Author Topic: Krog's QFR Topcase Mod Thread  (Read 16677 times)

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Offline Krogenar

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Krog's QFR Topcase Mod Thread
« on: Mon, 26 August 2013, 07:20:02 »
As you might imagine, I plan on flocking my top cases, but I'm still working on some way to jazz it up a bit. But CoolerMaster hasn't shipped my pieces yet and I am sad. Also, I don't even own a QFR so I don't know if that's going to affect my design's chances, LOL! But I'm doing it anyway!

Much thanks and credit should go out to Photoelectric, Nubbs, and pretty much anyone who painted a keyboard case and provided the writeups that are proving to be so helpful to everyone.

12/2/2013 - Flocked case photos in second post updated!
« Last Edit: Mon, 02 December 2013, 12:51:24 by Krogenar »
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Quote from: Samuel Adams
"If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or your arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen."

Offline Krogenar

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Re: Krog's QFR Topcase Mod Thread
« Reply #1 on: Mon, 26 August 2013, 07:20:15 »
Ok, here's the flocked case -- it has a lot of imperfections. But it's weird, and that is awesome, in my eyes.

46562-046564-146566-2

In these photos I also attached my latest white nylon flocked spacebar and Escape key.  :D
« Last Edit: Mon, 02 December 2013, 12:49:28 by Krogenar »
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Quote from: Samuel Adams
"If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or your arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen."

Offline Krogenar

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Re: Krog's QFR Topcase Mod Thread
« Reply #2 on: Mon, 26 August 2013, 07:25:30 »
Ok, and here's the red one, but without any pinstriping (which is coming soon)

46568-046570-146572-2

This one is a light years better than my Hulk Smash horror green case (which now is used only for testing hideous new ideas) -- but still has some minor imperfections. The backside is not as smooth as I would have liked, but overall it looks good. Thanks to Photoelectric, Jixr, and so many other people for helping me get this done.  :thumb:

Updated with pinstriping:

46909-346911-446913-546915-6

« Last Edit: Thu, 05 December 2013, 09:26:02 by Krogenar »
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Quote from: Samuel Adams
"If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or your arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen."

Offline Photoelectric

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Re: Krog's QFR Topcase Mod Thread
« Reply #3 on: Tue, 03 September 2013, 22:41:14 »
What's going on in this here thread  ;D
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Offline mkawa

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Re: Krog's QFR Topcase Mod Thread
« Reply #4 on: Tue, 03 September 2013, 23:33:30 »
just flockin' sir.

to all the brilliant friends who have left us, and all the students who climb on their shoulders.

Offline Krogenar

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Re: Krog's QFR Topcase Mod Thread
« Reply #5 on: Wed, 04 September 2013, 06:30:09 »
What's going on in this here thread  ;D

Mmm.... maybe not just flocking. I was thinking of giving my case a white dry-erase board coating. So you could mark it up, and then erase it, and then mark it up again. My flocking experiments are still underway, but nothing new to report, unfortunately.
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Quote from: Samuel Adams
"If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or your arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen."

Offline SpAmRaY

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Re: Krog's QFR Topcase Mod Thread
« Reply #6 on: Wed, 04 September 2013, 06:31:41 »
What's going on in this here thread  ;D

Mmm.... maybe not just flocking. I was thinking of giving my case a white dry-erase board coating. So you could mark it up, and then erase it, and then mark it up again. My flocking experiments are still underway, but nothing new to report, unfortunately.

I was looking at doing this yesterday! There is also paint for making chalkboards, that would be cool also!

Offline Krogenar

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Re: Krog's QFR Topcase Mod Thread
« Reply #7 on: Wed, 04 September 2013, 06:56:44 »
What's going on in this here thread  ;D

Mmm.... maybe not just flocking. I was thinking of giving my case a white dry-erase board coating. So you could mark it up, and then erase it, and then mark it up again. My flocking experiments are still underway, but nothing new to report, unfortunately.

I was looking at doing this yesterday! There is also paint for making chalkboards, that would be cool also!

Yes, I was thinking the same thing -- not just for the case, but for the keycaps. Potential problems -- the most annoying sound in the Universe may be fingernails scraping across blackboard keycaps. Also, the dust. But it might be very cool for the case. I've also been wondering about taking black flocking and mixing in just a few bright colors -- just a pinch -- and seeing what happens. Or maybe do a light coating of black flocking and then doing another, of a brighter color to fill in the gaps.

