Painting duck decoys

[jb]

I have a lot of decoys that need to be painted up. They are carry-lite decoys that are in good shape but the paint is coming off. Does anyone have experience doing this? I am looking to know what kind of paint and primer you used.

Thanks, jb

[skein]

Do any of you flock them instead of just repainting? I'm thinking of flocking some of my geese decoys, but don't know whether the ducks are worth the trouble - and expense.

Skein

[gottafish]

I had that problem with carry lites and I found a flat polyerathane that after I painted the deks I sprayed them with that and the work good and the paint holds up great.

[Yogi]

JB Glad to help. Skein, I have never used flocking for either goose or duck decoys. I believe Aero Outdoors used to sell flocking for Mallard heads. I would think the mud would stick to them easier. Never hurts to try. I have had the best success by keeping my decoys clean throughout the season and painted well. I really accentuate the white on them. Make them stand out better. For the last two years I have used that foam tire cleaner on my dekes. It really cleans the nooks and crannies on the decoys and makes them look new again. They do get a little sheen to them but when applied to the flat paint, I have not had a glare problem. Just as a side note I have started using less decoys and have gravitated to Super Magnums. I hunt Sauvies alot and have found that everybody always uses about the same number of decoys. I try to give the birds something different to look at by using less. Especially later in the season. I even have made my own sillouette decoys to place on the bank. Those birds do get out of the water and loaf around and feed in the corn.

[Yogi]

I've done alot of paining on decoys and I'll tell you the worst are the carrylites. They do not hold paint worth a darn. The Flambeaus hold paint real well. You'll just have to live with the fact that you will need to repaint them every other year. Here's what I do. First clean them with soapy water and a stiff nylon brush or use stuff like Castrol Super Clean and a brush. Rinse them off good and let dry. Now scuff the surface with sandpaper. (for the carrylites you might want to spray primer on them first or another trick that I heard of was to use a spray lacquer that is not a gloss. )I use both spray cans of paint and latex house paint. Flat black, flat white, and grey primer in the spray cans and for the house paint color, take a decoy down to the hardware store and use the color charts/cards to compare with the factory paint. Remember to take a drake and a hen mallard to match the color. For pintails, I use the spray cans. (black,white,grey). Paint the main body first, then the tail section, then the breast section, then do the head and the other fine work. For white neck rings, orange and yellow bills, and other detail colors, I have had good success with the bottles of paint sold at Michaels Craft stores. They come in lots of colors and are flat. They have a nice flip top lid. Just squeese a little out on a piece of paper or cardboard and paint on with a small brush. Hope this helps.

[1pump]

I've done alot of paining on decoys and I'll tell you the worst are the carrylites. They do not hold paint worth a darn.

<font size="2" face="verdana,arial,helv">I'll second that! Carry-Lites are the worst.

Thanks for the tips, Duckman. I have some Flambeaus that need work, and I was also wondering about the best way to do it. Too expensive to buy new super mags when all they need is some paint.

[jb]

Thanks for all the help. That is exactly the information I was looking for. Time to get painting! jb

[Labsforme]

You might look into special primers used for autobody platics.This came up in another site because of the type of plastic used by Carry-lite in their goose and duck decoys.Thoroughly clean as has been mentioned and make sure all of the soap/cleaner is off and the decoys are dry.Use the primer and then paint over it as needs.Duckman is right about showing something different to the birds especially at the island.

[gotZem]

Being in the plastic industry for twenty years, and painting as my first trade, I have encountered this too. You must get the polypropylene "etched" with a cleaner like Brakeclean first. Don't spray it on the decoy- spray it heavy on a rag and wipe it with that or you will melt the plastic. Polypropylene is made to repel chemicals (like paint) and you just want to etch it a little bit. Cabela's has decoy paint and I have used the duck and the goose paints. My decoys look better that store bought ones too. Just a cheap spray canister that hooks up to my air compressor is all I used and turn the pressure way down. It's fun and lasts longer than store bought by far. Good luck!

GotZem!!