Euro Robotron: Paint

tb lilley

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I recently acquired a European Robotron. When I bought it, I knew that the '2084' characters were missing:

150c4ee9.jpg


But after giving the cab a clean, this is what I found:

7e0239a4.jpg


81600cc1.jpg


c700d618.jpg


I don't really want to leave it looking like this, as the 2084 looks pretty rough. But I need a bit of advice about how to paint this. The cab is chipboard, with a melamine finish. So .... what paint, or combination of primer/ paint might work well on a melamine finish?
 
I am by no means an expert on stenciled cabs so I am going to keep my mouth shut, I just wanted to say that I have never seen a European paint scheme, and that sir is BADASS!
 
Damn! That looks pretty good as it is! Actually, the Euro sideart on yours is in better condition than my standard cab Robotron. I'd leave it just as it is - there's a story to tell there too!
 
If it were me, I would actually leave that as it is. It's got character!
 
The paint you want is "Lechler Syntolack HS Penn" in red.

I'd recommend masking those numbers and make sure you mix the red paint with 10% thinner.

Start with the "2" and see how you get on.




oh.
 
Thanks Kawydud - I'd aready spotted the art at that link, and if I decide to redo the numbers, then having stencils cut for the numbers might be the best way to go.

What worries me is that the sides of the cab are melamine - so it's not going to be the same as for a plywood cab - where primer would be applied to the wood, a base coat laid down on top of the primer, then another color laid on top of the base coat.

So I guess my questions are something like:

1) Can you `prime' melamine?
2) If you can't prime melamine, is there any other way of ensuring that the first coat of paint (in this case white) won't lift from the melamine when a) the stencil is removed after applying the first white coat; b) after removing the stencils when the second (red) coat is applied?

I ask as removing paint, even 30 year old paint, from the melamine has been suprisingly easy to do .... I imagine that the Euro Roby cabs were painted the same way as the US ones - i.e. using metal stencil plates rather than ones that were stuck to the cabs - so thet wouldn't have been faced with this problem.

Any advice greatly appreciated.
 
You might want to take a look at a "Bonding Primer" like XIM. XIM will adhere to ceramic tiles, glass and other 'slick' surfaces. Melamine shouldn't be a problem for it either. The 'Big Box' stores don't stock this product, you would have to purchase it in an independent paint store. I would also try experimenting with a piece of sample melamine before applying XIM to your cabinet.

Here's some info on it:
http://ximproducts.com/products_detail.asp?id=31
 
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