Edit: I totally meant to put this in "making stuff together" Mods please move?
I wanted a white case Filco (not beige but white) to go with white on black Cherry doubleshots. I think that look is really nice. To make it happen I took my existing black case and gave it a paint job. Thought I'd document it here.
Just to be clear, my process is probably not the best possible process, but it is pretty good for a do-it-yourself-er.
Credit where credit is
due- Disassemble the keyboard. The Filco has only one screw but you have to use some credit cards to unclip the top and bottom.
- Take the top cover and clean it if necessary. Doesn't really matter at this point because we are going to sand it, but you do want to get the crud off. Soap and water or rubbing alcohol.
- Remove the FILCO badge. On my TKL, I had to pry it out with a knife. I taped some scotch tape to a unused part of my desk and then lightly stuck the badge on it to wait. That way the adhesive on the badge will stay safe and you can remount it later. I did bugger up the plastic around the badge a little bit, but it came out with sanding.
- Time for wet sanding. I went to Home Depot and bought 3M imperial Wetordry sheets in 400, 600, and 800 grit. Cut the paper into manageable pieces, the case has some small spaces to sand.
- Fill your sink with a few inches of water to use as a rinse. Get the case wet, get the paper wet, then start sanding. Start with 400 grit over the entire case, then work up to the finer grits. You only need to sand the parts that are going to get painted. (i.e. the top and sides) Be firm but don't use too much force. Try to sand evenly. Rinse often. The Filco cases come with a shiny coating, you want to sand all of that off. After your 400 grit, you can let it dry to see if you've gotten it all. It will definitely take a few tries.
- Let it dry completely. Clean it with rubbing alcohol and a lint free cloth.
- Place it on a stand or hang it from a hook. Whatever you like but it is going to be there for a while and you can't touch it once you've started so plan appropriately.
- I chose to use Rustoleum Universal Gloss paint, also Home Depot. Whatever you use, make sure it bonds with plastic. Rostoleum and Krylon have a few product lines that can bind to plastic. If you want to use fancy art paints, you have to get a primer that bonds to plastic.
- Follow the directions on the can exactly. Read them all before you start. Then follow them exactly. Did I say that you should follow the directions on the can exactly?
- I used many very light coats for two reasons. 1. Thick coats will drip and ruin your paint job. 2. I didn't want to sand in between coats. A very good paint job would wet sand the paint again between coats for a very nice smooth and defect-free base, then finish with a clear protecting coat. I don't have time for all that. For my paint I waited 10 minutes between coats. I probably did 8 coats or something like that.
- Paint in a ventilated area that is warm enough for the paint to work and not exposed to any wind. When it's finished, let it dry for a week. Yes, 7 whole days. Just leave it where it is.
- I found that it still felt tacky until about two weeks after painting. I waited until it seemed fully cured before I remounted the badge.
I wish I had taken some photos of the case after sanding.
Anyway, here is a photo of the case just after I applied the last coat.
I cheated a little bit and took a picture after it had only been drying for 5 days...
Isn't that classy? I love it. If only the Alu space bar came in black
Okay done drying, here are the pics...
Such a potato I know. I'll mount the logo after a little more time.
Here is the bottom. An awful lot of paint managed to get up there, even though I was always spraying from the top.
These are Cherry keycaps from Inlikeflynn's pile of MY boards, Feng aluminum space bar, Cherry red esc from EK, a Hashbaz RGBY kit, a geekhack key from the recent fund raiser, and one of !3oiler's center/stepped caps locks.
It is very white, which is what I wanted. None of this beige business. I wanted it to really bring out the white legends.
My camera isn't good enough to show the imperfections, but there are a few. I'm still very happy with the results.
I like this shot because it shows the myriad of imperfections. I'm such a noob.
