Gameboy Color - Repaint Questions...

Hi

I am going to be doing a repaint of my Gameboy Color from Yellow to a White/Chrome colour scheme.

This will be my first time doing a form of 'modification' to a games console, and so I chose something which is quite simple.

I have found the PlastiKote paints I need in a local store (Flat White, Chrome and Primer).

Just some questions for prep...

- Do i need to sand the plastic (I'm guessing only lightly to not scratch off the embossed logos)
- How do i go about cleaning the plastic (just a soft damp cloth? or do i require chemicals?)

Any any other painting recommendations :)

Side notes - the paint I shall be using is enamel spray-paint. The plastic of the Gameboy Color is ABS plastic

You'll need to scuff it up to give the paint something to stick to, and you should check the can of primer to make sure it's suitable for plastics but other than that I don't see any problems.

One thing I would strongly suggest is that you test spray the chrome on something you don't care about - I've used a few "chrome" paints and without exception, the result it lousy - it's a very fine metallic and not remotely chromey. You can now buy professional paints which get a lot closer to chrome but they're scary money....

Painting plastic can be a pain in the rear, that's for sure. I've done my fair share of it and unless your prep is good, it will flake off and generally look bad.

Sanding is important but for plastics, I like to use scotch-brite pads, you can get reasonably fine ones from the hardware store to use in place of traditional sandpaper. I like this too because it's a softer thing overall so you won't end up with low or high points from focusing too much pressure on a single area.

As far as cleaning goes, another important note for adhesion is to make sure there's no oils or chemicals bonded to the surface, as well as loose debris. I like to wash things with soap and water, dry them with a paper towel and then put on some nitrile gloves and clean them with isopropyl alcohol. The isopropyl will get off any hand oils or other contaminants and it evaporates, leaving behind a completely bare surface. Only do the final cleaning when you're right about to paint.

Aaaand furthermore, I agree with what SOC said. Chrome "paint" usually looks crap, and not like chrome at all. Chromed plastic parts are done with a thin layer of nickel and it's hard to emulate the actual chrome look without using metal. Also I feel chrome paint looks tacky and you'd be better off with a metallic.

Basically my painting procedures would be this:
1. disassemble, take out everything you don't want to paint that you can. If you have to leave the screen in or whatever, that's fine.
2. Mask off whatever you can't remove. Make sure to make the masking THICK if you're going to be sanding, and be careful around those areas. The last thing you want to do is scuff the hell out of your screen.
3. sand. This is self-explanitory. Aim for the same consistency on the whole surface, and avoid low-grit sandpapers and other really rough abrasives that could gouge the surface, as that's hard to fix.
4. clean it again, isopropyl this time
5. double check your masking tape, prime, and paint.
6. Since you're doing two colors, Decide which one you want as your "base" and paint that one first. Let it dry overnight or whatever. I would do the flat white as the "Base" and the chrome as the "top".
7. mask off the areas you DON'T want to paint with your second color, leaving exposed only the areas you want to look chrome.
8. paint the chrome layer.
9. let it dry COMPLETELY before removing the masking tape, again overnight.
10. carefully remove the masking tape, and re-assemble.

Hi

Thanks for the tips :)

Colour wise I am doing the 'grey' parts (so the buttons) in chrome... so it won't be a large area, and these are removable.

The rest of the body is going to be the flat white.

I'll take all of your tips into consideration :)

Thanks