Painting Plastic HELP

[Mattitude v1]

I'm painting the plastic headlight housing to match my car and am having issues with the paint. I cleaned the plastic piece, primed it, then painted it with auto spray. For some reason, everytime I paint it, it goes on wet red, then dries in some areas a paler red color. This has happened to me before when painting plastic. I painted a plastic piece black once and it wouldn't stay black. It would quickly fade to a lighter tone in some sections. What could this mean? Am I putting too much paint on at once? I don't think I am, I'm using several thin coats. Could it be something in the air, no idea here. Help appreciated.

 

[GeneralChaos]

well in general colors dry a lighter color then they are wet, BUT if you said your black was doing it to (I mean it will a little but it shouldnt be like a grey) try getting a darker color primer, black primer even.

im no expert but thats a couple things I know that could be it, im sure theres a million factors though.

 

[xBOOSTx]

what kind of paint are u using??? I painted mine black & used Krylon Fusion and it worked fine... make sure you use light coats and allow to semi dry between sprays and even coats...

 

[Mattitude v1]

I never sanded the original glossy black finish. Maybe the paint wouldn't stick to it... I'm going to sand down everything, then re-prime it, then paint it. I'm using Dupli-Color auto paint. I've used this many times before w/ no probs. I'll see if the sanding helps.

 

[Thomas91169]

and do a very light 1st coat, so the next coats have something to adhere to. we tried painting the trim inside my buddies crx yellow, and it would just run off like water on waxed glass. so we sanded the shizzit out of it and did a very light 1st coat, and then dod a little 2nd coat, put it in front of a fan for about 20 minutes, then applied the last coat and turned out smooth. the sanding prolly helped too.

 

[GeneralChaos]

yea sanding is definately a must, I figured you were doing that already. Even if you use fusion paint or whatever that crap is ment for platic you still need to sand the hell out of it.

 

[Mattitude v1]

Still sanding.... Will post pics when complete.

 

[spooner_dee]

i went to an technical training school for auto body refinishing and repair, and when painting you need to sand, prime, sand, paint, wet sand, then clear. or buy a paint that has clear in it, that will give u a glossy finish and keep it looking brighter, less fade.

 

[Mattitude v1]

Just noticed the primer can says do not use in high humidity. The humidity here has been around 90% and it won't f-ing go down!