Recently, the official PlayStation PS5 faceplates went on sale everywhere. Even though it would have been simple to change the monolith next to my TV to my preferred hue of purple, the AUD $84.95 price tag was simply too much for me to bear. I imagine many other people would feel the same way.
However, I quickly began to consider whether I might utilize my knowledge of painting tabletop miniatures and my access to a range of painting equipment to “Prince-if” my PS5 on my own.
Like everyone else with a wild notion, I immediately began researching its viability. And like every other time I Google something, I came across a tonne of vehemently debated, completely at odds advice. I ultimately decided to put my faith in my own painting skills and wing it.
Fortunately, everything worked out very well, and the materials ended up costing about half as much as a brand-new set of faceplates. Here are my process, my tools, and my journey for the brave among you.
Painting Your Own PS5 Faceplates
The Materials
For the past year, I’ve used Vallejo Hobby Paint as my go-to spray primer for miniatures, and I just so happened to have an unopened can of “Alien Purple” lying around.
This stuff costs around $20 a can, which is more than the spray paint you can buy from a hardware store, but because I was already familiar with it and felt confident using it, it made the project feel significantly less stressful. In fact, even if I hadn’t already had it on hand, I still would have used it.
I also purchased a can of Vallejo Acrylic Satin Varnish (also about AUD $20) to protect my PS5 faceplates from deterioration and to give them a somewhat more glossy look than the raw paint would provide.
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Step One: Preparing the Canvas
Before painting, I scrubbed each faceplate thoroughly with hot, soapy water. This actually might not be a bad idea to do every now and again if you’re leaving your system as its standard white anyway, given how simple the PS5 faceplates can be removed!
Step Two: Spray and Pray
On the weekend of the paint, the often oppressive Melbourne winter was gracious to me because the wind stayed calm and the sun shone, providing me with the best conditions for spray painting outdoors.
I embarrassedly still had some cardboard boxes after moving in 15 months ago, so I improvised a painting station out of one of my housemate’s outside benches, put my fears aside, and got to work!
I was aware from previous experience that applying numerous light coats with a few hours in between to allow for each coat to be touch-dry would produce a smoother and more uniform finish.
I did have time to worry that it was all going to be a complete disaster due to the agonizingly slow pace of this procedure, but by the third coat, I was really happy with how it was all coming together. After the fifth, I was overjoyed!
I became aware that I was out of spray paint as the sun set even though I hadn’t begun painting the interior yet. Thankfully, my neighborhood hobby shop was open late on a Saturday and had another can of the same paint in stock.
After a chilly detour through the busy Melbourne night and one roughed-up night of sleep, I gave the inside of each faceplate a couple of coats before deciding it was finished.
Step Three: Added Flair
I brought the plates inside to inspect them against the system itself before varnishing them. Even while I thought the outcomes were fairly promising, my “totally unable to just let enough be enough” brain decided it needed a bit more flair.
I moved the faceplates over to my miniature painting station and quickly drybrushed the inside edges of each component with Citadel Dry Lucius Lilac and Change link Pink.
In the “dry brushing” technique, paint is loaded into a large brush, most of it is rubbed out onto a paper towel, and then the brush is softly flicked across the surface such that paint just catches upon the subject, hitting elevated regions more firmly.
You can use any type of paint for this, but Citadel’s selection of Dry paints produces excellent effects with ease.
Step Four: Satin Seal
After that, I gave each piece two coats of satin spray varnish, giving each side about an hour between the first and second coatings. I then gave each side 24 hours to fully cure before turning them over and spraying the other side.
The dullness of matte varnish and the rich shinier of gloss is nicely balanced by satin varnish, although your choices are, of course, your own.
It may not seem vital to varnish-seal the interior of each case piece, but it is crucial to keep in mind that video game consoles get hot, and you really do not want to take the chance that sprays of paint may eventually peel off and float loose inside your console years from now.
I would strongly advise sealing the case with appropriate varnish completely on each side as the last step to safeguard your extremely expensive and rare console, even if you decide to do this similar type of job with a different kind of paint.
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Step 5: Voila! Custom PS5 Faceplates!
I put the console back together after the varnish had properly dried, and there it was—my finished product!
Overall, I’m very happy with the outcome, and the project was a lot of fun to work on. When you look at it closely, there are a few minor flaws, but I’m still happy with how my gamble panned out.
Despite the fact that I spent a lot of money on modeling-grade materials, the project’s overall cost was substantially lower than the cost of the genuine PlayStation PS5 faceplates. Additionally, it made me feel a warm sense of creative success, which made the whole experience worthwhile.
If you’ve been considering personalizing your own PS5 faceplates, I say go for it! I hope that by sharing my knowledge, some of the process’s unknowns will be removed for you. Please share the outcomes of your DIY project with us on social media if you decide to move on with it.
