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Paint Mod

M

MrPr3f3ct

New Member
Joined
Sep 5, 2007
Messages
145 (0.02/day)
System Specs
Processor AMD FX-60 2.61GHz Dual Core OC'd to 2.94 GHz
Motherboard ASUS A8N32-SLI Deluxe
Cooling CPU - Zalman 7000B Cu LED
Memory 2.5 GB PC3200
Video Card(s) BFG 8800 GT OC 512MB
Storage Yeah I got one or two... Nothin' special
Display(s) MAG 22" Widescreen LCD
Case CM Stacker 830
Audio Device(s) Creative X-Fi Xtreme Gamer
Power Supply Antec Tru-Power Quattro 850
Software Win XP Pro
Hello denizens of techPowerUp forums! I'm working on a new paint mod. I am currently laid up at home for a while, (eye surgery) and as such, I am bored to tears. I decided to take my daughter's PC apart to clean it. While tearing it apart I got that old desire to modify it. As the internals aren't really top-end components, I decided to just do a simple paint mod. Here are some photos of the PC pre-mod.
 

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looks like the drive could use some plastics paint :P Im currently working on my project too.. well getting all the right parts to do it.. :O
 
Because the PC is my daughter's, I have no chouce but to use girlie colors. I can, however, go with a theme that is maybe a little more manly. The color choices, straight from my daughter's mouth, are "Green & Pink". Keeping with the color scheme, I chose to go with a flame-job. I made a couple of templates for the drive bay covers, masked off the covers, traced the pattern and cut it out with an X-Acto knife. Hit it with some spray paint, and PRESTO!!! Pink flames for the drive bays...
 

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Chewy said:
looks like the drive could use some plastics paint :P Im currently working on my project too.. well getting all the right parts to do it.. :O
Click to expand...

I haven't gotten to that part yet. It is certainly part of the plan. Thanks for the input though....
 
thats turning into a nice mod.. looking good, I though you were only going to paint the inside, which I though was kinda useless lol :P
 
Drive Bays and Side Panels

I have completed painting the drive bay covers. Now it's time to move on to the side panels. I masked off both side panels and used a template to apply a flame pattern to the masked panels. As before, I am sketching the pattern with a pen and cutting the masking tape with an X-Acto knife. I am using the least amount of pressure on the knife when cutting, as I don't want to actually score the existing paint. I have already noticed some of the original paint pulling up when I remove the masking tape. I guess we'll see how it all turns out. I think as long as I am careful when removing the tape, I should be alright.
 

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looking good - but what case is that? its nice, simple and plenty of room for extra cooling black! i wouldnt mind having on of those cases myself
 
ARTT said:
looking good - but what case is that? its nice, simple and plenty of room for extra cooling black! i wouldnt mind having on of those cases myself
Click to expand...

I think it's a Raidmax case. I bought it like 3-4 years ago. I remember that is was very inexpensive. I'm fairly certain that I purchased it at TigerDirect.
 
3M makes a good low tack tape....

MrPr3f3ct said:
I have completed painting the drive bay covers. Now it's time to move on to the side panels. I masked off both side panels and used a template to apply a flame pattern to the masked panels. As before, I am sketching the pattern with a pen and cutting the masking tape with an X-Acto knife. I am using the least amount of pressure on the knife when cutting, as I don't want to actually score the existing paint. I have already noticed some of the original paint pulling up when I remove the masking tape. I guess we'll see how it all turns out. I think as long as I am careful when removing the tape, I should be alright.
Click to expand...

Any local hardware store should have the low tack tape, which is much easier to cut with the exacto.

Regards,
jtleon
 
jtleon said:
Any local hardware store should have the low tack tape, which is much easier to cut with the exacto.

Regards,
jtleon
Click to expand...

Thanx for the tip. I'll have to pick some up for my next mod. As you can see, I'm already a bit committed with the current masking tape. :o
 
Uuugghhhh.... Well, THAT Was Stupid.

The side panels didn't turn out as planned. In my haste, I neglected to prepare the surfaces that were to be painted. I think I was hoping that the matte finish was coarse enough for the new paint to adhere to, but really, I was just in a hurry and forgot to do it. :banghead: When I peeled back the mask, I was presented with probably the crappiest looking flame job EVER. I'll post some pics a bit later when I can bring myself to actually look at it long enough to take a snapshot or two. :cry:
 
Catastrophic Paint Pics....

Well, I finally swallowed my pride and took a few snapshots of the mess I made. Let this be a lesson to any of you thinking about doing some custom paint. Always prep the surface! (Yeah, that's it, I screwed up the paint on purpose to show people what not to do. Sure... Whatever.) Now, I need to strip the paint from the side panels and start fresh. Live and learn. Right?
 

