#19097
Hey all, DarkSpectre here. I recently finished my ecto goggles. I am extremely pleased on how they turned out. Now the problem is that the paint is still extremely tacky. I painted them on Thursday morning. The thing that gets me is that I used the H20 primer. It dried fine on the rubber/vinyl that the goggles are made from. Then I used the Krylon Ultra Flat Black Camo paint. The can read that it was also Krylon Fusion. So any thoughts on what I can do to either speed up the drying process or remove the tackiness? Its kinda annoying to pick them up and still get paint on your hands and I would really hate to scrap them because they look really good.

Any help would be awesome,

-DarkSpectre-
Last edited by DarkSpectre on February 26th, 2011, 5:19 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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By Spooky
#19102
Sometimes it just takes a long time for paint to set if it isn't setting on the right surface. I painted some clear tubing for my RGB pack and it took about a week to set. Temp it was painted in and thinkness of coats have a major factor too...just give it time. Don't try to force set it either then it might not ever set right.
By hotshotdraw
#19103
Thinner layers
When painting those vinyl goggle masks, sand them a little, and paint in very thin, misting layers.
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By Zack
#19106
I did primer, then the green, then Matte Clear that I had from previous use on gaffed card tricks...worked really well! I was sure it would be tacky but to this day, they have a smooth dull feel.


Norm's plans mentions for the 3rd coat a clear flat DULL COAT. What I used is in the paint aisle(duh, it's paint), I wanna say it's pretty much the same thing? American Accents Clear Top Coat protective crystal clear finish. The barcode is 7902830 MATTE CLEAR. I can't speak for everyone else but I really recommend it from my experience finishing my goggles with it! :D

-Zack
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By DarkSpectre
#19117
I appreciate the help guys. I'm going to try the dull coat. For some reason I must have skipped over that part when I was looking at Norm's plans

-DS-
By cdod22
#44685
Is it safe to paint the green welder goggles? I ask because the paint would seem to not hold very well. Anyways if anyone has had any luck with that, what kind of paint did you use, and what method did you go about?
By odzbodkinz
#68497
Hey folks...

I've been perusing this site and the many wonderful tips it has to offer, for a few weeks now. I am putting together a GB costume for Halloween, so aside from my uniform, the Ecto goggles were the first project I tackled. I am essentially using the Norm Gagnon plans for something simple (and I know it isn't scren accurate). I am adding my own personal touches, like a red LED and some other elements.

One of the first hurdles I realized I'd have to overcome, is the vinyl facemask of the goggles. Spraypaint doesn't stick really well to it, as many of you probably already know. My solution was to use Vinyl Dye Spray, that can be found in an automotive store. It is specifically designed to adhere to plastic parts like bumpers and trim. You can also try a Krylon adhesion promoter, but I found that it dried too slowly for my tastes. Vinyl Dye drys quickly, and can be sparaypainted over with garden vareity spray paint. It will be a better solution, in my opinon, than just leaving it bare.

Anyway, my apologies if this has ben contributed already. I'll post pics of my finished goggles soon.
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By Zack
#68499
Weird it has been quite common of a question lately. Not a big deal though. Most people I guess overlook Norm's plans in Step 4 say to finish with a clear flat dull coat to eliminate the "stickies" as he calls it :D The bottom right corner that is. Mine haven't peeled, flaked or been stick to this day.

Image
By odzbodkinz
#68503
Thats a remedy to a symptom, in my opinion. I read his instructions, and from my own experience, knew that the vinyl dye would be a better alternative. It has superior adhesion, and wont fleck off when scratched as spraypaint tends to do. The vinyl dye does seem to requre less in the way of covering also. It bonds better to the vinyl. When I was modding computers years ago, I used vinyl dye alot. It gave a more OEM look to the painted pieces as opposed to a gunky spraypaint job. Thats why I instantly thought of it when reading Norm's recomendations about the dull coat.

