Little Tikes Coupe Makeover

Little Tikes Coupe Makeover  - Stamp of approval!

I have been seeing lots of Little Tikes makeovers on Pinterest lately. I am a bit sceptical about the longevity of this project because of mixed reviews I have read. However, I figure that if it makes for one really good photoshoot with my son it will be money and time well spent.

Budget:

Little Tikes Car - bought off local buy/sell site for $17
Blue Krylon Fusion for Plastics Spraypaint $6
Silver Krylon Fusion for Plastics Spraypaint $6
Clearcoat Spraypaint $6
Painters tape - already had from other projects
Newpaper - free - recycled
Drop Cloth - $1 tablecloth from dollar store
T.S.P. - Leftover from another project

Total Cost: $36
Time: 3 evenings plus drying time.

Instructions:

First of all, I have not seen this specific little tikes car before. I am not sure what it is called, maybe it is an older or limited edition of the cozy coupe? I liked it though as I have always been a fan of old cars so I snagged it up, even though it was a little bit more than I would have liked to pay. 

1: I took the white part off, but left the rest of the car assembled. I washed the whole thing down with a mix of TSP and water and put it outside to dry for the day.

2: I bagged and taped off the wheels and steering wheel and painted the whole thing with the blue, even the parts I was going to paint silver. Initially I was going to use leftover silver paint from another project which was not specifically for plastic, so I planned to use the blue as a primer of sorts, but then I realized that my other silver was indoor paint, so I ended up buying silver for plastics paint anyways. If I had known that i would have painted all the silver bits first then taped the smaller parts off.

  3: I gave the entire second car a second coat of blue. The Krylon for Plastics paint needs to have the second coat either before 24 hours of after 7 days so be sure you have enought time to do the second coat in the same day or you will be waiting a while. 

4: I cut a hole in my tablecloth for the steering wheel to pop through, and taped off the wheels and steering column and gave the rims and steering wheel a little bling bling.

5L I then taped off the headlights taillights etc and painted those the sliver too, then taped off the fenders and sprayed from an angle along the bottom of the doors to give this a little bit of a gradient paint job. I really wanted the fenders to pop, and I think it worked quite well.

I really would have liked to paint the horn too, but I didn't want to risk ruining the squeaker in it, and because of the movement I am pretty sure the paint wouldn't have lasted anyways regardless of prep or number of coats.

I still have not done the clear coat on this, as I now have to wait a full 7 days for the paint to fully clear. I have read some reviews of the clear coat turning white when going over the specific for plastics paint, but also those people didn't wait the full cure time so I will let you all know how that goes next week, as well as how this paint holds up over time.

Little Tikes Makeover Before/After

Add captionLittle Tikes Makeover Before/After