Camper Van
Freedom.

Cleaning & Preparation · My build kit

HDX 12-Foot by 400-Foot Painter's Plastic

My painter's-plastic purchase belongs to the masking and surface-preparation supplies around the coating stages.

By Steven Smith · Camper Van Freedom

Read my build notes ↓
HDX 12-Foot by 400-Foot Painter's Plastic

The item in my kit

I bought HDX 12-Foot by 400-Foot Painter's Plastic as part of my camper van equipment.

My painter's-plastic purchase belongs to the masking and surface-preparation supplies around the coating stages.

Where it fits my build

I taped the boundaries and covered the areas that would not be painted with plastic sheeting. I then sanded the exposed areas with an orbital sander and 60-grit abrasive, blew away the dust with a compressor, and cleaned and degreased the surfaces.

I mixed clear bedliner with white tint and sprayed the van. After it dried, I removed the masking. The tape and sheeting stage alone took around eight hours, and the finished edges still needed some touch-up.

My van with masking around the exterior areas prepared for coating.
My van with masking around the exterior areas prepared for coating.
The side of the van during the white-bedliner project.
The side of the van during the white-bedliner project.

My build notes

The most useful detail in my diary is the result, including the problems. Rust-Oleum pooled and dripped in places, and trying to repair one area with a paintbrush made it worse. I wrote that I would use a foam roller for touch-ups and preferred the more consistent finish I had obtained with RAPTOR.

Masking, preparation and application method each became a substantial part of the exterior-coating job.

Alternative products

Two alternatives to compare

The TRM Weatherall option is another twelve-foot by four-hundred-foot roll. The Trimaco drop cloth uses a nine-foot by twelve-foot sheet format for a smaller covering area.

TRM Weatherall Painter's Plastic

TRM Weatherall Painter's Plastic

This painter's-plastic roll is twelve feet wide and four hundred feet long. Its folded sheeting opens into a broad covering for painting preparation.

View on Amazon
Trimaco SuperTuff 9-by-12-Foot Drop Cloth

Trimaco SuperTuff 9-by-12-Foot Drop Cloth

This plastic drop cloth opens into a nine-foot by twelve-foot sheet. Its individual-sheet format provides a smaller covering area than a long roll of painter's plastic.

View on Amazon

Questions from my build

What took the longest before painting?

Taping the edges and covering the areas I was not painting took around eight hours.

What problem did I record with the bedliner?

The Rust-Oleum pooled and dripped in some areas, leaving an uneven finish that needed touch-up.

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