I painted one with a touch up sprayer. You can drop the big coin and do automotive paints, or rock the Rustoleum 7777

I do not think you need to spend too much on the sprayer-why not a cheapie from Harbor Freight. I favour automotive acrylic lacquer because it gives a great durable finish and you can get a good colour match from the local auto paint shop or self mix the colour required. I have also found automotive lacquer far easier to work with in terms of the end result than water based acrylics for cab touch ups.

LOL. The 7777 Satin black is the WPC magic formula

Don't be afraid to use latex paint. Get a color wheel from porter or sherwin williams and give a try. So much easier to use, and adjust. I build and finish cabinetry for a living. I did a Centaur cabinet recently with latex, and cleared with lacquer. Turned out beautiful.
Yes u can use $25 hvlp gun from harbor freight. Make sure u filter paint into gun and clean gun each time. 35 psi is perfect. image-385.jpg

What cabinet are you trying to repaint? I did my Gorgar and used Krylon rattle cans. The result was great. Of course you only have basic colors to choose from.

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I just use the black automotive lacquer stuff at the auto stores. It's on the shelf at a lot of auto parts stores.

https://www.duplicolor.com/products/psFinishSystem/

Also no need for primer or clear with the above. If you use hvlp I guarantee you'll never bother with a rattle can again.

I've done rattle and hvlp. turbo is 100% right.

Latex can be used. Some guns will asked to dilute it with varsol or equivalent by 25%.

The results are THAT much better? I literally just got an air compressor and was thinking of getting a HVLP gun since they cost next to nothing... well, in comparison to everything else I've purchased that is.

yes.

I second that. I will never go back to rattle cans. HVLP is the way to go. I bought a cheapie touch up for the stenciling and was very pleased. Even if you use the cheapie gun once it's worth it.

i use a larger siphon gun for the base coat. I also use the same siphon gun for webbing when needed.

I used latex paint when I did my Whirlwind and although I'm happy with the amount of gloss when I was done, it's not very durable. No one sells oil-based paints anymore.

So automotive acrylics seem to be the way to go?

Rustoleum 7777 is legit

I bought one of these a few years back.

http://www.rockler.com/hvlp-spray-system?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=&utm_content=pla&utm_campaign=PL&sid=V9146&gclid=CPro97ixoMMCFdcUgQodDRcA9A

I've used it on a non-pinball related projects as well as 4 cabinet repaints so far. I don't think it's designed for 2 part automotive clear but I've used it with both oil and latex primer, color and Minwax urethane. I'm really happy with the way it works.

As far as which paint to use? You're going to get a lot of opinions on this. I personally like the way oil based paint flows. However at the paint store, I was told there are stricter regulations on oil based paint so you have less color options than with latex paint. Well in NJ anyway. So which paint you use may depend on what color you are painting. On my Paragon cabinet, I used latex because they couldn't match the yellow correctly in oil. On my Space Invaders cabinet I used oil as red and black are common and the grey is close to that of a primer.

Rattle cans are fine for small jobs but an HVLP gun will give you much better control and finish quality, not to mention color options.

Thanks for this link.

How does this stuff mix?
What's the typical cost/qt?

It also says it "must be clearcoated" and lists that as a separate step, but your post seems to state otherwise?

The colors used on the cabinets i am familiar are not simple reds or blues that u will find in a rattle can.
Latex paints are easy to adjust, and spray very well when thinned a bit. You can decide what gloss you want on finish when you choose the clear lacquer (which u can find in an aerosol can if you want). I use Mohawk brand.

you can get huge variety of colors in rattle can.. there's a decent number of companies that make paint for graffiti artists, as well as different nozzles etc. a cheap hvlp gun still trumps it.

Eday has these HVLP gravity feed sprayers all day long! I paid 9.99 for mine and shipping was free. It's made by White Tools, has a Bulldog on the package. Be ready to move when you start spraying, the high volume is no joke!

I mix my paint to be as thick as milk, it works good.

I have not mixed this stuff and have only used the jet black for cabinets when doing decal applications.

