painting on plastic

[darkorb]

what kind of paint/spray would i need to buy to paint onto a case? antec atlas..

[harry18]

well i would buy a typical can of spray paint, preferbly one for specificly for plastic, but pretty much most of can go on most materiels....sanding it down if possible is very advisable aswell, the paint will adhere much better.

[markkleb]

Plastic paint is more elastic so it bends with the parts. The problem is there arent as many colors.

Better to use regular paint, lightly sand it first with around 400 grit paper. Than put a coat of primer.

After it dries lightly sand again and put the color.

primer is designed to stick to plastic/metal etc and paint is designed to stick to primer.

[darkorb]

uhm, well. would the paint start to melt/smell up the room when the case heats up?

i guess i will just buy a spray for plastic and use it with my stencil i will make. and ill just buy regular little paint, to do my details.

[markkleb]

Ur comp shouldnt get hot enough to make paint melt. I painted my CPU heatsink and my alum heatsink on my AC5 cooler (hotest parts). As the paint dries there is a little smell but once it is compleately dry its fine.

But on a case there is no problem.

Remember the only difference between Plastic paint and Regular Spray paint is in Plastic Paint they add a Flex Agent (cause some plastic is flexible)

You probably wont bend your case front so you dont need the added flex agent.

[darkorb]

its gonna be in the side panels and on the top, so i think its gonna be ok. preferebly plastic paint, but normal acrylic will be ok?

[markkleb]

Regular Acrylic (enamel) or Lacquer(dries much faster) is fine.

[darkorb]

is anyone better than the other? lacuqer/acrylic, which one is more expensive also? and do they come in either blue or greeN?

[markkleb]

If you want shiney use enamel. But it takes longer to dry.

If you want Fast Dry use Lacquer, its not very shiney but it dries really fast.
After its dry you paint over it with clear and then its shiney.

Any of the paints should come in a bunch of blues and greens.

If you use UV lights than you can use flourescent paint (no shine) but it glows with the UV lights.

Paint a small piece of scrap first to see how it works for you. And try not to paint when its too hot or too cold.

If the spray can feels cold put it in warm water for 10 min, it will spray much better.

[werty316]

Planning for the mod are we?

I suggest you use enamel for its ease of use and it sa good type of spray paint to start off when you never painted a case before.

Basically for enamel painting all you really need is primer and a can of enamel; clearcoat really isn't necessary since enamel gives a shine to it. For lacquer all you need is lacquer, primer, and clearcoat unless you don't want a glossy finish.

So its buying 2 cans as apposed to 3 cans really. Also I recommend not to types of paints but mixing brands should be fine, I suggest Krylon or Dupli-Color.

[BigD]

Planning for the mod are we?

I suggest you use enamel for its ease of use and it sa good type of spray paint to start off when you never painted a case before.

Basically for enamel painting all you really need is primer and a can of enamel; clearcoat really isn't necessary since enamel gives a shine to it. For lacquer all you need is lacquer, primer, and clearcoat unless you don't want a glossy finish.

So its buying 2 cans as apposed to 3 cans really. Also I recommend not to mix brands, stick with one brand, I suggest Krylon or Dupli-Color.

ha i already got my case planned out, painting isnt that hard unless its 110* outside:roll: then the paint dries b4 it hits what you want it to dry on:(

[darkorb]

so i cant just buy the acrylic spray, make a stencil and spray it on?

or just paint my design on the top of the case?

[markkleb]

Yes you can. But the proper way is how me and werty explained it before.

[werty316]

so i cant just buy the acrylic spray, make a stencil and spray it on?

or just paint my design on the top of the case?

Basic rule to follow:
1) Sand the surface you plan on painting using a lower grit like 500.
2) Apply some primer paint.
3) Sand again using a higher grit like 1000 or higher.
4) Apply enamel/lacquer.
5) You could sand it again using a higher grit paper and applying enamel/lacquer or apply clearcoat for a nice glossy shine.

A few people never sand and apply primer which is fine but the overall results is better when sanding and then applying primer.

For some paint 101 here is a good read: http://www.boxgods.com/dept/modding/index.php?Action=Article&ID=198

This page gives you a video to kinda give you an idea:
http://www.boxgods.com/dept/modding/index.php?Action=Article&ID=198&Page=5#Shooting%20Paint