Painting lexan or plexi..any suggestions,,examples?

[kjeffery]

Well I will be making a lexan overlay or maybe plexiglass and was wondering if anyone has examples of actually painting the lexan/plexi(which ever one i decide to use) and flipping it over for that high gloss look(dsame thing you do with a monitor bezel. my controls and tmolding will be blue along with my marquee, and i would think it would be cool to spray a really light mist of blue on it then finally spraying the whole thing black so when you flip its just mist blue and black. anyone done there overlay with this method. i would really like pics. also, do i just wipe it with alcohol and just spray light coats to make it stick?

[garnerb350]

Hmmmmmmm.....it might be tricky kjeffery... (for the effect you want)... I say test it on some scrap when you get time...
On my cab I just painted the backside with what black latex paint i had... just painting the pexi will look flat and uniform and glossy from the other side ( the side you want to be seen). My intent is to eventually place instruction stickers on my pexi. As for the effect of splatter.... When you said that you might just spray a light mist...it wont be enough of what effect you want. What i would do if I wanted that effect is this...( and like i said, practice on a scrap piece of anything)...get a pair of latex gloves....and spray what ever color you want on your hand...(get it good and wet)...then slosh it like you are whipping the daylights out of it...Go crazy on it...Flick , Fling, you know the deal....When you are done, let it dry...then take whatever background paint and paint over it...that MIGHT get the effect you want...another way you could try is to see if there is a way you can slightly clog the spray nozzle...The main thing is that you want to the paint to drip...but with the "whipping motion" you get the effect of high flying splatter...Go all Van Gogh on it...


Here is an example of where one guy used regular spray paint to do his bezel...I did the same but with latex instead.
http://www.arcadecab.com/MonitorBezel.htm

[bfauska]

I don't have any advice for the actual process, but maybe you can find some if you look into the world of RC Cars. I know that most of those bodies are lexan and people are always painting them in creative ways. Maybe look for a forum on them, I'm sure they are out there.

[SavannahLion]

garnerb350, what he's describing is exactly the sort of thing I used to do with some of my model rockets. It's possible to achieve the effect he wants, but he'll need to practice a bit.

Hold the can about two to three times the distance and/or move the can quickly and you'll get the "mist" look.

Hold the can little further away and start/stop the spray while you're over the work (precisely the sort of thing spray painters tell you not to do) and you'll get larger "dots" while the smaller paint particles will dry before hitting the work. This requires a quick wipe down to remove the dry bits.

Some cans allows you to depress the nozzle only part way causing the paint to sputter. Some brands have some sort of internal mechanism that minimizes this problem. Try it with your brand and see if it works.

+1 to bfauska's comment about RC cars. Some of the inverse paint jobs these guys do, I could only ever dream of.

If you invest a little bit of money in something even as simple as those "disposable" spray guns used for models, you'll get effects leaps and bounds beyond what is possible by mixing your own paints, thinners and adjusting the nozzle and air pressure. Probably more investment than you really want though.

[garnerb350]

Thanks Sanvannah...I was unsure myself from his description...Splatter, Sputter, misting...I was unsure of what direction he was wanting...I know I never used spray paint unless I was placing soild coats on something...Doing effects, I always used latex, acryillics, etc...