Painting Canopy (plexiglass)

[apkp777]

Hey all,

I need to paint the edges of my canopy. I prefer to use rattle cans and was wondering if the chemicals in the Rustoleum (or equivalent) would cause the canopy to crack. Most of you know what alcohol does to acrylic. The active ingredients are Xylene and Acetone.

Thanks in advance for you help.

[rv7charlie]

There's rattle can paint specifically for plastic. That's what I used on my canopy. Krylon, IIRC.
http://www.google.com/search?aq=2&oq...on+for+plastic

Charlie

[flyboy1963]

Be VEWY VEWY cawefuwl .....
The surface of Plexiglas will withstand some pretty harsh solvents, but the edge will not ( search the posts for some horror stories on this).

Krylon is indeed great at sticking to plastic, because it EATS into the surface.
The FUSION line for plastic is modified somehow, but the MSDS shows all the same hot solvents, and then some!

http://www.paintdocs.com/webmsds/web...C=724504023371

You might try sealing the edge first with a good acrylic-based resin paint , like artists Liquitex, then you can topcoat with almost anything.
In any case, test first, paint later. ( $700 canopy?)
Have you considered applying vinyl 'decal' material to the areas you want to paint? Colour match may be an issue, just a thought. There are old posts on this also.

[apkp777]

Vinyl would work just fine. That's not a bad idea.

[Mel]

My RV-6 canopy has been painted for 17 years. I experimented with a multitude of different methods before painting. I tried every kind of primer known to man. Nothing worked to my satisfaction. Finally ended up painting the plexi directly with JetGlo with no primer of any kind. It still looks like new today.

[apkp777]

I want to clarify my original post.

Where I fiber glassed the leading edge of the canopy the line across is wavy. I would like to paint the FW canopy skin and up the canopy about an inch or so. The part of the canopy that I am going to paint, will a traditional primer/paint cause a reaction in the Plexiglas and cause a failure (crazing, cracks etc)?

Epoxy doesn't affect plexi at all. Maybe I could paint a layer of resin across, then top coat that instead?

Ideas?

[robertahegy]

I used Polyfiber EP 420 primer and Aerothane to paint my canopy and frame. I also painted just above the fiberglass line. Be sure to scuff the plexi up for the paint to bite into.

Roberta