a week the surfaces will still be soft and will take around a week or so to harden up fully then you can buff/polish to a high sheen if need

 

sound advise , one question will I need to wait for warmer weather as its all going to happen in my shed

 

OK heres some helpful times for shed painting

in a booth we would tend to wet down the floor to help keep dust away, the dust will stick to the wet floor more than a dry floor.
its going to be a tiny bit warmer in the shed but its still going to be cold so you may need to extend drying time a little extra to take into account the cooler weather.

warm the paints if your rattle canning, so stick them in a bucket of warm water its gonna help them mist better and will help keep blobbing down.
if you do yet a run do not worry, grab a razor blade, when paints fully dry hold the blade vertical and pull it across the run to remove it , you will only be removing the paint at the highest point ie the run and not the flat paint on panel , when its down nice and flat wet n dry and it should be gone .

if your runnning a gun same applys heat those paint cans first in a warm bath water same with the clear coat in a can or in a tin warm it up and it will lay a lot better

Wear a mask at all times, even if its annoying always wear a mask, wear long sleave shirt and old jeans and grab some safety glasses , always be safe. once its sprayed leave it alone locked in shed, DO NOT be tempeted to show wifey/mates kiddies etc etc your handy work whiles its drying keep the ambient heat in teh shed and the dust down to a minimum.

onces its all done and its hardened off fully over the couple weeks you can then give it a buff or polish , remember polish/buff is taking off a very fine layer every time you do it. if you went real thin on the clear coat like one very fine dust its not going to be long before you start cutting into the colour below. polish still contains some cutting agents but they are less abrasive than something like a cutting compound / finishing compound.

 

thanks will have a try on a old panel ,like the idea of a bucket of warm water

 

warm water bath is a key to getting the paint to warm up it helps with mixing in a can and also helps atomize and reduces the risk of blotching and runs

even pro booth sprayers will be warm water bathing cans/tins in colder weather if they do not have a heated booth

 

Its a good idea to wipe down with thinners on a rag before you start anything

 

there's a bit more to this painting lark than I thought

 

Its all down to patience, the better the prep work the better the final result.

 

+1 on this.

its all about the prep ,and taking your time the romans did not build rome in a day and you just cannot spray a car/scoot in a day and expect it to look like a showroom spanker. its all about slow and easy taking time, tack wiping down fine sanding and making things flat.
us geeks use flouro light strips if you hold the paint job ( final product ) under a strip light you can see where the surface is not that flat ( the reflection of the strip light will look bent) so you know a little more wet n dry water sanding is needed. Less is better as with laying down the paint and the sanding. if you go heavy handed you will rub through the colour or clear coat, or end up with big runs and blotches / dribbles /splattering

take your time and when its done your going to look back and say " omg i cant believe i got that awesome finish "

 

Tbh i hated painting when i first started, but when i did a few jobs i loved it, its a real sense of acheivement with the final product.

 

we will see how I get on ,
post some pictures when its done

 

tried my hand at painting the rubbish bin need a bit more practise al so is there special paint for plastic

 

acrylic paints for plastics

some tips for painting, if your rattle canning it , the paints gonna come out fairly quick on a new can so you gotta judge that.
give it a couple test on some paper/card judge if you need to move over surface a little quicker 9-10 times your fresh canning it so move a little quicker over the piece.

spray from the arm NOT THE WRIST, ie your not trying to flick that boogey of your finger tip with your wrist, keep wrist locked and move the whole arm from left to right / right to left. if need be take a few steps to just do not flick the wrist. this method will give you even layering 24/7, wrist flicking gives you a nice heavy center but the edges feather and become finer its not ideal .

mask up with some thin plastic start spraying before you get to the piece and carry on when you passed it, so say 5 inches before piece start the spray, then finish 5 inches after the piece . when you finish spraying do not return right away shut off the spray move arm down so you get an overlap of the first spray line then engage and sweep, shut off adjust engage and sweep.

shake the can for 5 mins then shake it again for another 3 mins, give it to the kids make them make as much noise as they can ( awesome paint mixers dont need electric and do the job for free or for a sweet treat lol ) really mix that sucker in the can, leave it in the warm water bath for like 5-10 mins get that paint nice n thin so its gonna mix well and come out nice n warm'ish

so recap mix it like your doing the cha cha and a bit more, warm water bath it for like 5-10 mins , and spray with the whole arm not flicking the wrist trying to rid yourself of some horrid booger on your fingertip

practice practice practice, paint pots, bins etc etc all can be given a spruce up even if the parents/wife/girlfriend says no lol

 

It's up for debate but this is how I paint.
Sand/wet and dry the surface for a good key. (To help the paint have something to cling to and not flake off) clean the part with paint thinners on a cloth, go over it Atleast 3 times to get rid of all dust and contaminants so that the paint doesn't react.

Heat up the surface in a clean environment, preferably with a heat gun or a hair dryer if you don't have one, go over it slowly and at a distance of Atleast 3 inches.

Primer: first coat very fine, start spraying before you've reached what you're painting, fluid movements of Atleast 2 inches or so per second. Use your heat gun or hairdryer to help it dry quicker. Once it's a matte finish do a second, heavier coat. Do another coat if needed and then heat.

Colour: once your primer is touch dry, heat up the surface again. Not too much otherwise the paint will dry upon touching the surface, instead of dispersing evenly, a quick waft of heat will do. Spray a light coat of colour, then heat dry. Leave it to cool down slightly and apply another light coat, repeat until fully covered, and then hold the heat on it at the right distance said earlier for a couple of minutes, then leave it for abit, 10 mins or so.

Lacquer: As with colour, heat slightly, applying light coats. But apply slightly heavier last coat, heating straight after for again, a couple of minutes.

A few hours later you should be ready to refine the surface.
This is a plastic Mini Cooper S grill that I sprayed today using this method. The top slat being polished with Autoglym super resin polish a few hours after the clear coat.


Simple. I've used this method for years, adjusting it through trial and error and these are the results I get, can't argue with them for the amount of time put in.

 

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that come from a can burridge ? i like that flake green got a well nice laydown on that front grill, what makes that rattle if it is buddy.

 

have rubbed the plastics down and primed rub again then ive wrapped them up and put them in the spare room until after the festivities by that time I will have got some room in my shed

 

Hi mate yes it is! "Paints4U" on EBay (cheesy I know) they specialise mainly in car colour codes, I've used them before for my other car and the match is good despite the age of the cars.
Their lacquer and primer spray very nicely and come in big cans, the colour not so much, it's not half as fine when leaving the nozzle but surprisingly you get a good even finish from it.

 

thanks fella will give them a look can always give them cans a good hot bath before i use em