How to paint the back of a truck that's a shed

nospamjimbo

Hi folks,
I'm lucky enough to have the back of a British Telecom truck in the back garden of a house I have just moved into. God knows how it got there. Basically it's the back of a truck, without the drivers bit or the engine, wheels or anything. A square, made of tough plastic of some sort, a room with a door. It's brilliant as a shed, secure and with lots of bench space and places to hang things, mend things, and break things.
I want to paint the outside as it's dirty old grey. A friend told me to use melamine paint as anything else would slide off. I've struggled to find any, apart from in white. I wanted to check his advice.
What do you think? Is that the right paint for the job?
Thanks,
Jim.

joecaption

You may be talking about paint made to paint melimine.

I'd just clean it first and use Sherwin Williams Duration or Super paint.
Both are made to be used to paint vinyl or aluminum siding among other things.

Brushjockey

I don't think so, because you have 2 problems to solve.
1- good grip to the surface
2- its outside

I have to admit this is a pretty unique one here on ol DIY- I think I'll let a couple of our more chemically astute contributors chime in- but a pic might help-

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nospamjimbo

Thanks very much for the comments so far. I have now attached a photo, as you can see it isnt the prettiest shed in the world, but it is really useful.
Thanks,
Jim.

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jschaben

My father used to have something similar behind his shop. Kind of an auxillary shop as he used it as a reloading shop for his guns. We just primed it with a good metal primer, rustoleum probably, and painted it with a good house paint.

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sdsester

Melamine paint might stick to it but since it is outside I would not hold my breath and melamine paint chips easily. It is relatively expensive. You should be able to get it in a rainbow of factory colors at a real paint store and some companies now carry it in tintable bases like for other paints. I haven't heard of it used much for exterior applications but it is gaining in popularity for painting over melamine and plastic laminate cabinets and so forth. It is sticky stuff and rather hard to work with.

I think a better option would be to use a plastic primer or plastic paint. I am not sure what you can get on the other side of the pond but the best choices here are from Rustoleum and Krylon.

Rustoleum makes a plastic primer that comes in rattle cans or liquid form. You can paint over it with anything. The company also makes self-priming plastic paint that comes in rattle cans but the product line has a limited number of basic colors. I have not used the Rustoleum products but the company has a good reputation and does not seem to make ridiculous product claims.



Krylon Fusion is another self-priming plastic paint (great for other surfaces too) and comes only in rattle cans but in lots of colors (not sure the following color chart is current but you get the idea). I have used it with great success on plastic garden furniture and even kids playsets that had faded. Obviously your project will take a few cans.



You will need to clean the surface thoroughly and scruff it up a bit with fine grit wet/dry paper or steel wool to improve adhesion. I would clean up the metal parts that are bleeding and spot prime them with a rust inhibiting primer. With rattle cans remember multiple thin coats rather than trying to cover in one or two is the way to go.

If you cannot get plastic paint or primer, a water-based superbonding primer followed by a couple coats of acrylic house paint may hold you for awhile.

Good luck! I think it is a rather cool looking find and can see it will make a great shed! If you think of it, post an after picture.

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sdsester

By the way, I am just guessing you are in the UK. You might want to update your profile with basic information about your location? It might help get your questions geographically specific answers.

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nospamjimbo

Thanks everyone, it's all good advice.
We have a product in the UK called hammerite, I'll either go for that, or try a plastic primer first (having cleaned and scrubbed to get a key grip)
It may be a while but I'll post up the finished product once it's done.
All the best,
Jim.