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painting plastic panels

M

Manaknight

Supreme [H]ardness
Joined
Jun 6, 2005
Messages
5,446
hey all

i'm finishing my current mod for a client, its nothing special just a repaint and a few new windows and lights, however i had to take an ugly beige case and make it black, i did all the metal parts with some krylon, wet sanding and clear coat. however now i'm at the front panel which is plastic. im not sure what to use however, should i use the krylon fusion paint? or is my standard stuff cool? and do i need to prime it same as the side panels? painting the front panel is a first for me. any help would be great
 
bump,

alright let simplify my question, what kind of paint should i use? the same stuff as the metal? or should i get like the plastic fusion stuff, need it a gloss black or at least a black that won't look dumb with black panels
 
Krylon fusion works, but I've found it to come off after a while in high-contact areas. It puts on a very bright colorful coat, which DOES soak into the plastic (which is what you want), but it tends to soften the plastic a bit, which over time could peel off. I sprayed my DVDROM with it, and it is starting to show signs of wear near the eject button.

You could also use vinyl dye, which is sold in auto parts stores. I sprayed my CD burner with it, and it looks as new as the day I sprayed it. It also puts on a nice colorful coat, and soaks into the plastic even more than Krylon Fusion does. It doesn't soften the plastic at all, and the finished coat of paint is so thin that you don't lose any detail in the grain of the plastic. The drawbacks are that it is only available in like 6 colors.

Red001.jpg


CD burner, VFD bezel, are vinyl dye. The card reader is Krylon Fusion.

Red007.jpg


Red008.jpg
 
Now if you wanna get a little crazy with the paint, you could try some MEtalCast paint. I've found it to work just as well as vinyl dye on plastic, if APPLIED IN VERY THIN COATS!!!!

Purple045.jpg


Purple042.jpg


Purple049.jpg


Purple055.jpg
 
hey thanks for the reply, i grabbed the fusion. it should be cool since its just getting painted black and the drives are already black so no painting is needed. thanks for the info, i'm very new to actually selling casemods so i'm trying to learn how to do it right as opposed to my rush jobs on my own stuff
 
i know this thread's kinda old, but is there any prep work involved?

i wanted to do my ti-89 in another color just for fun, and also my cell, but some of hte silver paitn chipped off so i dunno what to do for that
 
Gotta get all the loose stuff off. Other than that, just make sure it is grease/oil free. Including oils from your skin. I'd clean it with some ispopropyl alcohol or fingernail polish remover. Let it dry for at least an hour before painting.
 
liquid dish soap is great. If it's a small piece you can always submerge it in a bowl of water/soap and give it a jostle followed up with a very good rinse. my preferred technique is dish soap -> wax & grease remover -> if plastic, adhesion promoter (bulldog or duplicolor) -> prime with a light grey or white primer -> paint

I did this on my now oldschool antec 1080 case bezel with duplicolor mirage and the paint is very tough (in rattle can terms), adhesion is great, and even flexes a little bit with the plastic if you man handle it.
 
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