Spray paint for 3D printing – Primer, paint and clearcoat

To decorate and personalize 3D resin or plastic prints, it is possible to apply paints with an airbrush, a pneumatic gun, and when you do not have a compressor or tools, with aerosols.
Spray paints are solvent-based products packaged in aerosols pressurized with a propellant gas (75% of the volume).

Spraying paints allows for optimal application, thanks to atomization in the form of the use of micro droplets of the products. When spraying paints with an aerosol, you get the same result as with a gun or airbrush: the paint is projected onto the surface and the painter does not directly touch the surface, as is the case with a brush. The paint is therefore applied uniformly and perfectly, and the rendering is incomparable with an application with a brush or a paintbrush.

The different types of spray paint for 3D printing

1- Spray primers

For 3D printing, there is first of all the primer, with the adhesion primer for spray plastics, or the primer to prepare, "surface" and fill parts whose surface is not perfectly smooth.
Stardust offers a wide range of specialized primers for all types of supports that can be encountered in the field of 3D printing. In general, resin parts do not need any adhesion primer; they simply need preparation by sanding.
Parts made with 3D plastic "wire" printing should preferably be primed with the plastic primer to ensure excellent paint retention.

2 - 3D Spray Paints

When we talk about paints, there are different families of colors, starting with classic colors, which can be called opaque colors. We also call them "bases". In the field of 3D printing, they allow not only to create an opaque color, but also a background, to receive another layer of more special paint.

Special effect paints are numerous at Stardust, and they can all be applied to 3D printed parts. By "special color", we mean all the pearl colors, metallic colors, shades that change color depending on the viewing angle, and many others, such as holographic ones...
In truth, most of the special effect products in the Stardustcolors range can be applied to a 3D printed part, properly prepared and primed, of course.

3 – Spray clearcoat

The clearcoat provides a dual function, both aesthetic and protective, for the 3D printed part.
In the case of particle and pearlescent pigment paints, the clearcoat enhances the reflection of light on the mother-of-pearl.
For the 3D printing creator, both amateur and professional, there are variable finishes in terms of gloss, with the single-component or two-component matte varnish in aerosol, and the glossy clearcoats.

There are 2 types of aerosols, first of all the classic "single-component" aerosols whose product dries thanks to evaporation in the air.

Then there are aerosols that form a much more resistant and thicker film, these are the "two-component" spray paints. In terms of quality, the latter are very similar to automotive finishes, with high levels of gloss but also resistance.

Tools and Accessories for 3D printing