Painting an old batting helmet

[alorrigan]

I've got an old plastic batting helmet. A real one, not a souvenoir one and want to paint it. It's a little scraped and chipped after years of being thrown around and looks more grey than black and I want to make it look like new. How do you suggest I go about doing this? I was thinking I would sand it, maybe clean with some alcohol and then paint it with Krylon. Will this do the trick?

[brewerjamie15]

I suggest you do not sand the helmet. This is not something you'd want to do for any plastic based material as it will leave tons of scratches, scuffs, fuzz, etc.

I would look into a deglosser of some kind to prepare the helmet and clean it.

I'd then use the Krylon spray paint and attach a pistol grip handle to the can, which will make it easier for you to obtain a controlled spray pattern.

I'd also think about the sheen you want to create for the helmet, probably a gloss and most likely no lower than semi-gloss.

[JoeHova]

If you are going to use it, I strongly suggest buying a new one. I know with motorcycle and bicycle helmets, they say that they lose effectiveness every time they hit the ground (actually, you're supposed to replace them if they ever hit the ground, but that's mostly because of the polystyrene foam) and your helmet sounds like it's hit the ground quite a bit. I would guess batting helmets are allowed to hit the ground a bit more, but still, I'm not sure they're meant to be used indefinitely. A new helmet might cost more than refinishing the old one, but the upgrade in safety would be worth it, imo.