Plasti-dipping the front Logo on my Model X

Preparation

I always planned on dipping the front as well as the back Tesla logo once my new white Model X would arrive. Since Tesla decided to not even have a Tesla logo on the back of the car, I only had to work on the front.

I used the official “plasti-dip” product which you can easily find online on Amazon or at any local store that sells car accessories or paints.

Covering the car

In order to prevent any overspray I covered most of the front of the car. You can find this special plastic sheet that comes with tape already attached to once side, so that you can easily just unroll it and attach it to the car.

Since the front logo is sort of “floating”, i had to also use a lot of painters tape right next to it and behind in order to prevent overspray.

Be patient, young Padawan

Most tutorials on youtube tell you to at least use 6 coats. I used 7 just to be on the safe side. So this is what you need to pay attention to:

• Wait 10 minutes between each coat
• Make sure you shake the can well before you start
• Do a test spray unto some cardboard in order to prevent drops / dots on your logo. I did this before every coat in order to prevent some partially dried plasti dip to land on my logo. And indeed at least for 2 of the coats I did get some nasti drops on the cardboard which otherwise would have landed on my logo.
• The first coat will look like crap and it is normal that it will not be black
• Don’t get impatient and put on too much paint because it will cause the plasti dip to run down the logo which will look bad and you most likely have to start all over again
• Let the whole thing dry at least for an hour once you are done

The 7 coats

Coat Nr. 1: Yes, oh fuck me it looks like crap, but don’t worry. This is normal.

Coat Nr. 2: Ok – still looks bad

Coat Nr. 3: Ok this is starting to look better. Some areas on the sides and “inside” the logo are still showing chrome.

Coat Nr. 4: Just be patient and apply one thin coat after the other. It looks “bumpy” when the paint is wet but it will get smooth once it is dry.

Coat Nr. 5: Don’t see a big difference ? Does not matter – just keep on going

Coat Nr. 6: Almost done, one more to go. The more thin coats you put on the more “uniform” the whole thing will get.

Coat Nr. 7: All done

Once you put on the last coat, make sure to let the whole thing dry for at least an hour. Then it’s ok to remove the tape. Usually when using plasti-dip on logos that are on a flat surface you then have to remove the excess paint from the inside/outside of the logo. In this particular car with the “floating” logo this was not necessary.

The final result

The matte finish of the plasti-dip looks almost exactly like the matte plastic cover of the frunk, so all in all I am very satisfied with how it turned out.