So I went out and picked up a Wagner FineSpray HVLP kit from Lowe's on the weekend, 98 bucks, after reading some good reviews. It's no 1000 dollar uber-gear, but it seems to be a good DIY-er/hobbyist tool.
I have a couple cabs to get ready by xmas - an Xmen vs Street Fighter and a Puzzle Bobble 3 (both conversions from ho-hum games). It's too cold now to spray oil, or anything harsh - I need to work in an unfinished room in the house..
So, I needed to spray latex. Cue all the comments about how you can't spray latex with this kit. The guy at Lowe's got mad when I tried to get him to mix some paint! He was pointing at the Wagner box, and actually said "You aren't allowed to spray latex with that!" - like the Wagner squad was going to come put me in jail..
Anyhow, after some playing around, I found a way.. That way is alcohol (the solution to, and cause of, all life's problems).
I first poured out a pint of the paint (eventually got Behr Interior Satin Latex Enamel from HD since I got sick of the Lowe's guy), then thinned it with - cant remember the name. Not Floetrol, the stuff I bought at Lowe's, it's Wagner branded latex paint conditioner, and it's thinner than floetrol.. I thinned it to the mfg's directions with it, 4 oz to the quart (or 2 oz to my pint.. I'm metric.. And eyeballed it).
Anyways, still very thick, glopped out of the gun like crap..
From there I tried thinning it further with water. Glopped out like crap, and ran and dripped.. Blech..
So I tried again, after reading on a hobbyist site about using a mix of water and alcohol. I one-upped him, and used straight Isopropyl from Rite-Aid, 91%.. I added it till it got thin, like spraypaint thin - which really wasnt much, it thins latex fast - a little goes a long way..
So the formula was probably something like 4:1 paint to alcohol..
Strain it, spray it.. It's magic science.. The alcohol makes the paint thin in the gun, which is good. The heat from the turbine, and just the volume of air involved, evaporates a good deal of it, before it even hits the work piece. No drips, no sags. I just layed down my second coat, and it looks awesome.
Some notes, from my limited experience - work fast, dont let it evaporate in the can, that stuffs thickening while you stand around scratching your rear.. That's not to say rush it, but dont take a smoke break or run errands..
It does leave a slight texture, quite fine orange peel. For an arcade, it looks great, its very much like the texture a vinyl covered cab would have. You cant feel it with your fingers..
Also, clean the gun immediately - as soon as I'm done I spray a bunch of warm soapy water through it, then dismantle, clean the bits up really good. It's hella-easy to dismantle and clean.
You could wear a respirator if you wanted, but it's just latex. It doesn't stink up the joint any more than rolling up a wall. There's a regular dustmask suitable for being around sprayed latex, that's what I'm using. A little atomized alcohol wont hurt me too much.
The paint gets so thin I'm pretty sure this method would work with the 60 dollar handheld wagner hvlp deal at home depot (the one on sale this month for 40 bucks).
I figured this information would be useful to you folks, since it's news you can use. It's a great way to paint a cab.
I really like this rig, and next summer I'm going to see what it can do spraying the stuff it's meant to (oils) on another project cab waiting in the wings. To me, 100 bucks is worth not going through the hassle of trying to roll on a finish. I cussed like a sailor for two weeks trying to get my PC10 a nice satin black, without any rollermarks. I've spent about two hours getting to the same point on this cab (1.5 of that either cleaning the gun or mixing paint).
It's a great way to get a good paint job on a cab for cheap.
I'm also singing the praises of BIN primer over the laminate on the cab - that stuff means business. Sticks to everything, and dries fast. I was sanding the first coat after an hour. Don't spray it though, consider whatever you use to apply it garbage. It does come in spray cans, which I used for the nooks and crannies on the front of the cab.