Guys,

I've made about a hundred of these (used to sell custom built fly rods).

Plain old WalMart brand spray enamel is VERY easy to use and VERY durable.

Since I'm in the beautiful American SouthWest, I wanted my tubes (rods too, but that's another issue) to have a SW flair. I spray painted them gloss black with the WalMart spray enamel. I took some enamel wallpaint in a turquoise color and 'stippled' it onto the tube with the end of a stiff 'stencil' brush, giving the tube a mottled appearance. After that all dried I put two coats of the WalMart spray enamel 'clear' over it. Looks like the tube is made from turquoise. Many of these tubes are over ten years old, have been bounced around in the back of the truck, and the finish still looks good.

I plagairized this 'technique' from a friend of mine who makes metal furniture and metal wall art. He uses the same spray paint and finish coating/technique on patio tables, chairs, and wall hangings and told me that this 'cheap 96 cents a can' spray from WalMart held up better than most of the comercially availalbe coatings and finishes available to his industry.

It's really good stuff.

By the way, I used both ABS and PVC and found that all you had to do to get the paint to 'stick' was rub the tube down with a white or grey Scotchbrite pad just before spraying (rub it down then spray right away, don't 'wipe' the tube off after teh Scotchbrite)

Good Luck!

Buddy