Slow day - painted my shift knob

[Torro]

Ok, before anyone blasts me it is a slow day around here and was looking at my knob thinking it needed some work so I yanked it off and made an adjustment.

Pic 1 Knob before sitting on granite counter top with flash
Pic 2 Knob after sitting on granite counter top with flash
Pic 3 Knob after sitting on buff color envelope no flash
Pic 4 Knob after sitting on buff color envelope with flash

The dark is a shadow.

Camera man I ain't......

Todd

[Hello Kitty]

Originally Posted by Torro

...[i] was looking at my knob thinking it needed some work so I yanked it off and made an adjustment.

[ojars]

just a bit worried about the pics -- turned out to be family friendly

[Sh4rkattk]

What did you use to paint and how did you get it so clean.

I tried painting mine with hobby enamel paint, and when trying to wipe off the excess it would dry out the numbering and look shallow.

[m4mica]

Originally Posted by Sh4rkattk

What did you use to paint and how did you get it so clean.

I tried painting mine with hobby enamel paint, and when trying to wipe off the excess it would dry out the numbering and look shallow.

Here's how I did mine. I used Testor's model paint to apply the colors. Using the edge of a paper towel I sopped up the big splotches of paint that were outside of the grooves. Don't worry about getting it all, just the big mistakes to make the next step easier. There was still a lot of paint on the non-grooved areas. I then waited for the paint to dry. Then I lightly dampened (not soaked) a small section of a paper towel with Testor's paint thinner. I gently rubbed the towel over the shifter trying to keep it taut so as not to drag it into the grooves. I think the key is to go very light on the thinner. You might need to go over it a couple of times, but this way no thinner touches the area you want to keep painted.

Here's a picture. I think it looks much, much better this way. Good luck.

[Scrumpot]

Some people paint their knobs when things are slow, and they get bored.
Others POLISH theirs!

Mopho, Slaughtr, Moto44?? ....

[Chris Mackey]

I slopped the paint on and then chipped off the extra when it dried.

Of course, I can't get high on paint thinner that way...

[skibum]

M4 - What did you clear it with after? Looks great.

[Noisycow]

You spent too much time playing with your knob.

[Torro]

Hey M-4 that looks great, wish I had seen yours I would have done the line in red instead of black but thats ok I guess.

Also you take better photos than I do (mine actually looks better than my pictures make it appear), between the flash on my camera being to bright and the stupid counter top being to shiny my pictures suk............

But to top it all off, I left the knob on the counter to dry and got up this morning to find that that our " kitten " who we adopted when someond dumped her in our neighborhood had pushed it off the counter and was chasing it around the kitchen like a toy ball, can't belive I slept through that knob hitting the floor last night...............

Todd

[ZAMMY1]

how DO you young folks manage to stand up to all that excitement??..
sam

[Torro]

Oh forgot to answer what I used, I am a hobby gunsmith in what little spare time I have these days and used firearm engravers enamel to do the fill with.
It comes in stick form semi-hard kinda like a big crayon and is very easy to apply and wipe away.

Todd

Sorry about the quality of the pic's but I suk when it comes to photog. The engraving is done in Gold even though it looks white somewhat in the pics.

[Torro]

Uhhh Sam I ain't no spring chicken down here............:P

Todd

[xxxotic]

I used superfine steel wool to remove the excess paint.
Just put a little water on it so it wouldnt scratch and rubbed it very lightly around the area where I wanted to remove the excess paint.

I used a toothpick to apply the paint. Dip it in the paint and then moved it along the grooved section, let it dry, give it a few more coats, and then when it looks like it is all covered, remove the excess with the steel wool.

DO NOT USE BRILLO, snadpaper, or any gritty abrasive since it will scratch get the superfine stuff (grade 000, I think) at Home Depot.

[ZAMMY1]

you do nice work!
my best, sam

[m4mica]

Originally Posted by skibum

M4 - What did you clear it with after? Looks great.

Actually I didn't use any clear afterwards just the gloss model paint. The rubdown with thinner did seem to clean it up a bit.
Testors Gloss Enamel #1103 Red
Testors Gloss Enamel #1147 Black
Testors Brush Cleaner #1156 (to clean excess)

You should be able to get these at any hobby / model store.

Thanks for the positive comments.

[Sh4rkattk]

Great tips everyone will try when i get home from work. Thanks a bunch

[skibum]

I followed suit and decided to paint my shift knob this afternoon. I tried to find the closest to Lotus colors. It's was a little messy because I used the end of a wood kabob to paint

Before:


Painting the green:


Painting the yellow:


The colors for your reference:


The almost finished product. I am going to let it sit overnight before I scrub off the last of the yellow tint:

[Torro]

Hey neat job.......

[Rei]

Nice job by the way you labeled it I was expecting you painted the entire thing. But very nice job.