This morning I decided to order from paints4u, given that they were cheaper by about a fiver all in (including a scotchbrite pad to do some prep) and also given that Craig was pleased with his experience.
They do a 'straight to aluminium' paint as mentioned previously, but in the end I decided that I'd get a tin of the Autotek acid etch that David mentioned in post #7 and went for the standard BS satin aerosol. Reasoning being that it'll give me a bit of practice in prepping the surfaces properly, plus I'll be doing the lid a different colour at some point and will need a primer anyway.
I was expecting to get it next week but I've had an email to say it will be delivered tomorrow—service is great so far! If I get time/weather this weekend I might make a start on it.
Not sure if the 'direct to aluminium' would be much different but if anyone has used it before let us know your experiences, might be useful for future reference.
Cheers!
