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. =)

I'll add my props to the paint job. I'm no expert but I like it.
-ray

Sounds interesting! I've never heard of that, but it stands to reason that I've never heard of alot of stuff. So when you do this, do you still need to spray a clear over it?

It almost sounds like it achieves a "candy" effect. The metallic flakes that your talking about, are they premixed into the paint, or or is it the kind of flake that you add to the clear like "pearl"?

Any way, sounds like a good idea also, i wasn't trying to step on your toes there!

Yea, she wants the first all-pink XPS2 clone. Even asked me once about the possibility of installing pink neons (told her the XPS neons have a pink setting already). She's sooo girlie.

Didn't really notice this thread before. I give you props for the effort and the nice looking color mix (of keeping which pieces which color) as it looks tasteful (even for a "rough" draft) and it matches the MX518 Red mouse quite well.

No worries. I did a bit of painting in my youth...mostly big rigs. You can go with 2 coats. The base coat will be all color and the second coat will be base/clear. Most of the metallic will be mixed with the second coat. This gives a real sense of depth to the paint job.

Epoxy type paints will last forever....as will most auto paints. They're designed to withstand the outside elements for years. A laptop environment will be pretty benign by comparison.

The original paint job we were talking about can be modified as much as he wants. With the bits off, he can experiment. Try out a few paints....even out of a can. The biggest problem with a can is uneven application. With care and practice, you can probably get a good job done. You have to achieve the perfect balance of wet application without using too much paint. The same goes with a clear coat.

Tips; shake the can very, very well. You don't want blobs. Keep your finger on the button and start your spray before the object and spray past the edge in one, smooth movement. Spray in parallel lines. If you use metallics, when you're done your coat, do a very light spray perpendicular to your original pattern. This will even out the look of the coat. If you get a run in the middle, believe it or not, a trick is to add more paint and let it drip off. You have to be quick and do this while it's still wet.

Real show cars don't just rely on the paint job. They are sanded, with very fine, wet/dry sandpaper after every coat, including the final. That's how they get that mirror finish. Again, you can go to a body shop for advice.

Regardless, whatever way you want to go, I recomment auto paint, even out of a spray can. Your local auto parts shop will have a huge selection.

Have fun with it.

So does anyone want to type up some good instructions for painting this beast?