Painting Polyethylene Nosecones... The Binder Design Method

[K'Tesh]

I saw a post today about someone looking for tips on painting Polyethylene nosecones, and I couldn't find what Mike Fisher had sent me before I went to work, and lost the thread.
Mike responded to me, and this is what he says to do for painting his nosecones:

Use 120 grit on a random orbital sander. Then a couple heavy coats of sandable primer. It will look like crap at this point, all fuzzy covered in primer. Now sand that out with 300 or 400 grit and prime again. Should look good enough for paint at this point, but hit it again with the 400 grit and put your color on after that.

Thanks Mike!

Hope this helps others in the future.

 

[G_T]

Consider flame treating the plastic. It is a lot less work and should work better. It is the industry standard technique for painting or printing on difficult thermoplastics. You get about a 15 minute window IIRC.

Gerald

 

[DarthMuffin]

Bulldog Adhesion Promoter spray before the primer. A hollywood prop maker friend turned me on to it years ago, he swears by it.

 

[AfterBurners]

Bulldog Adhesion Promoter spray before the primer. A hollywood prop maker friend turned me on to it years ago, he swears by it.

That's exactly what I use!!

 

[crossfire]

Consider flame treating the plastic. It is a lot less work and should work better. It is the industry standard technique for painting or printing on difficult thermoplastics. You get about a 15 minute window IIRC.

Gerald

What is flame treating?

 

[G_T]

You can find youtube videos on it, and writeups. Clean the part well. Don't use "rubbing alcohol" because that contains oils to prevent the skin from drying. High percentage isopropyl alcohol is fine though. Once dry, pass the reactive part of a flame over the part. You are not trying to melt or even soften the part. The reactive part of the flame breaks up the surface chemical structure, for a short period of time. Painting or printing on the surface needs to be done soon afterwards - the sooner, the better. The treatment only lasts for a short time.

This shows some plastic pre-treatment options:


Flame is the easiest since most everyone has a torch. That's why I recommend that method. Heck, I've used it on hot-wired foam insulation in preparation for composite layup. You are NOT trying to melt the item!

Gerald

 

[kenstarr]

Sure wish I had this before my first attempt at painting a large pp nose cone. I wound up spending money on a can of adhesion promoter which is just some good solvents. The flame treatment is new territory for me though! Thanks for the info.
Ken

 

[ghostfather]

I use automotive plastic primer. You can get it in a rattle can.
That's what is used before painting plastic bumpers. Full of nasty smelling solvents.

 

[SkyFire]

 

[rharshberger]

Found this video on how to test plastics for flame treatment prior to painting and how to perform flame treating.