Need help please with custom painting x box and playstation controllers

I

ImCOnfused111

Guest
Hi I'm new here. Ok so I've been making some custom Xbox and playstation controllers for a little bit now using pre painted parts. I want to start doing my own painting. I'm really confused on what I should use and what I need to make excellent quality controllers. Keeping in mind these controllers get HEAVY use. Hands will be constantly rubbing over them. From what I've found so far I figure I will need automotive quality paints. Question 1 is can I run automotive types of primers through an airbrush and if so where to buy them? Question 2 Can I run automotive " show quality clear coats" through an airbrush and if so where to find them ? I don't know if I need only an air brush or if I should also get a auto spray gun to do the primers and clears. A spray gun just seems "large" for such a small project to paint but I know it can handle the clears and stuff. And I know I want an air brush so that I can make detailed designs. Rattle can products are out of the question (I've already tried that and not happy with the quality, it didn't stand up to heavy use. I've been looking at house of Kolor products but I'm confused of what will work with an airbrush. Also most of the controller parts are plastic. Ideally I would like to stick to just an airbrush if it can handle doing what I need it to do. Please help. Any help and suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you
 
My magic 8ball foretells references to the introduction section to be appearing here soon :p

-The paint.
Automotive paint works verywell for the surface you want to use it on, but it is not a requierment as the protection will come from the clearcoat not the paint used. Automotive paint (in my opinion) tends to be a bit easier to work with on these surfaces though once you get around all the confusion of what to use and mix with what (dries quicker, covers better and stands up to masking better).

House of kolor does come in ready to spray variants and all "normal" variants will all go smoothly through an airbsuh. Metalics will reuier bigger nozzle sizes and flakes are just out of the question with an airbrush. A good (and a bit cheaper) alternative to HOK would be Inspire, which is all "ready to spray".

You should easily be able to find those paints online in webshops. Amongst others Lionart has them.

but as mentioned earlier waterbased paints will work just as well in regard to wear and tear.

-Clearcoat.

I'll have to disapoint you here, you will not get clearcoat to go smoothly through an airbrush even at the extremely large nozzle sizes. You'd need a "spray gun" for that. So if you want to do your own clearcoating you won't be able to stick to "just airbrush"
 
Much appreciated. Thanks for the reply. my main concern was definitely about the clear and u answered that for me. I'm thinking the way to go would b an airbrush for the detail work and spray gun for the rest. Spray guns just seem like they'd b very wasteful for painting something so small. Thanks again.
 
Any recommendations on a quality but not too pricey airbrush kit ? I need a compressor and everything.
 
Compressor doesn't realy matter that much when only used for airbrushing, the only thing you'll expect it to do is produce air. If you want it to be able to supply enough air for a paint gun though you are looking at a pretty big one. You'll just have to do some reading up on this and decide what suits your purpose.

As for the airbrush I think everyone here will advice you not to fall for the cheap chinese nockoff sceme and buy yourself a decent one. If you are able to I'd say visit an airbush shop so they can explain the ins and outs of all the different brands and where you probably can try one.

If that is not an option I'd look into Iwata, Harder en steenbeck and badger. Those are all respectable brands. As with the compressor you'll have to read up on them a bit to see what suits your purpose and budget, those brands don't sell junk though so whatever you set your mind on you'll have a decent airbrush.
 
ImCOnfused111 said:
Any recommendations on a quality but not too pricey airbrush kit ? I need a compressor and everything.
Click to expand...
I spent $200 Canadian on brush and compressor, the airbrush broke on 3rd use. Im hoping to get a bit of use out of the compressor but I dont have much faith in it. I have since orderd a new brush for $185 and know from research and talking to the good folks here that I will be very happy with it. If I was going to get another kit I would look at one of the brand names with a good reputation like Iwata or Badger. Good luck.
 
I'm not that important to where u really wanna get to know me but I'll play along. Check the intro section. Now that That's over with. I found this video on YouTube FINALLY after weeks of searching and pretty much answered all my questions. Think he actually mentions being a member of this forum.

I've ordered an automotive spray gun from Amazon to do the clear coats. I'm in the process of ordering this "badger patriot 105" seems like it can push out a lot of paint which should cover my controllers quickly without having the overspray and waste of paint as a spray gun and he also mentions u can also pull off some pretty good details with that airbrush. If finer detail is needed in the future I'll buy another airbrush for that
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...mp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B002W84GTO


My only other question is compressor. I have a huge compressor in the garage I use to air up my car tires and that's it. It's big and it's loud af. I'd like a small portable compressor for the air brush. What would u recommend for a decent quality but inexpensive compressor that will b adequate for what I need it for? I've looked in the compressor section of this forum and was confused. Go figure. I'm in the USA Las Vegas Nevada
 
ImCOnfused111 said:
I'm not that important to where u really wanna get to know me but I'll play along.
Click to expand...
You are now a member here so to us you are important. Just because this is the internet does not mean we are just a faceless place that does not care about you or take an interest in what you goals are.
Right now you may be starting out on console controllers but who knows if that is the only place you will end up.

I did post a link in your intro to show you are located in one of the best towns to catch a class from the pros who do this for a living.
But a few on here have done xboxes , playstations boxes and also computer cases and even laptops .
But the main thing is to practice the basics Dots. Dagger strokes (or rat tails as some call them) fades and blends . Those basic skills can allow you to paint anything you set your mind to .
 
I recently purchased a cheap master airbrush kit from Amazon. I also got the bug to paint my PS4 controller as well as my kids.
Used FINE white plastic primer.
Wicked airbrush paints
And finally 6 coats of Krylon Cryatal Clear Acrylic Coating as a clear coat. Feels very good to the touch and so far I have not experience any rubbing off of clear or color.

One controller was painted using a pearl white. Then dipped a paintbrush into an opaque red and flicked it a couple times to simulate the blood splatter.

Next controller I used a wicked silver pearl, tinted darker with a couple drops of opaque black to get a nice gunmetal look. I then used a stencil for the R9. For the weathered appearance I used a silver and a black tube of rub n buff.
 

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Those came out looking good man. Here's what I've done so far. This one was done with all rustoleum spray paint and clear and I used shipping labels to make stencils for the letters.
 

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This one I hydro dipped with snake skin film and used automotive 2 part clear and a cheap spray gun
 

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This one I used the badger patriot 105 airbrush to spray createx auto air nightmare blue and used my recently purchased sihouplette cameo to cut vinyl stencils for the lettering. And I used the 2 part automotive clear. I just used the white sealer for the letters and star. I need to order some white buttons still or paint the buttons white.
 
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Sorry for the extra posts. Having a hard time getting the upload images button to work from my iPhone.
 
Looks good! I just purchased a Cricut Explore today, which I think is the same thing as a silhouette cameo. What material did you use to make the stencil? I'm also interested in doing something similar. Purchase a couple sheets of frisket paper as I plan to try that? Also purchased some adhesive backed vinyl but that's probably not good to use as a stencil. But I don't know. Would love to hear your technique.
 
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