Painting metal control panel - Whats the best paint?

FullThrottle

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Painting metal control panel - Whats the best paint?

Hey gang,

I'm looking for advice and suggestions about painting a metal control panel.
I'll be painting an Asteroids control panel and would like a nice match with the factory Atari type black.
I'd like the most DURABLE semi-gloss / satin black paint I can find!
I want something that will not flake or peel over the next 50 years if nobody messes with it.
It would be really great if it was close enough match that I could blend in by the silkscreened part of the control panel which looks fine.

I have a spray gun and a place I can spray...
Nothing roll on, I am looking for the most professional type PERMANENT & DURABLE finish.

I'm personally leaning towards an automotive Acrylic Enamel single stage (no clearcoat)...

If I were painting a car I'd do a half dozen layers of clear, BUT, since I'm trying to retain the satin look on my control panel I know it limits me.

Advice? Suggestions? Help? Comments?

I want to lay the paint on this weekend but not sure what to buy.
I've had great luck painting large vans with the commercial/industrial coating white, but not sure if its a good match, if they make a semi-gloss black and don't need a gallon!! :)
 
This is copied and pasted from a thread I posted in earlier this year. The black areas of my original CPO were dinged and scratched. I masked off the colored areas and began to sand out the scratches and applied a small bit of bondo to fill in the grooves. Since there was unevenness in the texture, I used Rust-O-Leum's hammered finish, because the CP was textured. It was a great match. Then I used Appliance Epoxy to match the color closer, because the hammered finish isn't a true black. After doing all of this, I removed the tape covering the silkscreen areas. Then to match the new and old paint better, I used a gloss clear sealer from Rustoleum and held it at a distance and applied several coats. The original black in the silk screened section and the new appliance epoxy matched very well.
Original

4380694052_cab75d140d.jpg


Masked off

4441674727_6058335deb.jpg



Some of the light bondo work

4442466608_730b5a8a37.jpg


After all the paint and touch-ups.

4449945529_73ebdbc048.jpg


Another angle. You'll notice how well the two blacks match up after the clear coat was applied.

4475277064_2400b77f4d_b.jpg



While it's not years later, it still looks exactly the same. Nothing has started to peel, nothing has flaked or discolored, and the texture is still nice. Anyway, just sharing what I did.
 
Very sweet Mhalen! EXACTLY what I want to do! Where you bondo'ed on yours mine is scratched up, starting to flake off and starting to look like shit, or else I'd leave it alone.

What type of "appliance epoxy" paint did you use?

Tonight I went to Home Depot, Lowes and Walmart but didn't see anything that specifically caught my eye.

I was thinking of spraying with an air gun simply because it lays it on SOOOOO much thicker and nicer. I'm not a painting god but I do have some car painting skills and experience. I can poof can with the best of them but after you use an airgun you realize the light & heavy duty difference.

ALSO I NOTICE THERE IS "SATIN" AND "SEMI-GLOSS". Satin is around 30-40% glossy and Semi-Gloss is approx. 40-50% gloss. Which is closer to Atari panel black without any kind of clearcoat?
 
BTW, in this specific instance I am 1000 times more worried about durability than I am the wrinkle finish.

The hammered finish looks correct, looks sharp and the way 9 times out of 10, but where I'm going with this panel I need it to be a BULLETPROOF black finish that looks close colorwise.
 
Very sweet Mhalen! EXACTLY what I want to do! Where you bondo'ed on yours mine is scratched up, starting to flake off and starting to look like shit, or else I'd leave it alone.

What type of "appliance epoxy" paint did you use?

Tonight I went to Home Depot, Lowes and Walmart but didn't see anything that specifically caught my eye.

I was thinking of spraying with an air gun simply because it lays it on SOOOOO much thicker and nicer. I'm not a painting god but I do have some car painting skills and experience. I can poof can with the best of them but after you use an airgun you realize the light & heavy duty difference.

ALSO I NOTICE THERE IS "SATIN" AND "SEMI-GLOSS". Satin is around 30-40% glossy and Semi-Gloss is approx. 40-50% gloss. Which is closer to Atari panel black without any kind of clearcoat?


The appliance epoxy comes in a different colored can than the standard Rustoleum paints. It's at just about every Walmart and Lowes I come across. The clear coat is the regular glossy Rustoleum.

First I took my dremel (which you can see in the pictures) and smoothed out the rough edges left by the gouges in the metal. Then I used bondo to help smooth out some gouges. I didn't do a whole lot of sanding around the actual silk screen area- and only the areas where there was bondo work or flaking in the paint. I only sanded to the metal in a few areas, where it was needed. I masked off all the silk screen areas and then I began light coats of the hammered finish, which really looks close to the original textured powdered coat of the CP. I held the can about six inches to a foot away, and feathered the hammered finish out from the damaged areas to the good areas. After the repaired areas had an appropriate amount of texture I did a few (light) full coats of the entire area not masked. Next, I used the appliance epoxy over the entire area of the CP. It's a shade or two glossier than the original CP. Notice how I indented into the silk screen section in a few places? I figured that this would look better if the blacks didn't match that well.

After removing the tape and letting it dry I noticed there were a few ridges left by the tape. I did not sand it right away, for fear of messing up the original silk screen areas. The next step was the clear coat. The clear coat can often leaves very smooth, shiny hot spots. This didn't match the textured and slightly faded look of the original CP. So to mimic this original look, you have to hold the can almost a foot away to let the paint and air mix before hitting the CP. While you still get the occasional smooth spot, it's not really that bad. I was able to remove most of these glossy "hot spots" by doing partial coats in problem areas. I found that you can sort of remove the hot spot, by holding the can further way and make a few quick passes. It's important that you don't hold the can in one spot too long, otherwise you'll have another hot spot to deal with.

So after several full coats. I was comfortable lightly sanding away the ridges. That way the silk screen was protected by the clear coat. Anyway, this process took a day or two. The clear coat really helps to hide the differences in paint colors. I wouldn't do it without the clear coating step, as it helps to unify the finish and slightly different colored blacks. That and it'll help protect the silk screened areas in the future.

The thing is, it's hard to get 100% perfect. Mine looks really good, and feels natural too. There's still an area or two that have a hot spot, but it's no big deal. Anyway, sorry about the book, but it sounded like you still had a few questions.

Here's the exact stuff I used:

47041e17-4fc0-4ae4-9ed5-4f709d8bb2ab_400.jpg


1200213820-70467_full.jpg


And I attached the other picture below, because I couldn't find a smaller size.
 

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Sorry, reviving this old thread, but does anyone know how these were manufactured to begin with? I thought about matte powder coating mine, then screen printing the design, then using some kind of clear coat to get that interesting finish on it.

They made so many of these, I would have expected them to be much more reproducible.
 
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