R34 Plastic Altia Kit Restoration Questions

[LjB123]

Hey all. Restoring a plastic Altia body kit ive got and spraying it white to match my car, and had a few questions

So I have been pulling the mesh grills off, ready for spray painting, and was going to re-coat the grills in Black. The grills are metal, not plastic, as some spots the coating has lifted and i can see theyre metal. It seems the coating on them is some sort of thick rubberised coating with a smooth finish. It’s definitely much thicker than powder coat and has a different texture. Has anyone stripped this sort of part back and re-coated it? What did you use to strip it back and what coating did you go with afterwards? I was going to try and blast it, but not sure if that’s the best option for this kind of coating

Also on the black plastic “SKYLINE” section at the bottom, it’s obviously just raw black plastic, unpainted. Unfortunately there is a small scuff on it, what can i do to get that looking nice and remove the scuff?

 

I also have a dent in the rear bar, seems heat has deformed it, i didnt want to just sand it back as the dent may be too deep and cause the plastic to be too thin in that area, how can I shape it back ready to light sand and maybe a little high fill?

Lastly, on the rear bar are some “grill” checkered plastic feature bits that are unpainted, and have faded to grey. Whats the best way to restore them to a nice black?

 

thanks heaps in advance!

[GTSBoy]

13 minutes ago, LjB123 said:

not sure if that’s the best option for this kind of coatin

Try paint stripper.

14 minutes ago, LjB123 said:

small scuff on it, what can i do to get that looking nice and remove the scuff?

Body filler - assuming you're going to paint that part. If not....then I don;t know what to tell you.

15 minutes ago, LjB123 said:

how can I shape it back ready to light sand and maybe a little high fill?

Try heating it with a hot air gun (gently) and pushing it back from the inside. You may be able to massage it until it is really good, or you may have to stop and then add some filler.

16 minutes ago, LjB123 said:

Whats the best way to restore them to a nice black?

Satin black spray paint. Even just the fiddly bits stuff is pretty good, but google around for people's reccos on what spray paint they swear by.

[LjB123]

17 minutes ago, GTSBoy said:

Try paint stripper

Any idea what coating would be best to use to paint them again? 

17 minutes ago, GTSBoy said:

Body filler - assuming you're going to paint that part. If not....then I don;t know what to tell you

unfortunately didnt want to paint it, as it is left raw from factory. Might have to just have it masked and sprayed matt black separate to the rest. Might get the whole bit sprayed white, sand back the flat faces and mask up the letters, and paint that bit black to have white "SKYLINE" writing

Thanks for your help man

[GTSBoy]

1 hour ago, LjB123 said:

Any idea what coating would be best to use to paint them again? 

Just satin black (or gloss if you prefer) spray paint. Rustoleum, or the other self-priming paints are pretty good for this sort of thing. Just light coats until you're happy.

1 hour ago, LjB123 said:

Might get the whole bit sprayed white, sand back the flat faces and mask up the letters, and paint that bit black to have white "SKYLINE" writing

That will probably look like arse. Less is more. Think about matte and satin black combo (your choice of letters or background being one or the other).

[LjB123]

8 minutes ago, GTSBoy said:

Just satin black (or gloss if you prefer) spray paint. Rustoleum, or the other self-priming paints are pretty good for this sort of thing. Just light coats until you're happy.

That will probably look like arse. Less is more. Think about matte and satin black combo (your choice of letters or background being one or the other).

Or i just thought i might be able to just have that masked when they respray the bumper, leave it black plastic, sand and fill the indent with plastic filler, then raptor coat that little bit with the letters masked, then it will keep the rough lip with smooth letters that it has going on now and all the dents and deep scratches will be gone, and wont look bad im sure

[PranK]

21 hours ago, GTSBoy said:

Try heating it with a hot air gun (gently) and pushing it back from the inside. You may be able to massage it until it is really good, or you may have to stop and then add some filler.

This. Heat and push. Use something blunt and wrap the end in a towel so you don't get any sharp high spots. Its pretty easy to get them back to a relatively good looking bar using heat. Just don't melt it.