Painted Dell 14z

I'm reposting these pics here in case anyone is interested. If anyone is curious why I painted my laptop black when it was already Black chainlink, the black lid was extremely fingerprint-magnetized and the palm rest was an ugly grey with a stupid chain pattern.

Anyway, I basically referred to dozens of guides on how to paint my laptop and I really don't have anything new to add, but maybe you can learn something from my expereince and mistakes:

1. PRACTICE SPRAYING ON ANYTHING BUT YOUR LAPTOP!! I thought I was special so I avoided doing some practice with the spraycan. Big mistake. My first coat of primer basically turned into 1 hour of scrubbing off the entire coat that was sloppy and dripping everywhere. Easily avoided if I had just one practice run on cardboard or something.

2. WEAR PROTECTION!! Since I have this retarded notion that I'm invincible, I decided that just holding my breath while spraying would be sufficient to protect my lungs. I also thought that my eyes would be kept safe because I could outrun the fumes with my bionic legs. Well, by the time I was doing my coats of clear, I was feeling faint and my lungs hurt like hell. I also could barely open my eyes for more than 5 seconds at a time.

3. Clear coats must be laid down THICK!!! (Somebody else mentioned this on another thread.) My first 2-3 coats were super light and I was getting disappointed with the results. Thank god someone advised to apply thick coats, because I was nearly brainwashed with everyone repeating "lots of thin coats is the way to go" You should try making your coats thicker and thicker in increments without letting it drip. The last thing you want is a bad coat that you'll have to sand or clean.

4. Apply your tape carefully! I actually spent a lot of time on this so I didn't screw it up. But when I was near the end, I was thankful that I did tape everything super carefully.

5. If you are not going for a super glossy look, I would recommend you use something like Krylon Satin-Black AND Kylon Crystal Clear. Basically what I ended up with a satin finish which I sanded very very little before the clear coats. After the clears, I proceeded with all that other crap (rubbing compound, etc).
Primer is up to you, but I'd recommend it if this is a semi-decent laptop. If this is a POS laptop that you were about to throw away, then skip the primer and make sure you use Fusion.

6. If you make a mistake , like causing a drip or letting some giant piece of dust fall onto your coat, DO NOT PANIC AND DO ANYTHING STUPID. An example of something stupid is trying to wipe it off quickly with your dirty fingers. You're gonna have to let it dry anyway to correct, but either you could fix a tiny little drop or a huge ugly hand print. (wow I can't believe I actually ended up with decent results.)

7. Buy more than 1 can of each coat. I was lucky because when both my base and clear coat sprays ran out, I didn't really need to put more. But actually, I wish I did have more at the time. When you begin using rubbing compound, that's when you'll see whether or not you've been applying enough or thick enough coats.

8. Waiting a long time to let paint cure?? 3 weeks? Pshhh hell no! Took me 6 days from sanding to applying the last of my polish and start using it. I was extra careful not to chip or damage the paint while I reassembled it. And believe me... I won't be moving my laptop anywhere for at least another week or 2. But there is just no way in hell I was going to let my laptop lie there inaccessible for nearly a month.

HEre's a quick breakdown of how it went for me:
day1 - sanding- primer coats - waited several hours and then began base coat
day 2 - finish base coats -waited hours and then began clear
day3 finish clear - let dry for 3 days
day6 - sand-rubbing compound- polish --and BAM! finished.



9. This doesn't have to do with the actual process, but you might want to avoid telling people that you are painting your laptop. For some reason, people tend to believe that this is sort of nerdy and not cool. I know, right? How could painting your laptop not be the coolest thing ever!


Anyway, best of luck.

 

Even though I would never paint my Thinkpad, thank you for all these helpful tips. I'm sure some other more adventurous forumers will find these very useful. From the pictures, it looks like the paint job turned out very well - good job!

+rep

 

Pretty slice, looks like a lot of work. Thanks for posting!

 

looks nice m8. Wish i had the balls to do some paint on my system. to scary for me tho.

 

Yea... typically I'd never do anything like this, but I've been recently trying to keep my mind off a personal issue. This certainly kept me occupied for a full week...

 

Thanks for the compliments. I'm actually thinking of doing more to it. Possibly change the lid color or add some flair to it. Now that I have some experience, nothing can stop me. lol

 

Very nice job +1

 

Thanks!
I'm planning on modding the lid so that I can have a lit-up logo like macbooks. Here's the link to the guide: http://forums.msiwind.net/osx-guides/guide-glowing-apple-logo-using-lcd-backlight-wiring-t9266.html

However...I do not wish to use an Apple logo and the Dell logo would be way too difficult to cut out. Does anyone have suggestions??

Of course, a simple shape, logo or image is what I'm looking for. Also, the image MUST encompass and cover the Dell logo that is engraved on the front. This fact alone makes the Apple logo sound like the best option.

I was contemplating a silhouette of a hand giving the middle finger. But I'm getting a bit old and it's not exactly oozing with maturity or profesionalism. I was also considering doing a larger version of the dell logo, but without the ring around it. But if I do this, I'll have to make it so big that the "E" in Dell would have to cover the entire original logo. So scractched that idea, too.

Anyone have any ideas?

 

Dallas Cowboys Star

 

only if you pur a NY Yankee logo on yours

 

So I decided to just stick with the Dell logo and carve that sucker out. Here's the latest pics. I had to sand that area down due to all the scratches. Looks like I'll be repainting the lid once I'm done with the logo.

 

good stuff.

 

I'm almost done with all my modifications. repainted laptop silver (krylon nickel shimmer) and i havent added one of those diffusion sheets to make my logo glow into a specific color yet, but here are pics of it so far. i definitely like this color more than the black that i originally painted it.

(i havent applied rubbing compound + polish yet, so the end result will be shinier i hope)

 

oops, here are the pics:

 

Looks very good!
Nice Job!


Cin...

 

Amazing job! Respect all the hard work. The logo idea is cool.
I want to ask you for a tip. I have studio xps 1340 I want to paint it but how do i go about painting or avoiding the leather accent. and then i would love to lame a logo also only it would say HELL not dell lol.