- Sep 2, 2008
- 10
- 0
- 18,510
I'm not sure where this would go, but I figure anyone wanting to do this would prolly be interested in overclocking, so this is as good of place to put it as anywhere.
MMHOKAY! This has an interesting start. The glass/plastic on the door of my antec 1200 case was scratched when it arrived (I was kinda pissed) So, I decided to run with it. I also made the problem worse first by trying to remove the scratches
Not such a good idea.
But I figured 'hey, as long as I'm screwing it up, I might as well screw it up right' Besides, I had some time to kill before the guts of the system arrive on Monday. So here it is, first ever case mod. First ever custom case, too.
First, here are pictures of some stencils I made for this, as well as pictures of the finished product of the painted window. Well... I might as well keep going and make it a tutorial now... What have I gotten myself into... Heh, I almost make it sound like I've done this before.
Upper/lower image
http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t177/hewhoisntiam/DSCF1031.jpg
Upper only
http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t177/hewhoisntiam/DSCF1029.jpg
Lower only
http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t177/hewhoisntiam/DSCF1030.jpg
I pretty much took what I knew about automotive paint to do this. But here's the basics steps:
1) Remove the plastic that you're working on, sand with 220 grit paper until 'foggy' then smooth out scratches with 400-600. I did by hand, but you could use a pad sander if you had one. I don't. This serves 2 purposes: The sanding helps the paint stick to the plastic, and a 'foggy' window will catch my blue LED lights later on (when I put it together on Monday) A clear window would just let it shine through, but you could do that if you wanted. Just mask off an area and don't sand that area. BE CAREFUL if you do that not to damage it! Leave it totally masked off until the entire project is done and check the edges of the masking so you don't accidentally sand them!
2) Decide on your stencils and layers. I just did 1 color 1 transparent, using a dull black as my paint. (pick a paint depending on your surface. I like krylon paints, this one is dull black for plastic)
*If you're painting in layers (and not on a window) you put down one layer at a time and paint over it (sometimes putting down a dull white to help with contrast) Write down the order of your layers and colors so you don't get mixed up halfway through, and be sure to touch up each layer before moving on, as you can't go back.
2a) Stencils. I used Photoshop to get the graphics and letters I wanted, then decided if I wanted to 'leave' and paint around them, or paint them in. That being decided. Here's what I used. Print a test page to see that everything will fit and look the way you want.
*Remember that you may need to mirror your image or letters if you're not on a transparent surface.
Graphics
http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t177/hewhoisntiam/glados.jpg
Stencils cut out
http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t177/hewhoisntiam/DSCF1023.jpg
Letters
http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t177/hewhoisntiam/DSCF1024.jpg
Logo
http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t177/hewhoisntiam/DSCF1025.jpg
Because mine was on a window, they did not have to be mirrored, but if you're painting on the outside, the letters need to be mirrored backwards. There are several free programs that can do this, I like Irfanview. The same goes for any sort of logo you decide. Because I was leaving the logo and letters clear and painting everything else, I took care to preserve the shapes of the letters and the logo, and disregarded the rest of the paper. This was printed on the back of used photo paper for thickness and durability.
2b) Stencil cutting is not as easy as you might think. Notice that on the font, I don't cut out the individual letters, I left the guiding strip at the bottom to keep the text in line and in the right place. This requires that you tape down the bottom and spray it once, then remove the stencil and paint what was left by the guide; but is easier than trying to line up all your letters and not have them move. Same for the logo. When doing the stencil cutting, I used an exacto knife, a pair of good scissors, and toenail clippers. The large bent toenail clippers work wonders on the outside of the 'D' 'G' 'a' and 'S' for shaving off tiny pieces of paper around the bends that are hard to get for scissors if you're not very skilled with an exacto knife. Start with the hardest parts of the stencil first, and work towards the easier parts. If you make a mistake, you can always tape it up and cut again. Since it's the letter shape we're after, we don't care about tape on the stencil as long as the stencil will lay flat on the surface.
2c) Unfortunatly, I don't have any pictures of the case all masked up, but it's just newspaper and masking tape so I don't get paint anywhere I don't want it. The same for the second coat of paint, mask off the area where you're letters and the logo were, leaving that section of clear letters unpainted but getting as close as you can to it. Remember that masking tape can be laid straight or stretch for curves and bends. If you're feeling really creative, you can exacto the tape as well. lay the tape on a hard surface (kitchen cutting boards work nicely for this) cut the tape with knife and position.