The cost is about $20-25/qt. depending if you buy online or in a store.

Yes for applying decals and normal black painting of a cabinet/head, no clear looks great and is durable direct to wood. If I were doing a stencil cab I would considering doing clear coat after.

The statement on the website saying "must be clearcoated" is in regards to automotive applications to protect the paint from outside (roads/weather) environment.

In Australia (and I assume the US) we have specialty auto paint outlets. I use an outlet called VG Auto Paints & Tools

http://www.vgautopaints.com.au/ (lots of good tips on site)

and where an old timer does all the colour matching and mixing. I normally take in the cabinet head and he matches the colours exactly. Also more recently I have started mixing the acrylic lacquer for cabinet touch ups and am amazed at results. I will not be going back to using water based acrylics.

i used benjamin moore's "acrylic blended latex" base for my cab repaint and it turned out great. the local hardware store tinted it for me and i think i used a semi gloss. i ran it thru my airless sprayer that i use for home projects. i didn't thin it but i did add some floetrol to it but that's not necessary. a great thing about water base paints is cleanup with water-no solvents to have to buy, store, and deal with.
at the time i didn't have a compressor nor an HVLP sprayer and i was considering getting an HVLP setup but that wouldn't work for other painting projects hence the airless sprayer.
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I tried using Latex paint for a cabinet I did this past summer. My fairly cheap HVLP gun required some thinning to get it to spray. The base white went on okay after much fiddling and spraying multiple thin coats. When I started using the stencils the results were terrible, I had bleed under the stencils no matter what I did. In the end I switched to rattle cans (basically automotive lacquer) and it worked great with the same stencils. So the viscosity of the paint matters a lot.

For reference, I live in Canada and my favourite automotive paint supplier can no longer sell lacquer or enamel car paints. I have to get the urethane based dangerous paints now or nothing. They used to mix custom colours for me and put it in a spray can. But for some reason hardware store spray cans are exactly what I want but I have to use the colours they sell.

I've used rattle can for most of what I've done with good results. You just gotta clear it so it doesn't peel off.

hi all-if you want factory like results its best to use lacquer,thats what most older machines had on the cabinets.much less time was taken than most people think when they did this.brass stencils used,not much care for over-spray.you can in fact do a fantastic job with spray cans..don't mix brands unless you have to.i made paint color samples by spraying on thin piece of tin masked off so I can match to cabinet color..look close at your cabinet you will see most manufacturers did not put on primer coat.i heavily suggest this is done to seal old paint and new paint needs something to bite into..i was doing this type of thing long before I paint pinball machines.flames on cars..hot nut machines,goofy stuff to learn to paint..i posted just a few photos to show you you can paint cabinets.rifle arcades,or anything else if you take the time to investigate and prepare what paint,color to use...p.s. theses stencils you see on my monster gun were cut out from cereal boxes,perfect thickness.dont be afraid to try and remember this was not painted first time with the time and care you will take.good luckDSC00299.JPGDSC00295.JPGDSC00293.JPGDSC00291.JPG

Interesting topic.

I use auto paint premixed and have it put in a rattle can. I don't follow the remarks that a HVLP sprayer is much better. For quality and ease how can it be anything but the same?

However, I will have to agree it will be less cost after the investment in equipment and that is an important consideration. I must reconsider this cost trade off with 4 games needing cabinet paints this year. If you have one game a year to cabinet paint the cans are better way cost wise.

Steve J.

www.autopaint-touchup.com phone 800-660-7778...

Do It Best Hardware sells a product for putting paint in the plastic equivalent of a rattle can.

Finally found it:

https://williston.doitbest.com/products/preval-spray-system-paint-sprayer?via=54f9f96469702d1b9e714700%2C54f9f97069702d1b9e6c4800%2C54f9f97269702d1b9e914800

I match the color with a Pantone swatch booklet. And take to a auto paint shop locally called AJ Foyt. They will mix perfectly put in a cans.

Since I had a few games to paint I have bought off craigslist a larger compressor and spray with a HVLP set up now.