Painting internals

Cheers. Well I just popped to Halfords again. Swapped the standard satin black for an enamel matte black, picked up some disposible gloves 10 for a quid or so, and got some 400 grit wet and dry.

So I wet sand the panels now, give them a good wash afterwards and a wipe down with an old T-shirt then I'm set to spray primer? After the primers dried I'll give it a sand with 1200 grit (this is tomorrow) and then when I've finished with the enamel I was originally going to sand with 2000 grit but tbh I don't think I'll need to. By the time the enamel has cured the case will already be built. I would take it back but I figure I'll just keep it for the sake of £2-3 quid.
 
Leave the panels to dry for a few hours after you have sanded them put them in a warm place as the weather is not no so good.
When you think they are ok to prime and have done so and left them to dry resand with 400 grit give them a good wipe down to get as rid of as much dust as possable you are now ready to put the topcoat on.
If you are happy with the finish of the topcoat just leave it as is but if you get any runs or blobs of dirt on the panel it will need a resand and spray.
Remember light coats and keep the can a good 30cm odd away from the panel,if you try and cover the panel to quick with heavy coats you are going to get runs.
Another little tip is to place your primer/topcoat can in some luke warm water as this will help the paint flow better.
 
clone said:
Leave the panels to dry for a few hours after you have sanded them put them in a warm place as the weather is not no so good.
When you think they are ok to prime and have done so and left them to dry resand with 400 grit give them a good wipe down to get as rid of as much dust as possable you are now ready to put the topcoat on.
If you are happy with the finish of the topcoat just leave it as is but if you get any runs or blobs of dirt on the panel it will need a resand and spray.
Remember light coats and keep the can a good 30cm odd away from the panel,if you try and cover the panel to quick with heavy coats you are going to get runs.
Another little tip is to place your primer/topcoat can in some luke warm water as this will help the paint flow better.
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Just about finishing up sanding them. Got one or two pieces left to go, had to use some white spirit/terps to get some of the sticker gunk off. I'm going to shower them down when I'm done. I don't think I have an old t-shirt kicking about can I not just dry them with a towel or will that leave junk on them?Could probably fine something otherwise.

To sand them I just put them in the hot soapy water, gave them a wash down then while still wet I just used the sand paper on them. The motherboard tray still looks the same, everything else is smooth with little scratches but the mobo tray hasnt seem to have much of an effect and I changed my paper twice on it.

Why do I leave them for two hours btw? Air dry? I would have assumed I could just dry them by hand?

I could probably fine something otherwise.
 
just to make sure they are dry properly, otherwise the paint can run if it hits any damp patches/droplets. i always leave an hour or two been sanding& washing down and when i do a layer as if you rush it you wont have a good finish
 
SGWills said:
just to make sure they are dry properly, otherwise the paint can run if it hits any damp patches/droplets. i always leave an hour or two been sanding& washing down and when i do a layer as if you rush it you wont have a good finish
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Okay, will do. I just sprayed them off in the shower and while I was doing them led them on a towel. Then I took them downstairs and I've put them in the conservatory (which is like 25-30*C) standing up against the furniture with the bottom of them on the carpet. Some of them still look a bit messy though, presumably because of the sanding? Like, when they were part dried the wet bits looked "clean" and the sanded bits looked like they still had dust/marks on them. I don't see how though as I blasted them in the shower.

In an hour or so I'll don my plastic gloves to take them to the garage to start primer coat 1! I've used up over half of my 400 grit though, down to one and a half sheets out of four. I use 400 grit on the primer coat tomorrow after 24 hours don't I? Think I might need to buy some more.
 
the under coats dont need to look pretty as they just building up a good few layers of paint, because your sanding in between coats, it means you will get a good even finish, so when you apply your top coat (matt coat would give it a dull look, satin/gloss coat would make it shiny) it should look top dollar $$$$ :)
 
SGWills said:
the under coats dont need to look pretty as they just building up a good few layers of paint, because your sanding in between coats, it means you will get a good even finish, so when you apply your top coat (matt coat would give it a dull look, satin/gloss coat would make it shiny) it should look top dollar $$$$ :)
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Almost dried. There are a few "drip dry" marks like you get in cars where a bit of dirt has dried in the water. Should I clean this off? Hopefully it'll come off when I wipe it down in a bit with a towel to make sure it's properly dry.

Time to go scout out the garage and see how dusty it is. I'm going to probably be leaning them at a 60* angle between the floor and the wall on cardboard, spraying, a few pieces, waiting a bit till it's "safe" enough to turn them and do the other side.

EDIT: I've also had a change of heart. I've looked at some pictures of satin and matte black and I'm not a fan of the matte. It just doesn't look "right". It looks sprayed rather than OEM computer case black. I'm going to go back and return it (again!) and get some sort of clear coat. The guy in the shop is going to think I'm mad.
 
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So primer is done! It's in the conservatory now for a 24h dry. I think it looks pretty good, had a few drips which I quickly smudged off with my finger then re-sprayed over.

Unfortunately I ran out of primer on the last coat on the one side. A few things I couldn't spray two coats and had to be pretty frugal about it. On some pieces you can still see the metallic slightly through it if you look closely. I also missed a few of the edges on some pieces like the midplate etc but I'm sure they'll still spray fine.

Went to Halfords and replaced the enamel with standard satin black car paint.

So, tomorrow I sand down with 400 grit again? Isn't that going to just take the paint off? Somebody recommended before 1200 grit iirc.
 
RollerBall how's the painting going? I put a couple of coats of black on my case last night, looks great this morning. Just need a last coat me thinks (of course the can has run out so another trip to Halfords) and I'm done. The Halfords spray went on like a dream.
 
Pretty good. Ran out of paint too! I went to sand down a test peice with 1200 grit wet and dry and the primer came off at the edges so I left it. Just gave it a wipe down and sprayed.

I've messed up one peice trying to get a peice of fluff that the wind blew onto it and accidently oversprayed so it ran a little. Luckily it was the Xenon cover plate which will be obscurred by the resevoir if I even decide to use it.

Can't beleive I ran out of paint though. I got the 500ml can which was bigger than the primer can. I think it's because the black has sprayed finer so I've had to use more paint to get a nice even dark cover. I managed to get *most of the peices* one and a half coats. Two coats on one side, one coat on the other. Some I haven't even touched though.

Looks pretty good thus far, not pefect but plenty good enough for case internals for me. I won't pass complete judgement untill tomorrow though when it's had at least 24 hours to cure.

EDIT: It was all going well till a few bits of paper stuck the sides on the pieces I had sprayed led down. I tried to get the paper off as best I could but some bits I've just sprayed over. The biggest chunk was on the side of the PCI bit where the I/O fits. I can't really be bothered to sand it down and re-spray so I'm just going to leave it I think.
 
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Heh, yes I had some of the newspaper stick to the case but fortunately it was the bottom, so I'm not too worried about it. I gave it a quick sand and respray, but it's still visible. I guess when you have a pathological inability to be patient like me you have to put up with these sorts of things!
 
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