Camo-painting

[Guest peejay]

Hi people.

Anyone had any sucess camo-painting plastic containers ie tupperware type of stuff?

Any suggestions as to the method and type of paint to use?

Thanks and best wishes to all for Christmas and the New Year.

 

Pat

[Guest tgsnoopy]

Hi Pat,

 

The caches I have been placing are plastic containers from Pak N Save painted green with enamel aerosol paint from Repco. The next batch I will paint both Green and Brown in camoflage style. I did have one damaged which appeared to have been a bit easier to damage than I expected, but not sure if it was due to a reaction from the paint or not. I did squeeze it into a gap in a plant at Otawa and I broke it, hence the warning on that cache. I suppose next time I should half paint one and do some comparisns between unpainted and painted to see if it does weaken them.

[Guest rediguana]

Hi guys. The ones I have done have been the Snap Lock containers from The Warehouse. I haven't noticed any degradation because of the paint to date. I have been using enamel based spray paint also and found it works very well, as long as the nozzles are keep clean per the instructions. Have gone up to four colours on a cache with a black base, with brown and green on top, and sometimes a yellow "geocache" label over the top.

 

Cheers Gav

[Guest cliffy]

Hi folks

Your best bet when painting plastic is to use an enamel based paint or an acrylic. Laquer based paints (such as automobile paints) will normally bite right into plastic and weaken it. I like to use modeling enamels such as Testor brand. They adhere well and are readily available in military colours. I like to apply 3 tone colour schemes with my airbrush......No set pattern...The more random, the better.

 

You can see an example of one here....

 

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.asp?ID=10368

 

Cheers and Merry Christmas, cliffy

[Guest cliffy]

Hi folks

Your best bet when painting plastic is to use an enamel based paint or an acrylic. Laquer based paints (such as automobile paints) will normally bite right into plastic and weaken it. I like to use modeling enamels such as Testor brand. They adhere well and are readily available in military colours. I like to apply 3 tone colour schemes with my airbrush......No set pattern...The more random, the better.

 

You can see an example of one here....

 

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.asp?ID=10368

 

Cheers and Merry Christmas, cliffy

[Guest tgsnoopy]

Testing on the plastic containers I have been using and the brand of enamel paint I've painted them with reveals that it is indeed weakening them Next generation caches (I made 15 initially & 1 replacement container, and have 2 left to place of the original batch) will possibly be a different container, I definitely will be looking for a better source of paint. I'm considering an enamel matt black undercoat, & Green and Brown matt paint over the top of that, but my painting skills are pathetic. One of my ex-workmates who lives about 100m away however is awesum with an airbrush, needless to say, I'm working on him. Still geberation 1 caches are still going to be ok out there for a few years I suspect, as only 1 of the 13 placed has been found to the best of my knowledge, lets hope none have been plundered. Cliffy, I hope mine end up looking something like the quality of yours, I suspect Gav's probably do too, but I haven't seen any of his. It's food for thought . L8rz Neill.

[Guest tgsnoopy]

Testing on the plastic containers I have been using and the brand of enamel paint I've painted them with reveals that it is indeed weakening them Next generation caches (I made 15 initially & 1 replacement container, and have 2 left to place of the original batch) will possibly be a different container, I definitely will be looking for a better source of paint. I'm considering an enamel matt black undercoat, & Green and Brown matt paint over the top of that, but my painting skills are pathetic. One of my ex-workmates who lives about 100m away however is awesum with an airbrush, needless to say, I'm working on him. Still geberation 1 caches are still going to be ok out there for a few years I suspect, as only 1 of the 13 placed has been found to the best of my knowledge, lets hope none have been plundered. Cliffy, I hope mine end up looking something like the quality of yours, I suspect Gav's probably do too, but I haven't seen any of his. It's food for thought . L8rz Neill.

[Guest klaymen]

Test pots of acrylic paint are cheap and you can buy lots of colours for only $2 each at Resene or most paint shops. As long as you coat the container with a even thick coat they should be fine.Time will tell with ours.

[Guest sbukosky]

I'm trying wrapping the container in camouflage netting. Walmart has several types that's intended to be used as a temporary hunter's blind. I cut off enough to wrap around the Rubbermaid box and it blends into the background nicely. The drawback to this is trusting the finders to rewrap it properly. Oh, they also have camouflage nylon rope. I though of that looking at the picture of the tube hanging in the tree. Nice idea for the winter!

 

------------------

Steve Bukosky N9BGH

Waukesha Wisconsin

[Guest tgsnoopy]

What exactly is Wal Mart? Never heard of them before, is it like K-Mart?

[Guest welch]

quote:

---

Originally posted by tgsnoopy:

What exactly is Wal Mart? Never heard of them before, is it like K-Mart?

---

 

LOL

ya its kinda like k-mart only bigger, some say better, and open 24-7

[Guest welch]

quote:

---

Originally posted by peejay:

Hi people.

Anyone had any sucess camo-painting plastic containers ie tupperware type of stuff?

Any suggestions as to the method and type of paint to use?

Thanks and best wishes to all for Christmas and the New Year.

 

Pat

---

yes painting caches helps hide them, as long as they make the surrounding area. of course as many have said, watch what types or plasic and paint you use, just test it on a spare container.

i would like to note that depending on the type/style of container you plan on using. if the lid is thin/flexible it will proble flex when taken off and put one and this will cause the paint on the lid to crack and peel off.....

[Guest rediguana]

quote:

---

Originally posted by tgsnoopy:

What exactly is Wal Mart?

