Painting Plastic

Ugly Dougly · Post by **Ugly Dougly** » Mon Jun 22, 2009 11:16 am

So if I get me a carport structure as our little hovel, and possible a couple for a full-fledged barbarian village, can I paint the sides without trouble?

Plastic's a little tricky to paint. Krylon has a nice product for this:
http://www.krylon.com/products/fusion_for_plastic/
Is this flexible enough to spray onto a sheet of whatever plastic fabric they make carp port walls out of, and expect it not to crack when I roll it up?

Or should I get the carport without walls and add canvas painters tarps as walls?

What?

You have our gratitude!

Fire_Moose · Post by **Fire_Moose** » Mon Jun 22, 2009 12:03 pm

have a barbarian graffiti day. They can tag the walls in ancient cro-ma-yon cave style paintings!!

oneeyeddick · Post by **oneeyeddick** » Mon Jun 22, 2009 12:03 pm

That stuff is total crap.

I have sprayed a lot of inflateable toys for BM, fist white(for primer) and then green.

That stuff flaked worse than any paint I have ever used.

The cheap shit from WalMart is what I have found to work best for white primer, the trick with all paints is to not spray them on too thick, and to spray them when your surface is nice and warm....I warm up the cans too by leaving them in the sun for several hours ahead of time.

**burn** · Post by **burn** » Tue Jun 23, 2009 6:04 pm

I just had some paint for plastic that never dried. Ever.
I tried to find it to tell you what it was and I just remembered it was such crap I threw it away.

sputnik · Post by **sputnik** » Tue Jun 23, 2009 7:18 pm

I've used fusion on patio furniture and it worked great. However, patio furniture doesn't flex like a tarp will, so I suspect painting it is a bad idea. But...you could get a tarp of similar material, paint it, and see what happens. If you're going for one color you could attach a piece of fabric to the plastic using alligator clips. I used those one year to attach mylar to my tent as shade, worked great.

robotland · Post by **robotland** » Tue Jun 23, 2009 7:54 pm

Agreed- Mixed Results with Fusion or other "for plastic" paints...I've had good results with good ol' Krylon on MOST plastics, but vinyl can get tacky- The paint can act as a solvent. Try a test patch.

pinemom · Post by **pinemom** » Wed Jun 24, 2009 9:46 am

Yup, here we are discussing a issue we had last year with Cryptofishy's carport.......

A wonderful playground of underwater tank life!
Painstakingly done with love and care. Not to thick, just right.

NOT!

Sorry Fishy...seems that shit is a one time deal. It has flaked off so bad now it just looks like Mold! with lots of specks of color.
Its not mold BTW cause it was errected all winter.
But it does suck, I would have loved to maybe paint the inside of our smaller model carport. But after seeing what a week on the desert does to it...nah...not even worth it.

Sharpies...now that might be another choice...
I would even go as far as to suggest white/cream sheets to paint on....then tack them up with the sides of your carport.
that would work. cotton absorbs the paint better. But will leach if you put it on to thick.

my $ .02

oneeyeddick · Post by **oneeyeddick** » Wed Jun 24, 2009 10:04 am

PineY, it wasn't the week in the desert that did it, I have inflateables that have 4 years of experience to testify to that, and they are vinyl plastic.

The reason yours flaked off was because you left it outside during the winter.
The water gets into the (slightly) porous carport fabric and paint, and then freezes, taking the paint off with the expanding water.
The humidity is enough to do it when it is freezing outside.

Ugly Dougly · Post by **Ugly Dougly** » Wed Jun 24, 2009 10:53 am

Cream sheets? Piney, do I know you?

Anyway, thanks for the suggestions.
My intent is to give the car-port a sort of half-timbered look. There are other ways to get that effect. I could throw down some brown duct tape, or glue strips of an appropriate plastic fabric to the walls.

I'll be after experimenting, don't ya know?

mojo · Post by **mojo** » Wed Jun 24, 2009 11:00 am

There is a paint additive made for painting fabric with acrylic paint that helps keep paint flexible enough to not crack apart. I have used it with great success on tarps and car covers. It's available at craft supply stores - just ask for textile meduim.

CapSmashy · Post by **CapSmashy** » Fri Jun 26, 2009 6:59 am

Ugly Dougly wrote:Cream sheets? Piney, do I know you?

Anyway, thanks for the suggestions.
My intent is to give the car-port a sort of half-timbered look. There are other ways to get that effect. I could throw down some brown duct tape, or glue strips of an appropriate plastic fabric to the walls.

I'll be after experimenting, don't ya know?

I agree with mom here. Get a bunch of sheets at a thrift store, cut to fit (or sew together) to match your needs and paint on that.

Base coat of a mix of browns with just about any kind of paint and come back in with something like sharpies or other permanent markers in dark browns and blacks to add shadows and detail in the bark. Set designers have been using this method for cheap, decent looking backdrops for years on the stage.

Ugly Dougly · Post by **Ugly Dougly** » Fri Jun 26, 2009 1:16 pm

Yeah, scenery flats, me groks this.

Hey, guys, let's put on a show!

Bounce530 · Post by **Bounce530** » Fri Jun 26, 2009 1:25 pm

Auto part stores sell a spray paint that is flexable when dry for upholstery, and it sticks well to CLEAN plastics. I think its even cheaper then that fusion crap.

DoriumLux · Post by **DoriumLux** » Fri Jun 26, 2009 2:50 pm

I second not painting the tarps. It will flake and crack like crazy and create serious MOOP. I learned this the hard way. I have tried the stuff for painting plastics and patio furniture and it was worthless on tarps. Go with sheets.