I'm also experimenting with flocking just the tops of the caps because although the flocked keycaps feel really awesome, flocking at the base of the keycaps interferes with nearby keys. So I've got some primed keycaps masked off at full size, half, and just the top surface. Truth is, I'm having some issues with keeping the coating on the keycaps. The coating can be scratched off with enough effort. I don't know if I can improve that or not. The flocked surface doesn't peel off like string cheese, it's not that bad, but I'm hoping it can be better. If that still does not work, then I'll experiment with paint that is maybe more amenable to painting plastics.

I just hope my cases show up!

Also, I don't own a QFR, will that hurt my chances? LOL!
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Quote from: Samuel Adams
"If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or your arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen."

Offline Photoelectric

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Re: Krog's QFR Topcase Mod Thread
« Reply #8 on: Wed, 04 September 2013, 08:09:07 »
I don't think it should be a problem, as owning a QFR was not a prerequisite in the rules, and many of us don't have one.  It's about making a sweet cover for one :D
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Offline Krogenar

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Re: Krog's QFR Topcase Mod Thread
« Reply #9 on: Thu, 05 September 2013, 11:45:36 »
CONFIRMED! -- my black cases were shipped yesterday, but because the hamster gnomes in their shipping department's oscillation overthruster was accidentally on purpose thrown into the n-th dimension, and they were actually holograms on the run from the law with occassional herpes (takes a huge breath) they forgot to update my order status.

So that's the story.

ARRIVE ALREADY!

I have such plans for these cases -- hurry up dammit!  :blank:
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Quote from: Samuel Adams
"If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or your arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen."

Offline Krogenar

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Re: Krog's QFR Topcase Mod Thread
« Reply #10 on: Mon, 09 September 2013, 07:20:25 »
Ok, I finally got my two black QFR cases this weekend, and started by just attempting to sand one down.

As per worklogs posted by Photoelectric, Jixr and others, I used 400 grit sandpaper to slowly work off the black rubberized coating. It can be difficult at first to see when you've made it down to the plastic underneath the coating. What worked best for me was to wet sand a bit, and then wash it down, and then if the lighting is right you can see (and then feel) the area that needs a bit more sanding.

I found an AutoZone nearby and picked up some of the Duplicolor Adhesion Promoter that was recommended. Once all my sanding is done, I'll give each a few coats of primer and then decide what to do them.  ;D
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Quote from: Samuel Adams
"If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or your arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen."

Offline Krogenar

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Re: Krog's QFR Topcase Mod Thread
« Reply #11 on: Wed, 11 September 2013, 17:37:54 »
I've got one top case ready for priming, once the humidity drops below 70%. I also have some electrostatic equipment headed my way, along with some keycaps and spacebars to use in my experiments. If they electro-flock well, then the case gets a serious flocking.

You thought ordinary flocking was sexy -- well, you slack-jawed Shoneys, Krog is into ELECTRO-FLOCKING!

I am the Aleister Crowley of flocking.
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Quote from: Samuel Adams
"If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or your arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen."

Offline Photoelectric

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Re: Krog's QFR Topcase Mod Thread
« Reply #12 on: Wed, 11 September 2013, 19:31:48 »
It's going to be more epic than that pink / white furry keyboard, isn't it :)
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Offline Krogenar

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Re: Krog's QFR Topcase Mod Thread
« Reply #13 on: Wed, 11 September 2013, 20:01:46 »
It's going to be more epic than that pink / white furry keyboard, isn't it :)

Yeah I think I saw that one. Sort of a keyboard in a tutu.

I have black flocking that's going to get a few pinches of a dark magenta flock and a pale green mixed in, to see if I can get a kind of cosmic flock effect. Then maybe flock some keycaps to match, also in solids. Hopefully, anyway.
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Quote from: Samuel Adams
"If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or your arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen."

Offline SpAmRaY

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Re: Krog's QFR Topcase Mod Thread
« Reply #14 on: Wed, 11 September 2013, 20:11:22 »
krog you'd better watch out before people want to start sending you case tops to flock :P

Offline Krogenar

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Re: Krog's QFR Topcase Mod Thread
« Reply #15 on: Wed, 11 September 2013, 20:25:24 »
krog you'd better watch out before people want to start sending I case tops to flock :P

I'll worry about that once I produce one! I will be sending you out a flocked space bar tomorrow. I hope you have a Model M to try it out on. I'm also throwing in some flocked mods.
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Quote from: Samuel Adams
"If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or your arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen."

