Is there anyway to paint a case (non aluminum) that will not take weeks?

[Emericana]

i just read that sticky at the top of this forum and i honestly do not want a mirror finish on my case. i just want a standard color.

here is the deal. i have a chieftec dragon case that is plain beige and i want to paint it red and black (i got the scheme worked out in my mind). It does not need to be a mirror reflection and i honestly do not want to go through all of the work that takes weeks just to make something look nice. i would also like to paint the INSIDE of the case so it will look nice with the window(s) i am going to make on it.

can somebody point me to, or write up a quick guide to painting a standard case in a way that will only take a day or at the most two or three?

thanks a lot the help is really appreciated. i have done plenty of dremel work before but have never painted anything in my life.

[phantom punisher]

its not bad if your aiming for just color on a case. the side of the spray can you buy will have about all the direction you need. you just need good ventilation and use seveal light coats to prevent running(drips). paint a test subject before you do your case. just something small and nonporus(not paper) and youll quikly get the feel for it. youll be tagging "emeriana + brittney spears" in no time:)

[JFettig]

im doing red and black too! flat black, i got my front bezel painted.. im just using ACE premium enamle, the flat black is AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!! i like it better than the way people do it with the automotive paint...

[Captain Slug]

For a durable black finished (non-glossy) I HIGHLY recommend blackboard paint. It takes 24 hours to set, but it's IMPOSSIBLE to damage afterwards.

As for red, I recommend rustoleum. Longer waiting time for complete dryness, but it's also more durable.

The only other thing I can recommend is taking all of your parts to an autobody shop to ask if they are currently painting any cars in black or red. Having them use over-spray on a job somebody else already payed full price for will sometimes be free, or REALLY inexpensive.

[stool]

if you use enamel, you can greatly speed up the process. Just make sure you do good surface prep, then prime and finish coat. You can be done in 1-3 days easily. Enamel dries and sets up much quicker than lacquer.

[HaywirE]

Your going to have to sand it down.....

Im not really firmiliar w/ the Antec Case's.. But i'd imagine start at about a 450 Grit?

There cannot be ONE Spec of dust on the case when your ready to paint it, you have to wash it off, etc there's alot of preperation.

Trust me.

I HAD TO Paint a 36' Foot Yacht
:beer:

[HaywirE]

Btw.. sorry for double posting..


You need patients, if you want your computer to look good, your going to need time.. It wont take weeks, but prepartions preparations.. I recommend you going to homedepot, and asking what you need.. Dont say computer case because they'll look at you like your crazy.. Just say steel or whatever, what do i need etc.. i remember that when i went, i asked plexiglass and stuff to put in my computer, they looked at me like i was a idiot.

[Emericana]

hmmm.... it seems like almost everyone of you said something different lol and i am very confused still on how to go about this...

from what i gather i sand the whole thing at 400grit for a little while very litely and then put primer on it (what type of primer do i need?).

then i let that dry for a few hours.

then after that i still have no clue what to do with the different types of paint.

What i essentially want to do is i want the whole case to be black, then the "dragon" part of the front bezel to be red. I also want the whole inside (bare steel) part of the case to be red because i am going to make a huge window on one side with a few red CC lights.

[HaywirE]

Well, You could always paint it, scruff it up w/ some 500 Or so..... And repaint it.

Rather then buying primer ;)

[Emericana]

ok excuse me for this n00b question but wtf is primer i thought that was required to paint everything

[JFettig]

heres what i do,

take front bezel off
take buttons/leds out
lay on news paper
shake can of paint
spray
spray
spray some more
take side pannel off
lay on newspaper
shake can of paint
spray
spray
spray
take other side off
shake can of paint
spray
get new can of paint
shake
spray

ETC............

and it turns out wonderfully!

[Emericana]

ok so you dont even sand?

what type of paint should i get? how long should i leave the coats to dry?

[HaywirE]

Primier is so the paint doesnt flake away.

[JFettig]

i used the above ace premium enamel, i just let it dry for random lengths of time, 2 coats works great, it holds and stuff great, i let it sit for at least 2hrs...

you could put a protective clear coat on it if you want

[tom kruze]

heck yea clear coat and when your finally done u could get some wax and that puppy would shine like nothing else. haha i like the clear coat idea

[Crazy Jayhawk]

Krylon Rust-Tough enamel is wonderful stuff. I painted my last case black with it. It doesn't even need primer, and it's completely dry in about half an hour if you do it out in the sun.

Looks good too. :)

[KeyboardCowboy]

you could also use "Krylon Quik Dry" a coat of paint dries in 12 mins, but i would reccomend leaving it for an hour or so before applying another coat

there is also a Krylon Primer and clear coat that you can get also

[Emericana]

ok here is what i am going to do in a week or so.

gonna buy some 450 grit sandpaper
gonna buy some krylon primer
gonna buy some krylon quik dry and do 3 coats of it
gonna finish it off with krylon clear coat

obviously i am gonna clean it after i sand it

i am going to make a window w/ my dremel first so i am going to practice on the scrap metal from that first

on the inside of the case i am just going to do a bunch of coats of quick dry.

[Chrisdafu]

Im done painting half of my case and it only took about 2 days. I still have a side panel left because I havent cut the hole for my window yet and I ran out of paint. Im using krylon john deere yellow for mine. My dad said I wouldnt need primer if I left a little of the original powercoating on and my case looks good I just need to cut this window sometime soon or Im gonna go crazy being on my parents stupid compaq:mad:

[KeyboardCowboy]

just make sure to post pics when you are done


and the krylon isin't that expensive either, like under 3 bucks a can for the paint/primer

[Emericana]

hehe yeah i am gonna mod it like mad cause its gonna be the case for the new H20 rig i am building.

i have the server version of it and it is HUGE.

Besides the paint what i am going to do is cut 4 120mm Holes for those 30dba Panaflows.

What i am also going to do is build a HUGE resavour for my h20 rig. the cool thing about it is you are going to be able to see the whole entire thing cause i am installing it in the 5 1/2 inch drive bays. It will sit on top of my dvd and cdrw drive and it will be five 5/12inch bay TALL. I am going to bolt it to the case as well to make sure it wont fall down.

behind the res i am going to put a blue CC light so the water in it looks really cool at night.

on the top of the case i am going to mount the heatercore so none of the hot air from it gets into the mobo/cpu area of the case.

my h20 setup is going to be the following:
Home made res
(not sure on pump yet)
THIS Heatercore (http://dtekcustoms.safeshopper.com/19/44.htm?782)
The big Swifty waterblock that mounts to your motherboard

gonna kickass when it is done!

the whole thing will be 100% done in September because on august 15th i am going on a 20day vacation before scool starts

gonna prolly use it to cool a 2200+ Athlon or maybe even a pentium 4 if i can afford it..
but i always felt athys are more fun to build