Painting a plastic clock?

[flipoclock]

I have a flipclock with a plastic housing. The flipclock in itself in unsaleable since there was a large crack in the housing. The crack has been repaired at some time in the past and I have now sanded it down so you don't feel it anymore, but obviously it still shows

It's not a big problem, I'm currently using it for myself and that is fine, but since it is unsaleable as it is anyway, I was considering trying to paint it into another color.

I was thinking to lightly sanding it down and then put a coat of base paint on it from a spraycan and after that a final color, also from a spraycan.

Has anybody tried this before or has any tips/suggestions?

[Twemcopal]

Hi Robert,

Yes I have painted a wall flip clock with great success. I painted it for a friend going on three years ago now. It is a Twemco calendar clock and I painted the clock face matt black and the bezel tennis court green. It was originally the boring old (slightly sun faded) white. It came up absolutely fantastic.

Firstly do not lightly sand it. The scratches might show through and it is unnecessary.
It must be thoroughly washed of any grime and fingerprints, dust etc. I used methylated spirit.
Use a good quality plastic primer and follow the directions on the spray can to the letter. I used Dulux plastic primer from memory.
Then finally top coat it. I used Dulux for the top coat from memory too.

Worked an absolute treat.

Next time I'm visiting my friends I'll get a pic of it and upload.

Hope this helps,

Dan.

[flipoclock]

A pic would be great! Thanks for the tips.

I have very fine sanding paper (up until grade 3000). I was more thinking of sanding it because I started sanding the top already anyway since that had the crack there.

I will sand that piece up until grade 3000 to get that as smooth as possible and then start to clean it and get some paint.

Will keep you updated :-)

[TripleA]

Since it's plastic, have you considered hydro dipping it? It's not a very complex process and isn't that expensive to purchase the graphics and activator spray? Check that out.

[flipoclock]

Thanks for the tip! I knew the technique (I found that out after visiting youtube), I just didn't know it was called that!

Attached a pic of my first try (with a real parts clock of course). I will have to study it some more and also I think the paint was not enough at room temperature and perhaps the water too cold (don't know if this is possible).

It does seem like a very good technique to get the paint in all the difficult to hit areas! Will keep you posted, have plenty more parts clocks where this one came from ;-)

[TripleA]

I think you might have better success with the pre-printed graphics sheets. You can get them in solid colors or in very unique patterns. You can even have your own designs printed if you want. You just lay them on the water, spray the activator spray on the sheet, and dip your piece. Works great.

P.S. That first try actually looks kinda cool.

[flipoclock]

Thanks! I have by now also been looking at pre-printed sheets.... It's a bit more of an investment since you also need a spray can of this 'activator' stuff which is not cheap, but if it works, this might be something to use more often.

The paint on the trial run is very thick on certain spots, but yeah, it makes an otherwise somewhat boring clock look nicer!

[flipoclock]

Somehow it seems hard to find solid colors.... Most people in the business revert back to 'painting' when it comes to solid colours.

Likely because that's easier, for them? In my case, it's a piece of plastic with all kinds of nooks and crannies and I do not have special painting equipment to this would be an ideal solution. If I can't find a solid, I might go for a nice (light) woodgrain.