Custom GBA buttons?

[ehabcharek]

does anyone know where I can get custom colored buttons for the original GBA?

 

[Diminuendo]

http://bfy.tw/CoLT

 

[ehabcharek]

already tried that

 

[Diminuendo]

Then whats the problem? There are 3 different sellers on page 1;

http://store.kitsch-bent.com/product/custom-buttons
https://www.retromodding.com/products/gameboy-advance-buttons
https://handheldlegend.com/collections/gba-products/products/game-boy-advance-buttons

 

[ehabcharek]

by custom, I meant tailored to order, with the option to make every button a different color

 

[Keirstin Bloom]

Have you tried painting them? Testors and Tamiya paint with clear coat is solid and feels great.

 

[ehabcharek]

I have never painted anything, so I don't know where to start.
Does any kind of paint work (like spray paint, matte, glossy, ...etc)? or do I have to use the ones you mentioned, because I don't think they have them near me. do I have to do anything to the buttons before I apply the paint?

 

[The amazing skeleton]

I have never painted anything, so I don't know where to start.
Does any kind of paint work (like spray paint, matte, glossy, ...etc)? or do I have to use the ones you mentioned, because I don't think they have them near me. do I have to do anything to the buttons before I apply the paint?

Yes you can use spray paint, but i believe you are supposed use fine gritted sand paper BEFORE you paint it.

 

[Keirstin Bloom]

Nope, you can use whatever paint you want, but since using the buttons wears the laying down, I recommend Testors or Tamiya since they're very sturdy. You can use whatever paint you want (I use spray paint) but if you're using Rustoleum I'd say avoid the gloss. Otherwise use whatever you want, just don't spray it on too thick.

 

[laingsoft]

Basically any paint would work. If you want to make it last, you'll need to spray on some UV/Resist afterwards.

 

[ehabcharek]

alright, so I finally found a place that sells paint here, and it's testors! I also got a thinner too. Don't know exactly what it does, but in case I need it, it's there
Now, for the clear coat, does it have to be a specific kind? like the UV/resist that laingsoft mentioned, or any form of clear coat works, like transparent nail polish or stuff like that?

 

[laingsoft]

Any sort of clear coat will work. There are specific types that are formulated to deal with the sweat and oils of human hands, but it honestly shouldn't matter all that much.

 

[Keirstin Bloom]

alright, so I finally found a place that sells paint here, and it's testors! I also got a thinner too. Don't know exactly what it does, but in case I need it, it's there
Now, for the clear coat, does it have to be a specific kind? like the UV/resist that laingsoft mentioned, or any form of clear coat works, like transparent nail polish or stuff like that?

I just want to clarify again since you mentioned thinner that I was talking about Testors spray paint, not the bottles of airbrush paint (That's generally what the thinner is for). And as for clear coat, I use clear testors one coat lacquer. (Again it's spray paint)

 

[ehabcharek]

when I asked for testors, I was directed to the little bottles (like these ones)
do those not work? O_o

 

[Prog]

I think those are made to go into airbrushes.

 

[ehabcharek]

can I just use a regular brush to paint them on?
looking it up on google shows that it's enamel paint, and the wikihow page shows them using a brush

 

[ttsgeb]

It brushes on just fine, but I haven't ever used the stuff on anything high wear, so I'm not sure how it'll do brushed on to the buttons.
Thin coats with an airbrush would definitely give you a more uniform coating that preserves the details better, but airbrushes aren't inexpensive.

 

[ehabcharek]

thanks for the help guys!
I ended up painting 3 buttons to make the GBA resemble the gamecube controller. The green color for the A button is the closest I could find to the real thing, but it's not perfect. Though it looks like it's pretty much exactly the same color as the A button on 3rd party controllers, like the GameStop ones
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzEdg00SKGnBS3JqeWNMbTVuMk0/view?usp=sharing