How to paint.

Here is a great article on how to paint a case.

How paint and get a mirror finish (with rattle-can paint)

You can decrease the amount of time between painting and practically eliminate the cure time by baking your painted pieces. (just like they bake painted cars) 165degrees for about 30 minutes on a pan covered with aluminum foil, between coats and allow to cool. You should note that masking tape (other than high temp paint masking tape) will transfer adhesive that will have to be removed later, if baked.



I apologize for not having a newer picture yet, the wife wants ghost flames so, I have to buy more paint.

 

Did you bake your cover ? Isn't that dangerous for the plastic ?

 

Yes I did. It's not hot enough to melt the plastic but it's warm enough to speed curing.

 

When I paint, it takes approximately 15 minutes to dry, after that I can manipulate the paint. I re-apply another coat after ~2 hours.

What would be the advantages of baking, in my situation? Shorter waiting periods, or more than that? A better finish ?

I am particularly interested in what you mentioned about cure time. What is it exactly?

 

Although what I refer to as "cure time" is technically "dry time" the words cure and dry are used interchangably in this sense in the painting industry.

Cure time is the amount of time for the paint to fully dry, shrink, and harden to it's final state through the evaporation of it's solvents. Depending on the type of paint this can take 2 or more weeks. When you bake a painted object you speed this process to mere hours.

A fully cured painted object can be handled without fear of damaging the finish as it is in its final state of hardness. It can be finished (wetsanded, polished, waxed) much sooner.

The entire point of baking is to go from the start of a project to finished product much faster.

 

Nice work, how do you plan to the flames? With cut-outs?

 

I'll do the layout freehand with pinstripe tape mask the excess and trim with a razor.

 

Thanks for the precision warlord. I use krylon fusion, it says on the can that the paint can be handled in 15 minutes, but is completely chip proof after 7 days. In other words, it has cured after 7 days, and could be drysanded after that time ?

 

You should be able to finish the surface after 7 days then.

<wisper> seven days </wisper>

 

don't dry sand paint if you're going for your final finish. take your cover totally off and wetsand it, using autmotive wet/dry paper and a spray bottle of water. if you want a really smooth finish, wetsand progressively from 600 through to 1500 grit paper, then work it out with polishing compound, then a coat of automotive wax.

another good idea when painting a computer is look for automotive primer that is designed to adhere to plastic bumpers. this stuff will adhere like CRAZY. you can then use any paint you like over top.

 

for the back of the notebook I tilted a cutting board into the sink and used that as a worksurface with a just a little water flowing over it. Easier than the spray bottle and just as effective.

 

well, however you want to get the water down, as long as its down

 

why would I choose wetsanding over drysanding ?

What are the advantages ?

 

it won't clog the paper as you're sanding. basically it washes all the little bits of paint that you're scratching off away as you're working. if you get sufficient buildup on the paper as you're using it, you can even gouge the surface. ideally you want to use a sanding sponge as well. this prevents your finger pressure from turning into little grooves in the paint.

oh yeah, if you want the really deep, "wet" look to your paint, you're going to want to shoot clearcoat. if you don't shoot clear, you can still get it nice a shiny, but it'll be a "warmer", fuzzier gloss.

EDIT: i actually read the tutorial at the beginning of this thread, and just follow that, but instead of using a block when wetsanding, use a sponge, that way you won't burn through the paint on any contours or edges.

 

Thank you all for your help.

I am halfway trough the process of painting the laptop. The palm rest has been already painted with 6 layers of color, and 4 layers of clear, without any sanding. Needless to say, I got a huge orange peel effect, which I don't exactly like.

I have just finished painting the LCD with 5 layers of color. I am waiting until it cures, it's been 4 days. After about a week, I will start wet sanding like you recommended, going from 1000 all the way up to 2000, with compound, then clear coat and wet sanding again with compound.

With this technique I expect much better result. If it's all good, I will wet sand and use compound on the palm rest that hasn't been finished as well!

I experimented the paint on a cordless phone; I tried dry sanding with compound, and this gave a wonderful result. I did a part by hand and another part with a wooden bloc. The wooden bloc definitively destroyed the paint. The surface is uneven. Better doing mistakes on a dummy than on the real paint

I should have more than enough time to do a good job, I've just had a surgical operation in the mouth. Doctors said that I should avoid any intensive work. That means stay at home for a while
I will post photos of the results here when I'll be done if you're interested.

I will follow your advices.

 

Looks good now. It isn't super shiny; but I got the mirror finish I wanted.

Unfortunately, I've been trough several layers of paint; in one area I can see a little blue-ish (the cover was blue).

What should I do ? Should I make a square of masking tape around that area, and spray a couple of layers, then re-sand again down to the same level than the rest of the cover ?

 

If you cover your paint job with a few (4-6) layers of clear coat then you'll be able to finish the surface without taking off any color. Basically you'll be buffing out the orangepeel on the clearcoat which when finished will give you a nice wet looking gloss. I use the Walmart brand clearcoat wich is less than $1.00 a can.

 

yeah... I would start over on the LCD cover. Scuff the whole thing with 600 grit again (you can do that dry,) and apply a few more coats of colour and then a bunch of clear (might as well use up a whole can, for what it'll cost you). Whatever orange peel you see can be taken out of the final coat, you don't need to sand the colour coat if you're applying clear.

 

It's just too bad that I did that for nothing ... I guess it counts as practice

 

for sure, man... live and learn.

I really wish I could be modding/painting my lappy, but I don't wanna mess with the warranty. Next summer I'll come up with something.

Oh, and I revise my previous statement, just spray like 4 or 5 coats of clear, unless you want to bake it to accelerate the curing process.

Another thing, if you've only sanded, it won't be ultra-shiny, in fact sanding leaves it dull. It's the polishing and waxing that will make it REALLY shiny.

 

I re-applied some red paint to cover the mistake I did, I applied a couple of cleacoat, and this morning I finished the thing.

The results are very good. Can't wait 'till I wax it and mount it back on the computer to show off