Right....

im wanting to paint my dash trim red, now i already have a spare one so it doesn't matter if i fuck it up, but i have no idea how to go about doing it

i have seen people talkin about wet paper? or something like that....means nothing to me and is straight over my head!

would it be better sprayed or painted...? what products would be best used for this? or is it not worth doing and just leave it as is ... is it more of a job than i think?

any helpful advice welcome

x

 

Could you not get it flocked red?

 

yer i probably could do that, i had even thought of getting some red material..similar to leather and giving that a go...putting it on myself just wasn't sure if it would then sit properly on the dash with the material wrapped around the edges of the dash trim?

i wouldn't know where to go for flocking or the costs of it either lol

x

 

is it plastic? i used those folia tec interior sprays to change a black dashboard blue. lasted a couple of years and didnt scratch off.

 

yer its black plastic! did you have to do anything to it before spraying? as i said i haven't got a clue whether ya just spray it or have to prep it in some way lol

x

 

Sounds like touch much hassle to me, i would never have the patience to do that.

 

make sure it is clean, use white sprit on it to clean it, obvessly you can use sand paper on it or it will be rough with it being plastic
should be fine with primer few coats of paint

 

iirc there was a can of cleaner then spray prep, the colour then a sealer on top. the quality of the finished job will be reflected in the amount of time/work you put into it.

 

hmmm just looked up that foliatec interior colur spray and it says:

"Foliatec Interior Colour Spray is suitable for hard plastics. Such as, door cards and heater vent surrounds. The colour spray is step 2 of the process. First you must clean the surface thoroughly and we recommend the use of Foliatec Interior Cleaner.

The foam cleaner will remove any dirt and/or grease from the surface before you apply the colour.

Then to protect your coloured finish, it's time for step 3. A clear layer of sealer. Interior Sealer Spray.

Leave several hours between applying 2-3 layers of both colour spray and sealer spray."

so according to that other than cleaning what i want to spray i need not do any other prep work?

x

 

no more prep than it says on the can, i was sceptical at first thinking it would scratch off easily on plastic but it didnt. i even tried to scrape a bit with a coin and it still didnt come off. it lasted a couple of years until i wrote the car off.all these blue parts on the doors , pillars etc were once black, they looked better in real life than in the pic...

 

to cover with material you would use either stretched vinyl as it's thin and durable or you could use alcantera, the carpet type that ICE equipment is wrapped in. however both pose the problem you stated above about refitting

to paint i would LIGHTLY rub down the piece with 320 wet n dry paper, CLEAN thoroughly to degrease, apply dust coats of primer till fully covered, leave overnight preferrably 2, rub the primer with 800 wet n dry until smooth using water, dry, then apply the top coat again with dust coats to get an even finish, apply 2 - 3 coats, leave to harden overnight then apply the clear coat in even dust coats and build up about 3 layers. leave overnight(atleast) but still might be soft. you can put back on the car, after a week the top coat should now be solid and can be polished up the look like glass or just leave as is if preferred

sounds a lot of work i know but i do this everyday and when done properly looks excellent and lasts

i hope this helps

 

thanks for the time you took to write that all out!

You say you do it every day is that as a professional sprayer/painter? do you do work like this? if so how much would it cost to do?

x

 

Their is a couple of places who do the Flocking, for prices around Ł30-50.

Some users on here mentioned a company who does it but i've forgotton the name

 

i'm an airbrush artist as my username suggests lol

i do this method on all the pieces that i airbrush as a base coat, your about 90 mile away from me but any local bodyshop will do this as it's an everyday process

 

should you rub up the final coat of clear laquer with a really fine wet and dry to get it really smooth?

 

see like fuzzy just mentioned "wet & dry" .... how can sanding on your paint work make it smoother? Ive never seen this stuff nor used it (kinda obvious!) lol i dont get how it works lmfao

x

 

its a very smooth sandpaper, like the emeryboards youll use on your fingernails. it works better when wet with water then you usually buff it up with a rubbing compound.when your using wet and dry its all in the feeling. you can feel the difference as you sand it just enough to smooth over the surface roughness without going through the layer of paint.