OMG

I'm thinking of tricking out my laptop, I want to paint it either a metallci black or metallic blue.

I got the paint gun, compressor, gloves, sand paper and the laptop already disassembled. However I'm not sure all the steps and other stuff I need.

Do I really need a resipirator? Or will those white facemask with goggles work? Where do I get the paint/clearcoat/primer?

Here are the steps I've gotten so far.

1) Prep, clean the surfaces throughly.

2) Prime and sand smooth

3) Paint and sand

4) Paint and sand again

5) Paint and sand one last time

6) Apply clear coat and sand

7) Repeat two more times

8) Wet sand a lot.


Any other tips? Should I bake and when? Again this is a little project for fun. Don't really want to spend more then $250, they're just little pieces of plastic.

If successful I'll post pics. Thanks.

Jay13

For a laptop, I would think you can do everything you need to with a spray can; I can't imagine needing to mix paint and fire up the compressor. I imagine there are high-solvent content paints that are not going to be laptop-case friendly, but I've only painted metal through my gun.

Thanks again for the decrypt help. I've been watching old movies from my laptop in bed since its so convenient to just mount one and go.

GEEBEE711

You NEED to wear a resipirator when using a catalyzed paint probuct.

merc280

so the best way to paint my laptop would be to use a normal spray can. Doesnt the paint fade quicker? I was interested in doing this to my computer too.

OMG

I'm really looking for show quality and this would be good/cheap practice. That way I can work my way up to things like engine bay paint stuff and eventually my car.

Congrats on the new in home setup. It makes you really lazy, I know it made me really lazy.

OMG

Bump for the next day crew.

Kale

get it powdercoated for durability.

ZippoMan

I've never seen seen a painted laptop turn out well

If it's in terrible condition then go for it, but if it's a new laptop I wouldn't touch it...it'll only hurt resale value.

TJefferson2020

OMG -

I'm not sure what you mean by "paint, sand" "paint, sand" etc.

You can't sand the color coat. You sand the primer.

If you use a base/clear coat system you MUST wear a respirator and even that's not really good enough. That crap is poison - it also irritates the hell out of your lungs.

There are some very good spray can paints on the market with very good spray tips - I would use one of those before I got into the automotive paints. Painting with that stuff is very complicated and dangerous. You need the proper set up and it still takes a few cars to get it right.

Don't ask me how I know...

smearig

Yes you can.

Kebrock

I did this to my cell phone in college when I worked in a body shop. I scuffed the pieces, wiped them down with prep solvent and put it in the booth when the painter was painting a car. It came out real nice.

85 Dave

I've never painted a laptop, but I have painted a few hundred cars. If you want to go basecoat/clearcoat, go like this:

1. Scuff surface with 320 grit.
2. Clean really well with plastic-compatible solvent.
3. Spray with plastic-compatible primer.
4. Sand primer with 400-600 grit.
5. Spray 1st coat of base left-to-right. Let flash off (no longer tacky).
6. Spray 2nd coat of base top-to-bottom. Let flash off.
7. Spray 3rd coat of base diagonally. Let flash off.
8. Spray 4th coat from further away using random pattern. Let flash off.
9. Spray with 3-4 coats of clear, allowing flash off between coats.
10. Allow to air dry.

After it fully cures, sand with 1000 grit wet/dry, then 1500 grit wet/dry. Then polish with polishing compound. And then polish with ultra-fine polishing compound.

Don't sand the base color coats. Don't sand in between clear coats.

Having said all this, I would personally use spray can paint. After the final sanding and polishing, it will look like glass.

LTC Z06

ttt

redvtt

OMG

Wow, thanks for the indepth instructions, short, simple and to the point. After reading this thread I tried looking for spray can but finding one with metallic flakes is kinda hard or a custom color is kinda hard.

Thanks for the bump Major!

Kensmith

You don't sand base coat only primer and clear. And you can go to your local automotive paint store and have them mix you up a custom color paint and they will put it in a rattle can with a nice tip that will do everything you want. Then clear with a can of clear which they will also provide. Kind of expensive but if you want to do a custom color? Personally, I would just buy a candy color rattle can and see what happens. If ya don't like it, sand it back down and do something else.

OMG

I didn't even know there was a Paint/Body section.

Thanks to the mod that moved it.

PaceThis

Go to your local auto body store and they will have a good 3M respirator that doesn't cost a fortune. It's got a life of 40 hours, so keep it in the sealed bag when not in use, but it will work just fine.

I agree though, for an area as small as a laptop case, prepackaged spray paints will work just fine...

Josh

OMG

Thanks a lot for the tip!

Cadder

Most automotive stores (Autozone, Pepboys, Advance, O'reilly) will have paint in a spray can that is metallic and solid colors. They will also have the primers and the cearcoat. The cans are about half sized and run about $5-$10 each.

Click this link
The cans are made by Duplicolor and they come in 5oz sizes.