I saw that Duplicolor now has their own Plastidip clone product on the market, and that unlike Plastidip, there is an aluminum color option, which should be reasonably close to GM silver. I'm thinking about using this to get the silver ground effects I want, for the princely sum of $10.

Has anyone ever dipped their car, and if so, what are the positives and negatives?

 

Positives, it's cheap.

Negatives. It looks cheap. It's hard to spray plastidip well and have it look like a quality job. Also on a spot that sees a lot of road debris (like the rockers), it will chip and peel quickly.

Worth it if you want to only spend a few bucks to change a color. Just take your time, spray thin coats, and best of luck

 

Spot on. On something down low that you don't really focus on, it might look as ok as a "10 foot paint job", but up close it won't look great.

The other point is the biggie though- it doesn't adhere like paint. With rocks, road debris, bumping it with your shoes getting in and out, etc, they'll likely get chipped up pretty quick.

If you're trying to do it cheap, why not just rattle can it? Even typical parts store cans will be more durable if you prep it right and add sufficient clear coat. One step better, you could spend more and get actual 2 part 2K paint in a spray can online. That would be as close to a real paint job as you can get in terms of looks and durability without having the right equipment.
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Because if I **** up rattle-can paint, I can't just peel it off, and I will have ruined the $1200 paint job I'm about to get.

 

Dont "****" it up then..

Looks like youre gonna have to make the decision.. Like Chibi said,

Pros; Its cheap

Cons; It looks cheap.. -And where you plan on putting it, will chip off (to the point of looking ugly) within 100 miles or so..

 

Ok, didnt know you were getting ready to spend $1200 on paint work for the skirts. The original post made it seem like you were just trying to change the color as cheaply as possible. If you're getting them painted soon anyways, why not just go ahead and get that done now then?


Another option I thought of for a cheap color change is a wrap. You could wrap the skirts for cheap and literally do any color you wanted. Long term durability would be a bit of a concern unless you over wrap it with clear, but it would last far longer than plastidip would and would look almost as good as paint.

 

Not getting the skirts painted for $1200. Getting the CAR painted for $1200. Sure, I could get the skirts painted a different color at the same time, if I had more money. I don't. Hence, the original question. (Also, why there will be no wrap.)

 

I get that. I was just confused about how rattle canning the side skirts would ruin the $1200 paint job on the entire car. Maybe if you didn't mask the car at all and got over spray on everything, but that seems pretty easily avoidable.

I guess it just seems odd to me to pay someone to paint the skirts (along with the rest of the car) and then immediately cover it / change the color somehow. Also seems odd to go through all the effort of a full paint job to make it look nice, but then throw something as crappy as plastidip on it. IMO, you're best off saving until you can afford to have them sprayed in a different color if you're already doing a full paint job anyways.


​​​​​Wrap is cheap if you install it yourself. The good 3M stuff is only like $10/ foot (60" wide). The cheap ebay stuff can be 1/2 to 1/3 of that if you don't care much about how it looks anyways and just want it as cheap as possible. Just throwing it out there as an option that won't look as bad as plastidip. I literally wouldn't even paint a model car with that crap.

 

"Only like $10/foot" is easy to say when you have the $100 to spare to do it. (I'm guesstimating 10 feet--might be more.) How many more times do I have to say "I'm unemployed, this is my daily driver, it's not a toy like it is for everyone else?"

 

On the topic of Plastidip, I know someone who plastidipped a Grand Am to two tone it. He put it on too thin to peel it off easily, but thick enough that it takes quite a bit of effort to remove. I've tried helping him remove some of it.

So, if the purpose of the plastidip is to protect parts of the car/paint from stone chips, it may hold up better than some may think.

In the case of that Grand Am, it is a greenish/teal color (factory) on the top and plastidip on the bottom. It looks good, but the plastidip has a matte like finish and a bit of a texture.