How to paint console shells (so they don't look monstrous?)

[masteroftheclaw]

Every once in a while I see threads here and elsewhere about people painting their consoles either one or a few neat colors or making designs/logos/general art on them. Some turn out better than others.

I've never attempted to do this before and really only ever paint on canvas, but I'd like to try my hand at painting a few extra consoles I have around but haven't the first idea where to start. I've heard people talk about sanding down and priming and whatnot... I've never handled paint in these ways before and have only used spray cans sparingly in the past. So, I'm a total noob in most ways for this project.

Basically, I'd like to have a basic underlying cover for the cases and then paint some sort of wonky design on top of that. I prefer to paint detailed things so I don't think I'd be able to use spray paints completely for that bit - unless there's easy enough ways to achieve detail with it (I certainly don't have a clue about that).

So... I guess I'm just asking for basic guidelines about how to prepare consoles for a new paint job and how might be the best way to go about painting a detailed image on a console as well. Although for a few of these I'll probably just do a solid/double color deal.

The candidates for painting are a model 1 Genesis, NES, NES Top Loader, SNES, Game Gear, PS2 and GameCube.

[Mod_Man_Extreme]

Read this thread:
http://www.racketboy.com/forum/viewtopi ... 17&t=24933

^The cardinal rules of painting consoles are there.

And to quote my post from another thread:

Its a spraypaint for plastics. Not the usual brand people recommend for this (krylon fusion) but the same idea.

What did you use for your genesis? And did you sand it beforehand?

i took gritty sandpaper and took all the paint off. then i took fine sandpaper and made it all smooth. then i hit it with 3 coats of primer and then 3 coats of spray paint for plastic. i think it might of been kryon fusion, actually. and in between each coat i took fine sandpaper to it to rough it up a bit. and now that i think about it, i might have finished it off with a few coats of clear sealer.

that is about 12 coats and all, ha. i think i did a pretty thorough job but it really isn't holding up well. for example, i accidentally banged the controller output thing-a-ma-bob into the system and it just tore a big ass chip in it. but, maybe the paint i used isn't for the job.

Not to knock you, but this is not good advice. I know I tried the same thing once and wrecked a perfectly good SNES.

Sandpaper it the WORST thing to use on plastics. You only have to rinse or clean them with a wet rag, a toothbrush, and some pipe cleaners. Sand paper ruins the plastic's finish and exposes the uneven layer underneath.

Next use Krylon fusion if you're a newbie to spray painting and slowly progress to Vinyl Dye and finally Rit Dye. Also, practice your spray painting a lot. Basically grab any broken or damaged plastic items you don't care about and have at it. Broken computer cases, dead DVD players or VCR's, anything that has a textured or smooth yet dull surface. Start spraying off to the side of the plastic and then swiftly move the can across your area and off of it before you stop spraying the paint.

Rit Rye is easy but ass hard at the same time. But if done correctly you can literally dye your lighter color plastics to a Different color while preserving all existing logos with no issue. I'm not going to go into the logistics of it now, but if done properly Rit Dye looks absolutely great.

[NSBAceAttorney]

While all of those steps are important I want to re iterate one.

*Lots of light coats, not one heavy one.*
It took me four light coats to paint my Genesis, and it turned out perfectly, but my first attempt to paint something I tried to do it in one coat and it was a big sticky mess.

[jfe2]

Do whatever this guy did.

http://www.racketboy.com/forum/viewtopi ... &sk=t&sd=a

To this day, that's still the best damn console paint job I have ever seen.

[Mod_Man_Extreme]

Do whatever this guy did.

http://www.racketboy.com/forum/viewtopi ... &sk=t&sd=a

To this day, that's still the best damn console paint job I have ever seen.

He used automotive paint.

It's not cheap and is insanely hard. Not the best thing for a first timer.

[Ziggy]

It looks cool, but it's too shiny for me. I think he did an awesome job, but wouldn't want that for myself.

I've painted a few consoles with Krylon Fusion and had them all come out awesome. Just don't go with a gloss.