Getting paint to stick

[GrenadeKing]

I figured I'd get more responses here in the prop forum, and it is "prop related" in a sense. :unsure

I'm trying to make a custom keychain for my 72' Nova. (The "Prop")

I'm having the darnedest time getting paint to stick permanantly to whatever I paint for this.
I've tried both plastic and metal. I've sanded them, sprayed them with black spray paint and painted them with acrylic colors, then clear coated them with future and spray on clear coat. The paint just wont hold onto the surface though.
Don't get me wrong, it will stick, but it wont take ANY abuse at all. Since it's a keychain, I need it to take some heafty abuse.
The metal one is holding out longer than the plastic one, but it already looks like its 5 years old and it's only been 2 days.

So, does anyone know of anything I can use for this? I just need some way to protect what I have, or to keep the paint permanantly on the surface.

 

[jordankarr]

It sounds like your having some issues due to not giving the item a good sanding and primer coat.

basic 101 painting tips

sand the object with a 600 grit paper and get it to have a rough texture. and wash with warm soppy water to get rid of dust. You don't want to sand so hard that you loose texture or details, just enough to get the item to have some "tooth" for primer to stick

prime the item in a sand-able primer (sand able auto body primer works well) and don't coat it too heavy, light dusting during each coat just enough to cover. let the primer cure and give it a nice wet sand with a 1000grit wet sand paper. wash the part again and them prime again. prime,sand,wash,prime,sand,wash...ect. On smaller objects you should be good with 2 coats of primer.

Your looking for a good smooth primer coat. should not feel any texture, but you don't want to put it on too heavy or you will loose details.

then once your happy with the primer coat, use what everycolors your after, and then finally seal.

I know modelers use futura polish on decals to protect them from fogging in the sealing process, but for something thats getting handled a lot like a key chain you may want to do several coats of clear coat only.

When I was doing a lot of miniature war gaming, I would put on the figures several coats of a gloss clear and then hit it with a matte clear coat or two to take down the shine. This way it was well protected and could be handled with out much worry about paint chipping off.

See if this helps you out!

 

[motman241]

What is the keychain made out of? Metal? Plastic? Resin?

 

[Gigatron]

What you want to use is automotive clear coat when you're done painting, as it will form a protective barrier.

Sand, prime, paint and clear coat. It's as easy as that. Give the clear coat a few days to dry and cure before you abuse it, though.

-Fred