3) Painting and masking is done in steps: First, position and lay stencils while making sure the area to be painted is clean. Tape the stencils down with your masking tape where you want them. If you have any areas that will 'flop' up with the air pressure from the spray can, be sure they stay down and do your best to spray in a direction that will not 'lift' your stencil. The first coat is the most important, focus on getting around your stencil first before spraying other areas. If you have a long stencil or design, you may need to tape it in more than just 1 or 2 guide areas. That's fine, just remember anywhere you put tape to hold something, you have to go back and spray where the tape 'was' in a later coat. Try to use straight edges for this, like I did on my 'L'
3a) After that coat dries, you want to remove your stencil and take good care of it. Nice and slow, making sure that you don't drag off extra paint from your surface or rip the stencil by going too fast. If you did well the first time, you won't need any touch up around your work, if you have some light areas, line up your stencil and tape it in place again. You can position the tape differently now that you have black in most of the areas that will remain black. When things look good around your stencil, It's time for the second coat to hide the guides that we left on the stencils.
3b) For this, we tape over the 'clear' section of the plastic that were left by the stencil now that it's removed. Be sure to not leave any of your clear area exposed or you will paint over it and lose your work! Paint carefully the guide areas and anywhere that you left lightly painted before. Because everything else has 2 coats and your guide area has only one, it may be necessary to go back after this dries and touch up the areas with only 1 coat, and to get those pesky corners and thin areas again. This depends on the kind of paint you're using.
3c) Last chance to check for imperfections and mess ups while you have everything handy right there. Because I used a dull finish paint specifically for plastics, it went on very thick. The extra paint crystallizes leaving a powder behind. Rub it gently with a paper towel to remove the extra and you're left with a uniform looking paint coat. BE SURE IT'S DRY! If you have a major boo boo, it's a lot of sanding to get back to where you can paint again.
I don't know how well you can see this, but inside of the case:
http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t177/hewhoisntiam/DSCF1032.jpg
After rubbing the excess paint off with the paper towel. (again, do this after the paint is dry) you're all done. Enjoy your new, whatever you painted on.
To sum it all up.
Total cost and time $6 spray paint $3 masking tape. Time spent on stencil creation and cutting (I made the font, that's why so long): ~2 hours. Time spent painting and masking and prep (not including time spent watching paint dry) ~2 hours.
MMHOKAY! This has an interesting start. The glass/plastic on the door of my antec 1200 case was scratched when it arrived (I was kinda pissed) So, I decided to run with it. I also made the problem worse first by trying to remove the scratches
Not such a good idea.But I figured 'hey, as long as I'm screwing it up, I might as well screw it up right' Besides, I had some time to kill before the guts of the system arrive on Monday. So here it is, first ever case mod. First ever custom case, too.
First, here are pictures of some stencils I made for this, as well as pictures of the finished product of the painted window. Well... I might as well keep going and make it a tutorial now... What have I gotten myself into... Heh, I almost make it sound like I've done this before.
Upper/lower image
http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t177/hewhoisntiam/DSCF1031.jpg
Upper only
http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t177/hewhoisntiam/DSCF1029.jpg
Lower only
http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t177/hewhoisntiam/DSCF1030.jpg
I pretty much took what I knew about automotive paint to do this. But here's the basics steps:
1) Remove the plastic that you're working on, sand with 220 grit paper until 'foggy' then smooth out scratches with 400-600. I did by hand, but you could use a pad sander if you had one. I don't. This serves 2 purposes: The sanding helps the paint stick to the plastic, and a 'foggy' window will catch my blue LED lights later on (when I put it together on Monday) A clear window would just let it shine through, but you could do that if you wanted. Just mask off an area and don't sand that area. BE CAREFUL if you do that not to damage it! Leave it totally masked off until the entire project is done and check the edges of the masking so you don't accidentally sand them!
2) Decide on your stencils and layers. I just did 1 color 1 transparent, using a dull black as my paint. (pick a paint depending on your surface. I like krylon paints, this one is dull black for plastic)
*If you're painting in layers (and not on a window) you put down one layer at a time and paint over it (sometimes putting down a dull white to help with contrast) Write down the order of your layers and colors so you don't get mixed up halfway through, and be sure to touch up each layer before moving on, as you can't go back.
2a) Stencils. I used Photoshop to get the graphics and letters I wanted, then decided if I wanted to 'leave' and paint around them, or paint them in. That being decided. Here's what I used. Print a test page to see that everything will fit and look the way you want.
