Paint options for lexan/polycarbonate

[Nicadraus]

Hi guys!

As the question says, what other paint can be used for lexan/polycarbonate bodies without cracking when the plastic flexes? Tamiya spray cans are expensive and can't mix personalized colors using them. I'd like to paint using my airbrush and mix my own colors.

[Yalson]

I've been wondering this, too, as I do a lot of detail painting with a brush. I used to use Pactra but that doesn't seem to be a thing anymore. Are there any manufacturers who still make matching brush pots and spray cans? Mixing brands sometimes ends up with disastrous consequences.

[Juggular]

I wonder if Createx Airbrush colors would work.  

They are designed to be flexible on fabric.  Works on plastic and glass too.  

My guess is that they are an acrylic version of the Lexan paint.  

https://www.dickblick.com/products/createx-airbrush-colors/?clickTracking=true&wmcp=pla&wmcid=items&wmckw=25308-1003&gclid=CjwKCAiAiarfBRASEiwAw1tYv-WTOqVmTjABNih-KqJlsLKBeF97qelqm2PxGUnaZ0wGiuu6hKNpHRoCwF8QAvD_BwE

[markbt73]

Createx (and other acrylic) works great. It's even sold for RC by Parma under the Faskolor name. Great stuff.

[Ann3x]

Wicked colours and/or faskolor.

Thin to taste then airbrush. Back with tamiya clear spray.

[67CamaroSS]

Duratrax does.

Their paints come in bigger spray cans and I've been happy with the results.

https://www.duratrax.com/paint/index.html

Spaz Stix makes nice colors too and they come in spray and bottle

https://www.hobbyrecreationproducts.com/collections/spazstix-candy-colors

 

[Yalson]

20 minutes ago, 67CamaroSS said:

Duratrax does.

Their paints come in bigger spray cans and I've been happy with the results.

https://www.duratrax.com/paint/index.html

Spaz Stix makes nice colors too and they come in spray and bottle

https://www.hobbyrecreationproducts.com/collections/spazstix-candy-colors

 

Awesome. I will look them up. Thanks @67CamaroSS.

[rob850r]

I use Vallejo Premium and it is very resistant.

Even for Cars that use glow engines.

The Premium range has normal, Metallica and Candy colors.

But you need a airbush.

 

 

[gizard]

I use faskolor too.

[Nicadraus]

Thanks for the replies guys. I work with acrylic, polyurethane (acrylic base) and enamel paint on things I paint (diecast models with plastic parts, turntables, and anything). Mostly polyurethane (PU) in my airbrush/spraygun applications. So I guess it's safe to use PU in lexan. I'll give it a shot and let you guys know the result.

[ruebiracer]

On ‎11‎/‎13‎/‎2018 at 8:38 PM, Ann3x said:

Wicked colours and/or faskolor.

Thin to taste then airbrush. Back with tamiya clear spray.

I´m also trying to airbrush now, and used faskolor first, now wicked colours. What I like on the Tamiya rattle cans is, that they are to my experience the most durable regarding mechanical abuse / abrasion (crashes/ tire rubbing in the wheel arches) and usually do not peel off, when sprayed correctly. Drawbacks are the limited color choice and the bad fumes, which are not really healthy. I´ve some race friends who do paint a lot of bodies for racers, and they made good experience with wicked colors. A common method is for some guys to paint with airbrush water base colors and back with Tamiya PS White, to mprotect against fuel etc. But one guy warned me, that the Tamiya PS is very aggressive, and he ruined a very time intensive shell with the last coat, because the Tamiya PS color was reacting with the airbrush color. So would be interested, if you mean TS clear? And do you race your bodies and have experience with peeling/stripping the paint?

I did this year my second test body mixing 3 wicked colors to my liking, and painted a beetle shell for racing. No backing this time, not even PS white or clear acrylic, just the wicked colors. Mixing was no problem, everything waterbased. Really liked to get a more oldschool color, which is not available as a rattle can. Durability was good, so a really wet race didn´t make the paint come off by the water runs. (but shell dried already some weeks) However, a heavy crash on Saturday training, when I was hit, made the airbrush color peel on some places, where the front hood bent in and out again very much. ****. I´m sure, with the Tamiya PS paint, this wouldn´t have happened in the same way.  Maybe it was the tape I glued on to protect the shell from the inside. glassfibre alu tape, so maybe this was not flexible enough and ripped the paint off during the deformation. (at least I hope so).

