Painting Polypropylene Plastic
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Krylon paints have introduced a new spray paint called "Fusion" made specifically for painting plastics. They indicate that this new paint is made specifically for painting polypropylene, polyethylene, ABS, and other types of plastics. I just finished painting a polypropylene canopy for an electric helicopter and this stuff does the trick. I wiped down the canopy with surface prep and sprayed the aerosol paint directly on the plastic with no primer as indicated on the directions. It was dry to the touch in about 15 minutes and per the directions I let it cure for 7 days. I got a real nice gloss finish that is VERY durable. It is not however fuel proof. I have some left over plastic and am going to paint it with the "Fusion", let it cure for the 7 day period and see if I can top coat it with crystal clear Lustercoat to see if it is compatible.
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You might want to give this a try I have had good luck with Top Flight LustreKote its fuel proof and it held up pretty will.
I used masking tape to tape of the area to be painted then I sanded the surface to be painted with 200 wet or dry sand paper I wiped the area down with alcohol and then a tack rag to make sure it was clean. I used tin coats of paint till I got the desired results. This finish held up Ok for about 2 seasons.
I used masking tape to tape of the area to be painted then I sanded the surface to be painted with 200 wet or dry sand paper I wiped the area down with alcohol and then a tack rag to make sure it was clean. I used tin coats of paint till I got the desired results. This finish held up Ok for about 2 seasons.
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Well the results are in! You can overcoat the new "Fusion" paint with clear Lustercoat to fuel proof it, but you need to wait severals day to let the original coat cure. I waited the 7 days that Krylon recommended and applied several light coats of crystal clear lustercote over it with excellent results. As an experiment I tried to overcoat Fusion with Lustercote after only waiting several hours and it did attack the base coat, so as long as you wait and let it cure properly you should have very good results. I can tell you that this new paint sticks to polyproplyene better than anything I have seen to date. After several days you can't get it to come off! I bent and flexed the plastic trying to break it loose and could not do it.
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We do this all the time in our manuf. shop for preping and painting plastics.
Plastics have an oil in them that moves to the surface to help release from the mold, or they simply have a release agent on them. This oil is what prevents paint and adhesives from sticking. We have found that the easiest way to remove the oil is by flaming it.
Take a fan tip on a propane torch and run it over the surface so that the tip of the flame is just touching the surface. Move at a steady pace, not too fast, and not too slow. You can sometimes see the oils, it looks like they "disperse" as the flame goes over.
After you've flamed it, paint it. Just try not to add more oils before painting by touching the surface with your bare hands.
Plastics have an oil in them that moves to the surface to help release from the mold, or they simply have a release agent on them. This oil is what prevents paint and adhesives from sticking. We have found that the easiest way to remove the oil is by flaming it.
Take a fan tip on a propane torch and run it over the surface so that the tip of the flame is just touching the surface. Move at a steady pace, not too fast, and not too slow. You can sometimes see the oils, it looks like they "disperse" as the flame goes over.
After you've flamed it, paint it. Just try not to add more oils before painting by touching the surface with your bare hands.