Dream of the Blue Turtles

keyoshi

yea, I am keeping up on that worklog of yours :P

Grez

Oh, the denatured alcohol isn't for taking the paint off...it's just for cleaning the metal once you have already taken the paint off...it removes oil from your skin, light adhesives, or any general residue left on the metal. You want it to be good and clean before you paint (don't want any paint lifting off).

Some guys use various paint strippers...I don't like dealing with all of those chemicals if I don't have to, so I personally prefer sanding. You need to roughen the surface just a little anyway for good adhesion, so I prefer to take care of it all in one step. But that's up to you. The Black and Decker Mouse orbital sander is a good tool to have laying around. It's big enough to sand computer panels, but it's still a detail sander to get into all of the little nooks and crannies. Plus, switching the sanding pads is easy because they just velcro on there...makes it simple to adjust as you go. In any case, once you've gotten the paint off, then clean the metal with the denatural alcohol, let it dry completely (doesn't take long...just a few minutes), and then put on your primer coat.

Also, set aside some time for your painting. You really want to start your paint coat within 20 minutes to an hour of priming, so that there is still some tackiness to your primer...makes the paint stick better. Also remember to calculate in some time to do some light sanding and cleaning if you're using a sandable primer. You should also paint your multiple coats of paint within about 15-30 minutes of one another. Again, this prevent paint lift-off and helps it to all become sort of one thick layer of paint as opposed to several layers on top of one another. But several thin coats within a few minutes of one another is a lot better than a thick coat (which would probably run and causes problems anyway)...so set aside a few minutes for cleaning plus a couple of hours for priming and painting.

keyoshi

lol..good mini paint tutorial.

xrdotimcr

First case, with a blue theme, that I actually really like. Congrats.


Reppin' it up for you.

keyoshi

lol I read the first part a second time....I was like..wtf..there are A LOT of blue cases..then I read..that you like :P

Grez

Thanks for the love, man. I know, a lot of blue stuff out there comes out bad...mostly because people hurry the paint job and it looks like hell. I tried to make sure that this one would be quality, and the metallic auto paint certainly helped the overall effect as well.

Heh, yeah me too. Hey, you gotta give him cred for having discriminating tastes.

Dr_Doom

Yes, blue is overdone in the modding world. Some can pull it off, Grez did. My folding rig is going Red and White. Figure thats a good contrast that isnt seen everyday, although I have seen it a few times. I still gotta get someone to go to autozone to help me buy the paint, and get a paint thinner. Gasket remover didnt work like my father told me it would :/

keyoshi

I hope my lian li will turn out well..around spring or something I am thinkin about paitin/moddin it, when my b-day is and I get my WC stuff :P

driller340

this is a absolutly great looking case

great job

jesusXchrist

dang... dude... thats sweet!!! uh... try not to intoxicate ureself while handling with the power tools... cuz i belive u still wanna make more of this..

Grez

LOL...everything in moderation, man. Everything in moderation. No missing fingers for me!