Painting armor...a prep question

[gazmosis[501st]]

IF anyone has painted their armor before, it is well known that preparing the surface is the key factor in whether or not it succeeds or fails(paint wrinkling or lifting). My question regards cleaning the surface of the styrene without melting it (as is the result of some paint thinners). In sizing up my armor, I used masking tape as most do to hold the armor halves together. After taking the tape off, it left a bit of the adhesive behind. I used a type of "goo gone" to get this off. It worked great and cleaned the heck out of the pieces to where it looks like I can actually paint it now. Has anyone done this? Am I asking for trouble? Or should I just go old school with a scrubby pad or some hyper-fine sandpaper?

[geordietrooper]

i vote old skool

[kevster[TK]]

Ya, if the goo gone is leaving behind any residue then it could turn out really bad. I sanded my armor with 320 grit and then washed it with some lava soap and rinsed it off real good. At the time I sanded my armor, it looked clean but as I was wet sanding it, the droplets of water would start turning black from all the dirt and oils on the armor that i was now scraping off.

[Bratliff]

I sanded with 300 grit sanding sponge and then wash with dishsoap and water and then let air dry.

[gazmosis[501st]]

I washed all my parts yesterday using 400 grit and orange glo handwashing gel. I know what a great de-greaser that stuff is. I made sure to thoroghly wash and rinse it all while using the 400 sandpaper. I air blew all the water off and they should be ready for primer today. I need to disassemble a halloween show that was hired to build first. Then I need to take down stuff in my yard and start back on the intense workout sessions again. The armor was a bit tight last night.

[stormtrooperguy[501st]]

heh. i didn't do a thing to prep the surface. i didn't even use primer on the armor. i just sprayed the gloss white right onto the styrene.

 

since hips has a nice matte finish anyway i find that it takes paint well. the solvents in spray paints tend to make a good bond too.

[gazmosis[501st]]

Well It seems that I am doomed when it comes to painting armor. ALL my horrors have come true regardless of all the careful prep work. The ONLY thing I have going for me is the fact that it was only the first coat. It will only take several hours not days to sand it off and start over. I don't know why everyone else can get away with using some kind of cleaner like dish soap or LAVA and all comes out perfect. I, on the other hand, sand the p*ss out of mine with a tiny bit of de-greaser, sand it more while rinsing, rinse it again, ....blah, blah blah....whine whine whine..........I'm gonna try Brian's approach and once I sand it down...AGAIN, I will just paint it.