Recommendations for Paint?

Jordan Scott Price

Jordan Scott Price

Veteran
So my rig is coming together. The cage, rails, handles, camera mount, and LCDVF are finished.

I did a lot of searching on this forum to see what people have been using to paint their rigs. Obviously, the professional look is hard black, so I'm looking for good black paint. But, I also need a good vivid color that is equally tough, perhaps a light blue or green.

My intent is to paint the entire rig black and then paint small components - like the rail clamps, an aesthetic piece on my DIY LCDVF, etc. - that secondary blue or green. It's all just to make it look professional and be tough enough to withstand days of shooting.

I see epoxy is a popular but expensive choice. Some have mentioned High Heat, Grill paint, Engine paint, and others from the Home Depot.

So, what do you guys recommend? Anyone have experience with certain paints or suggestions?
 
jscottprice,

though I'm not so thoroughly an expert, I think a lot of people in here can chime in with more accurate replies if you itemize the different materials you used in your rig, different materials have different adhering qualities to paint.

Ex: aluminum, stainless steel, galvanized, plastics, pvc, etc.


Ted
 
Ah, yea, I kinda left out a key ingredient there :D

I'm using aluminum, copper, zinc alloys, and some plastic.

99% of my rig is metal. Very few things are plastic.

Sorry 'bout that!
 
Rust-Oleum They make it in different colors and they are not too expensive it's a spray paint they make flat black which works real nice as well as other colors.

You can find it at any wal-mart and they cost roughly around five bucks a can give or take a few bucks.
 
Killerwill36 said:
Rust-Oleum They make it in different colors and they are not too expensive it's a spray paint they make flat black which works real nice as well as other colors.

You can find it at any wal-mart and they cost roughly around five bucks a can give or take a few bucks.
Click to expand...

Ah, yes. I believe I saw this at The Home Depot, too.

Sounds great :)
 
I've always had great results with Rust-Oleum Professional High-Quality Enamel spray paint, even on unsanded straight aluminum, works best if you mill the aluminum or sand it and paint before it forms a oxide layer, you get a smaller colour selection with the professional paint and it is a little more expensive but its worth it. Make sure it goes on very thin coats and use a respirator its very nasty.

Most camera parts are dyed in a process called anodizing, you may just wish to look for a shop that offers those services, if you can't find one in your area search for powder coating shops and call to find out if they offer electroplating services or ask if they can recommend a place.
 
Everything I make is painted black, so I don't have to worry about colors.

I use spray on truck bed liner. It is textured, very tough, adheres to everything after doing a little prep, and looks darn good.

If you want the very best paint job with colors or patterns, DuraCoat. It's expensive, hard to do, has to be baked on or allowed to air cure for a month...but it is worth it on the best rigs.
http://www.duracoat-firearm-finishes.com/
 
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For the aluminum, anodizing or powder coating are really the only ways to get something that's going to stick in the long term. Most normals paints will not adhere to aluminum properly and will begin to chip and/or peel eventually.

There is also an aluminum etch that is supposed to etch the surface before painting, but I don't have any experience with it since I have my own powdercoating set up.
 
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