Really appreciate this thread, already some good infos here!

[Ann3x]

Yeah i mean TS clear. I back with wicked/fascolor white or silver as necessary THEN (after at least 24h) I back with TS clear matt/pearl/gloss doesnt matter.

Never had any issues but the waterbased paints do take some time to cure (start off v soft even when dry) so i could imagine issues if you rush.

[Yalson]

6 hours ago, ruebiracer said:

But one guy warned me that the Tamiya PS is very aggressive, and he ruined a very time intensive shell with the last coat, because the Tamiya PS color was reacting with the airbrush color.

Yeah, this can happen. It happened to me more than once on RC and slot car shells. I learned my lesson and I now do not mix brands. I am not sure of the formulation of paint these days, but BITD it was never advisable to spray a non-water-based paint over a water-based paint as the former would mess up the latter every time and leak through. Pactra was great stuff, but you painted it over or alongside Tamiya water-based paint at your peril.

It may be that non-water-based paints have been banned or reformulated since then and all modern paints are water based and play nicely with one another. I doubt it, though.

[87lc2]

I love Tamiya PS paints as much as anyone and use them often, but also have used Rustoleum rattle cans for years with great results.  I typically use either the 2X line or metallics line and have never had any peeling or cracking and I use my vehicles hard on the trails, etc.  I always do a test spot first on a spare piece of the body I've trimmed off just to be sure.  I'll usually bend it back and forth and try to scratch the paint off, have never had it happen yet.  

The trick to painting lexan successfully is more in the prep than the paint you use.  Of course there are some really cheap rattle can paints that will flake right off, but if you do a test panel first and prep properly you'll be fine.  I always trim the body and mark the body posts first.  Then I scuff the entire inside of the body with 0000 steel wool to give the paint a surface to bite into (don't scuff the windows of course).  Then I thoroughly wash the body in warm water using a degreasing soap (dish soap works well).  I then apply any masking and wipe the inside of the body with 70% isopropyl alcohol.  Once that is dry I begin spraying in light coats until I get full coverage.  Once done I always back with a satin black so everything is a nice uniform color.

Give it a try for your next body, I promise with proper prep you'll be happy.  Much less cost that Tamiya PS and you get a lot more paint in the can.  The smell i also not as bad.  Good luck.

[Nicadraus]

9 hours ago, 87lc2 said:

I love Tamiya PS paints as much as anyone and use them often, but also have used Rustoleum rattle cans for years with great results.  I typically use either the 2X line or metallics line and have never had any peeling or cracking and I use my vehicles hard on the trails, etc.  I always do a test spot first on a spare piece of the body I've trimmed off just to be sure.  I'll usually bend it back and forth and try to scratch the paint off, have never had it happen yet.  

The trick to painting lexan successfully is more in the prep than the paint you use.  Of course there are some really cheap rattle can paints that will flake right off, but if you do a test panel first and prep properly you'll be fine.  I always trim the body and mark the body posts first.  Then I scuff the entire inside of the body with 0000 steel wool to give the paint a surface to bite into (don't scuff the windows of course).  Then I thoroughly wash the body in warm water using a degreasing soap (dish soap works well).  I then apply any masking and wipe the inside of the body with 70% isopropyl alcohol.  Once that is dry I begin spraying in light coats until I get full coverage.  Once done I always back with a satin black so everything is a nice uniform color.

Give it a try for your next body, I promise with proper prep you'll be happy.  Much less cost that Tamiya PS and you get a lot more paint in the can.  The smell i also not as bad.  Good luck.

Very true. Pre-painting preparation is very important. 

[ruebiracer]

Prepainting prep is the key, fully agree with you. Using PS paints, preparation as in the Tamiya manuals has always worked for me. Just a good wash with hot water and detergent, easy and quick. For my airbrush body mentioned (M07 Herbie), I even roughened the surface this time with very fine "grinding fleece" from the automotive dealer. Don´t really know the english name for it, but it is a pad  of pressed fibers with a certain roughness like grinding paper. It´s really fast and easy and also good for the corners of the shell, and gives just a milky Shine on the surface without deep scratches.   It made also airbrushing easier, because the danger of creating drops with the waterbased colors is lower.

When you clean as mentioned with Isoprpopyl or similar after masking, which towels do you use? That would interest me, too.

