As Kurt said, why in the world would I want to paint it?
I ordered brass so it could be polished to match the hammer on my 45-120 BC, brass work just takes a little work, although with power tools, it's a lot faster than with hand tools. I'll go at it with the belt sander first to remove the mold lines and flash, then on to the buffing wheel and dremel.
I sent Tom a pic of the spacer, he agreed that it should be heated to fix it, so that's what I'll do, if it breaks, he'll replace it.....eventually, he won't be making them for a while, if he does any more.
Tim