Offline SpAmRaY

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Re: Krog's QFR Topcase Mod Thread
« Reply #16 on: Wed, 11 September 2013, 20:27:34 »
krog you'd better watch out before people want to start sending I case tops to flock :P

I'll worry about that once I produce one! I will be sending you out a flocked space bar tomorrow. I hope you have a Model M to try it out on. I'm also throwing in some flocked mods.

I have an original and a unicomp!

Offline Krogenar

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Re: Krog's QFR Topcase Mod Thread
« Reply #17 on: Tue, 17 September 2013, 09:08:10 »
(No idea why I'm posting as though I'm on a deep space relay post, making a captain's log entry, but whatever)

Status: One case top prepped for priming and flocking, another awaiting sanding. If my flocking of keycaps electrostatically works as hoped, then I plan on flocking the one case top. I'm still not sure what color to flock it. I have lots of black flocking, but also a dark magenta color, and a sage green flocking. I was thinking of tossing a small amount of the latter colors to the black, to see if I could do a speckled flock case.

For the second case (assuming I don't want to flock it) will be painted a fluorescent green, and then given a glow-in-the-dark overcoat, to make it as tacky as humanly possible. I'm considering using some custom cut vinyl from my shop as a stencil for a GH-logo, in the GitD coating only. So in daylight, it will be a too bright green, and in darkness, glowing GH logos all over it.

Anyone have any experience with the glow-in-the-dark coating?
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Quote from: Samuel Adams
"If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or your arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen."

Offline Krogenar

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Re: Krog's QFR Topcase Mod Thread
« Reply #18 on: Mon, 23 September 2013, 08:05:07 »
Status: With my flocking experiments still not conclusive, I impulsively decided to take my one sanded-down case, and use the Duplicolor primer on it. It says on the can that coats dry in 3-4 minutes. So I did several coats, and it didn't look so hot: cracked and pooling on the case. So I doubled down, and when it was dry (3 coats of primer) I then hit it with the Fluorescent Green Rustoleum Paint, and ... wow.

It looks like Shrek ate and 'passed' a keyboard case.

Hilariously sad pics to come later.
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Quote from: Samuel Adams
"If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or your arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen."

Offline Krogenar

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Re: Krog's QFR Topcase Mod Thread
« Reply #19 on: Tue, 24 September 2013, 08:01:28 »
Hilariously sad pics to come later.

As promised!

[ Specified attachment is not available ]
Ok, so my goal was a neon green case. I used clear Duplicolor Adhesion Promoter primer. I'm not sure if I screwed up the primer, or the spraypaint -- but likely it's both. The green paint just didn't seem to be covering in some areas, which led me (again, I suffer from Terminal Optimism) to attempt to put another layer of paint on to try to cover the 'holidays' (areas without paint) and this led to ... well, what you see here.

Criticism, laughter, it's all welcome. What do the pros think? Can this just be sanded back down and redone?

This doesn't mean I'm giving up, at all. I'm just regrouping.

Post your mistakes!

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Quote from: Samuel Adams
"If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or your arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen."

Offline SpAmRaY

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Re: Krog's QFR Topcase Mod Thread
« Reply #20 on: Tue, 24 September 2013, 08:22:43 »
Looks like maybe you just got too much paint on it at one time. But it's salvageable. Either sanding and/or combination of sanding and easy off oven cleaner as demonstrated by photoelectric.

Offline Krogenar

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Re: Krog's QFR Topcase Mod Thread
« Reply #21 on: Tue, 24 September 2013, 08:26:02 »
Looks like maybe you just got too much paint on it at one time. But it's salvageable. Either sanding and/or combination of sanding and easy off oven cleaner as demonstrated by photoelectric.

How does the Oven Off cleaner work? Just spray and wait for the paint to drip off? I've heard of it, but not the specifics of how to do it.
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Quote from: Samuel Adams
"If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or your arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen."

Offline SpAmRaY

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Re: Krog's QFR Topcase Mod Thread
« Reply #22 on: Tue, 24 September 2013, 08:27:15 »
Looks like maybe you just got too much paint on it at one time. But it's salvageable. Either sanding and/or combination of sanding and easy off oven cleaner as demonstrated by photoelectric.

How does the Oven Off cleaner work? Just spray and wait for the paint to drip off? I've heard of it, but not the specifics of how to do it.

