Decoy paint

[radke22]

I have 8+ dozen canvasback decoys that are in dire need of paint. Last year I tried Herters but that stuff chunked right off. Can anyone recommed a durable decoy paint?

[J. Browne]

The most critical step in repainting is prepping. You can have the best paint out there, but if you dont prep it right, it wont stick. Try to get the decoy as clean as possible. Get all the mud and oils off

Plastics? Foam?

You might have had a problem with the herters if they are plastics because herters is a laytex paint. The plastic will expand and contract, so you need a flexible paint. Acrylics work well and they are fairly cheap. Oils will also work. Rustoleum is my recommendation for the oils. Black and white are the only colors you need really. If you want some more detail, raw sienna and burnt sienna for the head. The siennas could just be bought at a local hobby store(acrylics) Americana paints are the cheapest($) acrylic paint that is going to stay. JoSonja and Goldens are other more pricey acrlyics.

Prepping for plastics:

Soapy bath, scrub with wire brush

make sure ALL the soap off.

Wire brush as much paint as possible

Wipe down with acetone

leave it for 5 ish minutes then lightly flash it with a torch(not too much or else the hot air will build up inside)

Foamers:

Rough up with low grit sandpaper. Get as much paint off as possible

[simcox282]

I have used parkers paints and have had good look with them.

[get-the-net]

How about the burlap covered Herters? I got lucky and picked up 8 doz at a garage sale for $2 ea, but they need some paint. What would you recommend for them? Since I have a lot of them to paint, do you think I can I buy the paint in volume somewhere? I was thinking of going to a paint store and having them match and mix up the colors for me. Any ideas on this? Do I need to brush the paint on or could I spray it? Thank you for your advice.

[outdoor ran]

get the net, nice buck. Whats the inside spread on him.

[get-the-net]

Thanks for asking. Its 24" inside. I was sure lucky last year!

[CrankinEyes]

I will use premium flat house paint for a base and then acrylics over that. Depending on what species (Divers) you could use premium house paint for the whole decoy. I would post a pic if I knew how.

[Jackpine Rob]

I grabbed a few dozen plastic decoys that were faded, paintless, some with holes and all headed for the dump. "Take 'em! Save me the trip to the dump!" Many had been sitting in the mud behind the guy's garage for a couple of years (at least). It wasn't pretty...

The kids hosed them off and used a scrub brush with some laundry detergent. Then a bit of steel wool over the "clean" ones, while I patched holes using heavy-duty epoxy.

Finally, the washed, scrubbed, brushed and patched decoys got hosed down with flat black spray paint. Two coats.

Decided they looked like ringbills.

Made some templates to facilitate speedy spraying, and made hens (mud brown body with white blotch on each side) and drakes (flat black body with white blotch on each side).

Some model paint (gloss yellow with a spot of gloss black) on each eye.

More model paint (flat white) for the white marking on beaks.

3 dozen great-looking decoys, total cost of paint around $15, couple of enjoyable evenings of painting with the kids.

[WALLEYENUTZ]

I used laytex flat house paint. Have your local hardware store mix some colors for you. I also used a small spray gun and thinned out the paint with a little water. works great! oh ya, they were herters dekes. DO NOT USE OIL BASED PAINTS!!! It will eat the styrofome. If you plan on repainting the whole decoy(as apposed to touch up) you may want to use Kilz primer on the entire body before painting.

Jon

[island guy]

get-the-net

Two dollars for burlap? You got a steal! I have a few dozen of those and they sit in the water better than anything I've used. If you want to turn a profit I'll give you $2.25/ea.

[get-the-net]

Great advice everyone. I think I'll just repaint them all. What kind of spray gun do you use? Air or airless? Since I have so many to paint, I think a sprayer would be the way to go. Also, my wife wants to spray the basement instead of rolling, so I've got her on my side.

[WALLEYENUTZ]

i use a small air brush type sprayer. But if your going to paint walls in the basement I'd go with airless.