Non glare paint

K

Kirk Weiskopf

New member
I was wondering if anyone knew of a clear paint that could be put over existing paint to cut down on glare. I have about 130 hand painted silo's and they are painted with a cheap acrylic flat paint. My problem is when the sun shines so do the decoys. We consistently kill birds over these decoys when its cloudy and or raining, but get skunked when the sun shines. Thanks for any input.
Kirk W.
 
hi kirk, testors dull coat will help but its not too practical for a bunch of good size sillys. pretty expensive. also, you could try krylon matte spray, not as dull as testors but cheaper and easier to find. walmart should have it. i would try "weathering" them. leave them out in the sun and weather for a while. not a quick fix but it may help. best, mark
 
I would go & talk to the guys at an automotive collision/paint shop or a collision shop supply house.
I've directed several guys to a former collision shop around here to have their shiney boats clear coated with a dulling clear.
Lou
 
As I undestand your original post, you already have a surface with a sheen that you want to dull down. I used Krylon for years, but I'm not aware that it has any sort of potential for "dulling down" anything.

Krylon matte finish is a fixative used to put a protective coat on a number of mediums (charcoal, pastels, acrylics - think flatwork on paper as the original application). Some of us used to use it to try and protect decoys that were already painted with flat colors. Problem was, if you didn't apply it carefully and flash it with a hair dryer as you went along, you ran the risk of ending up with a shiny decoy. No matter how careful you were, it always increased shine a bit. That was the trade off for protection ( a little at best ) for the paint. That was also in the day before we switched to better quality acrylic paints with a higher pigment load. These manufacturers (Goldens, Jansen) usually have a number of mediums that can be used to coat the finished decoy - if any is needed at all.

I'd take Lou's advice before spraying Krylon Matte on a flat, shiny painted surface.


 
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Likewise Bob......I would NOT recommend the Krylon. There are a couple problems, increased glare being one of them. Sometimes, with decoys, I like that to bring out the iridescence on the head. It works good for that but.............if you don't flash off the solvent with a hair drier......you may get a solvent attack and it can lift the paint right off the decoy. Yup, been there done that.

Krylon also changed their formula several years ago when the were bought out by Sherwin Williams. Once SW bought it...they changed the forumula and ruined the coating. It's junk. We then switched to Formby's Clear Coat and it was GREAT.....until Sherwin Williams bought it and changed the formula. I talked with their people and they said they changed nothing. But, I'm a chemist also (taught it for years) and when something smells different, looks different, acts different......chances are.......ITS DIFFERENT. ;)
But, that's just my humble opinion, I could be wrong (that's a quote from whats his name from TV).
Lou
 
I painted one decoy with the Krylon last night and it shines worse than before. the original paints are flat, the problem is when its sunny out the colors are really "sharp" for lack of a better description and they really stand out. The original paint is a cheap latex, we try and make the decoys for about 25 dollars a dozen paint, masonite and stakes so upgrading to a better paint is probably out of the question. Hunting here in Maryland if you don't have quality it seems like you need numbers, since my labor is free I've opted for larger numbers. I really don't have any problems until the sun comes out or the season progresses without any fresh birds. Thanks for all your input.
Kirk W.
 
Flock them! Okay probably not something you can do until it warms up again but flocking the big flat surfaces will fix your problem and off the internet or from a hobby shop the flocking shouldn't kill you.

Enjoy!
 
Hi, I had the same problem a while back when I was making paper bag goose shells. You know, the "Goose shells for $.05 each!" Yes I did it. They actually are fun to make, cheap and work well but they have one major problem. In order to waterproof them, you have to use spar varnish or some other medium. I actually just used polyester resin which made them as tough as any goose shell I have ever bought BUT they had serious glare. I painted over the polyester resin thinking this would solve the problem and it was better but there was still a lot of glare so my solution that worked very well was to scatter the light off the surface. I did this in two ways.

1) I used the Rustoleum textured spray paints in black and grey.. They are flat, and they have a built in texture that is almost like flocking. Works very well I thought. I almost considered repainting my commercial shells with it.

http://www.rustoleum.com/CBGProduct.asp?pid=31

2) Made my own textured paint. I just used anti-skid additives and mixed it in to the color I needed. It does not work quite as well as the spray on because the texture is not as big. But I bet if you look around you could find bigger anti-skid granules. Heck.. why not just make your own with sawdust or sand??

The result is that the light hits the surface of the decoy and instead of all being bounced back in the same direction, it is scattered. You get really no glare at all. I think you will be impressed.

Flocking is also an option but flocking materials are expensive to do entire shells. I have alrady done a lot of searching for black, white and grey flock. The price makes it prohibitive.

Okay I know someone is thinking.. How do I make a goose shell out of paper bags??
1)Buy cornstarch and spread it on a cookie sheet about 1/4 inch thick. Heat it in an oven at 450 degrees mixing it every 30 minutes untill it becomes a golden brown color. You have now made Dextrine at literally 1/10 the price of buying it.
2)Cut the head of a decoy shell in 1/2 so that it makes a female mold.
3)Mix dextrine with warm water at a ratio where it makes a jelly.
4)Coat the inside of the goose shell and the head with criscoe or other oil. Corn oil also works.
4)Take strips of brown paper bag 12 inches long by 2 inches wide and saturate them in the dextrine. Then line the inside of the shell with the strips. Run strips all one way, then a new layer going perpendicular. Make 4 layers. Make sure you milk all the bubbles out. Let dry for 36 =hrs.
5) For the head, do the same for each head halve, using smaller strips of paper. Make sure you milk all bubbles out. And let dry 36 hours.
6)Once the paper is dry and firm. Pop it out of the head halves and attach the halves together with short strips of dextrine soaked paper. Final product is a goose head. Pop the shell you made out of the goose shell mold. Wallah. If you got all the bubbles out you will be amazed at the detail. It will take you 2-3 before they come out looking as good as the mold. Coat both sides with polyester resin or spar varnish for a lighter shell. Goose shells for literally pennies a piece. That said, it takes a lot of time. Sorry.. rambling.
 
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I do not know what the surface was you painted on, but it should not have been real smooth to begin with. Your best option would be to rough sand the paint and repaint with a better quality flat exterior paint. Use cheap paint , you get cheap results.


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