painting inside of case

[QueBert]

Broke down and ordered a Silverstone Tj07 to start on my new setup. One thing I definitely want to do is paint the inside black to match the outside. Googling didn't turn up anything good about how to do this - maybe I suck at searches ha.

any ways, don't have much painting experience, none for computers/metal. From what I gather I'll want to powder coat it for the best results. I don't want something glossy, I'm going to go for that brushed aluminum look like the outside of the case, will also want to paint the back, basically everything that's silver. As I said I'm not a painter and this case was pretty damn expensive so I don't want to f*ck it up.

Any experienced one here want to give me their .02 cents? I can't really gauge the difficulty for something I've never done. I would appreciate it much.

 

[aigomorla]

Originally posted by: QueBert
Broke down and ordered a Silverstone Tj07 to start on my new setup. One thing I definitely want to do is paint the inside black to match the outside. Googling didn't turn up anything good about how to do this - maybe I suck at searches ha.

any ways, don't have much painting experience, none for computers/metal. From what I gather I'll want to powder coat it for the best results. I don't want something glossy, I'm going to go for that brushed aluminum look like the outside of the case, will also want to paint the back, basically everything that's silver. As I said I'm not a painter and this case was pretty damn expensive so I don't want to f*ck it up.

Any experienced one here want to give me their .02 cents? I can't really gauge the difficulty for something I've never done. I would appreciate it much.

dont use powder coat.. i ran into nightmares with it last time i used it on my CM690 build. particles will get all over the place, and the texture is kinda bad for internal paint.

Powder coat helps on external because its tough and scratch resistant.

The silverstone is polished in the internal so you need to use a primer or an acid based paint.

Dont spray too close, you want about 6inches - 1 feet when you spray.

Make sure you use newspaper on the floor, and go slowly. Be patient. The painting processes for my cheapo 690 took about 1 day.

 

[QueBert]

patient you say? haha I'll try, I just looked at the screen shots of the inside it's way polished looking. if I use a matte paint will it still be shiny, I really wanted a flat black look. I expected this to be a day process minimum so I'm not too worried there. I might rush painting an el cheapo case, but at $300 bucks, *IF* I end up doing this myself I will go as slow as possible to keep from screwing up

 

[aigomorla]

Originally posted by: QueBert
patient you say? haha I'll try, I just looked at the screen shots of the inside it's way polished looking. if I use a matte paint will it still be shiny, I really wanted a flat black look. I expected this to be a day process minimum so I'm not too worried there. I might rush painting an el cheapo case, but at $300 bucks, *IF* I end up doing this myself I will go as slow as possible to keep from screwing up

White primer + allow to dry... prime again... allow to dry.... then top paint.


should give you that matt look. Just dont apply too much so the paint becomes too thick.

Also becareful when you slide the panel back in. If your not careful, you'll chip and scratch the paint.

 

[QueBert]

thanks for the words of wisdom, hummm I started with only wanting to buy a new case, now it looks like it might be a month long mod. I hope I don't catch the bug, last thing I need is to end up with 4 boxes and all my free time spend working on new mods.

 

[Bluefront]

You might be real sorry you attempted this mod. Painting aluminum is tricky. You've got the inside corners, rivets, edges, etc. Chipping the inside when installing things will be very easy.

If it were steel, and a cheap case, I'd say go for it. Not here though....

 

[aigomorla]

Originally posted by: Bluefront
You might be real sorry you attempted this mod. Painting aluminum is tricky. You've got the inside corners, rivets, edges, etc. Chipping the inside when installing things will be very easy.

If it were steel, and a cheap case, I'd say go for it. Not here though....

TJ-07 = rivetless

Its the modders dream case.


The entire thing comes apart.

 

[QueBert]

Originally posted by: Bluefront
You might be real sorry you attempted this mod. Painting aluminum is tricky. You've got the inside corners, rivets, edges, etc. Chipping the inside when installing things will be very easy.

If it were steel, and a cheap case, I'd say go for it. Not here though....

yeah what aigomorla said, but even knowing you can strip the case down to nothing with just a screw driver I'm not too excited about the idea of painting a $300 case my first time around. Don't know any other way to do it aside from taking the case to a body shop and getting them to do it. Would take worry away from me, but would still leave me with the task of not chipping the paint when I install all my components.

Leaving the inside/back silver would kill my overall mod, sorta in a a damned if I do, damned if I don't situation.

 

[rosi]

I'm assuming this case has a window you plan on spending a lot of time gazing through? Why else would one care that much to go through the trouble you are? I mean I like a tidy case as much as the next guy, but geez...

 

[aigomorla]

Originally posted by: QueBert

Originally posted by: Bluefront
You might be real sorry you attempted this mod. Painting aluminum is tricky. You've got the inside corners, rivets, edges, etc. Chipping the inside when installing things will be very easy.

If it were steel, and a cheap case, I'd say go for it. Not here though....

yeah what aigomorla said, but even knowing you can strip the case down to nothing with just a screw driver I'm not too excited about the idea of painting a $300 case my first time around. Don't know any other way to do it aside from taking the case to a body shop and getting them to do it. Would take worry away from me, but would still leave me with the task of not chipping the paint when I install all my components.

Leaving the inside/back silver would kill my overall mod, sorta in a a damned if I do, damned if I don't situation.

if your seriously lost.

goto a autobody shop. you know when you get into car accidents. Ask them to paint it for you. They will do it for a fee.

 

[QueBert]

Originally posted by: rosi
I'm assuming this case has a window you plan on spending a lot of time gazing through? Why else would one care that much to go through the trouble you are? I mean I like a tidy case as much as the next guy, but geez...

yeah I'm building a showcase, going to be water cooled with UV green and I'm trying to make it as clean as possible. My color scheme will be black/green and having shiny silver inside and on the back will throw it off man. Excessive and overkill for sure, but a great time killer and a project that's new and should provide me with some new skills. I plan on gazing through it a lot, but more than likely after a few weeks the "wow" will wear off and I'll just have a computer with a window that I never look through.

aigomorla, you hit the nail on the head, the more I thought about painting a $300 case on my own I was feeling queezy about it. Plus an auto shop can make it where it won't chip or scratch too easy. I wouldn't imagine it costing THAT much, definitely cheaper than me screwing up an expensive case lol.