No idea on specifics, shoot photo a pm she is the master painter!!

Offline Photoelectric

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Re: Krog's QFR Topcase Mod Thread
« Reply #23 on: Tue, 24 September 2013, 10:04:21 »
 Ok, this is definitely salvageable :). You don't need to use EasyOff for this paint as oil enamel sands off pretty well with rough sandpaper once well dried.  Get some good 200-grit sandpaper that can be used wet (always wet-sand for painting) and sand in gentle circular motion.  Are you going to use the same paint afterwards?  If so, you just need to sand to smooth the surface well and follow with finer grit paper like 400-600 to smooth out abrasion lines from 200-grit sandpaper.

Then once washed and Thoroughly dried, you can proceed with the green paint again.

Regarding the primer, you only need a fine layer--not a few of them :).  Just mist it on continuously all over until a very fine layer is over all the surfaces you want to paint.  Then follow with normal paint in a minute or two.  Do a very fine misty layer first, such that a lot of black plastic shows through. Then slightly thicker layers, allowing the paint to dry to light touch (only test if you are sure it looks dry, touch extremely lightly, and in safer less conspicuous areas, as you can lift / dent wet paint, which you can't easily fix with more pain.  I go by paint loosing the wet look and then waiting some more).

I don't know what happened once you used too much primer--if it will continue to be a problem, however, if nothing is cracking anymore, I think you can just proceed with smoothing the green paint a lot with sandpaper and painting over that.  Make sure you're only sanding dried /cured paint--sanding too early will not go well. 

Let us know how the sanding goes.  If any inner layers are still gooey and not cured, it's a good sign that too much paint was sprayed (always do thin even layers, avoid the saturated wet layers).
« Last Edit: Tue, 24 September 2013, 10:08:06 by Photoelectric »
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Offline JPG

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Re: Krog's QFR Topcase Mod Thread
« Reply #24 on: Tue, 24 September 2013, 10:06:43 »
Hilariously sad pics to come later.

As promised!

(Attachment Link) (Attachment Link) (Attachment Link)
Ok, so my goal was a neon green case. I used clear Duplicolor Adhesion Promoter primer. I'm not sure if I screwed up the primer, or the spraypaint -- but likely it's both. The green paint just didn't seem to be covering in some areas, which led me (again, I suffer from Terminal Optimism) to attempt to put another layer of paint on to try to cover the 'holidays' (areas without paint) and this led to ... well, what you see here.

Criticism, laughter, it's all welcome. What do the pros think? Can this just be sanded back down and redone?

This doesn't mean I'm giving up, at all. I'm just regrouping.

Post your mistakes!

I think it looks like a keyboard splashed with ghostbuster goo or something "zombie like". It has some potential for a gore theme keyboard! Maybe not your goal, but kinda nice still!
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Offline shrapneL

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Re: Krog's QFR Topcase Mod Thread
« Reply #25 on: Tue, 24 September 2013, 10:09:40 »
To me it just looks like your used too much paint at one go. I used Jixr's basic painting tips to paint my first case (http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=47959.0). When you go to paint again, focus on misting your cover with the paint. Don't try to cover the whole thing in one go, and make sure you give the layers ~10 minutes to dry. Hope this helps some! Good luck!
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Offline Krogenar

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Re: Krog's QFR Topcase Mod Thread
« Reply #26 on: Tue, 24 September 2013, 11:21:55 »
Ok, this is definitely salvageable :). You don't need to use EasyOff for this paint as oil enamel sands off pretty well with rough sandpaper once well dried.  Get some good 200-grit sandpaper that can be used wet (always wet-sand for painting) and sand in gentle circular motion.

Will do.

Quote
Are you going to use the same paint afterwards?  If so, you just need to sand to smooth the surface well and follow with finer grit paper like 400-600 to smooth out abrasion lines from 200-grit sandpaper.

Yes, I'm going to continue to try to use this color. Ok, so get wet sanding 200-grit sandpaper, and using a circular motion grind down the excess paint. Then go over that with finer grain sandpaper. My ultimate goal was to give this nuclear green cover a coating of glow-in-the-dark paint, maybe with some interesting masking. I have access to a vinyl cutting machine, so I was thinking of cutting a GH logo in vinyl, and then applying it using transfer paper, and then weeding out the vinyl on the inside, leaving a nice mask.

