Hi all,

a friend of mine is building a large scale (operational) sub but he uses
also PE details (like the deck). since I know this place I decided to see if
we can learn something here.

question : does the PE require any sort of treatment to improve
the adherence of paint ?

in our case the paint will have to resist water, not sure which types of paint are
best for that...

thx !

Give your pe a white vinegar bath. It adds tooth to the pe to allow the paint to stick. You might want to do it outside though. The smell can be pretty strong.

Kenny

Ahoy Ronald,

As Kenny said a bath in vinegar will give the PE some tooth.

Also prime the model with light coats of lacquer or enamel primer.

LIGHT coats! .... as these tends to chew into the plastic. Since your
sub is intended to take to the water, a good paint again would be lacquer or
enamel based paints. Since you have created a barrier to the plastic with
the primer you can be a little more liberal in the application of the paint.
The PE is not a problem.
And as a final step an application of a water resistance lacquer to
protect it all.

The key is LIGHT coats!

Hope this helps and post some photos,

Cheers,
Joe

thanks for the replies !

white vinegar is the sort you clean your house with, right ?

btw these subs are made from polyester or epoxy,
it's another sort of hobby. have a quick look
at http://www.subcommittee.com to get the gist of it.

but anyway, many thin layers are better than a few thick ones
for sure !