Yep, Spring has sprung. I wonder how many people realize that dreary days produce dreary paint jobs? Don't paint when the humidity is too high or it's raining -- unless you're enclosed in a warm, dry area (don't fergit circulation though). Grump
Well, another dreary weekend. I did manage to get a coat of clear on the board though. I also got some chrome look goin' on with the keys -- I only plan to do the Shift, Enter and Spacebar keys. I'm not done, but here's what is so far: Clockwise from the top: Monitor control panel, Enter, Shift and Spacebar, monitor power button, case power button, and the release buttons for the upper bezel of the case. It's turning out pretty nice. Wish I had more to show.
Wow ! Thats looking well Schweeeet! Grump could u post some close ups of those chromed items...I'd like to see the quality :dude:
GunDam, I didn't mean to ignore you. I'm sorry I didn't post another pic of the chrome for ya. Howzat? The chrome tape (Flexi-Chrome) turned out good, but I found out the buttons wouldn't fit in their tight little holes. So, I had to take off the tape and paint the buttons with "chrome spray paint". It ain't **** compared to the tape or even the real thing (the metal parts here are nickel plated), but they'll have to do if I wanna turn this machine on an' off. I wish I could add more on the keyboard, but the weather has been very crappy these past few weeks, so I can't get any clear coats on. After that, I'll be doing some lighting effects.
Well, I finally caught a break and we're havin' some good weather. I had to repaint ever'thing because I painted in the wind and screwed my paint job up. I broke down an' bought a spray gun and a carport tent and I like the results much better. The pics below are after 3 coats of primer, 4 coats of metallic green and 4 coats of clear. I don't know how many hours I have in sanding alone, but at least I didn't have to sand between the color coats (you can't sand metallics unless you wanna start over). As you can see, there are a few "chromed" keys -- the Flexi-Chrome that I got from TapeWorks turned out real nice. It's the next best thing to having the plastic parts chrome plated, but I don't know where to get that done (regular platers don't usually do plastic). I put the thing back together last night, but a lot of the keys stuck. I guess it was too many coats of paint. I took it apart, filed each hole and lubed the keys with Labelle 106, a plastic compatible lubricating grease with PTFE that I picked up at a hobby store. After getting it back together, I feel a little difference in the touch, but it works fine. I haven't done any lights yet. That will have to wait. I also did not change the LEDs to blue -- this is a metallic green machine and the green LEDs look great with it. The trackball is done too. It's hard to rell with these damn pics, but the trackball is a shade lighter than the keyboard and, in 3D, the two look sweet together. The buttons are "chromed on it too. I did have to leave the ball blue though. The rest of the machine is coming along fine. I'll post more pics when it's done.
Sorry, SpiKe, that's a pretty blurry picture. It's called Trunk Paint. It's a gray/white/black splatter type of paint and it has a heavy texture. It actually looks good in 3D. Grump
Wow Grump that project is looking ever so sweeeeeeeeeet. Can't wait to see it once its finished !!!!! Keep up the excellent work m8 !
I was looking at that paint a while back and was wondering how a case would look with a stone theme Looking forward to more pics
will be getting me some of that chrome paint one thing you could do is do a neon string keyboard as they look really cool. Mine only took me 30 mins to do.
that is sooo sweet dude, what would be neat... do the inside of a case like that, or... how about everything!!!!!!!!
