Thread: Spray paint..stupid question? =)

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Okay, I think at some point in time I have heard that spray paint eats through plastic???

So, based on that, here is my stupid question (or so I think) ..I want to make one of those giant PVC spiders this year, and my mother in law is going to give me her exercise ball that lives in the basement, deflated..so I was thinking (since its pink) that I would glue moss on it randomly and spraypaint it black. Will that eat the plastic of the ball you think?? Anyone every spraypainted a exercise ball?

Will be good to know when I wants to spraypaint balls white for my Jack-snowman...

I heard that only happens with foam for making tombstones. It should be ok to spray paint it. The only thing I would be worried about is that paint scraping off of the ball because it's kinda shiny and smooth plastic. I would use a good couple layers of clear coat to seal it. That's just my two cents anyways....lol. but what do I know?lol

i agree with obsessedjack...... a few coats of sealer should be all that is needed....maybe use coarse grit sandpaper to "rough" it up a lil bit to make sure the adhesive sticks to the ball b4 you glue the moss on. this will give the glue something to hold onto and not peel off.

The moment it starts to deflate a little bit and lose its form the (oil based) spray paint is gonna crack and fall off. You may be better off hand painting it with latex paints, and you're going to want one of those primers that's "for plastic" or "for slick surfaces". That way the paint can flex with the ball a little and it should be fine as long as you keep it from deflating too much.

Maybe you can use the ball as a form for papier-mâché instead.

yeah paper macheing it is a good idea.

Do those exercise balls deflate quickly?

We have several people at work that use them instead of chairs & they seem to stay inflated pretty well, but then I've no clue if they're getting our mechanic to reinflate them every so often.

Almost forgot, there's no stupid questions here. We're always glad to help & answer most questions. Just pay no attention to that corpse in the corner...it's a prop...yeah... a PROP!!

NOTHIN' TO SEE HERE MOVE ALONG NOW!!

Thanks for the answers! Dont know where I got spraypaint doesn't mix with plastic from....but glad its not true.

Krylon H20 latex spraypaint is exactly what you need. I used it to spraypaint a slick plastic shower curtain for my cousin's carnival-themed birthday. It needed to hold up to excessive wear-n-tear as kids walked on it for a musical cakewalk game. WORKED great!

Originally Posted by scarey

Thanks for the answers! Dont know where I got spraypaint doesn't mix with plastic from....but glad its not true.

Actually it just depends on what the solvent strength of the spray paint is and what the plastic is made out of and how much solids vs plasticizers are in it, etc. Normal oil based/solvent based spraypaint will melt through certain types of styrofoam and will probably melt through a regular balloon. You're hoping that the paint either doesn't affect the plastic the ball is made out of and/or that it's thick enough that the paint only softens it without melting through. Even some latex paints have strong enough solvent in them to eat through certain plastics but it's a lot less likely. I'd say an exercise ball is made of thicker/tougher plastic than a shower curtain so the H2O paint sounds like the easiest solution for you.

There has been a few Tut's going around on large PVC spiders, try links below for tips?? I believe TK421 used an excercise ball as well, that should help you!

Giant Spider pvc legs

Giant Spider Build from TK421