How to best repaint pedals? (Advice needed)

[Alex]

Hi all!

I already put a post in the Tech area but got no replies, so I decided to post here again.

I always wanted to have a Zakk Wylde painted Boss SD-1 (see picture). Today my girlfriend was doing her nails her and she kind of suggested she should paint some of my boring guitar pedals.
I've always been a big fan of custom made looking pedals such as the ones Juan Solo posts or Zvex sells.

Would normal paint for little airplane models work ok on this? I know Jimi Hendrix used nail polish on some of his guitars, but I think I'd rather get some real paint. How would I get the original paint off the pedals? Any advice on this? Would a primer be necessary or advisable, or should I just repaint the pedal over the original paint?
Questions, questions... advice welcomed!  :D

[juansolo]

Sorry, missed it matey.

Marauder paints all mine. I've tried but I'm just shiteee at it so I do the decals and he does the finishing. It's essentially rattle cans from your local motor factors. You'll need some primer, some colour coat and some clear coat (lacquer). It takes bloody ages to do it right. Expect it to take end to end about a week to finish a enclosure. Hopefully Marauder will pop along in a minute and fill you in on the details. I'll bob him a mail and get his finger out ;)

Personally I like raw pedals decalled in black and white with clear coat over that. I just like the industrial look of them. For colour pedals I'm now just doing them white as white decals are a bastid to get on there (transparent ones have far less evil adhesive). As such I'm using less colour these days. Though a Klone I'm doing at the mo will be gold ;) Well it just has to be.

[marauder]

To do it probably you'll need to take out all the guts from the enclosure, trying to paint with them in will be a nightmare.

I use Carplan acrylic paint cans, tried others and some are terrible, and don't harden quickly enough. Plastikote acrylic is really bad,  takes months to harden off properly.  Try to stay with the same manufacturer for each type, primer, colour, and clear, as there's no guarantee they will be compatible between manufacturers even if they are all acrylic.

I wouldn't paint over the existing finish, it's possible, but it might react as you've no idea what type of paint was used originally, and it might look OK at first, but in a few weeks it starts to wrinkle, and you are back to the start again.

Stripping the existing paint is fun(!!), and is probably the longest part of the process.  An electric sander works well, but dont go to mad, so you dont get deep marks in the metal, which will need more sanding to remove.  The surface needs "keying" for the paint to adhere, but no so deep as to be visible through a couple of coats.

I do a coat of primer, 2 or 3 coats of colour, and 4 or 5 coats of clear, and get a good finish. If the enclosure is bare metal, then 6 or 7 clear coats, and a slightly heavier "keying".

I lightly flat with 1000 grit paper after the colour coats, and after 2 clear, and again before the finish clear if necessary.  Any decals go on before the clear coats.

[Alex]

Thanks a lot for the help, guys!  :D

I appreciate it a lot!