Quote from: Photoelectric
Then once washed and Thoroughly dried, you can proceed with the green paint again.

Ah, ok, so wash afterwards and dry it off.

Quote from: Photoelectric
Regarding the primer, you only need a fine layer--not a few of them :).  Just mist it on continuously all over until a very fine layer is over all the surfaces you want to paint.  Then follow with normal paint in a minute or two.  Do a very fine misty layer first, such that a lot of black plastic shows through. Then slightly thicker layers, allowing the paint to dry to light touch (only test if you are sure it looks dry, touch extremely lightly, and in safer less conspicuous areas, as you can lift / dent wet paint, which you can't easily fix with more pain.  I go by paint loosing the wet look and then waiting some more).

Thanks Photo -- do you think I should re-prime after I sand it down, or is it likely good enough? I think I may have put down too much primer initially.

Quote from: Photoelectric
I don't know what happened once you used too much primer--if it will continue to be a problem, however, if nothing is cracking anymore, I think you can just proceed with smoothing the green paint a lot with sandpaper and painting over that.  Make sure you're only sanding dried /cured paint--sanding too early will not go well.
 

Yeah, those cracks in the directional area were very faintly visible before painting, which was stupid of me to think I could paint over. I'll sand and post some photos of how it went, and I'll try to be more patient. Thanks for the help Photoelectric -- I vote Photo gets some sort of award over and beyond the contest just for paving the way.

Quote from: Photoelectric
Let us know how the sanding goes.  If any inner layers are still gooey and not cured, it's a good sign that too much paint was sprayed (always do thin even layers, avoid the saturated wet layers).

I will. It seemed as though the paint was just not adhering at all to some areas. I'm going to shake the damn can until my hand nearly falls off next time -- maybe that was the problem?
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Quote from: Samuel Adams
"If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or your arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen."

Offline Photoelectric

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Re: Krog's QFR Topcase Mod Thread
« Reply #27 on: Tue, 24 September 2013, 11:39:42 »
1.  Yes, I'm going to continue to try to use this color. Ok, so get wet sanding 200-grit sandpaper, and using a circular motion grind down the excess paint. Then go over that with finer grain sandpaper. My ultimate goal was to give this nuclear green cover a coating of glow-in-the-dark paint, maybe with some interesting masking. I have access to a vinyl cutting machine, so I was thinking of cutting a GH logo in vinyl, and then applying it using transfer paper, and then weeding out the vinyl on the inside, leaving a nice mask.

Quote from: Photoelectric
Then once washed and Thoroughly dried, you can proceed with the green paint again.

2.  Ah, ok, so wash afterwards and dry it off.

Quote from: Photoelectric
Regarding the primer, you only need a fine layer--not a few of them :).  Just mist it on continuously all over until a very fine layer is over all the surfaces you want to paint.  Then follow with normal paint in a minute or two.  Do a very fine misty layer first, such that a lot of black plastic shows through. Then slightly thicker layers, allowing the paint to dry to light touch (only test if you are sure it looks dry, touch extremely lightly, and in safer less conspicuous areas, as you can lift / dent wet paint, which you can't easily fix with more pain.  I go by paint loosing the wet look and then waiting some more).

3.  Thanks Photo -- do you think I should re-prime after I sand it down, or is it likely good enough? I think I may have put down too much primer initially.

Quote from: Photoelectric
I don't know what happened once you used too much primer--if it will continue to be a problem, however, if nothing is cracking anymore, I think you can just proceed with smoothing the green paint a lot with sandpaper and painting over that.  Make sure you're only sanding dried /cured paint--sanding too early will not go well.
 

4.  Yeah, those cracks in the directional area were very faintly visible before painting, which was stupid of me to think I could paint over. I'll sand and post some photos of how it went, and I'll try to be more patient. Thanks for the help Photoelectric -- I vote Photo gets some sort of award over and beyond the contest just for paving the way.

Quote from: Photoelectric
Let us know how the sanding goes.  If any inner layers are still gooey and not cured, it's a good sign that too much paint was sprayed (always do thin even layers, avoid the saturated wet layers).

5. I will. It seemed as though the paint was just not adhering at all to some areas. I'm going to shake the damn can until my hand nearly falls off next time -- maybe that was the problem?

