Krylon Metallic gold flaking off - help!

[ObiWannabe]

All right, so I thought I was getting to be an old pro at this painting plastic with Krylon. Not anymore. I'm using regular Krylon metallic gold to paint all of my accessories for my Pharaoh Atemu costume (seen here) which, for all intents and purposes, is perfect. I want everything to look like a solid, burnished gold, like the pharaoh is shown wearing. But no matter what I do to it, or which type of plastic I put the paint on, I'm getting little flecks of gold rubbing off on all the fabric parts of my costume.

I've done it with primer, without primer, with primer and a coat of solid yellow under the gold, on sintra, on styrene, and will be putting it on wonderflex eventually. No matter what method, I still end up with gold dust all over my hands, my workspace, and my costume. I'm annoyed now, but I'll be ten times pissed when the costume is done because that big solid gold broadcollar will have a red cowl and cloak resting on top of it. I'm entering this costume into competition at ACen and really don't want to have to deal with gold paint dust all over my cloak and tunic, not to mention the other four members of my group if we're all using the same gold and all brushing up against each other.

Is there any kind of fixative or clearcoat that works with Krylon to seal in the paint, which - IMPORTANT - will not dull the gold sheen? Right now I adore the overall look of this paint, because it has the exact effect I want. I don't want to dull that shine at all, but I want to clearcoat or seal the paint so it stops flaking. Help?

 

[Mr. Nagata]

Sounds like your coats may not be "wet" enough (i.e. some of the paint it actually curing in the air before it hits the surface so you get a fine layer of gold dust on the surface). Krylon metallics dry pretty quickly, so you have to make sure the nozzle isn't too far from the surface as you paint. You want a nice wet-looking coat. But be careful since a coat that's too wet could drip or cure with strange patterns in the metallic fleck. It takes some practice.

 

[dadvader]

Depends on what type of finish you want...

Dull matte finish try overcoating it with Testors Dullcote,available at hobby stores that sell models... 3oz spray cans#1260.
Glossy finish same size can #1261...

Doesn't really take a whole lot to get good coverage.

 

[Jedirick]

Be very careful applying any clearcoat to your krylon finish. try it on some reasonable sized test pieces first. Clearcoats, sometimes even of the same brand, will dull, fog or even whitten metallic paint finishes.

Nothing worse then watching hours of priming, sanding, and painting ruined with one single untested pass with a spray can of clearcoat. It'll make a grown man cry.

Some guys swear by scrylic clear floor wax finish. I used it on an alien head with satisfactory results. may be the way to go. Again, do a trial piece.

 

[dadvader]

Thanks for mentioning that Jedirick...I should have said something about testing it first....
However I will say that for some reason I have never had any problems with that Testors stuff....And I do mean never.I have used it over many different brands and types of paint...

But I may have just been incredibly lucky.....

And I'm the person that always screws up any kind of paint job atleast once before I get it right....
But Never had a problem with Testors

 

[Sanjuro]

Originally posted by dadvader@Apr 10 2006, 11:41 PM
Thanks for mentioning that Jedirick...I should have said something about testing it first....
However I will say that for some reason I have never had any problems with that Testors stuff....And I do mean never.I have used it over many different brands and types of paint...

But I may have just been incredibly lucky.....

And I'm the person that always screws up any kind of paint job atleast once before I get it right....
But Never had a problem with Testors

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Speaking of which-and please forgive me for the thread hijack, but I didn't want to knock another thread off with my question- I haven't had the need to clearcoat props in ages. I will soon be needing to put a glosscoat on something and need to know some good techniques for getting the perfect gloss finish.

Obviously low humidity is a must, but I hear differing opinions on how close to hold the can, how many wetsands to do, the grit of sandpaper needed, etc.

I guess my first question would be do you lightly 'dust' at 12 inches or so away, then wetsand after a few passes, or do you lay it on a little closer and wetsand afterwards? I've usually layed it on thick and sanded from there but I want to hear other methods.

Hope that question was clear enough.. no pun.

 

[ObiWannabe]

Yeah, thanks guys. That's a good start. Good point about testing it out first - considering the hours of hand-carving and sanding that went into my broadcollar, the last thing I want is to have it ruined. I'll give a couple of methods a shot. Probably the floor wax first, since it's cheaper than Testor's.

I do want a shiny finish, not matte. I want to keep that pretty gold sheen I've got going, because my intention with the costume was to out-do all the kids who think they can get away with gold lame fabric on top of craft foam. I want the look of burnished, polished gold metal, as befits a pharaoh.

 

[Rocketbobs]

I use the Krylon chrome for my Rocketpacks. I seal them with a thin coat of Future. It does not dull the paint. I am not sure why. It will on other chrome type paints, not on the Krylon. I actually brush it on and it levels out nice and smooth.

 

[ObiWannabe]

wow, it looks incredible. That is the sheen I want to keep on my stuff, so I'll give it a shot. Thanks.

And test first on scrap.

 

[Rocketbobs]

What is also cool about the Future, is if you get a drip or nit in it, you can use ammonia to clean it off and it doesnt mar your paint either.

I have been told you can airbrush on too, but it needs to be very thin or the clear cracks as it dries.