*Remember that you may need to mirror your image or letters if you're not on a transparent surface.
Graphics
http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t177/hewhoisntiam/glados.jpg
Stencils cut out
http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t177/hewhoisntiam/DSCF1023.jpg
Letters
http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t177/hewhoisntiam/DSCF1024.jpg
Logo
http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t177/hewhoisntiam/DSCF1025.jpg
Because mine was on a window, they did not have to be mirrored, but if you're painting on the outside, the letters need to be mirrored backwards. There are several free programs that can do this, I like Irfanview. The same goes for any sort of logo you decide. Because I was leaving the logo and letters clear and painting everything else, I took care to preserve the shapes of the letters and the logo, and disregarded the rest of the paper. This was printed on the back of used photo paper for thickness and durability.
2b) Stencil cutting is not as easy as you might think. Notice that on the font, I don't cut out the individual letters, I left the guiding strip at the bottom to keep the text in line and in the right place. This requires that you tape down the bottom and spray it once, then remove the stencil and paint what was left by the guide; but is easier than trying to line up all your letters and not have them move. Same for the logo. When doing the stencil cutting, I used an exacto knife, a pair of good scissors, and toenail clippers. The large bent toenail clippers work wonders on the outside of the 'D' 'G' 'a' and 'S' for shaving off tiny pieces of paper around the bends that are hard to get for scissors if you're not very skilled with an exacto knife. Start with the hardest parts of the stencil first, and work towards the easier parts. If you make a mistake, you can always tape it up and cut again. Since it's the letter shape we're after, we don't care about tape on the stencil as long as the stencil will lay flat on the surface.
2c) Unfortunatly, I don't have any pictures of the case all masked up, but it's just newspaper and masking tape so I don't get paint anywhere I don't want it. The same for the second coat of paint, mask off the area where you're letters and the logo were, leaving that section of clear letters unpainted but getting as close as you can to it. Remember that masking tape can be laid straight or stretch for curves and bends. If you're feeling really creative, you can exacto the tape as well. lay the tape on a hard surface (kitchen cutting boards work nicely for this) cut the tape with knife and position.
3) Painting and masking is done in steps: First, position and lay stencils while making sure the area to be painted is clean. Tape the stencils down with your masking tape where you want them. If you have any areas that will 'flop' up with the air pressure from the spray can, be sure they stay down and do your best to spray in a direction that will not 'lift' your stencil. The first coat is the most important, focus on getting around your stencil first before spraying other areas. If you have a long stencil or design, you may need to tape it in more than just 1 or 2 guide areas. That's fine, just remember anywhere you put tape to hold something, you have to go back and spray where the tape 'was' in a later coat. Try to use straight edges for this, like I did on my 'L'
3a) After that coat dries, you want to remove your stencil and take good care of it. Nice and slow, making sure that you don't drag off extra paint from your surface or rip the stencil by going too fast. If you did well the first time, you won't need any touch up around your work, if you have some light areas, line up your stencil and tape it in place again. You can position the tape differently now that you have black in most of the areas that will remain black. When things look good around your stencil, It's time for the second coat to hide the guides that we left on the stencils.
3b) For this, we tape over the 'clear' section of the plastic that were left by the stencil now that it's removed. Be sure to not leave any of your clear area exposed or you will paint over it and lose your work! Paint carefully the guide areas and anywhere that you left lightly painted before. Because everything else has 2 coats and your guide area has only one, it may be necessary to go back after this dries and touch up the areas with only 1 coat, and to get those pesky corners and thin areas again. This depends on the kind of paint you're using.
3c) Last chance to check for imperfections and mess ups while you have everything handy right there. Because I used a dull finish paint specifically for plastics, it went on very thick. The extra paint crystallizes leaving a powder behind. Rub it gently with a paper towel to remove the extra and you're left with a uniform looking paint coat. BE SURE IT'S DRY! If you have a major boo boo, it's a lot of sanding to get back to where you can paint again.
I don't know how well you can see this, but inside of the case:
http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t177/hewhoisntiam/DSCF1032.jpg
After rubbing the excess paint off with the paper towel. (again, do this after the paint is dry) you're all done. Enjoy your new, whatever you painted on.
To sum it all up.
Total cost and time $6 spray paint $3 masking tape. Time spent on stencil creation and cutting (I made the font, that's why so long): ~2 hours. Time spent painting and masking and prep (not including time spent watching paint dry) ~2 hours.
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