---

 

Hehe Sam Walton (The Wal in Walmart) is only the person who introduced the warehouse shopping store format in the late 60's and has grown it immensely over the previous years. I think he passed away early 90's. He has an interesting biography entitled Made in America. The Warehouse is our best example of a store based on Walmart.

 

Cheers Gav

[Guest tgsnoopy]

rcoat. This stuff over the top of the paint job might be the bee's knees. If no-ones tried it, I might grab a can it's only $7.95 albeit a small can, but hey, someones gotta try it.

 

Still dadgum busy, and my knee is starting to look serious, it's fine till I try to go more than a few steps downhill. I'm waiting to see a specialist now, my doctor suspects I've damaged a cartilidge (I know I can't spell 4 sh*t). Have fun this weekend everyone, L8rz.

[Guest Cape Cod Cache]

Testor's 'Dull-Coat' is just that, it makes a shiny thing dull/matted. I use it on model trains to make them looked weathered and not plasticish . Try a hobby shop for flat 'military' colors. Rather pricey though. I just spray a couple irregular stripes with flat black from a hardware store, not perfect, but helps.

[+Zartimus]

I'm from Canada, my favorite paint for cammo is Humbrol(from the UK I believe). I have painted on tupperware with it. It pretty much goes on anything an dthe enamel doesn't chip if you keep it thin. I use an airbrush and 3 or 4 colors depending on the terrain. There are some great web sites on cammo patterns out there that you can take from. We get some snow up here so the last caches I made had a winter/sand pattern on one side and forest pattern on the other.

 

http://img.Groundspeak.com/cache/18486_200.jpg

 

Cheers!

[+BigNick]

Here is how I have been painting my caches. I made this pattern which I printed out A3 in B&W and laminated, then trimmed out the black areas. The container is undercoated in flat black, then each stencil is laid over the container and spray painted with matt brown, tan and green spray paint (from South City DIY). I have been pretty happy with the results.

Cheers

Nick

[Hinge Thunder]

Before i paint the tupperware containers, I will rough them up with coarse sandpaper to remove the smooth surface. I figure it will improve the paint bond. I don't use a pattern, usually start with a coat of olive drab, then, I paint on some random strokes of flat black, and reddish brown autoprimer. I will paint on geocache markings with a stencil in hunter green. This is my standard camo, but I have painted other containers in other color combos to match other environments.

 

In the GPS model of the universe, the shortest distance between two points is a straight line...through creeks, thorn bushes, horse piles, whatever....

[+BrentC & Pam]

Most Tupperware is made from a Polyethylene blend.

 

If you can scratch it, leaving a burred furrow, it's probably PE or PP. Both have a high wax content, so roughing up the surface is a good idea. You can also get a key on PVC, PE and PP by using a primer paint for galvanised metal.

[+tgsnoopy]

The combination of pinting I'm trying at the moment is a Flat Black Dulux Spraykote Quick dry enamel with stripes of Plasti-kote Camouflage Green and Brown over the top. So far the results have been good, the containers have been a lot harder to find (is this a good thing?). But as far as the containers I'm using not going brittle over time, it's still a bit early to tell, but it looks good so far. I might buy the camouflage Kahki to try as well on my next lot of containers. The camouflage aerosol paints can be bought in by Guthrie Bowron, but don't seem to be stocked, my local store got then by overnight courier, cost about $18 each, but I use a lot less thanks to the cheaper Flat Black undercoat so they should go a long way, I'm also now painting the lids as well, which I didn't before.

[+tgsnoopy]

The combination of pinting I'm trying at the moment is a Flat Black Dulux Spraykote Quick dry enamel with stripes of Plasti-kote Camouflage Green and Brown over the top. So far the results have been good, the containers have been a lot harder to find (is this a good thing?). But as far as the containers I'm using not going brittle over time, it's still a bit early to tell, but it looks good so far. I might buy the camouflage Kahki to try as well on my next lot of containers. The camouflage aerosol paints can be bought in by Guthrie Bowron, but don't seem to be stocked, my local store got then by overnight courier, cost about $18 each, but I use a lot less thanks to the cheaper Flat Black undercoat so they should go a long way, I'm also now painting the lids as well, which I didn't before.

[+ssarc]

The cache certainly look better with a camo paint-job. Some can be very hard to find which adds to the fun.

As far as container deterioration goes our biggest enemy would be sunshine, in saying that most caches are out of the sun anyway!!

There are some great paintjobs out there!!

[+ssarc]

The cache certainly look better with a camo paint-job. Some can be very hard to find which adds to the fun.

As far as container deterioration goes our biggest enemy would be sunshine, in saying that most caches are out of the sun anyway!!

There are some great paintjobs out there!!

[da_snoop]

Dooh, tis actually tgsnoopy, but I'm logged in with my administration account at the mo.

 

My cache containers initially painted with enamel paint are failing miserably.

 

The new technique of painting seems ok.

 

I'm still using the same plastic barrells available from Pak N Save or New World. The initial painting is Flat Black Dulux SprayKote, the the Camo is Plasti-kote Green and Brown Camouflage.

[+Dagg]

Krylon

 

This is the paint I use and it works GREAT!

[+canadazuuk]

The unofficial best way to paint the plastic containers is to:

 

a) sand them, or use steel wool with white camping gas (which is easier)

spray them with auto primer

c) use three colours of LOW gloss paint, preferably from a line that makes a 'camo system' paint.

d) use leaves, branches, twigs etc... to create an even greater camo... three coats is preferable

 

Of course, you should consider importing Starfrit Lock & Lock containers too, but I'llleave that to Dagg's teammate CG to plug.