Spray Paint problems

[laellee]

Space heaters work well. You want the piece to be evenly heated though, I'd personally avoid a heat gun. Your best bet is to get EVERYTHING (materials and work space) to a good working temperature before getting started, and then maintain that temperature until your paint has dried.

 

[jasonw2112]

Space heaters work well. You want the piece to be evenly heated though, I'd personally avoid a heat gun. Your best bet is to get EVERYTHING (materials and work space) to a good working temperature before getting started, and then maintain that temperature until your paint has dried.

This is the best option, the problem with a heat gun, is it could melt your project. If anything, just rig a safe way, for your project to hang over the heater. Once again! be very careful! Make sure it's not too close! I usually let the project sit for 5 to 6 hours, keeping a watchful eye on everything!
I can't say there is an exact science to the process, just make sure you don't get the project too close.

The best option is to use lacquer, in my opinion. It is much more forgiving. What ever you do, do not put lacquer over enamel! You will
have a complete disaster! You must remove Enamel from whatever you are painting, and start over. Since Lacquer dries so fast, and the Enamel paint may not be cured, all the paint will wrinkle! The Enamel goes to war with lacquer! Hopefully that make since!

 

[lurch]

So many dirty things popped in my head when I read this. Thanks for the help buddy.

A dirty mind is horrible thing to waste. glad I could help.. hehe

 

[ozz]

Have everything at room temprature before you paint. Helmet, paint, etc. Then try to keep it all at room temp during the entire process. That will also help. Also, water, and oil does not mix. Make sure the helmet is fully dry before you try to paint it again. If your primer has a "shine" to it after you sand it, it is too smoth. The paint will not have anything to adhere to. Remember, the purpose of sanding is to give the paint something to grab on to and to knock down the rough textures created from some spraying. 3-4 light coats will be better than one heavy coat. It may take slightly longer, but the finished product will be better. Good luck!!

 

[cbargs]

Gents,
We have success. I grabbed a helmet I washed a few days ago. I gave it a light sand and wiped the dust off with a tack cloth. Getting the shop to 60 degrees took a while since it was 19 degrees in Wichita, KS today. While I waited I gave to paint cans a hot bath. Once everything was warmed up, I moved my painting station closer to the space heater. 3-4 light coats 5 minutes apart.

Here was the first paint job


And here is what it looks like today


I am happy with the results. If you do look closely there is a small amount of orange peel texture. Not sure how that happened. Maybe 5 minutes was not enough time to wait between light coats. I'm not really sure how long to wait between coats. I don't know.

But a big thank you to all. I hope to one day buy you all a round. I will post pics of the finished product soon.

 

[ajayofcanada]

Then I shake the holy bejeezus out of the can. And I mean shake it good.

Alot of people's spray can issues can be traced back to this. They under-shake the can. I shake mine until my arms tired, then go a few minutes past that.

 

[cbargs]

All finished. Once again thank you all for you help. Hope this brings them luck next Sunday!!!!

 

[Shayman]

Cbargs, I didn't read all the other replies but I have use the paint you showed pics of and I can say 'I hate it'. I've used it on very important projects and it ended up costing me $$$. It's far too easy to put too much on. Also it takes foreverrrrr to cure and I mean forever. If you have krylon for plastic available to you I would recommend that if rattle can paint is what you prefer.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[ahoudini]

If you have a reciprocating saw (sawzall) and use a lot of rattle can paint, you will love this thing:

Available at

http://mixkwik.com

 

[Roaoon]

Ya those craters are "Fish Eye". It happens from reactions with your paint and any chemical or oil that may be on your target. Find a good cleaner for prepping first. If you want something decent and cheap you can use dish soap detergent and water.
It doesnt take much either for this to happen. I used to paint cars and if you had a diesel vehicle start up in the shop you ran the risk of getting fish eye and had to clean your surface again.

 

[Thatbaldguy]

Sorry, know this is an old post but I stumbled across it and thought I would give some insight from a red seal painters experience. First, the problem you have isn't cratering, cratering actually looks like you have small craters (like the surface of the moon) and is usually caused by a contaminated substrate, too many coats without sufficient dry time or painting when it's too cold, and basically air is escaping slowly and popping at the surface leaving behind the bubble or "crater"
What you have though is "fisheye" which is caused purely from surface contamination or coat incompatibility.
You're getting it because smooth cast 300 is a urethane plastic which almost anything but an industrial urethane paint won't bond correctly too( that's your incompatibility) and you've used mold release, (which is your surface contaminat)
But don't worry, you're helmet is still paintable!
There's a couple ways to do this,
.If you don't have to use mold release then don't, talc or baby powder can be used, just make sure to blow out the excess with air. Talc can also be used in conjunction with mold release, but if you really must use a release agent then smooth on recommends misting the inside of the mold with an appropriate primer before casting. Do this and you're helmet will be ready for paint immediately after demold.
If you don't follow those pre cast tips then there are a few other things you can do.
1. If you've used mold release you must clean off the oils after you demold, this is called solvent cleaning. Which solvent you use depends on which release you applied. Make sure to wear gloves so you don't contaminate the surface with greasy paws.
2. Always sand... Always!!! But start at a lower grit and work your way up, this will help prepare a better substrate for painting
3. Throw those paint and primer in 1 cans in the garbage where they belong. I'm not here to bash anybodies methods or products but those are just a sales gimmick.
Buy yourself a good primer, I've heard good things about duplicolor and plastikote. I use Kilz and have never had a problem, even when i haven't listened to all my above advice cause I'm too lazy or in a rush.
4. Sand after priming again and between every coat, wait the allotted time as well.... Nothing like spending all that time molding and casting to screw it up with impatience on a coat of paint.

In short, just take your time... Do it right the first time and be happy!

Hope this helps

 

[Thatbaldguy]

Oh and one other thing, orange peel is the effect you get when you put on too heavy of a wet film.... Always do multiple thin coats