Inspiron 6000d paintjob

Like alot of people I wasn't thrilled with the new Inspiron's white trim. I got used to it though and with my blue snapon cover it looked ok for the better part of a year. I had considered painting the laptop for some time and today I finally got up the nerve to go ahead and do it.

These are before pics.




I chose Krylon Fusion spraypaint for its superior bonding properties with plastic, or at least that is what they advertise and I like Krylon anyway . For my colors I decided on a high gloss black to capture the look of the XPS2 for the trim. I also decided to change the color of the quick-snap cover and the external keyboard I use with the laptop. While I looking at my color choices I saw Krylon has a version of the Fusion paint that gives a hammered metal appearence, so I went with that in black for the quick-snap.

Eight bucks later I got home and decided to test my color choices prior to painting the real thing. For this I pulled out an old palm assembly from my Inspiron that I had replaced due to some scratches it had developed.



I was very happy with the results, so I proceeded to disassemble the laptop and gather my tools.

In the next two pics I have removed the display from the bottom of the laptop and removed the keyboard and palmrest. I next carefully masked off all the silver components, hinges, LCD and anything else I didn't want painted with maskingtape and newspaper. Finally I removed the Dell logo from the center of the quick-snap cover and wiped everything off with windex per the instructions on the paint can.






Here I am painting the parts. Of course I did this outside where there is plenty of ventilation and used light even coats. I gave the notebook seven coats and the quick-snap 5. One of things I found with the Hammered metal paint is that each coat gives a slightly different look and I liked the 5th coat the best.





I'll post the final product pics one I get everything back together.

Here Is a before pic of my beatup old Belkin keyboard.



and disassembled - Thats alot of keys, well 104 anyway



Ok, be back in a bit with more pics.

Here is the finished product

Here is the reassembled PC open



Cover view


Close-up of the quick-snap


and finally my keyboard

I considered taking the top cover apart and removing the LCD, but I just didn't want to go through the hassel. I took my time and made sure everything was taped up real well and covered, including the LCD bezel and the LCD.

No the plastic parts are dyed and according to the paint directions, the surfaces don't require prep aside from being clean and dry.

Thanks!

The pictures don't really do it justice. The hammer effect is much more pronounced in the first coat or two. As you add more coats, the effect becomes more refined. The paint costs around $4/can and i don't think I used an entire can on the quicksnap. It would be worth while to get a piece of cardboard or scrap wood and trest out the paint so you get an idea of how the effect works...it is neat stuff.