I know nothing about paint, but I do know about powder coating. As UB said, it'll make it bulky, but VERY bulky. And you'd probably only be able to powder coat the body of the reel (In the right colour, could look good) but you'd definitely not want to coat the whole reel as powder coating is quite thick and would hinder the performance of the reel. And, as UB said, would chip very easily. Also, powder coating is costly, one last thing, powder coat needs to bake. And at the high temps I don't know if a reel and the components could stand up to it. It's definitely not a good idea. Painting the reel would be the best choice, if you need it to match

Thanks for the information UB, I've wondered before about painting and just never got around to asking. That's a great tutorial.

Take care,
Shane