spray painting joysticks?

[lesserChance]

I was wondering if anyone had tried to spray paing their joysticks to thier own custon colors?  Im assuming it would make them sticky, im not sure if there is so special spray paint that would be good for this kind of thing. Also, the ball top t-stick pluses from ultimarc, could I just replace that ball top handle with a different one, or is there something special about those?

[Tiger-Heli]

From an old message board post by OSCAR:

OSCAR Bar top - You're right Rampy, I forgot to mention that.  That's how I actually change the color of my balltop sticks.  The red ones installed on my P360's in my upright MAME cab used to be blue.  Those have lots of play on them without any signs of wear.  The multiple clear coats protect the color coat pretty well.  Maybe in another couple years I may need to touch them up if they start to wear, but I kind of doubt it since it's been 9 months already and they are still as good as when I painted them.
Regarding the Reunion sticks, the knob would just come off during normal play, I wasn't taking a wrench to it or anything.  The shafts rotate fine, it just seems like the rapid moving of the joystick was enough for them to loosen up.  The funny thing is, I've never heard of anyone else ever having this problem.  And like Grasshopper mentioned, I bet most people don't even realize that the tops are removable.
Perhaps they were never torqued on properly from the manufacturer, too.  Or perhaps I am the only one who ends up with the oddball crap and sees these things...
Anyway, I put a little Loc-Tite on the threads and they have been fine ever since.

OSCAR - When I needed a green balltop for this project, http://www.skum.org/bartop, this is what I did:
I took a blue Wico balltop that I already had and scuffed it up with steel wool. Next I coated it with primer that was formulated for use with plastic, it was made by Kilz, IIRC. Then I just spray painted it with about 3-4 color coats and finished it off with about a dozen clear coats. It turned out great! Even after countless hours on this joystick, it still looks just as good as when I finished it. I figured I might have to refinish it after a while, but even after a couple years it has held up great. I doubt now that I will ever have to go back and refinish it.

[Havok]

I think the key to having the color last is multiple coats of clear coat to protect the finish and preserve the paint. Gotta keep those sweaty palms from ruining the paint!