Modding Painted my keyboard

I've finally got it all done - black case, monitor, mouse, mouse pad, speakers, and then I had a blaring beige keyboard - can't let that one get away!

I used Rustoleum black metallic and clearcoats, then 3M buffing compound and polished it. I used Valispar gloss black on the keys and this cool new metallic Sharpie on the keys. I'm going to leave it as-is unless the marker starts fading from the keys and I need to redraw them and put a clearcoat on top.

I have a few like this laying around, so you can see the original look. It's a Mitsumi 101-key with 5-pin Din style plug I have to use a PS/2 converter on, but I can live with that as long as there aren't any windows keys.

I ran out of vinyl dye right as I finished it, so the cord will have to wait a few days.

 

looks nice... love the idea of using the Sharpie for the key labels. Gives it a personal "cartoony" look and I mean that as a compliment... did you or are you going to clear coat over the sharpie? Just curious how long the marker would last without some coated protection.

 

you forgot to add the space bar lol


nice one

 

Okay MDK, back away from the keyboard, ndtinker doesn't want it busted...

I've seen those new metalic Sharpie markers on tv recently and wondered how well they work. Looks good! Is that a metal-flake paint you used?

 

bah, real men paint their keyboards and don't label the keys

Looks REALLY nice there, you used the same paint I did on the chassis of my case.

 

know where i can get that cool metallic stuff in the UK?

 

Thanks for the compliments! I knew the shell looked good but had no idea how the keys would come out. I actually vinyl-dyed them black at first, but they weren't as dark as I wanted them, so I put another coat on and pretty much ruined them. They all turned a powdery looking grey like a big dustbunny sneezed on them. I resorted to repainting them with regular paint and they came out pretty good.

And I'm wondering as well Eddie how long that's going to last - if it wears off I'll clearcoat it, but for now I'm leaving it alone.

Oh, and it is a metal flake paint, and I found that Sharpie at a Target store, but not any clue about where to get one in the UK.

 

real men use dvorak on a regular keyboard....


now that's fun