Custom Paint Designs on My Computer Case

xeviq

I was curious on how I would go about painting something on my computer case, also what kind of paint would I use? I don't want to paint it all one color, like every How To I've seen.
I've never done airbrushing, and I don't feel that would have the right look I'm going for either.

xeviq

From my previous thread:

proXimity wrote: »

If you don't want it all one color, and don't want to airbrush, then only other option I can think of is using masking and stencils. Paint a base color, then do the designs or whatever on top of it with the stencils and masking off what you don't want oversprayed. (This is all assuming using spray paint)

I should have elaborated. I could do this, and this one path that has crossed my mind.
I'm also curious if I would want to try and hand paint my case, what type of paint(s) I should use? Of course this is if hand painting a compuer case is an option.

AtomBomb

If you primer it you can paint it with pretty much whatever you want. You'll want to put some kind of clear coat on it when you're done, or you could just be really careful with it.

MagicPrime

Yeah, the paint itself isn't so much the problem as getting it to stick and remain afterward.

xeviq

So I would mask out what I don't want painted. Prime right on top of the already painted case? Then paint my design with whatever paint I want. Lastly, clear coat the whole case, or just the design?

chaosisorder

My husband painted my case a few years back (pink with the Monsters, Inc. logo) and he ran into a few trouble spots:

1. Fully disassemble and have extra drive covers available if possible. I had one cover that just never went all the way back on right and it was a pain to find a replacement. That then wasn't the right color

2. Priming- I had a metal case with a plastic front- the primer stuck fine to the plastic but sucked to get on the metal. He had to really sand the crap out of it, twice because the first time looked a bit lumpy.

2. Paint - the high gloss spray didn't really come out 'case glossy' so he had to do a final, very slow and even, gloss coat to give it a more finished look.

Oh and since the logo I wanted was pretty simple, he just made some stencils and painted it in layers.

xeviq

chaosisorder wrote: »

My husband painted my case a few years back (pink with the Monsters, Inc. logo) and he ran into a few trouble spots:

1. Fully disassemble and have extra drive covers available if possible. I had one cover that just never went all the way back on right and it was a pain to find a replacement. That then wasn't the right color

2. Priming- I had a metal case with a plastic front- the primer stuck fine to the plastic but sucked to get on the metal. He had to really sand the crap out of it, twice because the first time looked a bit lumpy.

2. Paint - the high gloss spray didn't really come out 'case glossy' so he had to do a final, very slow and even, gloss coat to give it a more finished look.

Oh and since the logo I wanted was pretty simple, he just made some stencils and painted it in layers.

Did he paint the case pink, or was it already pink?
The Logo, how did he paint that on there? Did he do it right on top of the pink, or did he have a bare spot to paint it on?

chaosisorder

He painted the case pink. He used just plain spray paint over a spray primer. He painted the logo on top of the pink; the other colors stuck to the pink without any problem. He had to buff a few areas after the pink coat as well to even it out, but really getting the primer to stick was the hard part.

If you're going to do a glossy overcoat, I would go with a matte spray paint since it seems less slippy.

Hypatia

I did a case and airbrushed it, before applying the primer I ended up having to sand it to get the primer to stick. I actually ended up doing sand-primer-sand-primer first, then going in with the paint. Afterward like people said, I did several clear coats to finish it. In retrospect I wish I had done a few more layers of clear coating to get some more of the texture out, but it looks fine.

proXimity

Unless you really know what you're doing and have the right equipment, hand painting won't come out well. You'll probably end up with streaky, bad looking designs that look quite sloppy.

1ddqd

Check out www.bit-tech.net - the forums have some great walkthroughs.