[GREQ]

I want to re-spray my HD650 headband since it's old and the paint is chipped in places.

I want to do something a bit different and try a spray paint with a hammered-look finish type of paint, but I have no idea about the flexible properties of any spray paint.

Does anyone have any experience with these kinds of paints or any advice on how to improve the flexible properties of paint? Or perhaps a coat finish to increase it's flex-strength.

(currently my plan is to do a simple wet + dry sanding, white plastic primer spray and finally the hammered finish paint paint)

 

[rellik]

That sounds like a fun project. My recommendation would be to go all out and use Rosco paint products sold at B@H.

Their iddings Deep Colors are really beautiful yet scratch very easily. Also their ColorCoat is infact bulletproof.

My suggestion would be to not sand em up and apply layers of deep colors followed with a coat of heavily thinned clear ColorCoat.

The deep colors can be easily scraped off with a fingernail from smooth materials.

 

[widgets]

Honestly, I would use a plasti dip type spray, a hammer finish will defiantly crack at the first bend as they are very brittle. You wont get a hammered finish but car body shops sell this type of pain in all sorts of cool colours.

 

[Slater]

+1 on Plasi-Dip spray. May not be as sexy as hammer finish, but it will last much longer.

 

[GREQ]

That sounds like a fun project. My recommendation would be to go all out and use Rosco paint products sold at B@H.

Their iddings Deep Colors are really beautiful yet scratch very easily. Also their ColorCoat is infact bulletproof.

My suggestion would be to not sand em up and apply layers of deep colors followed with a coat of heavily thinned clear ColorCoat.

The deep colors can be easily scraped off with a fingernail from smooth materials.

Ah, I just noticed head-fi doesn't show people my location any more.
Since I'm in Germany, I won't be buying anything from Rosco, as Germany has other leading brands that are much easier to get a hold of.

Honestly, I would use a plasti dip type spray, a hammer finish will defiantly crack at the first bend as they are very brittle. You wont get a hammered finish but car body shops sell this type of pain in all sorts of cool colours.

Thanks for the info. I'll steer clear of hammered stuff.
Plasti-dip spray is easy enough to find in Europe, but I'm worried it'll start peeling or tear.
I've never used it, so I don't know how durable it is. I understand it can be used as a temporary protective layer.

 

[Slater]

Plasti-dip spray is easy enough to find in Europe, but I'm worried it'll start peeling or tear.
I've never used it, so I don't know how durable it is. I understand it can be used as a temporary protective layer.

These 3 videos address the durability of PlastiDip, as well as some guidelines you need to follow to achieve the best results:




And this is a good step-by-step guide to follow on the proper use of PlastDip (obviously you'll change or omit some of the steps):

 

[rellik]

Thats a good extension. Often times Ebay carries paint designed for use on automotive brake calipers and rotor hubs. See if someone stocks that near you Internationally.

Sadly thinning it will be difficult as it isnt water based. Most automotive caliper paints are an epoxy based resin. They do bond incredibly strong. From my memory they dont smell that bad either. Similar to two part epoxy.

I would steer clear from the Krylon or Rustoleum products at Hope Depot solely due to their terrible really really bad smell. That and I doubt they will bond to a material that isnt porous. Primer will help but it has a gritty finish...and still will peel eventually

Not that Rosco brand products wont make you dizzy as hell while ther cure. They wont make you sick though.

 

[GREQ]

@slaterlovesspam - cheers for all the vids - really helpful honestly.

I've done some research and it looks like 'Kandy dip' is quite popular in Germany, sort of the German equivalent of PlastiDip.
It says on their website their products are actually compatible with PlastiDip, so I'll assume it has similar properties and durability - it's designed for cars too, saw a few 'official' videos too.

I'll try out this KandyDip first, since it's cheaper than PlastiDip here - ONLY because of import costs. It's not a cheap product.
I'll definitely post back with the results.

 

[rellik]

Cool, glad you found what you were looking for. I have seen some vehicles designed for SWAT teams and the such using plastidip. I forget the brand but I believe it was Gator paint or Gatortex.

The guy I was talking to did mention and show me that it does form bubble voids quite readily when it delaminates and can collect water.

I doubt using plastidip on headphones will experience the levels of sun exposure as a vehicle.

Aircraft paint works quite well also. Very durable. Most have significant amounts of UV inhibitors which can give a fair bit of gloss.

 

[GREQ]

Ahoy thar...
just a little update.

I bought some 'midnight purple satin' Kandy Dip (German brand plasti dip (?)) and the results are pretty much OK.
I'm definitely happy with how it turned out.
Wasn't as difficult as I expected, but I have had a little experience with spray painting in the past, so not a total noob either.

I did have one odd thing happen at the start with the headband, the paint seemed to have a funny reaction to the masking tape and it went all goopy and the colour seemed to separate from the rubber in weird bubbles.
So for that piece I had to wait for it to cure, then peeled it off and started again.

The result does leave quite a rubbery feeling over the parts, very similar to the cheap type of rubberized coating you find on some higher end gaming mice and some headsets.
Of course this stuff shouldn't decompose after a few years like that stuff, but who knows.

I'll just leave my work in progress here for other people to get an idea of how decent results can be achieved.
The most difficult part was carefully cutting around the masked HD650 logos with a craft knife, as there was a rubber layer connecting the masking tape to the plastic.

 

[Slater]

Ahoy thar...
just a little update.

I bought some 'midnight purple satin' Kandy Dip (German brand plasti dip (?)) and the results are pretty much OK.
I'm definitely happy with how it turned out.
Wasn't as difficult as I expected, but I have had a little experience with spray painting in the past, so not a total noob either.

I did have one odd thing happen at the start with the headband, the paint seemed to have a funny reaction to the masking tape and it went all goopy and the colour seemed to separate from the rubber in weird bubbles.
So for that piece I had to wait for it to cure, then peeled it off and started again.

The result does leave quite a rubbery feeling over the parts, very similar to the cheap type of rubberized coating you find on some higher end gaming mice and some headsets.
Of course this stuff shouldn't decompose after a few years like that stuff, but who knows.

I'll just leave my work in progress here for other people to get an idea of how decent results can be achieved.
The most difficult part was carefully cutting around the masked HD650 logos with a craft knife, as there was a rubber layer connecting the masking tape to the plastic.

Those turned out great! Nice job.

And as you found out, if you mess up you simply peel off the coating and try again. With spray paint that's not possible. I have ruined many things through the years because the spray paint I was using wasn't compatible or had problems with the finish. The Plasti-Dip type coatings are much more forgiving.

 

[rellik]

Hot Damn! That turned out really really well. My aforementioned statements about Sennheisers are probably now invalid due to the new smell. Suggestion don't buy things used.

 

[GREQ]

So here's an update on durability:



These looked really great for about 2 months.
Tiny areas started peeling, but the parts of the headphone pictured peeled the fastest.

The paint does leave a very nice even, soft finish, but the durability is on a similar level to the rubberized surfaces applied to Logitech mice and their higher-end USB headphones.
The kind of rubber layer that reacts with acid from sweaty palms and just disintegrates, losing it's soft touch and slowly breaks apart.

This kind of stuff is 'for display only'. Not for handling.
So I would absolutely 100% recommend people steer clear of using this kind of stuff for headphones.
This was pretty much an experiment to start with, so I don't mind these results so much - Hopefully this is a good learning experience for others too.

In the future I might try out a a permanent automotive paint with a darker colour and high gloss.