What's causing this paint reaction?

I know it's not a case, but it is related to computer modding.

So I was bored the other day and decided to paint an old mouse metallic emerald and metallic silver. It turned out fairly well I think for only a couple minutes of preparation.


Since that worked out I decided to paint another. I did the same preparation, used the same primer and same paint but of a different color. About 5 seconds after spraying the first medium coat (after the light coats) the paint transformed from glossy to a foggy, frosted look. There's no wrinkling or peeling, the finish just looks dull.


The cans were well shaken, there was an appropriate amount of time between the primer and first color coat and additional color coats. 80F, low humidity, everything exactly the same as the first.

bad paint

That would be my guess too. How old was the can of spray paint?

Also, depends on what the company used to make that color. Different dyes can react differently, I would imagine, even when used under the same atmospheric circumstances.

It could also be that the chemicals in the paint are reacting differently with different kinds of plastic.

You can either clear coat it to bring back the shine, or start with some fine sandpaper, probably 1000 and work your way up to 2000 grit to said the finish smooth. Then you can always buff it with a polishing compound and it'll be shiner than the one above. I would recommend removing the plastic from the mouse body if at all possible.

Just clear coat it. You probably want to do that anyway, regardless of the shine. Clear coat will hold up better to your hands than a base coat.

It looks to me like the surfaces on the mice are a different texture anyway. You can't easily get a glossy finish on a non smooth surface.

Did you use a plastic primer?