Painting Batwolf Icons?

[kujo_3]

Which paint would work best? Do I strip factory paint, or paint over?

 

[kujo_3]

looking to paint match my red victory judge.

 

[13ThirtySeven]

I have not painted Icons yet, but I say a good airbrush with the right acrylic paints work best IMHO, see my thread should I should I not. I did a pair of Gas Can S in a matte finish. I scuffed (sanded) the frame and legs prior to applying my paint. Icons unless you have access or have paint adhesion promoter a light scuffing with sandpaper and followed by alcohol wash, should make for a good surface to start with. If you have not painted plastics or do not have your own airbrush and compressor, you may want to outsource the job. Because hobby paints and tactics can result in hobby looks and results.

 

[dr.chop]

I have not painted Icons yet, but I say a good airbrush with the right acrylic paints work best IMHO, see my thread should I should I not. I did a pair of Gas Can S in a matte finish. I scuffed (sanded) the frame and legs prior to applying my paint. Icons unless you have access or have paint adhesion promoter a light scuffing with sandpaper and followed by alcohol wash, should make for a good surface to start with. If you have not painted plastics or do not have your own airbrush and compressor, you may want to outsource the job. Because hobby paints and tactics can result in hobby looks and results.

What kind of results are you looking for? Okay, Good, or Great?? That is going to determine what you use. If you are okay with okay results, use acrylics by all means...If you want good results, look for some automotive grade spray paints...If you want great results, you need an airbrush or spray gun (although a spray gun even on the small side is beyond overkill for the shear waste involved), automotive paints, and for the best durability, a 2k clearcoat. If you haven't looked into all that, to give you an idea, a compressor (a total POS) from harbor Freight is $45+/-, an airbrush (again POS from Harbor Freight) is $30-$40 +/-, airbrush hose $10+/-, 2oz of HOK (House of Kolor) paint is $5-$50, Reducer for said paint 4oz $6, Clear Coat Quart (smallest size) $30, hardener for the clear coat $40-$50 1/2 pint, and your time trying to figure it out if you haven't tackled it before. So, a set of $10-$20 icons can cost you upwards of $175 on the cheap side to paint....My equip was waaaaaaaay more than that lol.

Air Compressor $300
Iwata Airbrushes (3 of them) $500
Iwata Airbrush Hoses 3 20' $75
House Of Kolor Paint Collection $600
Specialty Paints (glow, color shift, etc) $550
Clear Coat $80
Workstation/ventilation $250
Prep Equip (various prep chemicals and so forth) $150
Total Invested $2500+++
Messed Up Glasses.....Priceless HAHA

As you can see, that is a bit of an expense to start playing around. That isn't even all of it either, that is just the core of what I have (metal flake, pearls, equip for applying those mediums), not to mention the $1500 plotter for cutting designs, $1000 computer to run it, and the software galore of graphics, logos, etc...If anyone thinks my costs are, how was it put, "all kinds of screwed up" I think....Think again. It ain't an easy pill to swallow when you "attempt" to paint a Pit Boss or even a Gascan, and wast $100-$600 learning a lesson. Trust me, you wouldn't take your car to a reputable auto body/paint shop and tell them to paint it for $500 when they tell you $3000+ (and that's cheap for some)...You get what you pay for in the end. Doctors could charge drastically less to work on patients, but how do you think they would be able to pay back all the hundreds of thousands of dollars of deferred student loans if they gave away their services?? They wouldn't, just like your local restaurant would go under selling meals at below cost pricing....just food for thought (not trying to rant, just clarifying the obvious misconception out there)

Have fun learning as it is a challenge and not impossible to overcome...There are some great people on youtube for pointers, or check out coastairbrushtv.com for instructional videos. I know some of these guys and they are beyond talented and you can't go wrong with anything they offer as advice.

 

[13ThirtySeven]

^^^ all of this is true

What really matters is your desired finished product.

 

[s3sunruh]

I kind of want to do an "artist" series of icons for my new batwolfs coming in. But do you think sanding or stripping an icon would work best? Or maybe painting over a matte icon?

 

[dr.chop]

I kind of want to do an "artist" series of icons for my new batwolfs coming in. But do you think sanding or stripping an icon would work best? Or maybe painting over a matte icon?

Sanding, no. Will introduce scratches that will need to be covered which means burying in more paint. I would suggest a light scuff with a scotch brite pad, then base them, mid coat if applicable, and clear. All depends on the end result you want.

 

[s3sunruh]

Sanding, no. Will introduce scratches that will need to be covered which means burying in more paint. I would suggest a light scuff with a scotch brite pad, then base them, mid coat if applicable, and clear. All depends on the end result you want.

Thanks! I all the sudden felt like getting artsy with Oakley. Gonna have to give it a shot for sure.