Krylon Fusion Paint?

[Roadrunner]

Has anyone had experience with Krylon's Fusion paint? The can says it is paint designed specifically for plastic. I'm wondering how this would work on the ends (inside of course) of my Airstream. What prep work should be done? Thanks!

Bob

[Wingeezer]

Originally Posted by Roadrunner

Has anyone had experience with Krylon's Fusion paint? The can says it is paint designed specifically for plastic. I'm wondering how this would work on the ends (inside of course) of my Airstream. What prep work should be done? Thanks!

Bob

Bob,

I think its success is heavily related to the type of plastic used.

I used it on a new plastic cartop carrier that I bought to use on a motorcyle trailer to pull behind my bike.

The carrier was made from polyethylene plastic as I recall. I contacted Krylon before trying it on this new carrier and they said it would work.

I followed their instructions to the letter, but adhesion was not good. The lightest scrape would take the paint off - ie a thumbnail!

Rather than scrape all the stuff off, I just carry a spray can along on tripsd and touch it up as needed!

Had I known, I would not never have used it. May be fine on some other types of plastic, I think if here was any way of trying it first on similar material or in an area where it wouldn't be seen, I would certainly try that first.

Hope it works for you better than it did for me! I have heard of other people having good results with it.

I noticed on spraycans I have bought more recently, there has been a subtle change in the wording it used to say "Works on all plastics" now, it says
"Works on most plastics" I'm sure the change was made for a reason!

Brian.

[crispyboy]

I used this paint about 2 or 3 years ago on the interior of a car to repaint an under dash air conditioning unit. I can't remember the prep but the project turned out good and the paint is still holding up. You may also look at SEM brand paints found at an automotive paint store or possibly on line. I have also had good luck with these also (SEM has more colors to choose from). They have cleaners for prepping the plastic, vinyls and leather surfaces.

[Minno]

I had very good luck with Krylon Fusion and plastic, but I'm not sure exactly what kind of plastic. I think it was a white styrene. I painted them last year, and no wear issues at all. For the inside end caps, I would try a sample someplace first (if you can) before painting the whole end cap. In my 71, the front end cap was ABS, and the rear is fiberglass.

Chris

[StingrayL82]

Krylon Fusion is a good product, however you MUST prep the surface you're painting, whether you're painting on new plastic or old plastic.

There is only one way to make paint stick to plastic..Clean Clean Clean, Sand Sand Sand, Clean Clean Clean.

To start, thoroughly wash the plastic down with a degreaser/soap. TSP works well for this.

1) Sand the entire plastic surface with 180 Grit DRY.

2) Take 320 Grit WET over the entire surface until smooth with no shine.

3) Wipe the whole surface down with a pre-paint wax and grease remover and let dry.

4) Spray with Krylon Fusion and put 2 thin/medium coats on, letting the paint flash 10 minutes between coats .. Let dry.

Now, if you're incredibly OCD about your project looking super professional, here are some more steps:

1) Mist the surface with a cheap black paint as a guide coat and sand the entire surface with 400 or 600 Grit wet sand paper.

2) Thoroughly wash and rinse let air dry.

3) Final scuff with a red scotch pad and a final scuff paste, to get in all the cracks and crevices good.

7) Wipe down with pre-paint wax and grease remover again.

8) Spray with Krylon Fusion one last time, 2 thin/medium coats, again letting the paint flash for 10 minutes between coats. Let dry.

You should have a quality paint job that will last you a long time.

[toddster]

I just got off the phone with Krylon's technical support and they informed me that the Fusion paint is more for interior craft type applications. She highly recommended that I look into the Duplicolor (sister company) automotive type paints in conjunction with the CP1999 Adhesion Promoter. I am going to pick up a can of the promoter as well as some metallic paint (maybe the chrome finish) to try on my new Fantastic-Vent vintage style covers.

Vent Wiring in '56-ish

[mandolindave]

But how does it work on the end caps?

[toddster]

Correct me if I'm wrong here, but the end caps are fiberglass, not plastic.

[vswingfield]

Originally Posted by toddster

Correct me if I'm wrong here, but the end caps are fiberglass, not plastic.

Yes and no. Fiberglass in my Trade Wind, plastic in my Excella. The glass ones are superior in my opinion. Neither of them has any cracks despite being much older.

[StingrayL82]

The front cap on ours is plastic....the bathroom rear cap is fiberglass.

[klattu]

It worked good on the A/C covers inside, and the vents.
They had turned a yucky yellow.
Cleaned with brake cleaner before spraying, stuck good.

[Distantdrummer]

Another thread on Krylon. here>>>Fusion for Plastic

My last post over there never answered. Any takers now?

How many cans to spray an end cap?

Stingray; What is "let flash for 10 minutes" ? i.e. what is definition of Flash in that context?

Stingray;Name that good wax & grease pre paint chemical please.

[StingrayL82]

Distant Drummer,

Letting the paint flash is letting it dry, so that the 2nd coat will adhere to the 1st coat, without getting runny and without laying on top of it...think of the 2nd coat sticking to the 1st. Different paints have different flash times...weather and temperature also play a part in determining how long it takes for the paint to flash.

I like using Krud Kutter products for pre-paint cleaning/degreasing, but I always start out using TSP (Tri-Sodium Phosphate)...you can get it at your local hardware store

USE GLOVES!!!! TSP is nasty on the skin.

[Roadrunner]

Is there an easy way to distinguish between a plastic endcap and a fiberglass endcap?