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Thread: Painting inside of case - Advise

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    Painting inside of case - Advise

    I am needing some basic advice on how to go about painting the inside of my case black. I just want a standard black finish, nothing too fancy.

    I understand I will need to use pre-paint or maybe terps to remove any crap from the surface, it will need sanding and also a couple of coats of primer. What I would like to know is who grit paper should I use and what primer is the best for the job etc?

    Any advise would be good.

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    Re: Painting inside of case - Advise

    I've had a look at a couple of thoes, nice.

    However they may be a little over the top, esp for the inside of a case.
    A lot here will be down to the final finish and look.

    If you have a side window and a lot of lights and thing inside you case you don't need to go massively overboard on getting it super neat and high finish.

    For a cheap simple finish to not be distracting from the case internals
    ie to show off the components inside and the lighting.

    Strip down the case, this can be awarkward depending on the case. but you want to get off all the pannels, both sides, top and front (depends on case here but you may need to drill/cut out rivits to get them all off)
    Remember to remove all wireing and such, like the power button usb ports and such.
    Break your case down to the bare minimum.

    In theory most cases don't need priming as the surface is already covered in what is effectively a primer (a layer of paint to protect the metal underneath from corrsion)
    The problem comes from the 2nd function of a primer, to create a surface layer that the final paint can better stick to (a key) the paint used inside cases will not always be a good surface.
    Light sanding with a farily fine paper (600-800) should be enough to make a key from this coating, remember to wash your case thourghtly after sanding as there will be a lot of surface dust.
    I found the best methord was to stick it in the shower, give it a good spraying, then go over it with a sponge and basic washing up liquid (the cheap stuff with out any moisturisers, conditioners, emollients or simular), another good spraying to rise it al down.
    Dry off the execess water with a clean dry towel, then ether leave to dry or use a hair drier.

    An air brush or sprayer will give the best resaults but are far to expensive to bother with (unless you know someone who has one you could borrow)
    Spray paints will give you a good finish but are not the cheapest of things and depending on the paint can be prone to chipping. (you need to check the pain out but you may require undercoating here)
    A paint brush and a can of paint, cheapest option but again lots of things that can effect it.

    For a gloss black finish I'd sudgest going with spray cans for the best finish, it's hard to get a very smooth finish with a brush and gloss shows up a rough finish very badly.

    For a simple matt black finish, I'd actually sudgest a pot of artists acrylic paint (from any art shop £5-8) and some cheap decorateing paint brushes (£1-2) it also has the advantage of being very easy to clean up as well.

    Do the whole light sand and shower I mentioned, no real need for any fancy degreasent as the washing up liquid does a great job and will of done the same to your hands so handeling will not be much of a problem (just don't moisterise after)

    First apply a thin slightly watered down coat of the artist acrylic, work it into all the corners and don't worry if it frooths up slightly that's normal. (tip, an old jar lid makes a great mixing dish, and the jar a water pot)
    Leave it to dry( 5-15min, another big advantage to acrylic) the repeate with a 2nd coat, this is more to form a base key then colouring it.

    Then put on a couple of coats of the acrylic (non-watered down) work with the brush wet (ie dip it in the water first) to keep the acrylic fluid longer while you work it. this time don't work it into all the little corners (you can touch up at the end) just work on the main areas and try not to let it build up in any corners or holes. keep your brush strokes as long as possible to reduce brushmarks (you can get foam brushes that help here but they can get ripped up by the case)
    At the end you can use a small paint brush to go over any corners/nooks/crannies that didn't get full coverage.

    No the surface will not be mirror smooth but if it's matt then it's not so important and inside means it's not going to be under close inspection anyway.
    Artist acrylic is fairly chip resistant, but it does chip it's dirt easy to touch up. It's also rather soft so if you got paint buildup in screw holes or drive slots it's easy to remove to clear it out. (sand it, scrape with a screwdriver or just put the screw in that will clear it)

    A lot depends on how "professional" you want the finish and how much time and money you have to spend.
    If you want the best finish and have the time and money, get it powder coated.
    For a simple, cheap and quick matt black finish, artist acrylic.

    EDIT: the bigest tip to painting is Thin coats, lots of layers, as many as needed. Thick slabs of paint is bad.
    Last edited by Pob255; 26-05-2008 at 12:11 AM.

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    Jay (30-05-2008)

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