Thanks for the advice i bit the bullet and bought some smooth hammerite (silver). If you have a shop called 'The Range' near you , they do the electrostatic gun for £19.99 and the paint for £6.00. Shame ours had none in stock. Got the bed finished and nipped over to my mate to have the ends of the rails shaved and drilled ready to be tapped (perfect fit Roger). I can only go up to 25mm down the spout of mine so will have to upgrade that at sometime in the future. Tomorrow i will finish off paint and if dry enough sort out the rails and start looking at the Y axis. i still need to make space for it in the garage (hope it does not rain tonight).