my paint's gone crazy!

this is a general question about paints and painting, and even though i wasn't working on a fett item, i was painting helmets so i posted here. if this should be somewhere else... ok.

i got out my c6 aotc helmet, i cleaned it up and got it primered months ago. yesterday i decided i wanted to start working on it, so i took it outside with a can of krylon fusion satin black. i painted the brow strip and brought it back in to dry. here's where it gets weird, i checked on it today and the paint is still sticky. not like fresh paint sticky, more like spray adhesive that never dries sticky. there are a couple spots where i put down a little krylon fusion satin white and some parts are dry like paint should and others are sticky like the black. this is all strange to me because i was painting a scout helmet at the same time using the same colors, and while i did get a couple fish eyes, i didn't get any sticky, non-drying paint.

anyone else ever have something like that happen?

did you use the same primer for the scout helmet?

i doubt it was the same primer, the scout came pre-primed from mlc.

If both helmets have been drying in the same room at equal temperatures I would guess it has to do with the different primers ... but not really sure.

Seems to be the only reason for me so far.

Maybe if they don´t seem to dry at all you need to sand it all down again and use a new primer ...

as far as your painting progress isn´t too much yet you should think of it ...

It's been quite a while since I've used the Krylon Fusion, but I thought it was designed for use directly on plastic without any primer.
It does sound like the paint is having a reaction with whatever primer is on the helmet. If that's the case, you may have to strip it and start again.

i ended up stripping it off with acetone cuz it wouldn't sand. it would have been like trying to sand a wad of chewing gum. after i scrubbed it with the acetone i sanded it down again. now tomorrow i'm going to start the painting process over again.

What you could have done, would be to spray it with a layer of dullcote, it would have fixed your problem once the dullcote dries in about 15 minutes.

yeah ive had that happen before with a clear coat. It totally messed up my work... Some time the paint reacts with the material its being painted on screwing up all you work.. Its most likely the material.

It could also be a oil paint issue also.

I bought some of that Valspar primer. The first couple times I used it, it too seemed to stay tacky and never completely dry. After the first couple times, it now acts just fine. Had a couple times with clearcoat, where it would leave a white residue behind when it dried. When using anything in an aerosal can, I think the key is to shake it a ton before every use

so no luck on the second go either. i acetoned, washed, and wetsanded the whole bucket, then let it sit for at least 24 hours beore i touched it again. i didn't prime it this time either. sprayed the brow trim last night before bed, waited about a half hour and it was still tacky. then tried what andy said, and put a coat of clear matte finish, that didn't do the trick either when i checked on it this morning. still got sticky paint. when i get home tonight there will be another round of acetone, wash, and wetsand. but before that i'll be sure to stop at wal-mart for a different brand of paint, at least a different krylon black, something other than fusion.

Maybe your paint is just bad. I would recommend getting new paint, different paint.

yeah, i'd toss that paint can in the trash and get a new one. i just had some funky primer that just wouldn't cure, no matter what... ruined about $80 worth of silicone because of it

i'm starting to think it may be my helmet. i cleaned off the krylon black with more acetone and re-primed. i waited until that was dry then took it outside and hit the brow trim with rustoleum black this time. on my way back in i noticed there were some sticky spots on the primer. this is a completely different primer from what i had used before too. so i'm thinking, even though i washed this helmet, sanded it (a few times now) is it possible that there might be some release agent that i didn't get off and it's messing up my paint?

*edit* woot my 1000th post!

Hey just wante dto post here. Same thing happened to me brother. It IS the Krylon! They have this new Krylon Gloss Bauhaus Gold I used for my JP. Good color but it fish eyed like no tomorrow!! I then used paint remover and re did it. the Second time not so bad but still fish eyes in areas. Now I used th esam epaint on my Rubber knees and they fisheyed very little but it left it feeling really tacky. It was 2 weeks ago and it still is!! I agree that clear coating it woudl help cover the sticky ness but I do blame it on this can. Maybe I got defect....maybe not. But never had this happen to me before. Ther eis a thread on the RPF and a guy contacted Krylon and that admitte dto changing there mixture in the can to make it enviromental friendly. So they changed the way Krylon use to act. Now this color I am useing is their NEW color. So there you go. Hope that helps you out. Also if anyone else used this color what were your results? I am wondering if it is Krylon for sure or maybe just my luck on the can.
Cheers1

i'm not getting any fish eyes, and i switched from krylon to rustoleum and it did it again. it's not the entire helmet that's still tacky, some spots turned out great and other went to ****. i'm getting kinda pissed and i'm about ready to dropkick this helmet and get myself a sweet new java. it's not the paint, it's the helmet. has anyone else had this problem with a clone6 helmet?

I had the same problem when I painted the resin parts of my Fett gauntlets. Patchy dry, patchy wet/sticky paint. I have to say it was a major pain in the.....
I had never had problems with the paint I used before. After several repaints I decided it wasn't the paint but the surface I was painting. I went to a greater extreme to fix my problem, and that was to completely cover the parts in a 2 part epoxy. The items were small so no really a good solution for helmets. But once I had sealed them, I had no more issues with paint that wouldn't dry.
Here is a possible fix for you. Try an Acrylic based Primer. Most quick dry primers, I have found in spray cans are an Enamel based paint. Enamels can at times be an unforgiving paint.

i agree with fettwho.
i use an acrylic plastic primer and generally it works.
i find rusto's and krylon to thick, paint wise.
i do alot of airbrush work on helmet and car parts,
some times you just get a plastic that hates have to much paint on at one time and you have to almost dust the paint on little by little.

here's an update. i didnt' strip the paint last time it was still tacky, instead i went to work with the intentions of stripping it when i got home. by the time i got home the paint had been on the helmet for 36-48 hours and it had finally dried and all i could think was, "****, now i have to put down another light coat to fill in the giant thumb print i put in the paint when i was irritated about it still being sticky." lol

St. Nasty, I've been using the Krylon Fusion gloss black for my brooches, and haven't had any problem at all. I don't prime except to sand lightly to clear some rough areas left by the molding process. The Mold is tin cure silicone, and the brooch is the same stuff used on helmets. So Maybe try hitting a test piece with out primer and one with to see if the primer is the actual problem.