[SML] Painting Lighting Instruments

[Phil Haney]

There was a thread awhile back about painting lighting instruments, and how
it wasn't working out all that well.

At the venue where I work, we had to paint several black Source Fours white
(they were visibly hung in front of a white proscenium and the director
wanted them to blend in). At that time, I asked the ME at our venue how he
did it, because they looked beautiful and we haven't had any paint peeling
problems, bubbling, etc.

He just replied, apologising for being behind in checking his emails. I'm
pretty sure the person in the previous thread found a solution to their
problem, but In the hopes of helping someone out on down the road, his
reply is copied and pasted here:

When I paint a fixture, first I clean all the dirt, dust and bird poop off.
Then I completely disassemble the thing, making sure to store all the
electrical components and miscellaneous screws and knobs together. Then I
rough up the existing paint with a wire brush, being careful not to damage
any of the labels on the fixture and paying special attention to areas with
corrosion under the paint. When this is done I clean all the individual
pieces again. I am unable to remove the reflectors on my source fours
without breaking them, so I cover them with paper roughly cut to fit and
blue painters tape. I tape over all the manufacturer’s labels and our
inventory tags. This takes care of the prep work.

Now we get to the actual painting.

I start with a spray on primer. Any commonly available brand will do. I
prefer Krylon because it dries faster than Rustoleum (Fifteen minutes vs.
two hours). When the primer is dry, not necessarily fully cured, but dry to
the touch, I apply a coat of spray on satin finish paint. Satin is a close
approximation of ETC’s standard powder coat finish. Again, I prefer Krylon
do to its fast drying time. There is no need to look for a heat resistant
paint on most modern stage lights. They don’t get hot enough to require it.

As for the actual painting process, lay the pieces out on a paintable
surface, leaving enough room between them so that you can maneuver the
spray can. Ignore the directions on the spray can. Holding the can twelve
inches away from what you’re painting doesn’t work. Three to four inches
away works much better. Take your time. A steady back and forth motion with
the spray can will give an even coat. It takes some time to get this
technique down and you’ll have a few screw ups early on, but practice and
adjust ’til you get it right. Don’t try to paint the entire piece  all at
once. These are curved surfaces. The best you can reasonably do is to paint
a three inch strip, reposition yourself and paint the next three inch
strip. Hit the piece from every angle you can possibly hit it from. When
the paint dries, flip the piece over and repeat the process. Don’t just hit
the areas you haven’t painted yet. The finished product will look much
better if you paint the whole piece from the new angle. Let it dry. This
process works for both the primer and paint coats. And for the love of all
you hold sacred, get yourself one of those trigger handles that clips to
the top of the can! Your hands will thank you!

Once all the pieces are dry, peel off all the painters tape from the labels
and reflector, then reassemble the fixture. Once that’s done, power the
fixture up for a half hour or so to bake the stinkiness out of the paint.

It’s a long, laborious process with a lot of hurry up and wait involved,
but the results are well worth the effort.

-Phil

"Quini, quidi, quici" - I came, I saw, I played a little quidditch.
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