Quality spray paint for pc chassis and keyboard? Brand?

gizmo1990

gizmo1990

gizmo1990

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832
I'm looking into spray painting a metal pc chassis and also a metal keyboard. I'd like to get a nice quality finish and was wondering if there were any specific types of paint and brands that would come recommended? The finish I'm after is a match for vintage pcs, so non gloss, satin like? The colours would have course be cream beige or greys etc. So brands that supply those shade selections.

If anyone has any advice and recommendations I'd really appreciate hearing them.
 
your absolute best bet is finding a local automotive paint supplier. They'll colour match you an exact colour and put it into a spray can for you. The quality of the paint is way higher than off the shelf stuff (off the shelf is usually thinner) so it ends up being easier to do a good job and more durable in use.

Metal case may need an etch primer. A satin is a light sheen and if you do really light coats of paint you'll get more of a matt finish to it than proper satin.
 
I'm currently spray some metal work for a mod project and I'm surprised at how well my cack-handed incompetence is handling U-Pol 8 acid etch primer and Halfords own brand matte black. I'm only doing internals so not worrying about clear coats or anything (watch me scuff something as I do the final assembly :P )

If you're doing keyboards and case exteriors then it's the primer and the clear coat that are the most important things; the primer is your foundation so that's gotta be perfect, and the clear coat protects all your work, so that's gotta be perfect too. I'd strongly recommend U-Pol 8 Acid etch primer in grey for your primer, but I'd probably talk to an automotive paint supplier about colours and clear coats so they'll know more about getting consistent finishes and durability.
 
LePhuronn said:
I'm currently spray some metal work for a mod project and I'm surprised at how well my cack-handed incompetence is handling U-Pol 8 acid etch primer and Halfords own brand matte black. I'm only doing internals so not worrying about clear coats or anything (watch me scuff something as I do the final assembly :p )

If you're doing keyboards and case exteriors then it's the primer and the clear coat that are the most important things; the primer is your foundation so that's gotta be perfect, and the clear coat protects all your work, so that's gotta be perfect too. I'd strongly recommend U-Pol 8 Acid etch primer in grey for your primer, but I'd probably talk to an automotive paint supplier about colours and clear coats so they'll know more about getting consistent finishes and durability.
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I was about to tag you then realised you had already posted :cry:, this is right up your street haha.
 
I've sprayed a couple of chassis in the past across a range of brands and the main thing is how you apply it rather than the brand. Make sure the surface is properly prepped, free of any dust or oily fingerprints etc, if you paint over them they show up and ruin the finish. Make sure you use a decent metal primer, 2-3 light coats. Go over that with a very fine sandpaper to remove any imperfections before moving on to the actual paint itself and again, several light coats will get you the best result.

I can easily spend a couple of days, first prepping and primer, let it dry over night and then lightly sand and apply paint on the second day.

If you want a starting point for paints, I've used Rust-oleum in the past which has worked well, plenty of colours and works well on metal. Plus easy to find for sale all over.
 
I used Kobra satin clear coat, black, white and uv neon green (and 2x rando brand uv purples and a chrome) when doing my last project in a Lian Li o11d. I was very happy with the kobra on plastic, metal or on top of other paint.
Used with rust oleum white primer which was seemed similar quality/quantity/coverage per can.

I have no experience with most other brands, but it was much better than all the other three brands of spray paint I bought, one was ok, one I expected to be rubbish (cheap/gimmick) , one was expensive and rubbish/not much paint in the can.
 
gizmo1990 said:
I'm looking into spray painting a metal pc chassis and also a metal keyboard. I'd like to get a nice quality finish and was wondering if there were any specific types of paint and brands that would come recommended? The finish I'm after is a match for vintage pcs, so non gloss, satin like? The colours would have course be cream beige or greys etc. So brands that supply those shade selections.
Click to expand...

I remember JayzTwoCents doing a video on this subject:

 
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