Holy hell i need help with paint?!?!?!

So the helmet is finished minus the paint. So i primer it and it dried, then i spray the metallic paint and i thought it dried... surprise! after days of drying it still seems tacky??!?! dont know why, finger prints still transfer to it and even the pattern on my jeans. what the hell did i do wrong, how do i do this right? anyone. is there another step i missed?

i had a problem with a helmet that sounds similar to that i had. darth carcinus gave me this bit of advice, sand it down again, then take 0000 steel wool to it, and after you got that done get some 90% rubbing alcohol over it. then it should take paint no problems.

and another thing, make sure that you wash the helmet real good with dish soap and water before painting as well.

ill give it a try...

Got the primer on and all looks well. question do i need to use the alcohol before every coat, or color?

Some metallic paints don't seem to take well to anything, the important thing is to ensure you use te same primer from the same manufacturer as the metallic paint.

In England a lot of potential Mercs have issues with plasticote paints because it seems to react with almost everything, from oil based paints to latex, so ensure you use the same brand when you colour your beskar

I had some problems with paint recently...are you using the same brand primer and paint? Or mixing rustoleum and krylon...if your mixing stop...they dont work well together they hate eachother because of the chemical balances in one another

he didn't say anything about needing to keep applying the alcohol. i would assume it would remove and dry any remaining oil on the piece and that you could just paint freely afterwards.

After my debacle with the jango paint i think it has something to do with mixing the two brands krylon = not my friend

I've used Walmart primer, Krylon Chrome, and then more Walmart paint on top with no issues. What's the temp been like and what time of day are you painting?

thanks for all the help. the alcohol things seemed to do the trick, ill have pics up in the next week, cause i should be done!!!

I found that some metallic paints no matter what you do will not stick to the surface like you want it too. I had the same issue with a metallic silver it lookedso shiny and nice! However it keeps rubbing off until it's dull.

Originally Posted by Patient_Zero

thanks for all the help. the alcohol things seemed to do the trick, ill have pics up in the next week, cause i should be done!!!

glad to hear it worked for you!

so i am almost done and have found that the masking tape can peel up the previous coat of paint, did i leave the tape on too long or something? i fixed the issue with a little heat from a blow dryer. heated up he tape a little before peeling the tape off, worked well, but is it a time thing with the tape? Rgh

Acrylic laquer and enamel dont mix , and with the tape you realy need to let the paint cuer toataly before aplying it, and make shore you use actual painters tape(comes in blue or green colour) not just any masking tape.
Take the time to let the paint dry totaly use good products and dont rush the paint job just because your eager to seE it finished it will cause more problems and end up taking you longer.

With the tape, the big question is, which tape are you using? White Masking tape, despite it's name is not good for masking off paint. Painters tape is what you need to use, preferably the low tack blue stuff.

You can paint quick, you just need to take care with paint brands, and coat thickness.

I had the same problem with masking tape. I got a few tips here on the forum. If you use the white masking tape put it on your shirt before applying it on the helmet, it helps to make it less sticky. I eventually bought the blue masking tape which works much better.