6

Call me late, but I just found out about this whole 'PlastiDip' thing last night, even after doing some diligent research on diy car painting a while back. It seems there's a significant following of people who paint their entire car with this stuff.

While the majority of paint jobs I've seen are okay, and nothing I'd do on the ficticious Rolls Royce in my garage, there were some that did in fact look good enough to forego a traditional paint job and go this route.

My question is, what are the pros and cons of plasti dipping a whole car?

Improve this question
4
  • Check out forteforums.com/forums/do-yourself-articles/… I've never messed with it myself though.
    – Matt Bear
    Commented Jul 29, 2014 at 18:39
  • 1
    I haven't used it either, though have heard good things about it. Duplicolor has the stuff in a can, though they don't call it "dipping" ... Their product is pretty good from reviews I've read. Also, it seems Dip Your Car has some stuff going on as well. I don't think it would stand up to the "long haul", but if you wanted to change the look of your car without the worry of paint (you can easily change it back with either product), this or something like it is the product for you.
    – Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2 ♦
    Commented Jul 29, 2014 at 21:21
  • I would personally rather have a vinyl wrap made than use plastidip.
    – Captain Kenpachi
    Commented Jul 30, 2014 at 8:04
  • Finishing of plastidip is good, so its look really nice. But, it is not long lasting.
    – tanhar020
    Commented May 23, 2018 at 13:52

4 Answers 4

Reset to default
5

I did plastidip on a lot of things and my car, so I have a little bit of experience with it. Plastidip is not an alternativ for the real paint job at all. You need a good painted car to make plastidip looks good (same color, no scratches, bright color). The problem is the very low drown of plastidip. With the white car you can do whatever you want. On the black one you need thousands of layers to see the color you want. Also the good gloss effect is very hard to get. My yellow one holds only 1 year. After the winter I got some stains and I removed all the stuff (also not so easy as you think). Car wrapping is for me the better alternativ then plastidip.

Improve this answer
1

I did a full plastic dip on my car with a pearl topcoat (clear with metal flake mixed in). I used the DipYourCar product with their spraying system. Overall it came out pretty good for my first attempt at dipping, but there are many pitfalls. It took more paint to cover than anticipated (that includes the clear), which is a big problem to have in the middle of the job. Little mistakes like drips are very difficult to fix (unlike regular paint that you can sand and correct). You have to be very careful peeling the masking tape off, like I said, mistakes are difficult to fix. As far as wear and tear, the paint is very susceptible to stains (you can't get them off) and DO NOT let gas drip on it when filling up. Finally, the Pearl Coat is showing some heavy UV wear after a year, even with proper cleaning a protecting. If I were to do it again, I would stick to just the matte look, or base-coat clear-coat only, no pearl.

Improve this answer
0

I've used the stuff as the manufacturer intended. I've watched it peel off tool handles. There's NO way it's going onto my vehicle as a finish paint job, not even my lawn mower.

Improve this answer
2
  • 1
    The coating which goes on tools is not what the OP is talking about. Please follow the links in my comment above to see the paint as it is a pretty cool product.
    – Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2 ♦
    Commented Jul 31, 2014 at 1:32
  • 1
    Ah. I SEE. So... it's INTENDED to be temporary, like an ink tattoo. When referred to by a trademarked name, one assumes that the trademarked name applies. Seems like the principle is overall the same - colored peelable plastic coatings. Further... I think my initial comment still applies, too.
    – TDHofstetter
    Commented Jul 31, 2014 at 3:25
0

Don't bother with dipping. Plastic can only last a few years under the sun's uv. real paint job last at least 10 years. No comparison.

Improve this answer

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .