Does anyone know of a product that can be applied as paint (to plastic) and act like a permanent marker would? In a nutshell I want to paint an area with a permanent colour, without having to go through the laborious process of doing it with a Sharpie.
https://www.vinyldye.co.uk/?tracking=589744b9304f3&gclid=CjwKCAjw57b3BRBlEiwA1ImytltGZ7zAj91Gdk8Onxm73YAFBgqcsUM4nsAObQg2nsk35h4QxYakthoCAd0QAvD_BwE
that'll depend on the sort of plastic... by and large enamels (like modellers paint) will work as will most kinds of spray paint (be careful because some car body sprays have solvents that can damage some sorts of plastic)
I know from experience that lacquer thinner melts styrofoam. In fact I'm convinced that's how they got the effect of the Alien's acid blood melting through the floors of the Nostromo. Looks exactly like that.
Sorry, I should have made it clear I don't want a spray paint. I want something I can apply by brush because masking off areas I don't want painted would be too difficult.
I have ancient bezels and yellowed PC enclosures with styles that I love. It would be great to dip them into a faux brushed metal dye or compound. A shallow tray would be good to control the limit of coverage. But what to use for the medium? Sharpie turns out to be a wonderful dye for the plastic, but the application process obviously sucks. Is the ink/dye in Sharpie an alcohol base? What about mixing dry pigments and lacquer(?) or some other base? I'd be more interested in something that absorbed into the piece rather than chipped on the surface.
I used to paint small plastic objects, and I found acrylic scratches and chips off pretty easily. Oil paint would stick far better. But I don't know how well you'd be able to apply it with a brush. You'd need to experiment to find the right mix of paint with medium and thinner to reduce visible brush marks. And of course you'd need to buy some medium and thinner. It takes a little education to be able to work well with oil paints.
As @Xoic points out, that would most likely chip right off. You just said a whole bunch of stuff I don't know, but you may be on to something with the other methods.
You need to use the corect primer . There are primers for most things , including plastic . Once you have applied the primer you can use any paint you like.
You could use a primer for plastic first so that the paint could stick on it better. Beware of which primer you use though. It might cause damage in some cases.
Most modellers I know use both primer and a fixer coat. If using acrylics, be sure to thin properly and apply several coats. And don't buy self-levelling paints - they're much too think.
You could try an auto parts store; they may have a touchup paint that strikes you fancy. Those are available in a vial with a brush for touching up scratches. When it comes to painting plastic there’s never a guarantee the paint will stick. A lot of it is in the prep. I think it’s Krylon who has a spray paint they claim bonds to plastic on a molecular level. I don’t entirely buy it, but you could always spray that into a bowl or something and brush from that.
This may work, and I already have black spray paint so bonus. I should be able to get enough of a pool for what I need. Thank you.
For dissolvable plastics such as ABS and ASA (doesn't work with impure modifications), you might be able to use acetone, pigments and a natural hair brush. Dissolve some of the same type of plastics in acetone and mix in the pigments. Then use it as a paint on top of your model of the same plastic material. The acetone should then melt the surface together with the color while drying. A typical metal paint for cars without a plastic solvent would work on ABS (Lego), but not PLA (bio-degradable items), LDPE (shopping bags), PP (dishwashers, crutches)...
I 'spose I should have said exactly what plastic I'm working on. I don't know the technical term, but it's a white scratch guard from an electric guitar.
Then it's likely ABS, which can be dissolved in acetone. A broken piece of lego can then be melted down as your permanent paint in a glass jar.
I used to paint motorcycle body work for a living, made of plastic. There is a product called Bulldog which is an adhesion promoter. You can brush it on or spray it on, let it dry and then you can paint, it causes chemical reaction with the plastic so the Bulldog bonds to that then the paint or marker will bond to the Bulldog. A wrecked bike that was total, then repaired and painted, no decals all paint.
