Can you bake on any paint?

[jebster]

I know people use engine enamel and run it through an oven for a stronger finish but I was curious if the same was true for any paint. I have some aluminum body panels I want to paint with a very specific tamiya rattle can color. Getting a strong bond with aluminum has always been tough for me so I thought this might be an option. Is this possible or just a really bad idea?

[QuesoDelDiablo]

For painting aluminum good prep work and a good etching primer are the keys.

Wash it, scuff it, wash it again and then wipe it with isopropyl alcohol. Let it dry completely and then shoot your primer and then hit it with paint.

As for baking, that can help accelerate the cure time but I'm not sure not sure if it will increase the hardness. That would probably come down to the specifics of the paint you're using. I don't expect Tamiya rattle cans would benefit from it except from the faster cure.

[jebster]

Originally Posted by QuesoDelDiablo

For painting aluminum good prep work and a good etching primer are the keys.

Wash it, scuff it, wash it again and then wipe it with isopropyl alcohol. Let it dry completely and then shoot your primer and then hit it with paint.

As for baking, that can help accelerate the cure time but I'm not sure not sure if it will increase the hardness. That would probably come down to the specifics of the paint you're using. I don't expect Tamiya rattle cans would benefit from it except from the faster cure.

What etching primer would you recommend? Anything I can pick up at a local hardware or auto parts store?

[dr frankenstyle]

I think Walmart even has it in the automotive dept.

[CODYBOY]

Originally Posted by jebster

I know people use engine enamel and run it through an oven for a stronger finish but I was curious if the same was true for any paint. I have some aluminum body panels I want to paint with a very specific tamiya rattle can color. Getting a strong bond with aluminum has always been tough for me so I thought this might be an option. Is this possible or just a really bad idea?

I use my BBQ to bake my paint, and have tried some rc paint with pretty bad results. The engine paints have a good variety of colors. I bake at 350 for 20 minutes with engine paint. I wouldn't go over 150 on the Tamiya paint.

[jebster]

Thanks for the inputs everyone. If the baking is only buying me curing time it doesn't sound like something I'll do with the Tamiya paints. I will do the prep work with the etching primer.

[rsb5772]

Have you looked into Cerakote. Its a very durable, baked on coating.

[QuesoDelDiablo]

Originally Posted by jebster

What etching primer would you recommend? Anything I can pick up at a local hardware or auto parts store?

Rust-Oleum Automotive 12 oz. Self Etching Primer Spray Paint 249322 at The Home Depot - Mobile

You should be get this or something similar at your local hardware store.

[JatoTheRipper]

Originally Posted by rsb5772

Have you looked into Cerakote. Its a very durable, baked on coating.

Or Duracoat.

You can bake any enamel paint, but you can also ruin it with too much heat.

[kgb424]

At the automotive paint stores then sell hardeners for both paint body colors and trim and clear coats and lacquers

The ones locally, carry several different products and different brands

If you are using a gun, you add it too either as your mixing

A buddy of mine custom painted, the aluminum body work on his GSR 750, it was a old race bike

With a solid color background and Ghost Skulls and Ghost flames, that matched the color as the back ground only a lighter shades of the same color

So you have to look at a just right to see the skulls and flames or when light hits the skulls and flames it catches your attention

It came out bad ass

He did not bake the panels, he heated the area of his garage that is home made paint booth was in

And the heat helped cure the paint properly, in between adding more skulls or flames and not sure how many coats of clear he used a lot is my guess