And this week I stumbled over a new method (at least I never heard about that) came from TC member Aurigarius on his german blog: He used"PS-55 flat clear as a primer for acrylic paints on lexan, just 2 light coats. So he could choose a green for his Corvette race body that was not available as PS paint. He states the durability is really good so far, no flaking. Maybe I´ll have to test that on my next shell as a primer for the Createx colors. I wonder, if that would improve the sticking for the waterbased colors, too?

[Ann3x]

13 hours ago, Yalson said:

Yeah, this can happen. It happened to me more than once on RC and slot car shells. I learned my lesson and I now do not mix brands. I am not sure of the formulation of paint these days, but BITD it was never advisable to spray a non-water-based paint over a water-based paint as the former would mess up the latter every time and leak through. Pactra was great stuff, but you painted it over or alongside Tamiya water-based paint at your peril.

It may be that non-water-based paints have been banned or reformulated since then and all modern paints are water based and play nicely with one another. I doubt it, though.

Painted over 50 shells and this has never been a problem for me. Faskolor, wicked, created all backed with Tamiya or core rc clear. 

[ruebiracer]

1 hour ago, Ann3x said:

Painted over 50 shells and this has never been a problem for me. Faskolor, wicked, created all backed with Tamiya or core rc clear. 

How long do you let the airbrush colours dry, before applying the clear paint?

[Ann3x]

For solvent clear, at least 24h in a warm room, longer if possible. Straight on yep, 100% sure it'd kill it. 

Between airbrush colours, just until dry is OK if you are careful (film is soft but intact). 

[Yalson]

Given that no manufacturer seems to make both rattle cans and pots to the same formulation anymore, as Pactra used to, (Duratrax may do, but they're unavailable in the UK), I've decided to risk mixing brands. I'm hoping the fact that paints are now almost exclusively water-based means they will not react with each other, given enough time between colours for each one to dry.

So I went out and bought a couple of Core rattle cans for experimental purposes (a black and a white) and looked around for some 'airbrush' pots that I could brush paint from. However, it seemsFaskolor is no longer sold, while Spaz Stix are only available in the US and Createx/Wicked are also having shortages of some colours. Has anyone tried Hobbynox? Modelsport seems to have their range in stock, but I've never heard of them before and would love to hear some opinions before I splash out potentially a lot of cash on filling up a new paintbox.

[wrightwinger]

On 11/17/2018 at 6:07 PM, 87lc2 said:

I love Tamiya PS paints as much as anyone and use them often, but also have used Rustoleum rattle cans for years with great results.  I typically use either the 2X line or metallics line and have never had any peeling or cracking and I use my vehicles hard on the trails, etc.  I always do a test spot first on a spare piece of the body I've trimmed off just to be sure.  I'll usually bend it back and forth and try to scratch the paint off, have never had it happen yet.  

The trick to painting lexan successfully is more in the prep than the paint you use.  Of course there are some really cheap rattle can paints that will flake right off, but if you do a test panel first and prep properly you'll be fine.  I always trim the body and mark the body posts first.  Then I scuff the entire inside of the body with 0000 steel wool to give the paint a surface to bite into (don't scuff the windows of course).  Then I thoroughly wash the body in warm water using a degreasing soap (dish soap works well).  I then apply any masking and wipe the inside of the body with 70% isopropyl alcohol.  Once that is dry I begin spraying in light coats until I get full coverage.  Once done I always back with a satin black so everything is a nice uniform color.

Give it a try for your next body, I promise with proper prep you'll be happy.  Much less cost that Tamiya PS and you get a lot more paint in the can.  The smell i also not as bad.  Good luck.

Just to clarify, You will do Rustoleum straight onto the clean and prepped surface? no clear coat layers before or after?     and this seems to hold up well. 

[whahooo]

My local Hobbyshop Guy said that Revell spraycans can be used for plastic and Lexan.

 

Is anyone able to confirm this?

[ruebiracer]

15 minutes ago, whahooo said:

My local Hobbyshop Guy said that Revell spraycans can be used for plastic and Lexan.

 

Is anyone able to confirm this?

Yes, I heard About that, too, and checked it in my hobbyshop this year. They state Lexan/Polycarbonate as possible surface. I wasn´t aware of it, too. But can´t say anything how the results are. Hard to beat Tamiya in the Lexan paint area... 

[Nicadraus]

I forgot about this thread. Hahaha!

Well I've used poly-urethane/urethane paints on my lexan and it works with no problem. 

[Biz73]

Proline recently brought out a line of paints for use with an airbrush.