Painting a Yellowing TK?

[joebee[TK]]

Hi all,

 

I’ve got some 10 year old RS armor that truthfully is still great.  I don’t see a reason to replace it except for yellowing.

 

I’ve done the other methods already - hydrogen peroxide formulas and all.  The sad truth is that these are temporary fixes and often the armor return to yellow faster and faster each time.  I think the only permanent solution is painting the entire armor gloss white and redoing all the details.

 

So…is there anyone that’s done this?  And if so was here a particular paint or process that has looked pretty great?  

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Many of the FOTK and ROTK are painted, just means you have to be a little more careful wearing and packing, I have soft pouches for all the armor pieces. Also try not to rub areas while wearing, like forearms on belt.

 

Make sure you prep the surface so the paint has something to grip too, warm soapy water and wet and dry sandpaper, 400 grit, some prefer to use finer.

 

Here's the paint code for FOTK

 

 

Personally I used a basic white from automotive store, acrylic as it dries quicker and can be sanded polished, I find enamel paints a little soft and can take a while to dry. The paint I used also matched my helmet well.

 

Some use Rustoleum white gloss, other Krylon white gloss 

 

 

 

[Nairy[Staff]]

Whilst wet sanding as the prep for painting, you can also pause there for a moment to see if enough white comes back by the wet sanding alone - and if it does, skip the painting if you feel like it's enough!

[T-Jay[TK]]

On 10/27/2025 at 10:24 AM, Nairy said:

Whilst wet sanding as the prep for painting, you can also pause there for a moment to see if enough white comes back by the wet sanding alone - and if it does, skip the painting if you feel like it's enough!

Wet sanding the gloss ABS will turn it into matte white. Did you leave yours like that? If not, what did you do to bring back some gloss?

And: was sanding the ABS a final solution or did you have to redo it ? (in other words: does the yellow come back faster, like with the RetrObright procedure?)

[Nairy[Staff]]

1 hour ago, T-Jay said:

Wet sanding the gloss ABS will turn it into matte white. Did you leave yours like that? If not, what did you do to bring back some gloss?

And: was sanding the ABS a final solution or did you have to redo it ? (in other words: does the yellow come back faster, like with the RetrObright procedure?)

In some areas I have gotten some shine back by "sanding" with a sanding stick that has 0 grit, so basically you "rub" the shine back in, with friction! But Other than that I was just giving some tips, haven't had to do a whole armor myself!