Brownells, the gunsmith supply firm, has several products for finishing aluminum guns, scopes, sights, etc. Some of them require baking in an oven, but one, Aluma-Hyde II, is an epoxy coating that does not require baking. It comes in 12oz. spray cans,and the semi-gloss black, perfectly matches the black Goldspar masts. I made up three rigs, only using two new black masts, all the other parts(one mast and six booms), were made using the original, natural aluminum masts. When coated with the paint, it was impossible to tell which was the original finish. It's not as scratch resistant as the baking Alumi-Hyde, but better than Krylon or Duplicolor paints. As for preparation, I just rubbed the parts down with 000 steel wool before painting. No priming needed.
www.brownells.com
800 741 0015
Paul #614