Pimp my scope.....

[Astro_Baby]

I am not overkeen on the Sky-Watcher blue livery. Call me fussy but it doesnt' fit in with the living room where it spends its time. White would be a better color for it or perhaps a deep mettalic grey.

So ....the question is has anyone ever repainted a modern OTA and what sort of issues should be considered ?

My feeling is, strip the tube down and take it off for some stove enamaling but I wonder if there are issues for the finish. Do the tubes flex much for instance ? If they do then some paints wont work well as they will tend to chip and show fracture lines.

The paint on the tube from the factory looks just like car paint ( ie cellulose based ). If thats all it is then a respray shop could do it easy enough.

Enamaling would be better I think as it would be more durable but I dont know if its possible.

If its not too complex or pricey I may just do it, if I did I;d flock the tube while I am at it.

Any thoughts ?

[timetraveller]

hi Astro-baby

i would give very serious thought before you think about either enamelling or powder coating your OTA. Both of those processes require a reasonable amount of heat, which is liable to seriously distort the tube not to mention damaging the Matt coating on the inside I wouldn't want to risk it. why not try some sort of removable sleeve or cover instead

regards Pete

[Kaptain Klevtsov]

You could wrap loads of wires round it to disguise the colour, works for me.

Seriously though, a car respray place would do it best I think.

Kaptain Klevtsov

[Greg]

I repainted my Helios 120 Achro....

It was Helios dark blue with a few battle scars so I painted it Vauxhall Arctic white..!! (I had some left over from a spray job I did years ago!!!)

It looks good..

Remove the front element by unscrewing and store safely..Unscrew the three small grub screws and remove the whole focus unit..Mask off the matt black interior and rub down..

I gave mine to a car sprayer friend who owed me a favour..He did a top job..

I know fancy a change so A pearlescent red would be good..

As for the finish ..Mines in a cellulose but a 2 pak would be better although I would give it to a professional sprayer to do..

Greg

[Kai]

Is this your new scope ???

It might be worth a call to your dealers just to make sure it doesnt invalidate any warranty.I know you have had problems recently.

[peeceeTal2M]

Why not try a custom spray shop, i'm sure there must be a few in the london area and you could end up with somthing really unique and eyecatching

[MikeD]

Build a obs.... eveyones happy.

Mike.

[supernova]

A container me thinks

[beamer3.6m]

How about do away with the paint but instead wrap coloured sheeting around it.

You could use plastic or rubber or card or paper or whatever but if you ever decorate your lounge you won't need to repaint your scope.

Just a thought.

[steppenwolf]

I think I'd avoid the re-spray and go for the 'colour wrap'. Having said that, I think the Skywatcher 'electric blue' is very attractive but 'tis true, I don't have it in my lounge!

On the subject of the Skywatcher colour, no doubt most of you have seen it done before but if you 'invert' the blue coloured 'scope and black mount using your graphics program, you will discover why Skywatcher chose the colour scheme they did for the 'Pro' versions! Go on, try it, you know you want to .....

[Astro_Baby]

Well it would invalidate the warranty so I wouldnt be doing this right away. As to the interior that would be flocked at the same time. Good thinking on the heat aspect warping it - I hadnt thought about that.

I used to play drums and drum kits use a kind of plastic material thats like a kind of up market 'fablon' that goes round the drums. Its not usually stuck down as the fittings hold it in place. I did think of that for the scope but theres not really enough external fittings on a scope to hold it down well enough.

Just wondered if anyone had done this and if car spray would be good. I'd get a pro to do it.

An observatory - yes - nothing I'd like more but I live in a 3rd floor flat which kind of limits the opportunities

[peeceeTal2M]

Probably enough space on the roof for an obs tho A_B

[GazOC]

Arthur (Ambermile) would be the man to ask.

[Tim]

Redecorate the lounge?

TJ