Painting plastic plants?

[Corso]

Looking to pick up some of the cheap plastic bamboo stalks from ebay. Colour seems a little 2 dimensional and I'm wondering about painting or staining them.

They are probably made of the same plastic aquarium plants are and I've not had much luck getting paint to stick

Anyone had better luck?

[Lord Kermit of Birkenhead]

Depends on the type of plastic used. Polethene - ie Airfix Soldier type plastic needs a good wash first and enamals don't always addhere too well although I've not had a problem with acrylics. Hard polsytrene  that most plastic kits (PSC for example) will take any type of paint but an undercoat helps.

[jimduncanuk]

I have some experience with plastic plants.

Wash thoroughly to remove any moulding residue.

Spray all over with acrylic matt varnish.

Basecoat in a darker colour, dry brush in a lighter colour.

Apply a generous ink wash.

Repeat all over with acrylic matt varnish.

[FierceKitty]

You might get some enduring results with indelible inks or marker pens.

[streetgang]

I have some experience with plastic plants.

Wash thoroughly to remove any moulding residue.

Spray all over with acrylic matt varnish.

Basecoat in a darker colour, dry brush in a lighter colour.

Apply a generous ink wash.

Repeat all over with acrylic matt varnish.

This is also my approach although sometimes I don't do the initial matte varnish step if I'm being lazy. The approach listed by Jim above will give good results.

[Corso]

What paint do people use I've tried citadel and Vallejo and they both seem to flake off after a while

[Big Insect]

What paint do people use I've tried citadel and Vallejo and they both seem to flake off after a while

My thinking is that it's all about the surface prep.

If you have a clean surface (molding release agent free) that will take & hold the paint (so I use a white matt spray undercoat rather than the matt varnish - but I suspect either will work just as well) the paint will stick and hold (& take a fair bit of abuse).
I use a mix of Citadel and Vallejo, and have not yet had a problem with flaking. I put a coat of gloss varnish on after painting and then a spray of matt varnish (although for tropical effect I will leave the gloss varnish).

Ultimately, a lot will ultimately depend upon the wear/abuse the foliage is likely to take.
Good luck
Mark

[steve_holmes_11]

A few years back I found some very cheap packs of cake decorations.
These included two types of palm tree.
One was very infantile in design, the other a really authentic shape.
The weakness was the gloss apple green leaves and the gloss brown trunks.

I remedied this by drybrushing on top of the base colour, no priming necessary.
This converted the trunks to something more woody, most of the leaves to the correct green.
I then added some khaki at the edge of the leaves to represent the ever-present decay.

They don't look bad, some of the original colour shows through.
A matt varnish has eliminated the unwanted shine.