Some Info About Painting With Enamel.

This has been an interesting discussion. Thanks for bringing it up and all who have contributed. I've learned a few things from it.

One thing that should be clarified is whether one is working with vinyl (flexible) or plastic (rigid). In both cases, the prep is the same, get it clean and remove oils (handle pieces with rubber gloves to keep from putting finger print oils on them.) The information that follows is what I do and have done. It works for me and, hopefully, for you, too.

I use adhesion promoter for dyes which I use on vinyl. I've used Duplicolor and SEM. IMO SEM is a better product. It's harder to find but only a little more expensive.

For plastics, I use a rattle can primer and paint. Thin coats/layers? YES. It may be tempting to go heavy, but covering bald spots is much easier than correcting sags or runs.

For metal, I may go rattle can if I can get the right hue and if the part is in a low contact/wear area. I have not been happy with putting rattle can paints on upper door areas. Sweat seems to be corrosive. The problem seems to be worse with light colors. For the most part, I prefer to use regular automotive paints with traditional prep methods on the upper door panels. If I have to do this anyway, I'll spray everything else metal that needs to match with the automotive paints.

Automotive paints have strong solvents that can warp or craze plastic. If I'm going to use automotive paint on plastic, I make sure I have a barrier coat on the plastic first. I use grey paint that is close to primer in color. I've never used automotive paints on vinyl, so I can't speculate on what might be needed to make it work.

When I'm using rattle can paints, I often use either a clear or dull top coat to prevent scratching and wear. It's not fool proof, but I get added peace of mind from the extra coverage.

FWIW: If I recall Mr. G correctly, the instrument cluster bezels were initially "vacu-formed" with a thin layer of aluminum. The black part of the cluster was painted, while the "wood grain" is actually a brown wash. He used to have a girl come in once a week and do nothing but apply the wash to instrument clusters.

I have found that anything that worked when I was painting plastic models works on instrument cluster bezels. The only issue was durability. That's why I'll use Krylon or Duplicolor instead of Testors or Pactra.