Case painting (how to guide).

[Army_Of_1]

I followed this and had decent results. It's worth keeping but didn't turn out as good as yours. Mine looks more black.... I put about four layers of No.7 Polishing compound then waxed about 4 times which helped, and I can read out of it, but things that are farther away get blurry. Anyway, thanks for the guide!

 

[therecka]

Sandpapper and Colour

What should i do if i can´t get the 2000 & 1500 grit sandpapper.'

Can i put another colour than black?
Could i paint it blue and get the same result??

 

[h0mersimps0n]

what about PLASTIC?

I have a nasty old Gateway beige case that has a plastic front. I skimmed through the article and he didn't really talk about matching a steel paint job with a plastic one (clearly necessity in my case). I have no problem with following the instructions for painting the steel side but do the rules hold the same for the plastic front?

 

[Penguin4x4]

The prep work is the same, just use viynl dye to paint it. I don't think that you can clear coat plastic.

 

[ssjwizard]

actualy i normal spray paint my plastic bezels all the time just make sure to use a primer first. rustolem makes a great sandable primer that works great with plastic

 

[therecka]

What should i do if i can´t get the 2000 & 1500 grit sandpapper.'

 

[illbreakit]

Get the finest you can. Any reputable automotive shop should have wet/dry paper up to 2000 grit. If they don't, find another shop.
And, you can sand the final coat of metallic spray paint. It does dull the flakes a smidgen, but not enough to notice. This is the same technique that I used on my motorcycle and I got one heck of a deep blue finish. I also used 15 coats of clear, makes it look really deep.

 

[therecka]

i´m very happy with the results.
thanks for the great guide

 

[Blindside]

Great job, here's a tip above and beyond

I used to assist an older gentleman in restoring classic rolls-royce's and bentley's and this manner is more than enough to ensure a mirror finish. If you really want something that will help you keep that finish, apply some paste wax and get a decent high-speed rotary buffer to keep it looking good. It will take out little scratches with ease (PRACTICE FIRST). If it's good enough for a $300,000 car, it's good enough for your $2000 mod rod. Happy shining.

B-Side

 

[Disputant]

Very cool, I guess I am going to have to stop off at AutoZone on the way home today.

 

[Bushnibbler]

Is this the only way to paint the case to have that desired mirror effect? I would think a week of painting should give you a mirror look. I mean, a car paintjob takes no more than a week i figure and its damn shiny. What other tools(maybe more expensive) that i can borrow to speed up the time.

 

[CrystalMethod]

Only thing I can think of is to "bake" the paint. Like under a heat lamp of some sort. The only problem is that the paint may be a little more prone to chipping if you dry it that way. Don't forget we're (most of us) aren't mixing the paint ourselves like you would in a paint shop. The paint comes in a can and it's premixed with the thinner/reducer. We have almost no control of the environment we're working in, so we're subject to temperature changes which causes "orange peel". It's more waiting for the paint to dry fully so you can sand it that is time consuming.

 

[Taylor]

I'm glad this is still here. I'm about to do the color-shiftuing paint job, using the materials I got when I started this project before I fell out of site. The method is different for the color-shift, actually not as much sanding. I'll definitely post pictures of the results. Man when I look at the mirror finish on that case, now that's cool.

 

[dyzio]

i have got this paint called montana colors they specialize in grafiti paint but it seems to give a fine shine and its a good price 3 dollas per 400 ml can nice colors tooany idea what sort of technique i need to use here it says its like xylene any ideas if its enamel or sumfin help plz
PEAZE

 

[stool]

Here's a link to a site that will get you to a FAQ about your paint;

http://www.graffiti.org/faq/montana.list.html

 

[dyzio]

nice link, do you know if this montana paint iz any good 4 cases? anybody ever used it before? i how thick does the layer need to be?

 

[TyRex]

I've found my most favorite color of blue(metallic flake)......only problem is it comes in one of those special plasti-kote spray heads, and I hate those. It takes forever to get a non-splotchy finish with these damn things. Can any of you guys recommend a good spray gun??? i think I'm just gonna have to go that route

 

[Pyros]

Has anyone tried doing this with a airbrush? I have access to a professional style one(uses air compressor) and the kind that uses canned air, the one you use on model cars. Since airbrushes sprays a fine, powder like mist, I would think it would give you a better finish and shorter drying time.

Comments anyone?

 

[stool]

Most of what I have heard involves more in the line of using airbrushes for detailed artwork. Especially good for pearl.

 

[CrystalMethod]

The finer detail airbrushes don't take to metallic flake too well, and it's hard to put on an even layer of paint with one. You could always try another head from a different spray can. In my experience, there's only two or three different ones. Some just sit on the valve stem, while other's have the stem incorperated in the head.