Shadow Trooper Paint job- What is the best paint to use?

[ZeldaRebel8593[501st]]

Hello,

 

Future TX here, got my armor a while ago and am considering getting it painted so it has a smooth and glossy finish. I was wondering what would be the best paint to use? I've been recommended to go to an auto body shop and get some pricing on it and the cheapest I found was $500 for the whole kit. If I were to do it myself, what is recommended? I want it looking as nice a possible!

 

Thanks in advance!

Nicolle

[Darth Emphatic[CMD-DWM]]

An auto body shop job will be amazing. I did that on a bucket once. It is totally cost prohibative as you found out. Ill let someone with way more experience chime in on painting - Ive always had the worst luck

[ZeldaRebel8593[501st]]

How durable do you think the auto paint would be if scratched up? Obviously with cars the scratches can be buffed out.... I'm worried about cost but I also want this armor to be durable, Thank you for the reply!

[Darth Emphatic[CMD-DWM]]

Id say just as durable as a car paint.

[THE TROOPER[501st]]

Auto paint is awesome, but if you're going to do it yourself, make sure it is prepared properly. Bodymen have a saying, its all in the preparation. Make sure its sanded, washed thoroughly, and the use of med. temp reducer or prepsol for any oil that may have been on the bucket from handling. Then, just before you paint, we use whats called a tac rag, which is sticky. You can get from any automotive paint store. Lightly go over the surface to capture any dust, dirt etc. I honestly got a great paint job out of a rustolium rattlecan. Dont try to cover it all in one thick coat. Shadow it slowly, keeping the nozzle clean. I painted one of my lids in just 3 coats. Allow about 5 minutes in between coats to let the paint flash dry. Try not to paint it on a rainy day or the paint might fog up or "blush". If you're looking for durability, apply maybe 4 even coats. I let my lid dry 3 days before messin with it. Hope this helps sis.

[NitroSpartacus[501st]]

Do you have black armor already or are you converting white? If it's already black you could probably just polish it.

[ZeldaRebel8593[501st]]

Thank you all for responding! I am currently testing a scrap piece with rustolium to see how it turns out. My armor is black ABS but it is too far gone to just polish. It got scratched up pretty bad in shipping and there was a glue mishap on the shins early on. So far the rustolium looks pretty good. I'm gonna do a few more coats and see what happens.

[THE TROOPER[501st]]

If its not scratched too bad, just lightly sand it with a 3m scuff pad or 1500 sandpaper at any local auto body supplier.

Hope everything turns out alright.

[Krysis[501st]]

My experience with rustolium 2x (works best with plastic) is spray it with a thick even coat, let it sit for 48 to 72 hours (depending on temp, your window is between 50 and 90 degrees F. 48 for hot, 72 for cool) then re coat it. After that let it sit for a week and it will get very durable. from there you can polish it or if you are happy with the finish let it be. I am currently doing this process for a swamp scout. But the Green 2x is very moody...