Painting Heltmet in Hi-Viz?

[Naked_Duc]

Has anybody tried to paint your helmet a different color? There are only a select few helmet manufacturers that make helmets for my head shape. So my selection is limited. There is one helmet that I am thinking about getting but it doesn't come in Hi-Viz. I am thinking about getting a white one and paint it Hi-Viz. Has anybody tried and how did it turn out?

 

[ziggie]

Check you tube,I found some vids when I was thinking of it.I even thought of plastic dip,but not sure how it would work out.

 

[bduffey]

Tried it on an old helmet. A LOT of work!!!

 

[dduelin]

Helmets I've owned caution against painting. I suppose it has to do with possible softening of the shell from solvents in the paint.

 

[itlives]

Helmets I've owned caution against painting. I suppose it has to do with possible softening of the shell from solvents in the paint.

Never thought about that doubleD! Good point, even though I have painted helmets before. I never had a crash so bad that I had to check out the crash worthiness of any of them.

 

[CaptDL]

The problem is solvent fumes leeching thru and eating the styrofoam liner. No way could I paint my lid, with all its vents without overspray into them. There's waterbased paint for polycarbonate R/C car bodies. Durability is anybodies guess.

 

[Cyclerosis]

How about some reflective strips?

 

[jggassert]

Plastidip. Vids on YouTube. Can turn out decent.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[johnakay]

you'll be fine with water base paint but do not use any kind of solvent paint or lacquer .
copied off another forum..............

1/
The solvents in an oil or acrylic-based paint will slowly break down the structure of the helmet's outer shell. You'll need a water-based paint, which could take several coats to adhere. Furthermore, the propellant in a spray can can seep between the pores of the plastic, and once the temperature increases enough it can actually expand enough to stress the shell to the point of cracking. Make sure you use compressed air. If you can get an adequate water-based paint, go with a lighter colour, as the darker hues can attract toxic mold, which will breed inside the foam cushioning and can become FATAL.

2/
For waterbased paints- Wicked has very good lightfastness ratings, and has a very tough base. Sprays pretty well, too. E'Tac also has high lightfastness, but if you use the EFX, you have to be a bit more careful with it until cleared. It's designed to be re-wettable and to be used with scratching and erasing techniques, which is awesome if you use those techniques, but also can be an issue if you're not careful with it (I think the AG additive is supposed to "toughen up" the base??).
I'm not a fan of Auto Air, but it can certainly be used (I'm just scarred from using so many of it's terrible early formulas. Too many botched paint jobs will leave a bad taste in your mouth).
There is always the option of water-borne paints, like PPG Envirobase, Matrix Aqualusion, or any of the other numerous paint companies systems.

this one from ad/rider forum.

Though it sounds strange, the manufacturers say that adhesives and paint can damage helmets. Why? Because they can!

As was said already, most fiberglas helmets are safe. Thermoplastic helmets, however, are VERY susceptible to chemical damage. I wouldn't have believed this if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes.

I once received a shipment of new helmets at my fire department. These are helmets designed for life safety in all sorts of hazardous environments, tested and approved by a whole raft of official agencies mind you. We used a little orange oil...that stuff that's safe for the finest furniture finishes...to remove some residual goo from the helmets. Upon first contact with the moistened cloth, the thermoplastic helmet shell literally exploded into two pieces! Thinking it was a fluke, we repeated the experiment with exactly the same result.

Water-based paints should be safe on fiberglas helmets, as should most stickers. I did, however, once try to remove a sticker from my old Bell Star and found the epoxy gelcoat lifting with the sticker. I won't put ANY paint or stickers on a thermoplastic helmet.

 

[Naked_Duc]

Thanks for the excellent point on solvent in the paint softening the shell. I was not aware of that at all. Definitely don't want that kind of effect on the helmet. WIth that in mind, I will look into water-based paint or even plastic dip spray. I don't think I need anything super tough, like automotive paints. I think I will go with several layer of paint with a layer or 2 of polyurethane. Do you think that will work?

The specific helmet I was looking at is the AGV AX-8 DS EVO. The old AGV S4 fits me like a glove and a number of other AGVs fits me pretty well. Shoei, on the other hand, just kills my head.