How to prep a polyethyleen statue

[maffie]

Hello all,

I have a statue that I would like to airbrush. It made of polyethyleen. I have been reading that it is very hard to paint polyethyleen, and I was hoped that one of you had any experience with it.

I'm looking for a adhesion promoter/primer that I can use in combination with createx auto air and wicked.
Or will AutoBorne Sealers work? I know that they work on plastic, but also polyethyleen?

 

[markjthomson]

PE is very easy to paint - it is very difficult to get paint to stick - it is a very close relative of teflon. In a nutshell, even with adhesion promoter it is unlikely to adhere any where near well enough. If it doesn't get knocked it might be OK but even light abrasion will have it coming off and looking tatty. What size is it? Will it be in a place to be knocked?

 

[maffie]

PE is very easy to paint - it is very difficult to get paint to stick - it is a very close relative of teflon. In a nutshell, even with adhesion promoter it is unlikely to adhere any where near well enough. If it doesn't get knocked it might be OK but even light abrasion will have it coming off and looking tatty. What size is it? Will it be in a place to be knocked?

It's 1.80 x 0.50 m. It doesnt have to be touched or knocked, only to dust/clean it.

 

[markjthomson]

OK, In my experience even the cleaning may damage it. Use the adhesion promoter, that will help but paint tends to peel off that stuff better than anything else I know.

 

[maffie]

OK, In my experience even the cleaning may damage it. Use the adhesion promoter, that will help but paint tends to peel off that stuff better than anything else I know.

Do you have a brand name for me from the adhesion promoter?

 

[markjthomson]

No, check with the paint manufacturers on their tech specs.

 

[Malky]

Hello all,

I have a statue that I would like to airbrush. It made of polyethyleen. I have been reading that it is very hard to paint polyethyleen, and I was hoped that one of you had any experience with it.

I'm looking for a adhesion promoter/primer that I can use in combination with createx auto air and wicked.
Or will AutoBorne Sealers work? I know that they work on plastic, but also polyethyleen?

Go to any Deco Home paint shop or very groot handle and ask for sudwest algrund primer, this a multi-primer which promotes adhesion on anything at all including epoxy and steel, once you get it, give a good stir and brush it on with a throw away brush and you have the perfect Base to paint on, it's safe outdoors too

 

[maffie]

Go to any Deco Home paint shop or very groot handle and ask for sudwest algrund primer, this a multi-primer which promotes adhesion on anything at all including epoxy and steel, once you get it, give a good stir and brush it on with a throw away brush and you have the perfect Base to paint on, it's safe outdoors too

Thank you very much!:timid::timid:

 

[Malky]

Thank you very much!:timid::timid:

No worries I actually meant verfgroothandel damned auto text on my phone

 

[maffie]

Okey, here comes al little update. I have purchased some silicone remover, plastic adhesion promoter and 1k fillerprimer from Spraymax. Now I have to scuff and clean it again and I am ready to paint!
In the mean time I have ordered some auto borne sealer from createx. But now I am thinking, isn't it a overkill with primer? At lease, I hope it is, because it is getting very expensive this way. I did use 3 spraycans of the spraymax primer. This is also a little bit my fold, because I scuffed the surface to rough I had to use a bit more primer. But I was planning of doing more of these projects, so I will like to know if I can cut off some cost.
I have read all the guidlines I could find about auto Borne sealer and I as I understand it correctly it is possible to use a spraycan adhesion promoter and then directly auto borne sealer. I can't find any information on how much m2 auto borne sealer can cover. Does anyone have some guidelines for that? I have ordered some 120ml bottles. Have much m2 can I prime/basecoat with that? Is it cheaper to only use adhesion promoter and auto borne sealer? Or is it cheaper to layer first 1 or 2 coats of the 1k fillerprimer and than auto borne sealer?

 

[Malky]

I'm not surprised it's becoming expensive, the primer I mentioned was all you would have needed to bring your project up to painting stage, it's for all vulnerable surfaces including plastic and all metals, the stuff is self leveling so would only require a very light scuff and then you can paint with anything at all you wanted to, I don't know how big your statue is but lets say it's one meter high, you could have primed 5 of those twice each with a half liter which would have cost you around €20 so €4 per statue and then maybe €2 for a throw away brush to put it on.

If yo had gone to the verfgroothandel this is what they would have advised you, the stuff stinks but they also make a water based version if you don't like the smell, I am actually now using the water based version in place of gesso for my boards because it is so easy to work on, painting is also my day job and I have over 45 years of experience since it is all I have ever done so you at least know I'm just making stuff up

 

[maffie]

I did have contact with a store who sells (automotive) paint and non paint stuff. And he said to me that I needed those 3 sprays from Spraymax. Do you mean a verfgroothandel for normal paint? (no automotive)

 

[maffie]

one little question: I was looking where I can go to buy Südwest Allgrund where I live. And the information on the internet about Südwest Allgrund tells that it will not hold on polyethyleen (PE). My statue is made of that.