Anyway, it's usually only a few dollars more expensive than spray paint and a better product for the intended purpose.
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By Marsupial
#68507
hehe I too used to mod computers... :) maybe I know you from a previous life?
odzbodkinz wrote:It has superior adhesion, and wont fleck off when scratched as spraypaint tends to do. The vinyl dye does seem to requre less in the way of covering also. It bonds better to the vinyl.
The main difference between Vinyl Dye and Spraypaint is that... well... one is Dye, the other is paint. In that, I mean that the paint will add a colored layer over the surface, while the Dye is intended to colour the material as in... "stain it" in some way.

Plastics, vinyl, etc Dye easily with this vinyl dye, and will not chip out.

I'm personally trying to find some black vinyl dye at the moment, and all auto parts seems to be out of stock :( Unless someone has another way to colour a grey rubber hose without the black fading and chipping away?
By odzbodkinz
#68509
You're right Mars...odd thing too, my local auto shop was out of black. I ended up getting charcoal grey, which is fine, because its going to be painted over anyway...

I'll post pics of my non-screen accurate goggles this week.
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By Exoray
#68528
Marsupial wrote:Unless someone has another way to colour a grey rubber hose without the black fading and chipping away?
What kind of hose? Rit dye will stain many different rubbers if you let them soak in boiling or close to boiling temperatures...
User avatar
By Marsupial
#68555
Hey, I haven't tought of that. I can't get my hands on RIT here, but would any fabric dye work?

Its the rubber hoses used in a CPAP sleep apnea machine, my dad upgraded his and was about to throw away this long 7/8" hose...

I'll try the fabric dye tonight, won't hurt to try. How long should it remains in the hot dye water?

Thanks for the tip.
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By Marsupial
#68721
Bah it worked, the Dye did kick in, it turned from light grey to royal blue.

I'll have to find another solution, I'm thinking maybe some sharpie..?
By grapenutsrbt
#68792
I dunno why so many people have problems. Maybe depending on who makes the welding goggles its a different grade of rubber/vinyl.

I roughed up the surface with a sander, then primed a couple times, couple coats of the color (black in my case) and then a clear coat and it looks and feels great. No stickies.
By odzbodkinz
#68807
If it's sticky on the surface, then you have to wonder what kind of adhesion is going on on the other side. If covering the stickies works for you, thats great. I'm sure that roughing the surface works fine too, but all I offered was an alternative method.
By GhostGuy
#72726
I painted my goggles with olive drab camo paint. They stayed sticky for a week, but dried faster when I placed them in a window with sunlight hitting them.

The paint will scratch if you run something sharp across it, but will hold up to the sort of light handling you'd give a set of goggles with two lenses just glued on the front. You can also bend the rubber and the paint won't crack. But I did find that if I tried to apply another coat of paint after it had dried a lot, the paint wrinkled in places and I had to sand those areas and respray them.

I guess it boils down to how concerned you are about scratching. If you're not worried about a little wear and tear over time, paint is fine. If you plan to make totally accurate goggles and keep them for a long time, then maybe you might consider some kind of dye or something. But I wouldn't bother dyeing welder's goggles. Even if you could get them to be matte olive drab with dye, which I doubt.
By GhostGuy
#73379
See my post in this forum to see how the goggles look after paint. I think they came out looking great, whether you add aluminum paint scratches or not.

I cut the vent covers off my goggles, but in retrospect, I wish I hadn't, they would have looked cooler with the additional boxes on the goggles.
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By bradboss12
#94616
Marsupial wrote:Hey, I haven't tought of that. I can't get my hands on RIT here, but would any fabric dye work?

Its the rubber hoses used in a CPAP sleep apnea machine, my dad upgraded his and was about to throw away this long 7/8" hose...

I'll try the fabric dye tonight, won't hurt to try. How long should it remains in the hot dye water?

Thanks for the tip.
I'm using CPAP hoses on my Burgh packs. My wife (believe or not) came up with a brillaint, cheap solution---Electrical tape! Just do it in small sections, pull it taut, and you get the ribbing, and the matte finish, and it's waterproof and chaep! They sell different colors at Lowes $3.50 a roll (I need black and gold for mine--it's a Pittsburgh thing. Go Steelers!) I have tries differnet types of paint but it flakes off since the plastic in the CPAP hose is designed not to stick so bacteria doesn't grow in a hose hooked up to your lungs. My ins company sends me a new hose every month or so, so I have quite a few. : )

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