Painting water butts

[mothhawk]

I came across this image and thought it was a fabulous idea. I would love to turn my boring black water butt into something bright like this. ( Flowers I could manage, the peacock quite definitely not!)



I couldn't find anywhere that said what paint to use, so does anyone know what would be best?

[AllInContainers]

I'd go for acrylic paints. Won't damage plastic, easy to apply, watersoluble when wet for easy brush cleaning, and waterproof when dry.

One idea that might work for the artistically challenged is paint it brown, then seam and grain so it looks like a wooden barrel - add a couple of "hoops" and job done

[mothhawk]

Are acrylics flexible enough to not crack and flake off? That's my main concern. I wouldn't want to spend hours painting my butt (if you know what I mean) to have it all flake off after a week or two.

[AllInContainers]

Good question! Gut feeling is that it'll be no less flexible than other paints - but I don't know for certain. To be honest I'm not sure about the cracking either, but a quick wipe down with a bit of wet and dry before painting to key the surface might help prevent flaking

[Potstubsdustbins]

You can get an aerosol of some stuff used by the motor trade. Its a clear treatment they use on plastics to make the paint stick. I use it for modelling work (NO VC not that kind of modelling). I will get the details tomorrow.

Potty

[veggiechicken]

Don't worry Potty, your penchant for modelling in your shed is safe with me

[Potstubsdustbins]

Thank goodness wouldn't want the world to know what I get up to in there. Still I was thoughtful of my neighbours I had it made without windows.

Potty

[Potstubsdustbins]

Mine is U-Pol Plast X, Plastic adhesion promoter 2.

I obtained mine from a automotive spray shop suppliers. Wasn't cheap but I have had this can some 6 years and there is still plenty of use left in it.

Every time I use a plastic type hull for one of my boats it gets a single coat of this followed by acrylic paint as required. Some of my large racing yachts are 4ft long so it gets some use. The first model I used it on has only ever had to have the paint work touched up due to collisions caused by my bad handling.

Potty

[ancee]

What about normal gloss paint? If you think about people who paint their house numbers on their bins which are out in all weathers, they seem to last for years before they need repainting. Lovely idea by the way