Hi all, Well im thinking of spray painting my current speakers. In my house i dont have any primer, but i do have sand paper and a can of black spray Could someone please tell me quickly, what i will have to do step by step. thanks, cool_dude p.s: here is the speaker
I've used a good spray paint on lots of plastic, so the vinyl dye thing isn't exactly a rule of thumb. Dismantle the thing and so you're left with just the plastic case. Take a good sandpaper, around 400 grit, and rough all the outside plastic up a bit (using circular motions ). Paint in very light layers, im talking like 8 or 10 times to get a consitent coat, that light. Do a few more layers once it's consitantly covered, just for safety sake. Coat it in an acrylic clearcoat, glossy or flat depending on your preference, and let it dry for the amount of time it says on the can (usually around 24 hours, but a good judge is when you put it right up to your nose, you can't smell the paint ) Re-assemble, and you're good to go!
i would go with a good vinal dye, its much easier and looks great. i did my 5.1 altec lansing with flat black and they look sweeet, like they came like this. all u need to do is take them apart and clean them, then use the vinal dye.the stuff dries quick too so you dont have to worry about bugs and stuff.
vinyl die is simply a kinda spray paint for plastics, rather than actually paint it, it dyes it, therefore the colour doesn't dissapear so easily with ware and tare, its great for stuff like mice, keyboards etc but anything plastic you get good results with. I used it on my keyboard, lots of small coats, you can get it in Halfords called "Flexible Vinyl Paint", good stuff
Yeah, vinyl dye is just like spray paint, except that it "soaks" into the pores of the plastic and sort of "becomes one" with it. The upshot is that you don't need any primer (although make sure you clean the plastic parts thoroughly), and it should only take about three coats to get good, solid coverage. Vinyl dye has an added advantage: most of the good ones I've used tend to self-level small drips and pinholes, which makes painting go really fast (no sanding between coats.) You can paint plastic using regular spray paint and without primer, but I don't recommend it. It'll look okay, but it won't wear like vinyl dye and it can scratch off really easily. Puk mentioned Halford's, which I've never used, but it's probably good stuff. I'd recommend SEM's ColorCoat, which is what I always use. It can be a bit hard to find, but any store that specializes in automotive paint and supply should have it. It's a bit pricey though (I generally pay about $8 USD for a can, but it builds up pretty fast.) The only stuff I can tell you to absolutely stay away from is the Krylon Fusion! It's total crap, and half of it dribbles out while you're spraying. It doesn't cover like any other true vinyl or plastic dye I've ever used, and I think that it's probably just regular Krylon spray paint in a different can. At half the price of most other vinyl/plastic dyes, it'll be tempting, but it's not worth it. I'll never use it again, and now I've got to strip and repaint my entire monitor (with SEM, as I should've done in the first place.) So I'd recommend either getting a good vinyl dye or at least priming the plastic before using regular spray paint (and then clear coat it afterwards.)
Sounds like good stuff! But would the colours be the same?? Because if you used normal spray paint for the metal part of a case and vinyl dye for the plasic front wouldn't they be different colours even if they were like both the same name or whatever, same brand etc??
Vinyl dye, it's totally easy to "paint" using that, and also fast. All you need to do is clean the surface, then give it 2 or 3 coats and let it dry for a day. You don't have to worry about sanding, priming or worrying about the paint peeling off or something like that.
SEM Vinyl Dye is great. I've used it extensively. If you live in the US, this is where I've gotten mine from (nice selection of colors): Levine Auto Parts
I love SEM, I was introduced to it by my former in-law's. They run an aircraft reupholstery business, and use it extensively for color-matching plastic and vinyl parts to new upholstery. It's a bit expensive (I pay about $8 a can at a local autobody supply shop) but it's totally worth it to me. And I've found one can of SEM will go quite a long ways. The thing I like about SEM is the fact that it'll dry to the touch in about ten or fifteen minutes, and the last coat is totally dry within an hour. Plus, it's self-levelling and is probably one of the best spray-can products as far as even coating and not spitting paint out everywhere. I love it! Not to mention you can get it in about fifty different colors (they make, like, 5 different types of black alone...Landau Black is especially nice.) Sorry, I just love this stuff as it's pretty much idiot-proof and always looks great. It costs a little more than most other brands, but it's worth every penny! I would like to try DupliColor's stuff though, since I've heard it's very good, and I really like their regular spray paints.
I've found Duplicolor's to be a little thicker, and it doesnt spray or cover as well (appeared streaky and had to be recoated). Everything you say about SEM is why I love it as well. Great stuff.
Yeah, I've never had to do any touchups with SEM, as far as drips or splatters go. I like the fact that it's fairly thin, but it dries fast. This helps the self-levelling qualities of it. Even though SEM insists that it's not a true "dye", it bonds with plastic better than any other vinyl dye I've ever tried, and sort of "becomes one" with the plastic.
