Vinyl Wrapping or Painting Polycarbonate

[Reddkryten]

Hello,


I was just wondering if someone could give me some advice. I am trying to build a new prop (not a replica) and I'm struggling with something. I'm sorry if this is a bit offtopic but it just seems like the best place to as where someone would have this information.


I have managed to find the base for this prop and it's a small lumpy bowl made of polycarbonate. The problem is, the bowl is black but I need a few of them different colours, mainly purple.


My understanding is, polycarbonate is hard to paint. Only a few paints are useable, some will weaken it and I would need to rough up the surface (which I don't want to do).


I could be miles off here, but I was walking through town and I spotted a car which rather than being painted, if had been vinyl wrapped. I could be totally wrong, but my gut feeling says that this may be the solution.


So, does anyone know or have experience with this? If so, is it possible to do it with this polycarbonate and at a small scale?
Failing that, does anyone have a suggestion for a way of painting this thing?


Thank you so much for any help you can offer

 

[joberg]

Vinyl wrapping can be done on small items, you'll see on Google all kind of applications and YouTube videos on how to do it...good luck.

 

[Rogviler]

If you have a heat gun and a high tolerance for pain then you can vinyl wrap anything.

You might look at paint made for RC car bodies, which are polycarbonate. I've used them and they work good, although they're not terribly UV resistant. They come in any color you could imagine though, even translucents.

-Rog

 

[DizzyStrmtroopr]

you might consider plastidip, no sanding, no primer, just a few light coats and can it peel off whenever youd like. the white always clogs though, any other color sprays fine.

 

[yaris]

If it's small with lumps or bumps forget vehicle wrap media. While it has excellent memory affect properties, it's not suitable for small tight curves, especially if there are many and they close together. It can may be made to work, but you'll need experience and it's not very cost effective.

Paint will work and acrylic lacquer is my preferred paint system for polycarb and straight acrylic (think plexigalss/lexan) surfaces. In fact it is the only type of paint I use for all my prop building activities.

One of the best parts about ACL is that the thinner in the paint etches (eats) the acrylic/polycarb surface, creating an excellent primer bonding condition that is very adherent and great for coloured ACL top coats.

ACL comes in an wide variety of colours and it dries very fast as it's a single pack (no need for hardener) paint system and it's thinner atomises much faster than aerosol enamels plus you won't need to sand the surface and to top it off, it's very affordable and available at all good auto accessory stores.

 

[division 6]

You may be thinking polypropylene which is what plastic totes and Tupperware type products are made of.
Polycarbonate is normally something closer to acrylic.

If it's solid then you should be able to just use primer and paint.
Lightly sand then wipe down before applying primer (2-3 light coats).
If you're not in a hurry let it cure a week before masking and painting.