The Oh Deer Diner Thermos

I made these an age ago after playing the second game and seeing that the real ones are basically inaccessible to us USA plebs. I’ll give the rundown and some patch notes here.

So the two base thermoses had to be found vintage on ebay as they no longer make that profile, and the brand used for the Alan Wake ones aren’t available in the US.

• Sanded down the old paint using my mouse electric sander, be careful as it probably has lead or something in it. Don’t let it get wet either.
• Once the entire thing was bare I used Rustoleum clean metal primer to seal the metal and create a base.

I’ll say this now: LET YOUR PAINT DRY FULLY IN BETWEEN COATS

And make them thin. This surface is so smooth you will see ANY flaw and the paint tends to drip and flow. I promise it’s worth the time.

Anyway, I don’t have pictures of this part, but I used all rustoleum spray paint for the body.

• Used a white gloss enamel for the white rims (be careful not to get this under any of the other paint or it won’t adhere)
• Then taped off the center and top to spray the silver lines with metallic spray paint, then taped off everything but the middle for the blue (see notes here)
• Lastly I coated the entire thing in gloss enamel and put the vinyl sticker on.

PATCH NOTES

• The lid was a nightmare. The red plastic seeped pigment into the white paint no matter what primer I used or how long I let it dry. I tried krylon universal bonding primer and I think maybe if you do suuuuper thin coats as to not reactivate the last one and let it dry for weeks in between (I did this) then maybe it would turn out better. Some of the initial tests even had the paint wrinkle and lift from the plastic.
• I actually removed the inner insulation chamber from the thermoses originally thinking it would help the painting process, but it was probably completely unnecessary and it might have made them unusable so Definitely Don’t Do That. They’re probably usable seeing as it’s a vacuum chamber design and the paint would be seperated from the heat if you don’t fuck it up.
• Should have done the silver paint strip last, it was easier to set up the tape doing it before the blue, but it ruined the sheen taking it off.

I think that’s it, I’ll post pics of the paints I used as well. (The two on the left are the extra primers I bought trying to get the damn lid to cooperate)

I think I may try this again if I can get my hands on another thermos and have a final draft!