Ok, heres what we have. I have painted 3 cases, and all of them have failed miserably. I think im doing somethign wrong. all three have been older, steel cases with plastic fronts on them. I usually vynil dye the plastic, which SEEMS to work OK. However, the cases are all over the board. The first case I just painted overthe powdercoat finish with blue spray paint. That looked good, but chipped off super super easily. Next i tried sanding it down a little, using a white paint as a primer, and then painted the color over top. It still scratched when i touched it, even like 3 days after it was painted. My last case, I took GREAT pains to sand it all the way to the steel, get it perfectly smooth, etc, and I put down a blue coat of paint for a primer/1st coat, and then used tape stencils to keep a tiny part of the case blue while the rest was a flat black. I painted over, a little at a time, making sure it was all even and smooth, and it looks AWESOME. Let it dry a day or 2, pull off the tape,and it still scratches incredibly easy. I can just drag a fingernail across it really lightly and i get a big scratch mark in the paint. What do I seem to be doing wrong? I need a steel case that can be modded, then painted, and have at least SOME durability. Questions/Comments/topics What kind of paint What kind of primer what to use to make stencils/lettering that can go over one color and block the 2nd How long between coats How thick of coats anything else to address
"a blue coat of paint" "a white coat of paint" These are not primers, you need to use an actual METAL PRIMER, or else it will scratch. The paints must be matched to each other, too! Look for an etch primer, if possible, whilst painting make sure the surfaces are WARM (ie, 30 degrees C and above!), let them sit for as long as possible between coats, especially if using cheap paint! Ok, What kind of paint - metal primer, matching top coat. USE DECENT QUALITY PAINT, IF ITS 3$ A CAN, ITS NOT WORTH BUYING. What kind of primer - as above what to use to make stencils/lettering that can go over one color and block the 2nd - painters masking tape. Make sure its down properly - use a plastic tool if you need to. How long between coats - as long as possible, but using the directions on the can is fine if its a quality paint. How thick of coats - Thin. Just cover it on the first top coat, do NOT over apply. anything else to address - make sure your work area is dust free and HOT. Anything under 20 degrees is just not worth painting. The better the heat, the better it'll bind, and the flatter the coats will be (the hotter the surface, the more 'liquidlike' the paint is). Make SURE you key the surface properly (ie, sand it). I use a random orbital sander, makes an excellent job in a very short time.
he nailed everything, I believe enamel paints give slightly better abrasion resistance, but I could be crazy
excellent advice from Etacovda. 2 extra points that i might add. one is that if you have spray equipment and buy tins of paint, use the right thinners for the brand of paint. cheap thinners will make excellent quality paints worthless, so find a "pro" paint supplier and ask questions. 2nd point is after sanding/handling, wipe over work with a thinners soaked rag to remove all oils and dust (oil from fingers is nasty to paint) A trick i learnt from my neighbor when he rebuilt an engine for me was spraying the engine block with thinners prior to painting it, it got rid of ALL oils and dust the easy way.
I've used plastikote (about £5/$9 a can) enamel and it works a treat even though I had a problem at first (air temperature was so cold the paint would shrink on the surface). The paint doesn't scratch on touch, although it did when I accidently scored a scissor on it. So it does need some force before it is scratched.
thanks, im going to try some of it. i had a good worklog going, but the screwed up paint caused me to abandon the project. im goign to start it anew
make sure you keep the can 15-30cm away from the surface when spray painting dont have it really close, as well as do light coats side to side, 15 light coats are better then 1 heavy coat looking forward to your log
ironicly i stumbled uppon this little guide shortly after readong this, wasnt intentionaly searching for it. ftp://ftp.sybex.com/4360/4360ch08.pdf this is as good a guide to how a painting process should be done for professional results
You'll undoubtedly get a few useful tips from the following guides TJK: http://guides.pimprig.com/pimprig_paintshop/painting_a_computer_case_:_the_basics.php http://www.modthebox.com/paintguide.shtml http://www.gideontech.com/content/articles/177/1 And finally... this one is specifically for drive bezels: http://www.directron.com/paintguide.html As for lacquer... it's basically a varnish - 'cept it's specifically for protecting paint jobs. Ask for it in any good hardware/DIY store... or in a car spraying shop.
