Touched up (or defiled?) Model M

[OldIsNew]

I am generally loath to alter anything original/vintage but have wanted to try a dye/paint job. I had an empty Model M case and bought a set of pebble/pearl keys from Unicomp. I figured I wouldn't feel too bad about painting an extra case but still couldn't bring myself to dye original keycaps, especially as Unicomp's are available. I used Rit DyeMore "racing red" dye (at boiling for 1 min) for the keycaps and red Valspar Paint for Plastics spray paint for the case.  It's a gift for someone who really likes the feel of the Model M but won't have "that beige thing" on their desk. I don't think it came out too badly actually, but I'm still sticking with the beige things myself.

[quasistellar]

Hey if you're going to experiment, go ahead on a model M.  There's literally millions of them.

[E TwentyNine]

Ha, that's awesome.  I'd see if you could dye the logo and the numlock overlay, or print something in red and do a cellophane packing tape overlay to "laminate" it.

Still functions like and M, and if you want to personalize it, go for it.

[Puddsy]

Hey if you're going to experiment, go ahead on a model M.  There's literally millions of them.

this

[Touch_It]

Too much red for me personality.  But hey, looks good and if it gets someone else on the Model M train I don't see the issue.  Especially since you used "lesser" quality Unicomp caps.

[OldIsNew]

  I'd see if you could dye the logo and the numlock overlay . . .

Well I figured why not - the badge took dye very quickly 15 - 20 sec and it was already a little darker than I planned but not bad! It doesn't show well in the pictures but the lock light overlay (I bought one from Unicomp) is a deep red-brown (looks more just brown in the pics). It took a while to get it to take dye (about 20 min).

Before:


After:

                 

[E TwentyNine]

The darker items do look better.

[tp4tissue]

The problem is he either didn't use a primer or chose the wrong primer color..

So the red looks a dirty orange..

or, it could be the camera being weird..


Sub surface scattering is very important to having vibrant colors..

[OldIsNew]

It`s the camera that gives it the orange tint - I noticed that too. The case turned out quite nice, a glossy race car red. I didn't expect too much from the Valspar paint, but it actually came out quite well as far as color/finish.

[Leslieann]

That's a LOT of red, but it looks much better than I expected.
Instead of dying the stickers, another option would be to use some window tint and covered them with that.

[digi]

Hey if you're going to experiment, go ahead on a model M.  There's literally millions of them.

this

that

[taylorswiftttttt]

removed

[fohat.digs]

Being that M cases are PVC, it may be possible to dye them. I have at least 1 spare case, I may try it.

[rowdy]

My first thought when I saw this: https://mechanicalkeyboards.com/shop/index.php?l=product_detail&p=1838

Red keyboards have been done before, maybe not quite as big as the Model M though.  That's quite a lot of red!

[SBJ]

My first thought when I saw this: https://mechanicalkeyboards.com/shop/index.php?l=product_detail&p=1838

Red keyboards have been done before, maybe not quite as big as the Model M though.  That's quite a lot of red!

Right?
Still, a part of me kinda likes it.

[rowdy]

My first thought when I saw this: https://mechanicalkeyboards.com/shop/index.php?l=product_detail&p=1838

Red keyboards have been done before, maybe not quite as big as the Model M though.  That's quite a lot of red!

Right?
Still, a part of me kinda likes it.

And I keep wondering what one of each colour would look like - green, blue and yellow.

If done properly and consistently like the red one.