Automotive or hobby spray paint

[prtrp]

Hello,

A friend of mine brought me some TDR style mcpx canopies from China for dirt cheap.
Naturally, to make cheap cheaper I made hard plaster moulds out of them.
Using vacuum forming with HIPS sheets I managed to produce very light (2.5g) canopies.

Now it's time to put colour (and weight) on those white canopies.

First question is, do you think it is possible to do simple designs at that scale with spray paint.

I am not sure what range I should go for. The options I have seen are automotive spray or hobby spray. As those are mcpx canopies I want to avoid increasing the weight too much. As far as I understand, hobby spray paints should be thicker, but I see many people using them. Would it be more sensible if I'd use car paint in my case? What are the implications.

I am trying to read as much as possible before I jump into it, but I am a complete newbie at spray painting, so any info is useful.

Regards,
prtrp

[hoverinabout]

Originally Posted by prtrp

Hello,

A friend of mine brought me some TDR style mcpx canopies from China for dirt cheap.
Naturally, to make cheap cheaper I made hard plaster moulds out of them.
Using vacuum forming with HIPS sheets I managed to produce very light (2.5g) canopies.

Now it's time to put colour (and weight) on those white canopies.

First question is, do you think it is possible to do simple designs at that scale with spray paint.

I am not sure what range I should go for. The options I have seen are automotive spray or hobby spray. As those are mcpx canopies I want to avoid increasing the weight too much. As far as I understand, hobby spray paints should be thicker, but I see many people using them. Would it be more sensible if I'd use car paint in my case? What are the implications.

I am trying to read as much as possible before I jump into it, but I am a complete newbie at spray painting, so any info is useful.

Regards,
prtrp

Not sure what HIPS sheets are, do you mean lexan or ABS type plastic? If you've used lexan, then you'll need lexan type paint and apply from the inside although this would only work on clear sheet.

Does HIPS accept paint? I'd suggest you test paint a scrap piece first. Automotive (car) rattle cans in the UK tend to be acrylic based and Im not certain if this will stick or melt HIPS sheet.

[prtrp]

Originally Posted by hoverinabout

Not sure what HIPS sheets are, do you mean lexan or ABS type plastic? If you've used lexan, then you'll need lexan type paint and apply from the inside although this would only work on clear sheet.

Does HIPS accept paint? I'd suggest you test paint a scrap piece first. Automotive (car) rattle cans in the UK tend to be acrylic based and Im not certain if this will stick or melt HIPS sheet.

Thanks for replying
HIPS stands for High impact polystyrene, or plasticard here in the UK.
Lexan and PETG makes my canopies very heavy as I cannot source a less than 0.5mm thin sheet. ABS is something I have not tried yet.

Not yet my choice, but I tried a hobby type paint and it works, although without a primer is very difficult to lay thin films.
I haven't yet decided which ones to go for or even if it is worth for such a small canopies.

[darhymes]

The House of Kolor urethanes can be applied very thin (I use approx 5 parts reducer to 1 part paint) but must be applied over a primer and then clear-coated. Hobby paints would definitely work and you could probably get away with not priming before pairing as they adhere well to plasticard. The hobby paint could also be clear coated with a clear acrylic (future floor polish) but there is no UV protection. I think the best weight advantage would be to use hobby paint, but at the expense of a finish that's not quite as impressive. Let us know what you use and put up a pic when it's done!

[Airworks]

over in the UK look for the candy "spaztiks", its basically HOK (auto paint) in small 2oz/4oz amounts , sold as a lexan rc car paint. tehy have clear UV reactive that i have will be fun to experiment with.

[prtrp]

Thanks for that.
I'll look into it.
Polystyrene doesn't seem to be a very good material for painting, many paints seem to melt it.
The painting project is frozen at the moment due to our "nice" weather here..

[Rob43]

Heard that. Same here. Wish I had a place to use my equipment. I will either have to settle on rattle can efforts or wait until spring.

[joshP]

Car painting can be a tough task. A lot of chemistry is actually needed to get a color, and then it takes a bunch of screening. The paint cannot go on the car unless it gets through paint testing first. It includes exposing shades of paint to years of intense climate conditions to see if it can stand up. Learn more: Car Paint Testing.

[yayan]

Hycote acrylic gloss white this can be sprayed directly onto plastic without the need of primer. I've always used this for the cheep Hobbyking plastic canopies, and white is, I think, better than grey primer. Apply in thin coats it's fast drying so no long intervals between coats.

Yayan

[yayan]

Hycote acrylic gloss white this can be sprayed directly onto plastic without the need of primer. I've always used this for the cheep Hobbyking plastic canopies, and white is, I think, better than grey primer. Apply in thin coats it's fast drying so no long intervals between coats.

When acrylic paint has dried use meal polish like cutting compound, or tooth past even finer compound, to achieve an incredible shine.


Yayan

[yayan]

Originally Posted by Rob43

Heard that. Same here. Wish I had a place to use my equipment. I will either have to settle on rattle can efforts or wait until spring.

I use a quite large cardboard box as a spray booth and vacuum cleaner for an extractor system.
Yayan