Painting vinyl bust - tacky paint advice needed

[frankiej60]

Hi all,

I've just signed up in the hope that someone on here can advise me regarding painting a 1:1 scale Terminator endoskeleton skull (from the movie). The kit in question is this T800 skull vinyl model.

I originally built the model over 10 years ago, and have only just brought it down, finally, from the attic to discover that the silver/chrome paint had become tacky - it looked fine, but was coming off under contact. So, I reluctantly had to strip all of the paint off and dismantle the kit to start it over. I purchased the following paint from Amazon: Chrome Car Paint and have resprayed all of the individual Terminator components successfully. But I am now left with the nagging worry that the same thing may happen again, ie that the skull will become tacky again over time, and wanted to try and clarify this before I go ahead and start painting the details in and re-assembling it. I don't want to have to go through this again.

I've read various sites/forums regarding painting vinyl model kits, with a lot of conflicting information. Some saying primer is needed, some saying don't prime. Some saying which types of paints to use, others saying the opposite. Does anyone have a conclusive answer that can help me (and hopefully put my mind at rest before I continue with the model? And does anyone have an idea as to why the paint would become tacky after a few years (of sitting inside a glass case)?

Big thanks in advance.

Cheers, Jamie

[S5 modeller]

As far as I'm aware you need to use an automotive primer on the vinyl, as most paints won't dry and will stay tacky unless you do.

I built a 1:6 scale vinyl terminator exoskeleton, and used automotive primer, and have had no problems with the paint drying.

Matt.

[frankiej60]

Thanks Matt. Yes, I'd come to the conclusion since making this post that the primer was the key ingredient (though I should apparently be avoiding any enamel based primers, eg Plastikote). Now the question is, what is the best chrome paint, and does it a) need an undercoat of gloss black to really sell the chrome effect, and does the top layer of chrome paint need to be sealed afterwards?

I've read that the Aclad II paints are regarded as some of the best to achieve a chrome effect, but I currently don't have an airbrush kit, so spraycans will have to do me for now.

Any advice will be warmly welcomed!