I've painted two of my macs, one a 7500 and the other a Quadra 840av. I did a pretty crappy job, though. Eventually, I would like to re-do the paint jobs, and in this event I would probably do something like this:Step 1: Remove the plastic case parts to be painted from their respective machine. In the case of a monitor, where it may not be possible to remove the plastic, mask off areas that you don't want painted (such as the screen) using newspaper and masking tape. Also, keep in mind that any ait vents in the monitor are going to present a problem. If you spray them with paint, the paint is going to go inside the monitor and most likely will result in magic smoke when you go to turn the monitor back on. I'd suggest masking off any air vents completely.
Step 2: Clean the surface plastic. Really you can use any type of cleaner you want, and even rubbing alcohol will do the job right.
Step 3: Sand the surface plastic. Use a light abrasive sand paper to give the surface some "tooth". If you're working on a big area you will quickly realize how much easier this is to do if you have some kind of a power tool (cordless screwdriver with abrasive attachment, power buffer etc.).
Step 4: Apply a primer. This is the most important step, and the one most often skipped. Now, you're not going to be able to pick this up at Wal-Mart (at least, not the kind you want, anyway). So, hit up the local hobby shop and get some spray primer of the kind used on model cars and the like. It's relatively inexpesive, but still good quality. You could use automotive primer, but unless you have a friend who goes to a technical school (like the creator of Mercury), it can be pretty expensive, and somewhat difficult to obtain. Give it about 2 good coats of primer, with at least a half hour between them.
Step 5: Paint the sucker! If you've already followed the steps above (most importantly, the primer), then at this point there's really no reason why you can't use the el-cheapo spray paint from Wal-Mart. It'll save you some cash, though you're limited to what colors and textures they have in stock. The critical concept to the painting process is patience, patience, patience. The more and the lighter the coats, and the more drying time between them, the better. Give it at least 3 coats for the best coverage and sheen.
Step 6: Wait until it's dry. No really, wait until it's dry! I can't tell you how many times I've started putting a machine back together while it was tacky, and ended up botching the whole job. I would honestly wait at least 48 hours before even moving the painted pieces. Depending on what type of paint you're using and how many coats you did, you may want to wait even longer.
Well, I think that should cover it (pun intended)!
666th poster and 666th thread-creator
Mod of the Mac II series Forums
Total 68K Macs liberated: 7
I Have No Legs!
Edited by - cinemafia on 22 Jul 2002 12:54:38
Painting the Macs.
Posted - 22 Jul 2002 : 11:54:44
68k of the Week: kastegir's PowerBook 180.