ZX Spectrum 128 Toastrack

[PeterJ]

One of my 128s has a chip on the heatsink. I've a bit of OCD about things looking perfect. Has anyone painted their heatsink or done anything similar?

Any recommendations welcome.

[Ast A. Moore]

Yeah, I pained mine with a dab of acrylic paint (the kind that is used by hobbyists). I used Tamiya’s X-18 Semi Gloss Black, because that’s what I had at hand.

[PeterJ]

Yeah, I pained mine with a dab of acrylic paint (the kind that is used by hobbyists). I used Tamiya’s X-18 Semi Gloss Black, because that’s what I had at hand.

Thanks. Can you see where you painted it?

[Ast A. Moore]

Yeah, I pained mine with a dab of acrylic paint (the kind that is used by hobbyists). I used Tamiya’s X-18 Semi Gloss Black, because that’s what I had at hand.

Thanks. Can you see where you painted it?

Hmm. Lemme check . . .

Okay, I had to look for you, but once you’ve located the spot, yeah, you can see it clearly. Granted, I didn’t build enough of a paint layer (and the chipped part was pretty thick). It certainly looks a great deal better than bare aluminum, that’s for sure, and the fins of the heatsink are not super uniform or even throughout (I’m talking about the undamaged portion).

I think if you built a sufficiently think layer of paint (by applying a small bit, letting it dry, then applying more, etc.), you can then sand it and have it blend in with the surrounding factory paint. But if you’re willing to go through all that, your OCD must be an order of magnitude more severe than mine.

P.S. By the way, mine had a chip on the exact same fin, except it was closer to the other end.

[Ast A. Moore]

Here’s what mine looks like: