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Chameleon project !

post #1 of 25
5/11/03 at 2:24pm
Thread Starter 
I bought Gateway Solo 3350 out from eBay for $300. It's working great, but it has lots of scratch. So I decided to paint it new colour myself.
I search for a Chamelon colour on the web and found DupliColor make a spray can kit. Then I went to Walmart store in my area, but I can't find the colour I like, Red/Blue... There are only 2 colours at that store, Purple/Green, and Gold/Magenta.... I pickup the Purple/Green one.... here is what I've done...







It turn out much much better than I thought... It shows the metallic purple colour most of the time in normal light condition and look direct into it, but when the light shine directly into it or look at it in the difference angle, it will reflect the metallic green colour.... look amazing.
Anyone who want to paint their Sager Chamelon, but don't want to pay over $200 for the paint job, you can do it yourself.... very easy than you thought... the spray kit will cost you only $14.


http://www.duplicolor.com/products/mirage.html

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post #2 of 25
5/11/03 at 9:11pm
Did you break it down to paint, or just mask everything off and paint the exterior?

-myrkat
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post #3 of 25
5/11/03 at 9:29pm
Thread Starter 
I broke it down piece by piece and painted them.... this machine is very easy to brake down...
I paint it 3 coats of base ground coat, 6 coats of Chamelon colour, and 4 coats of clear coat.... it took me about 4 hours to get it all done then I let it all dry over night. It turn out great... I will wait until my 8887 warranty expire then I will paint it Golden/Magenta...
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post #4 of 25
5/16/03 at 2:57am
will it actually void the warranty if you paint the plastic? i mean, you're not actually doing anything to hurt the innards of the machine... i think that I will try to do this. it sounds/looks cool. i think that the chamelon option on the alienware site is like 800 dollars! 14 sounds better to me...
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post #5 of 25
5/16/03 at 3:08am
Thread Starter 
I believe you won't void warranty if you don't take it apart... but to do a complete paint job you do need to take it apart. There is no way you can mask every parts and paint the whole thing, except you just want to paint the LCD cover.
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post #6 of 25
5/16/03 at 3:10am
how do you go about taking off the LCD cover? I think the rest of the computer will be fine, but I am a little confised about this...
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post #7 of 25
5/16/03 at 3:17am
Thread Starter 
I haven't tried that on Sager 8887 yet, but on Solo 3300, it's pretty easy to take the LCD cover off. I believe it's the same as Sager 8887.... take the rubber buttons off then you will see the screws under them. Take the screw off then very careful pry open the LCD cover side by side... the thing I love about Solo 3300 is all parts are made of the Magnesium Alloy. Unlike Sager 8887 which made of plastic. so, I won't have to worry I could break the plastic stuffs.... but if you are very careful I think it shouldn't be a problem.
That's why I will have to wait until my warranty expire then I will start to mod my Sager 8887 case.
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post #8 of 25
5/16/03 at 3:38am
oh i see, there are 4 rubber "buttons" at each corner. now the only problem is finding the paint!
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post #9 of 25
5/16/03 at 11:21am
walmart, and autozone both carry the duplicolor mystique chameleon paint. Just did my inspirion 8200 last week. Ill try to get some pics posted of it.
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post #10 of 25
5/16/03 at 11:57am
cool, i'll stop by an autozone then here soon. how much did the kit cost at autozone?
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post #11 of 25
5/17/03 at 9:56pm
the paint at autozone was $20 now i just have to find the time. maybe i will take something for the withdrawl symptoms i'm going to have for it being gone for so long!!!
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post #12 of 25
5/18/03 at 1:03am
You seriously gonna have a go at the 8887 man?? If you have no experience I suggest you try it out on your speakers or desktop monitor first...

If it comes out great you'll have matching CRT, Speakers and a laptop...

and hit the mouse too - kill tha bugga!
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post #13 of 25
5/18/03 at 2:13am
Thread Starter 
I found a new Chameleon paint at Pepboy store in my area. I think it's a Plasti-Kote brand. It has different colour from the Dupli Color brand. It also have a special paint call Halo-Graphic paint. You might need to check them out.... pretty cool colour.
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post #14 of 25
5/18/03 at 11:38am
the mouse!?! i never thought of that. that's a good idea gsferrari. i'll try and get that painted on monday, since i have to work today. or maybe i'll try it tonight. a matching mouse would be awesome if this is successful!
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post #15 of 25
5/18/03 at 11:52am
Thread Starter 
One more tip for you... If you want a smooth surface, but don't want to sand it, buy a primer paint.... Prime them about 2-3 coats before you paint, it will make the texture surface look much smoother.
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post #16 of 25
5/18/03 at 11:53am
thanks
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post #17 of 25
5/18/03 at 12:29pm
That will work somewhat. The problem with it being. You wont get an entirely smooth surface. Second over time that primer will have a tendency to "shink" which is loose its thickness. You will start to see imperfections later on. The best way is to start with a smooth surface. Just sand the crap out of it. lol Prepare for cramped hands, and fingers, if your not use to it. Wet sand it you can start out with a say 220 grit wetdry paper to knock the texture off, and follow up with a 400grit then 600 to get it really nice, and smooth. Good luck
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post #18 of 25
5/18/03 at 3:56pm
how about i just don't sand it at all and see how it turns out? it's smooth enough for me!
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post #19 of 25
5/18/03 at 4:21pm
Thread Starter 
In my opinion, I don't think primer is the problem... If it is why all cars before they paint them, they have to be prime first?
You need to let prime dry for about 48 hours before put the first base coat on. Or you can buy a Primer Sealer paint and coat the prime layer with Primer Sealer 2 coats before put the base coat on.

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post #20 of 25
5/20/03 at 2:20am
I finished already... it looks good, but the 8887 is not an easy thing to paint! A tip: Don't mess up, not even once! It's a bit darker than I had anticipated, but it still looks really cool. All the paint is fast drying, so you don't have to wait a long time between coats. 10 minutes to be exact. I have a matching mouse too, thanks to gsferrari for the idea!
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