[Cheif Crazy Wombat]

I'm wanting to start doing custom designs on paintball but I'm to hesitant because obliviously your going to breathing with this on your face and I want to know the safest type of paint to use on something such as a paintball mask, and of course this paint needs to have good durability and flexibility.

[ger]

I just did a search & came up w/ a bunch of posts on the subject... I imagine I've contributed to some of the discussions. Check those out & if they don't cover some of your questions then come back & ask away.

Here it is in a nutshell: Paint, regardless of brand/type, will flake off a mask (for the most part) - all the additives & clearcoats only delay the inevitable. Masks take a lot of abuse & are flexible, even the hard plastic ones, so any paint applied is likely to crack/peel/flake when the mask is flexed. I've painted my Profiler & the hard parts have held up well enough, the flexible parts not so much. It's okay but certainly not something I'd try to make money on... just too many issues down the road.

I don't see any reason to worry about inhaling toxins from a painted mask... unless you paint the mask while wearing it.

This post has been edited by ger: 12 October 2010 - 02:31 PM

[GUNFU]

Ya I think the issue is more from the paint cracking more than anything else. But even then it is mostly going to happen on the exterior of the mask so the risk of inhalation is low. I've painted and used many types of paint and the issue is usually for the painter and not the user of said painted item. Vapors and fumes are the number one problem then it would be sanding that is where the danger of inhalation comes. But if you have a decent face mask, latex glove and a well ventilated area there is no problem. You will still end up with a residual smell but that usually indicates that the item has not completely cured. But most of the toxicity and chemicals will evaporate once it starts drying.

If your willing to pay for good paint I think duracoat is the way to go. But if your on a budget rattle can + a duraclear will work too. I know that allot of people use rattle can just for the reason that they can change the paint job whenever they want and it's cheap.

This post has been edited by GUNFU: 12 October 2010 - 08:38 PM