paint problem

[Quebectrooper]

I applied plastic paint to my helmet wich was nice then the next day i sprayed a clear coat and in some area the paint cracked.

 

Why is it doing this?

[ajax407[TK]]

Are you using two different brand products? I believe you can get a bad reaction when you do this.

[Darth Voorhees[501st]]

Could be that, could also be the time frame between the paint and clear. I usually wait at least 24hrs before applying a clearcoat.

[Quebectrooper]

i've been sanding this armor for months now(it used to be silver)and now my brand new helmet and to be resanded too

 

yes it was 2 different brands but i tried it before on a piece of plastic and it was fine. What i don't understand is that on the helmet it only cracked at a few spots.

 

I'm selling this whole armor and i'll just buy an Ewok suit !

There's lots of midgets here so i'll start my own Ewok Garrison.

[dashrazor]

did you use clear acrylic or lacquer? lacquer tends to crackle when applied too thick and most common spray can lacquers never really dry fully. acrylic clear or polyurethane in my experience the safest way to go personally i would use acrylic. unless you have professional spay equipment.

[pandatrooper[TK]]

Did you wash the helmet with detergent and water to remove the oil / residue before painting? Did you primer it?

[Chunk[501st]]

yeah, what Dashrazor said. I had the same problem years ago when painting some wheels.

Edited April 9, 2010 by Chunk

[Quebectrooper]

yep it was primed but not washed.

[pandatrooper[TK]]

Check the cracked areas. If the cracks reveal primer, then the bond of the primer to plastic / previous silver paint wasn't a good bond (washing would prevent this and or using a paint that's compatible with the previous paint. If you laid on the new paint too thick, it can also react with the layers underneath. It's all about using light, overlapped coats.

[Bengine32]

Climate can also effect paint in many different ways.

[pandatrooper[TK]]

Climate can also effect paint in many different ways.

 

Very good point too. Where I live, it's colder and wet / humid, so it makes spray painting a bit tough. on several occasions, I'll put a portable heater in the garage to warm it up, and put fans in to vent the fumes outside. This keeps the rain / moisture outside, and raises the temperature. I also find it helps to store your object to be painted and the paint at room temperature. Don't paint with cold paint (stored in a cold basement) if you can, you will have lower pressure in the can. You can increase the pressure slightly by submersing the can in warm water for a few mins.

[Sgt Steve]

Very good point too. Where I live, it's colder and wet / humid, so it makes spray painting a bit tough. on several occasions, I'll put a portable heater in the garage to warm it up, and put fans in to vent the fumes outside. This keeps the rain / moisture outside, and raises the temperature. I also find it helps to store your object to be painted and the paint at room temperature. Don't paint with cold paint (stored in a cold basement) if you can, you will have lower pressure in the can. You can increase the pressure slightly by submersing the can in warm water for a few mins.

Yes,all the above is very true. The big thing is wash/light sand/wash again after 24hr in/or at room temp and sand again. I have a portable air conditioner that has a dehumitifier(bad spelling)setting. I let it go for 24hr at that setting and heat up the room for a bit before painting just to have a warm dry place. Also try (if you can spend the $0 a small air brush and try useing water-based paint with it. The air brush is better then "spray cans" for a lot of stuff. You seem to have done better then most for the first armour set, just re-sand, try the stuff Pand listed and remember to Wash lots! And I mean good scrub not "wimpy" pat with rag! But use soap like dish soap, to get greasy stuff off.

Edited April 11, 2010 by Sgt Steve