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The Flames look GREAT!!!!

MrPr3f3ct said:
Well, I finally swallowed my pride and took a few snapshots of the mess I made. Let this be a lesson to any of you thinking about doing some custom paint. Always prep the surface! (Yeah, that's it, I screwed up the paint on purpose to show people what not to do. Sure... Whatever.) Now, I need to strip the paint from the side panels and start fresh. Live and learn. Right?
Click to expand...

Those look great....got that whole DISTRESSED look going....GREAT JOB!!!
:rockout:

Regards,
jtleon
 
jtleon said:
Those look great....got that whole DISTRESSED look going....GREAT JOB!!!
:rockout:

Regards,
jtleon
Click to expand...

Nice point, but not really the effect I was going for there. I apperciate the feedback though.....
 
It would be great to see the finished job. That colour looks more yellow than green, hehehe.
 
Hmmm...

Upon closer inspection of the crappy paint job, it seems that I merely jumped the gun on the removal of the masking tape. The paint did indeed adhere to the matte finish just fine, it just needed time to dry properly. So, here's the plan. I'm going to cover the side panels and mask off the flames again. This time I will cut the pattern just a smidge wider (in printing, this is called a "spread") than the original. That way the new paint will completely cover the old. I will post an update in a day or three and let you know how it all turns out. :cool:
 
The New Mask

I have taped and traced the new thicker flames on the side panels. I am planning on cutting the mask tonight. That is, if I can find the time. Portal seems to have made me it's bitch. It's so much fun, I just can't seem to stop playing it for any length of time. The only reason I made as much progress as I have on the mod is because I'm stumped on level 18. :banghead: Here's some pics of the side panels.
 

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New paint!!!

I made some progress on the mod today. I finished Portal last night so I had some down-time before jumping into Episode 2. Of course, a bunch of the above-mentioned down-time was eaten up by searching for a usable link to grab the COD 4 Demo and pulling down the Timeshift Demo. (Damn those developers, releasing so many nuggets of gaming goodness all at once like that...) :wtf: In between, I somehow found the time to cut the new mask on the side panels and apply some paint to them.

I've found trying to cut an accurate line while only being able to use one eye is damned difficult. It seemed to take forever to cut the flames out. At any rate, it got done, the paint is drying as I type and I should have an update and some pics some time tomorrow. (Actually it's looking more like a weekend update as it is raining here and paint doesn't dry very well in such humid conditions... Damn New England weather...) :shadedshu
 
hooray, you;ve done such an excellent job, i want to do that to my current case, you seem to really be enjoying it.
 
Finally Dry

Well, the paint was about as dry as it was going to get here. I peeled back the paint and found that a small amount of the black paint had pulled up with the tape. I was a bit despondant about the fact that this project wasn't going the way that I wanted it to. I do, however, have a solution. I went out to the local arts & crafts store and bought a couple of pink paint pens. My plan is to outline the green flames with the pink paint. I have outlined one of the flames. The paint isn't as opaque as I would have liked and I will have to apply at least two coats of outline paint but, I've found that little problems like this are par for the course. Not to mention, every problem should be considered a learning experience. So, with some patience and a steady hand the flames should come out fairly well. I will post some new pics in a day or two. (Probably more like two or three as I have an appointment in the big city tomorrow to see my eye specialist. Hopefully the prognosis is good and we can schedule a fitting for a suitable temporary lens replacement.)
 
Next time stick the tape on your shirt a couple of times first so the tape loses some of it's adhesive, but not so much that it doesn't hold on anymore.
 
The Pink Outline

I have a couple of pics to present today. The progress on the side panels is going fairly well. I started on the right case panel. I figured I'd practice on this panel because this panel faces the wall in the PC's final resting place. That being the case, I can make my mistakes on the practice panel and nobody will see it. Keep in mind, these are progress pics and I will be fine-tuning the outline with a "Very Fine" tipped paint pen. You can sort of see the results of the fine tip on the ends of the flames.
 

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Outline v1.1

I decided that I wasn't happy with the outline. It just didn't seem to "pop". When you looked at the flames, the pink seemed to wash out. So, as a remedy, I have doubled the thickness of the outline... ...and I'm still not happy. The next step, I believe, is to seperate the green from the pink. Maybe a fine point black paint pen? Attached are some progress pics with the double thickness pink. Maybe a little constructive critisism from the community?
 

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you should learn to airbrush its fun and it can do wonders as far as depth goes for a good look..i mean honestly you cant make that pain really look any better its always going to look flat get an airbrush!!
 
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