42 replies to this topic

[Champion 507]

Is it ok to use rattle can R/C car spray paint from Pactra (Testors) or Tamiya on some .020 PTEG bodies I just got without causing any damage? Or is there something else I should use? My airbrush is put away now and I am at a point where I am only using rattle can paint.

 

Will spray enamel flake off PTEG like it used to flake off butyrate?

 

Thanks for your help.

[Bob Emott]

Is King bodies still around?

[Pablo]

Doug, I was waiting for Noose or Jairus to post.

I'll tell you my experience with PTEG and paint.

 

Lots of mixed feelings:

-Lacquer spray paints eat slightly into PTEG, same as they do on Lexan. Maybe even more so.

-NEVER use lacquers on a thin PTEG body, like 10 thou.  it will weaken it and make it split.  On your thick PTEG you described, like 20 thou, I think you will be OK if you use extremely light coats.

-You are probably safer using acylics on PTEG.  Of course that requires you to dig out that airbrush

-If using inside waterslide decals, the lacquer will curl them. BUT, I have seen a master painter/modeler, Bud Greene, spray lacquers on inside decals and get away with it.  He said he started out with VERY VERY FINE mists.

 

My bottom line is, I'm betting your rattle can lacquers will work fine on your thick PTEG bodies.  Just start out light.

Paint a test area first. Don't neglect to etch with 0000 steel wool first, like I recently did, and have interior mounting tape lift the paint job

[MSwiss]

The above idea with the light coats i'm sure would help, but I personally wouldn't risk it.

 

We had  a 4 hr. (or 6 ?) Enduro yrs. ago and a team running a PTEG body painted with Pactra lacquer wound up with not enough body to continue after

the halfway mark.

It was a basically just a strap of plastic running from the right side body mounts to the left side ones.

 

If you painted the car the day before a race, you might get one run out of it.

 

But then a week later, after the paint had a chance to really impregnate the plastic, the body will probably start shattering as you hit stuff.

[Pablo]

Break out that airbrush and the Faskolors, Doug

[Champion 507]

What about enamel spray paint?

 

What about Tamiya's model paint?

[Pablo]

I never heard of enamel spray paint.

 

Tamiya, I think is lacquer.

 

Take a look at the warning labels and you tell me if it looks safe for PTEG

If it causes brain damage, it probably is going to eat PTEG

 

[MSwiss]

Pablo,

I think he's talking about paint for plastic model cars.

 

Doug,

You can try it, but I doubt it will stick very well.

[John Streisguth]

Nevermind the krylon suggestion, it's got xylene, toluene, and acteone, so it's probably going to eat up the PTEG.  Best is to do the acrylics, Faskolor or Createx.

[Pablo]

Doug, here are some acrylic paint jobs. Not bragging; not trying to compete with Jairus and Noose, just saying, break out that airbrush and enjoy the benefits of indoor painting and non toxic paint

 

[slotbaker]

I've used the Tamiya rattle cans for polycarbonate on a few 0.015~0.020" thick PETG bodies, even with light coats building up to an acceptable thickness, and the bodies cracked on the nose after a few hits.

 

Since then I've been using the water based paints, and have had better results.

[Champion 507]

Breaking out the airbrush is just not an option for me now and I don't expect anybody to understand why. It just is. That's why I'm trying to go around it if I can.

 

Thanks everyone for your input. If you think of any more suggestions, please continue to post them.

[Bill from NH]

Ask a friend or local racing buddy with an airbrush to paint them for you?

[slotbaker]

Did a google for acrylic spray paint, and this came up for Liquitex.

Dunno if it's any good or not, but it reads OK.

[Bill from NH]

I've used jars & tubes of Liquitex paint for numbers on lexan bodies & it sticks like a gorilla. I never tried it on PETG but it ought to work the same. Their spray cans are a relatively new product & I've never tried them.

[SteveDee]

Try using artist acyrlic paints in tubes, I use the Liquitex brand but others should work, too. Use flat brushes of a good quality. With a little practice, you can't tell that it wasn't sprayed. I've been doing this for years and no one ever caught on. Practice on some other type clear plastic first so you don't screw up a real body. Small mistakes can be corrected with a Q-tip and rubbing alcohol. Clean up brushes with warm water. As the paint is very thick out of the tube you can really brush it out for a thin coat, and it doesn't flow under masks. Colors listed as opaque on the label are easiest to use, but, translucent and transparent colors will work if undercoated.
Stuff can also be thinned with airbrush medium, I use Golden brand, and sprayed if mixed well and strained to remove lumps.

[Champion 507]

Okay,

 

I returned the 3 cans of R/C car spray paint I got over the weekend today and exchamged them for the same 3 colors in Parma's Faskolor acrylic line. Now I just gotta wait for a good time to drag out my air brush and compressor.

 

By the way, it's PETG, not PTEG. It's an acronym for Polyethylene terephthalate

 

Thank you all for your help. I even got a pm from a blogger offering to paint the bodies for me. There are really some nice folks on the blog.

[Jairus]

I do it all the time Doug.

But... I also spray the paint as "dry" as possible and don't allow the paint on the body to get too "wet". (Hope that makes sense.)  In other words... I really would NOT use a spray can but an airbrush to do this.

 

You are truly better off painting the body with enamels or Parma FasKolor.  The lacquer does tend to make the body much more brittle.

[GotToRace]

I use old soda/water bottles cut in half to experiment with paint. They are basically PETG so they should make a good test bed for this application. Works really well for working color combinations so not wasting a good body.

[Champion 507]

Hi Steve,

 

Ever get up to Huntsville? That's where I did all my racing in the 1960's.

 

Yeah, when I looked up to see if it was PETG or PTEG, it said that water/pop plastic bottles were made out of PETG.

 

I pm'd Jairus and he said many spray enamels will work too. Gonna give that a try also. One way or another, I'll get these things painted yet.

 

There are some more PETG bodies I would like to acquire later, so I really want to find out what works. I'm not going to race them but I don't want the bodies crumbling or the paint flaking off years from now.

[Noose]

Ditto what Jairus said.  I have painted plenty of them with lacquer but you must do it very, very lightly and use an air brush.

[Pablo]

So is this the type of enamels one can spray on PETG ?  Testors in a small bottle ?

 

[Jairus]

Paul, you could. Tho... I would cut it 50/50 with Testors enamel thinner as that is for brush painting as it sits.

[Pablo]

Thanks !

[Bill from NH]

I saw a racer's Monte Carlo painted with a Testors white enamel spray can. Part way through the race, the track looked like a snow storm had hit & that racer had a practically clear body once again. I would guess some enamels don't adhere to lexan well enough for slot racing. I once heard there was a plasticizing agent used on a real car's plastic bumper coverings that would help with lexan body flex.