cooler master stacker

[bigKr33]

I just bought a cooler master stacker t01 from fry's to put my water cooling in, but before i do that i want to paint and mod the case a little. I want to paint the inside of the case entirely black and the exterior of the case either orage, or lime green. I know you guys may think i have a bad choice in colors, but i think it would look very interesting considering i'm going to be buying the window side panel for the stacker so you can see the inside.

For the exterior i'm going for a high gloss finish with automotive spray paint. THing i'm most confused about is how i'm going to paint the inside. I don't need a high gloss for the interior, i just simply want the inside black. So for the interior do you really think its necessary to apply primer or can i just simply spary paint it and still get a good finish.

Thanks in advance

 

[BonzaiDuck]

I don't know why you would need gloss on the interior.

What I've seen in the way of painting cases applies the same techniques you'd use in auto-body painting. You definitely want a primer coat, and you can get primer in black. You could either just paint it with primer, or hit the primer with a clear coat.

I cannot remember for sure, but I thought one variety of the Stacker case had a steel chassis. Frankly, I think steel would be easier to work with for the painting. Primer, wet-or-dry sand, wash, dry, and apply the paint.

I'm not exactly sure how you would treat aluminum for adhesion. I'm sure the procedure is out there on the web somewhere.

 

[sparkey]

http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/2161/4thstackerpics006large5pm.jpg

this is my painted stacker
to prep the case go to the store and get yourself a couple of green scotch brite pads and start scuffing the case when the shine from the paint is gone blow out the case then wipe it down with a light soap solution wipe down with plain water let it dry

while your at the store find some self etch primer in a color that you like 3m makes about the best apply primer in light coats untill you are satisfied with the coverage

scuff primer with 600 grit sand paper try not to go through the primer if you do just reprime

apply the base coat letting it flash untill you get the coverage you want

apply the clear coat 1ST COAT VERY VERY THIN let it flash 2nd coat can be heavier and apply untill you get the desired results

if you run the clear let it dry take a razor blade and scrape JUST the run and compound the scuffed area till it shines

hth tom

 

[Missing Ghost]

Originally posted by: BonzaiDuck
I cannot remember for sure, but I thought one variety of the Stacker case had a steel chassis.

The stacker uses a combinaison of steel and aluminium. The top, bottom, rear, and the inside structure is steel. The two side panels and the sides of the front are aluminium.

 

[bigKr33]

Originally posted by: sparkey
http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/2161/4thstackerpics006large5pm.jpg

this is my painted stacker
to prep the case go to the store and get yourself a couple of green scotch brite pads and start scuffing the case when the shine from the paint is gone blow out the case then wipe it down with a light soap solution wipe down with plain water let it dry

while your at the store find some self etch primer in a color that you like 3m makes about the best apply primer in light coats untill you are satisfied with the coverage

scuff primer with 600 grit sand paper try not to go through the primer if you do just reprime

apply the base coat letting it flash untill you get the coverage you want

apply the clear coat 1ST COAT VERY VERY THIN let it flash 2nd coat can be heavier and apply untill you get the desired results

if you run the clear let it dry take a razor blade and scrape JUST the run and compound the scuffed area till it shines

hth tom

Yeah man that looks beautiful, exactly what i'm looking for, but can you go a little more indepth on how did such an awesome job.

 

[sparkey]

i have done body and fender work for the past 25 years so it has become second nature to me . its all in the prep work of the surface your working with, mask off the areas you dont want to be painted, keep the paint applicator moving ,dont stop in 1 spot you'll run the paint ,take practice passes with out actually applying paint untill u feel comfortable with the movement. start flowing paint on the masking paper and flow paint from masking paper to the other side masking paper with the painted surface inbetween in a smooth movement overlap by 50% on every pass thats about all there is just get comfortable with what your working with and YOU WILL BE FINE if you make a mistake its fixable its just paint

as i asid befor if you run the paint get a razor blade and hold it at a 90* angle to the run and scrape in the direction of the run

and the most important thing is.............................................................................
...............................................................................
...............to have fun doing it
tom