 

[Malky]

I did have contact with a store who sells (automotive) paint and non paint stuff. And he said to me that I needed those 3 sprays from Spraymax. Do you mean a verfgroothandel for normal paint? (no automotive)

Yes, decorator's verfgroothandle such as Luijten vvz, if you go to an automotive shop they will only advise automotive stuff because that is all they know and they will want as much of your money as you are daft enough to part with, don't be fooled into thinking that for airbrushing purposes, you can only use airbrushing shops, you can use any shop or supplier you want, it's your money, if you go shopping anywhere and you have a boyfriend or a friend who happens to be male, take him with you and let him ask the questions and be amazed at how differently he will be handled by the male staff, if you sound a little unsure they will use that to sell you crap you just don't need, you are not paying me anything so I can just tell you the simple truth.

This is the stuff I'm talking about here, all you have to do is make sure your statue is dust free and clean and brush this stuff on with a throw away brush, you may need two or three coats get full opacity but once you do, your statue is ready for anything you want to throw at it with no further treatment, primers or anything else, just a very light scuff with a "schuurspons" and you're off

You don't actually to buy it at the link I posted, it's actually cheaper at the groothandel I just posted the link so you can see what it is you're looking for and you'll notice it is available in white, grey or black

 

[Malky]

one little question: I was looking where I can go to buy Südwest Allgrund where I live. And the information on the internet about Südwest Allgrund tells that it will not hold on polyethyleen (PE). My statue is made of that.

Well after some investigating it seems there is nothing on earth that will stick to this plastic with any guarantee, I came across both bulldog adhesion promoter and stuff called Krylon fusion, reviews in both cases were very negative when referring to this particular plastic, basically as Mark said, if it gets knocked or kicked it will most likely chip, I still think the sudwest would work because it remains flexible even when it's dry, but would still be vulnerable to knocks due to the plastic itself, the makers of krylon fusion stated that non of their products are suitable for plastics used in marine conditions such as kayaks also made form PE plastic and objects sittings in the rain, I think you may have to accept that this stuff isn't made for painting, from what I have read this plastic is used to make garden ornaments and the painting process in that case involves heating the object at the factory and applying a special paint to it while it is almost at melting point, so it sounds like a total no go area since it's the worst plastic ever to do anything remotely decorative with.

Have you bought the statue already made? or did you mold it yourself?, it sounds to me like something not worth wasting any more time on

 

[maffie]

I have purchased it. I Will go look after the stuff you named. I have more of those statues that I had planned to make, so I Will do a test with different stuff.
Today I have scuffed the statue that I had treated with al the spraymmax stuff, and it seems to be pretty fixed on. Only by those places where it is hard to scuff it it a bit more loose. I think that I have sand it not good enough. I will place a update when I know how it holds the paint.

Thanks for al youre help and time! I really appreciate it! :timid::timid::timid:

 

[maffie]

Well after some investigating it seems there is nothing on earth that will stick to this plastic with any guarantee, I came across both bulldog adhesion promoter and stuff called Krylon fusion, reviews in both cases were very negative when referring to this particular plastic, basically as Mark said, if it gets knocked or kicked it will most likely chip, I still think the sudwest would work because it remains flexible even when it's dry, but would still be vulnerable to knocks due to the plastic itself, the makers of krylon fusion stated that non of their products are suitable for plastics used in marine conditions such as kayaks also made form PE plastic and objects sittings in the rain, I think you may have to accept that this stuff isn't made for painting, from what I have read this plastic is used to make garden ornaments and the painting process in that case involves heating the object at the factory and applying a special paint to it while it is almost at melting point, so it sounds like a total no go area since it's the worst plastic ever to do anything remotely decorative with.

Have you bought the statue already made? or did you mold it yourself?, it sounds to me like something not worth wasting any more time on

I have purchased the statues in a auction. I Will go look after the stuff you named. I have more of those statues that I had planned to make, so I Will do a test with different stuff.
Today I have scuffed the statue that I had treated with al the spraymmax stuff, and it seems to be pretty fixed on. Only by those places where it is hard to scuff it it a bit more loose. I think that I have sand it not good enough. I will place a update when I know how it holds the paint.

Thanks for al youre help and time! I really appreciate it! :timid::timid::timid:

 

[patricks]

Hi if All of above isn't working like you expected you can try to get some
Ap02 from House of kolor

"HOK AP02 ADHERETO-FOR POLYETHLENE"

I Have used the ap0, for metal like chrome and on some plastics (construction helmets) and works great and is easy to apply.

You can probably get it through lion-art or Harold's.

 

[maffie]

Hi if All of above isn't working like you expected you can try to get some
Ap02 from House of kolor

"HOK AP02 ADHERETO-FOR POLYETHLENE"

I Have used the ap0, for metal like chrome and on some plastics (construction helmets) and works great and is easy to apply.

You can probably get it through lion-art or Harold's.

Thanks for youre help! I take a look at that stuff.