ALIENWARE M18x R2 - Gloss White Paint Job

Finally finished my Gloss White M18x R2 project. A few small touch-ups needed once it hardens properly but she looks pretty nice, in my un-biased opinion.

 

That looks fantastic. Nice job.

 

Amazing job

 

Thanks guys. It took a few failed attempts but it was good to finally finish. I really need a cleanroom


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Talk about star wars storm trooper inspired theme paintjob, looks real well!!!

 

Thanks for that. I've sold that one but I loved it so much I decided to do the same on the M15x I'm rebuilding. Just a teaser below while I wait for some parts.

 

Spectacular

 

Well, it's only an old laptop respray but I like your enthusiasm.

 

Its not "what is on the desk", its "how is it on the desk"


I'll be watching, and I will be sharing some of my stuff later too

 

I’m waiting for a brand new palmrest to arrive from interstate and a replacement motherboard from China. The respray is actually complete. May still be a month before the board arrives though.


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This looks great. Can you tell a bit about process and what you used? Is it difficult? Hand painted or spray or both? How did you handle the sides with all the ports? Thinking of doing something similar with my m18x R2 and m11x R2. Anything you would have done differently second time round?
Many thanks

 

Thanks.
I just use Rustoleum sprays. Primer, color and clear coat
Firstly I tear down the entire machine, I remove everything that is possible to remove. Then I carefully tape up any spots that I don't want to be painted. This prep work takes a while but it's important to do properly to get nice clean lines. Use a good quality masking tape so it doesn't bleed. I should have used better tape on some of my paint jobs.
After that's all done;
- lightly wet sand all areas to be painted (1200-1500 grit wet/dry paper)
- clean with grease and wax remover
- apply a few coats of primer spray, lightly dry sand between coats (2000-3000 grit wet/dry paper)
- allow to dry as per manufacturer instructions (between coats and after)
- apply 3-4 light coats of color
- allow to dry for 48 hours
- lightly wet sand 3000 grit wet/dry paper
- apply 3-4 light coats of clear coat spray
- allow to set for 48 hours
- Use a car polishing paste and micro-fiber cloth to get a nice shine.

I just spray over the port decals. One of the guys on here did an amazing job making new icons for the side ports on his M15x but it was too much work for me.

I have definitely improved my technique from my first attempt. It's not always easy to get it perfect as dust and hair and any small particle that lands on the wet paint or clear coat really stands out and you have to sand it out and try to fix it.
I use a cheap beach tent as a spray booth to try to remove the chance of trash in the paint but it still happens and it's really annoying thinking you've done your final coat and there's a tiny hair sitting in the middle of the lid. You just need to let it dry and sand it out. Don't try to fix it while it's wet.

 

Good write up. +reps

 

Thank you sir.

It's really trial and error. The white M18x took me months to complete because I messed something up the first time and I kept getting spider web cracking over the lid when the paint dried.
I ended up taking it down to bare aluminium and started from scratch. I don't know if it was a bad batch of paint or bad prep work (probably the latter). This is where I started using the grease and wax remover and I think it really helped.