My complaints with powder coating have been mentioned, but here goes:

1. The shade, gloss, and depth of shine is determined by what the powder coater has in the gun that day, whether it matches the rest of the project or not. No cut and buff with this stuff, once it's on, it's on.

2. Can't touch it up. One good rock chip and there ya go with a big chip. Only thing you can do is dab a bit of paint on it....after considerable time getting the paint to match. With paint I can do a bit of sanding and blending and it looks brand new. Same thing applies if I forgot about one bracket or choose to change something in the future.

3. The stuff is so thick, everything "grows" when it's powdercoated. All the thread holes have to have a chaser run through them and most of the holes in brackets for attaching components have to be redrilled...

It does look good. Some I've seen fade terribly after a season or two, others become permantly dull. I'm sure there are different qualities of powder and coaters, just some things to consider. Think I'll stick to molding, smoothing, and painting mine..... Easier and cheaper is not necessarily better.