Painting Plexi

[Mr. Dude]

I'm getting ready to paint a silver bezel on some clear plexi and I just need a little advice from someone who may have painted plexi before.  Do I need to sand the part I'm going to paint?  Also what kind of paint will work on plexi?

[dmsuchy]

Paint the inside of the cabinet side of the plexi and just make sure it's free of dust or greese. Also when painting just "dust" the surface the first time and then build up in a couple of coats. You are using clear plexi, right?

[Mr. Dude]

Yep, I'm using clear

[Mr. Dude]

Should I sand that part of the plexi though?  And can I use just enamel spray paint or do I need a special plastic kind of paint?

[Zakk]

don't sand.  And make sure you get ALL the oil smudges and fingerprints off before you spray or it will leave an unpaintable spot.

[paigeoliver]

Do not sand, do not sand do not sand.

Now, second piece of the advice.

Use glass, use glass, use glass. I paints better, doesn't scratch as easily, and comes out with a MUCH better finish once painted. And if you mess up, then you can remove the excess paint with a razor blade.

[Teknique]

use Krylon fusion paint.  It is designed for plastic.

http://www.dickblick.com/zz014/11/products.asp?param=0&ig_id=6372

[rchadd]

see this test of Plastikote vinyl dye - looks like pretty good stuff...

http://linear1.org/mods/vdye.php

maybe it could be used

[Gideon]

Do not sand, do not sand do not sand.

Now, second piece of the advice.

Use glass, use glass, use glass. I paints better, doesn't scratch as easily, and comes out with a MUCH better finish once painted. And if you mess up, then you can remove the excess paint with a razor blade.

Hmm... If you're recommending something that isn't considered authentic, I'd bet that the reason is pretty important.  Thanks for the advice.

[paigeoliver]

Do not sand, do not sand do not sand.

Now, second piece of the advice.

Use glass, use glass, use glass. I paints better, doesn't scratch as easily, and comes out with a MUCH better finish once painted. And if you mess up, then you can remove the excess paint with a razor blade.

Hmm... If you're recommending something that isn't considered authentic, I'd bet that the reason is pretty important.  Thanks for the advice.

Actually, glass is authentic, many quality cabinets shipped with glass rather than plexi.

[Gideon]

Huh?  But it breaks!  That's a little surprising; I don't think I've even seen a cab with glass.

[paigeoliver]

A large percentage of Atari games have glass (Kangaroo, Centipede, most vectors, and all variants of the standard Atari upright). Many Midway and Williams games have glass as well.

[Gideon]

Nevermind, then.  I'll catch you recommending something inauthentic some other day...

[Rocky]

Nevermind, then.  I'll catch you recommending something inauthentic some other day...

Gideon,

You are just plain wrong on this one.  Most of the arcade cabinets I have use glass over the monitor (Q*bert, Moon Patrol, Klax).

Also, just as a tip, paigeoliver is one of the most knowledgeable guys when it comes to arcade games, cabinets, equipment, etc.

Plexiglass and glass were both widely used.  Glass is more old school, I think.


Rocky

[Zakk]

Paigeoliver is quite correct, a LOT of cabinets came with glass, since plexi for a bezel could be vandalized quite easily  (an operator would hear someone breaking glass, but wouldn't hear someone scratching their high score forever into the plexi).However, a lot of glass bezels have indeed been broken over the years, and it's a lot easier to cut a piece of plexi than cut a piece of glass (plus they would keep sheets of plexi hanging around for just such an occasion).  Glass is MUCH better to work with paint wise, but plexi will work fine, just get it right the first time since that paint won't ever be coming off.

And I second the fact that he knows what he's talking about

[paigeoliver]

Glass isn't too bad. Just have the place cut it for you. I have even ordered smoked tempered glass in the past for some machines, and it was never too pricey.

Shouldn't be much more than $10 for standard glass, smoked tempered will probably be closer to $30.