Paint CB mic

[ForestRunner98]

Ok fellas…I want a black Astatic Road Devil mic but I don’t want to pay $200 for one. I don’t like the red. It’s red and sticks out like a sore thumb.

Anybody ever paint a mic? I was thinking of getting a red mic, shooting some primer, black and some flat clear.

What do you guys think? Yay or nay??

 

[Shadetree Mechanic]

The Fusion paint is made for plastic. That's what I would try. The red is the only thing that has kept me from getting one.

 

[ForestRunner98]

The Fusion paint is made for plastic. That's what I would try. The red is the only thing that has kept me from getting one.

Never tried fusion paint. I didn’t want the black to come off in my sweaty hand or get scratched. Ya man that red sucks!

 

[H1driver]

Could you use the shell of a 636 if you cut the slot in the side for the slide/adjuster?

 

[Cabover Bob]

Vinyl wrap

 

[Crawdad]

It's a shame the guts of a newer red RD104E aren't the same as an older black one. Not sure a newer red one is worth the cost of the paint. The red one I have is worth less than the paint.

73 to all and Merry Christmas

 

[tecnicoloco]

The Fusion paint is made for plastic. That's what I would try. The red is the only thing that has kept me from getting one.

And the factory ptt switch on the newer ones is very scratchy.....

I agree with krylon fusion paint

 

[ForestRunner98]

Could you use the shell of a 636 if you cut the slot in the side for the slide/adjuster?

Vinyl wrap

Although those are good ideas I don’t have the extra shell. Besides cutting and the vinyl wrap seems like more work.

It's a shame the guts of a newer red RD104E aren't the same as an older black one. Not sure a newer red one is worth the cost of the paint. The red one I have is worth less than the paint.

73 to all and Merry Christmas

Really? What seems to be not as good as the older model??

 

[Crawdad]

Really? What seems to be not as good as the older model??

Hey 98,
The red model I bought 5 or 6 years ago is a POS. Pure Chinesium. The PTT switch was scratchy right out of the blister pack, had a cord wire connected to the board by a single wire strand and one of the screws holding the halves together stripped during my initial disassembly.
The PTT switch has been cleaned and lubed several times with no lasting effect. I planned to do some rebuild on the mic but then realized I already had non-amplified mics that worked and sounded better, including stock mics, so why bother. The mic is such crap I don't want to sell it or even give it to someone. Maybe I ended up with a one-off bad one but either way Astatic should be ashamed to have their name on such low quality. The 636 is a much better mic if you like the brand. Not sure a good radio even needs a "power mic" nowdays, IMO, plenty of audio in today's equipment. My $.02

73, good luck and Merry Christmas

 

[groundwire]

go for it. the mic is so cheap, if you screw it up just buy another one

 

[ForestRunner98]

Hmm…starting to rethink this now.

It seems like the newer mic is hit or miss. Would not want to spend money and time on a potential POS. Who would right?

At the least I got my answer on painting a plastic mic. Fusion!! I am just looking to try a noise canceling mic to go with my McKinley. The stock and modded cobra work great but a noise canceling would be cool to have to.

Thanks fellas!!!!

 

[Crawdad]

Hmm…starting to rethink this now.

98,
Don't make your decision based solely on my post, there might be other operators out there having great success with newer red models. I just wanted you to have both sides of the coin. If all you're looking for is a noise cancelling mic and not necessarily an amplified one, there are lots of good choices out there. You might want to bear in mind that President designs their radios to use mics with an electret mic cartridge. Some noise cancelling dynamic cartridge aftermarket mics don't sound as good on them. Again, just my $.02. Get some other opinions.

73

 

[ForestRunner98]

I appreciate it Crawdad!!

I did do some reading and found a few bad reviews. But also some good ones!

The mic element is electret so it should do ok. Also seen them in a few vids with the same radio.

I will probably pull the trigger and see how she works. I know…how wishy washy of me. LOL If it doesn’t work out then it’s not a ton invested in it. Goes into the spare parts bin.

 

[OldTech03]

If you decide to paint plastic mic covers don't use Rust-oleum it is not for this kind of project. Krylon fusion or not is the only brand to use for this I do a lot of this kind of work when restoring items and have tried it all. I would also preheat the paint and the plastic as much as you can without melting the plastic of course or blowing up the paint can but these cases are usually molded at fairly high temps and you will be well served by this method and make sure you clean the plastic with 90% alcohol and try not to touch the plastic with your bare fingers before painting it will keep fish-eye from being a problem. Oh, a primer might be a good idea most likely gray covering the red first will give you better results. Also, don't apply any more paint than you have to get the coverage it might be a good idea to put a real light coat first and follow up with a cover coat, and then if you want to clear the coat again use Krylon. That's my 2 cents and I'm gone.

 

[TIN_CAN]

Ok fellas…I want a black Astatic Road Devil mic but I don’t want to pay $200 for one. I don’t like the red. It’s red and sticks out like a sore thumb.

Anybody ever paint a mic? I was thinking of getting a red mic, shooting some primer, black and some flat clear.

What do you guys think? Yay or nay??

I painted a road devil black it turned out great, scuff with red scratch pad and spray some adhesion promoter and shoot it with multiple light coats from a rattle can.