HOW-TO Paint your 9300/XPS 2/M170 - Page 2

MKraemer999.. I would imagine you could try any auto body shop or perhaps PetBoys, Home Hardware, etc.. It is geared more towards the auto industry as its used on most big highway trucks like buses, dump trucks and snow plows.

I'm waiting to hear back from a seller on ebay for 1/4 or 1/2 gallon, single stage kits. These 1 stage kits allow you to paint one coat which dries very quickly and is extremely hard and shiny. Shiny already?? Yup because the paint contains a high gloss finish! You can add additional depth later if you want by adding a second ClearCoat over it. I'll update when I find out more.

my 9300 i jealous that i'm using her to check your lappy out.

You should have used an air brush gun or some sort of paint gun, paint strait out of the can never comes out smooth since cans have an inconsistant flow of paint.

(now you know why Hypersonic charges a shitload of money for a paint job)

Good start, i'd recommend doing it over and using a paint gun on it.

Just saw this thread and wanted to say holy crap man, nice work. I absolutely suck at painting and know little about it, but I think your laptop looks great

We finally found something that Mr. K6 knows nothing about!

In all seriousness though, that's pretty tight man. I'm alright with pinmodding, voltmodding, installing a GPU, modding the GPU, but I don't think I would venture to paint my computer unless I had a full set of replacement parts.

About the replacement parts, does Dell not require you to send the old parts back when they send you a new palmrest?

I like your idea, and the color is nice too. The only thing I would do differently is take the parts to a body shop and have them shoot it. Of course, that takes more time and costs more, so I don't know if you can live without the computer for that extra time. Good job though man.

Sure thing except that I dont see me doing this until the spring or summer. I know my dad is using this paint on the car he is restoring as its got a beautiful finish that'll last. Unfortunately he is up in Canada and isn't using a color I'd want on my laptop

Take it to an autobody shop.....and let them paint it. An epoxy type paint can look great but might not combine well with whatever you used. They can find something, I'm sure. It'll probably cost you less than $50. The clearcoat and the paint can be mixed. They can also treat the plastic so the paint sticks properly. They use an airgun so it aerates the paint and can apply an even coat. A really good paint job is tough to do. If you sand it down super smooth yourself, you can save even more....go as fine on the sandpaper as you can.....even up to 1200 grit. Your first job was a great effort. If you like the colour, sand that down, and you can have them spray a clear metallic/pearl, combined with the colour. It'll look like a million bucks. Good luck.

If you get the hang of it, you can sell the panels on ebay.

Actually, I paint cars, not for awhile though. I've never heard of mixing the clear with the paint. I believe it would defeat the purpose. You can use an over the counter spray paint, but if the prep work isnt done well (sanding and cleaning the surface), the paint might not stick for a long period of time. One thing to remember is that with spray cans, the will not give an even flow, and will never come out high gloss. BUT you can definatley achieve a very acceptable finish. as far as spray cans, I'd recommend Krylon Fusion if you can find the right color, as this paint will chemicaly bound with plastic making it much more durable and long lasting. There are over the counter spray on clear coats, but the don't work well at all, and will scratch and chip off. I have not tried the "house of wax" (which is an awsome brand) clearcoat because it is an enamel paint and most spray cans are laquer (DO NOT APPLY ONE TYPE OVER THE OTHER!).

Another slightly more expensive option is to go to your local automotive store. There you can buy an areosol spray canister that allows you to put in your own automotive paint. With that, you can now buy a pint of your favorite automotive color paint, some clear and paint your lappy with a much more desireable result. This automotive paint will be 100 times more durable and last 100 times longer that any spray can will. It will also look like a proffesional grade job!

Sorry for so much info, just some options for you guys!!!!

Hi

not quite my taste m8y just way too red imho and it almost looks like it has no laquer on it whatsoever. I would personally say it would look a lot better if it had a glass finish to it and a slightly toned down red but thats just me.

If your happy with it tho thats all that matters tho.
ps: what the guy above said is a really good idea, failing that take it to an airbrush artist who will be much better at working with smaller plastic formed items rather than the fibre glass/steel a body shop is used to. The you can get a single colour + an excellent laquer "glass" finish.

Ive once sprayed my TZR125R ita import once and it was terrible compared to what you've done there so its not that bad at all.

good luck with whatever you do with it in future.

yea as said above definitely 85% prep and 15% paint and finish. Have a read up on what paints will adhere well and give a good finish to the plastic type of the xps plastic as most are for fibre glass etc etc

Way ballsy. I dig it in red. Did you check the modding thread before you tried it, or did you just charge into it?

I've got an old laptop I want to rehab in the spring, when the temp returns to positive numbers (I'm in MT). I couldn't do it indoors, though.

Actually I just got done painting the heads on my 454 w/ por-15 and this stuff rocks.... so shiney and tuph

http://www.por15.com/

I bet that thing would look sweet with one of those chromatic paintjobs. It looks good now though.

I did. I said it's too dull, so my suggestion would be to somehow make it look more professional.

Why are you guys so afraid to state the truth. This is a public forum, you will hear good and bad things. If you cannot stand a bad comment, then don't bother coming to a forum.

Basso4735 please die

I think basso was attempting to use smiley's to say that it was ignorant to be so negative after someone had spent all that work. It's currently the most complete job that anyone in these forums has done (that I know of anyway), and maybe some pointers to make it better would have been more appropriate.

>I've never heard of mixing the clear with the paint. I believe it would defeat the purpose.<

Actually, this is done all the time.....especially with metallic paints. I believe it's called "base/clear", (it's been a while since I've painted vehicles). Without mixing your base with clearcoat, you wouldn't be able to see the metallic flakes.

It radically increases the "depth" of the paint job. It's very difficult to get a good paint job out of a can and the stuff really isn't that durable. An epoxy type paint like Endura, (I can't remember what Dupont's version is called), will last forever and look great, with a good prep job.

Be careful with this stuff, though. It can be very, very toxic. One of the ingredients is cyanide. The newer stuff is safer but it's still nasty shite. Most body shops use a full face mask with a filtered air supply, though a good mask with organic/charcoal filters will do.

Off Topic: You're in Odessa? What's the cheapest way to get out there from the US? I want to hit up the old USSR and tour around a bit and meet people there. PM me with any suggestions. Thanks

On Topic: Using the AlsaCorp ThermalFilms would be better for your laptop casing as the exterior plastic of the case is thin and still semi-flexible. Films will flex with your case while paint will eventually crack. Paint won't crack immediately because paint is similar to other hardened liquids like concrete. It takes months to cure fully, and only after fully cured does it become brittle.

Concrete is poured in a 12-24 inch thick slab, paint is spray in a less than 1/10 of a mm thin coat (when done properly) and done in layers. So even if you did 5 layers you're talking about 1/2 mm in thickness.

Stick with films unless you are good at redying plastics. =)