1. Right, sand gently (avoiding oversanding any corners, as 200-grit will sand that plastic easily) to even out the surface back to flatness.  Now, regarding the glow-in-the-dark paint, those exist, but you need to make sure you use compatible paints over each other.  What paint is your green color?  Oil enamel?  (what brand/line is it?)  You can use oil enamel over oil enamel as a rule, but never acrylic lacquer over enamel.  But you CAN use oil enamel OVER well-dried acrylic lacquer.  So investigate carefully, and if your glow-in-the-dark paint of choice is acrylic, I'd use acrylic lacquer green as a base.  Acrylic paints mostly the same as oil as far as general directions go.  But you'd have to sand off all the base paint if it's oil and re-prime.

2. Yep, wash off with water and detergent (use a detergent that washes off cleanly and easily--some are goopy and take forever to rinse off).  Stand up to dry thoroughly and avoid touching (deposits various grime and oils from fingertips).

3. If it's drying okay--which you can test by sticking a finger nail into the finish: is the finish getting dented easily?  If so, it's not drying very well, and you've probably used too much paint too soon (very thick layers).  You need to have thin layers because there's a lot of evaporation of thinner compounds happening while paint is curing, and if you have too much wet paint, evaporation is impeded and the inner layers can take a really really long time to dry, if at all.  You will also end up with that goopy bad finish if you use too much paint.  Paint in a sweeping left-to-right motion around 8-10" away from the surface, and don't stop over any point for longer than a moment, or you'll end up with a wet pool of paint (bad, that's how you end up with a layer that's too thick).  Do 4-5 fine layers instead of 2 really thick goopy ones.

Anyway, if your paint is all well-dried, as you will see when you begin sanding it, you should be okay to just smooth out the surface and paint over that.  Sand until the surface is very smooth and no dents or holes from bubbling or any other imperfections are remaining visibly and to touch.  Then smooth out with finer-grit sandpaper.  That might mean sanding all the way down to plastic--you'll just have to start sanding and see when it looks good.

4. Any surface imperfections like cracks should be mended before painting.  Because paint will not cover them: sprays deposit paint particles in an aerosol cloud in a certain direction (mostly), so cracks and peeling layers will not get paint under / between them.  You will end up seeing them come back through in the paint texture layer after layer. 

5. What do you mean by not adhering?  How could you tell that?  Do you mean it was bubbling up sort of? 

« Last Edit: Tue, 24 September 2013, 11:41:54 by Photoelectric »
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Offline Krogenar

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Re: Krog's QFR Topcase Mod Thread
« Reply #28 on: Tue, 24 September 2013, 12:17:20 »
1. Right, sand gently (avoiding oversanding any corners, as 200-grit will sand that plastic easily) to even out the surface back to flatness.  Now, regarding the glow-in-the-dark paint, those exist, but you need to make sure you use compatible paints over each other.  What paint is your green color?  Oil enamel?  (what brand/line is it?)

The primer I used was Duplicolor Adhesion Promoter. The Neon Green is "Rust-Oleum Specialty Fluorescent Aerosol Paint"
http://www.officesupersavers.com/viewItemsAct.asp?classlabel=AAAD&manufactlabel=2000432&sku=NOM131250&gb=1&utm_source=GoDataFeed&utm_medium=ShoppingEngine&utm_campaign=ShoppingCom&gdftrk=gdfV21806_a_7c446_a_7c1844_a_7cNOM131250

The Glow-in-the-Dark is also Rustoleum, specifically: https://www.rustoleum.com/CBGProduct.asp?pid=621

So, I figured they should be compatible. And as numerous people suggested, I steered clear of Krylon.

Quote
You can use oil enamel over oil enamel as a rule, but never acrylic lacquer over enamel.  But you CAN use oil enamel OVER well-dried acrylic lacquer.  So investigate carefully, and if your glow-in-the-dark paint of choice is acrylic, I'd use acrylic lacquer green as a base.  Acrylic paints mostly the same as oil as far as general directions go.  But you'd have to sand off all the base paint if it's oil and re-prime.

I'm not sure if these are acrylic, but I assume they are because each one says that they dry within minutes. The data sheet on the glow-in-the-dark paint (http://www.rustoleumibg.com/images/tds/CS1848_1212_ROC_ROC08_RustOleum_Glow_In_The_Dark_TDS.pdf) states that it contains acetone and xylene? So... it's acrylic?

Quote from: Photoelectric
5. What do you mean by not adhering?  How could you tell that?  Do you mean it was bubbling up sort of?

It was strange. I would do a single pass across while spraying and some areas just didn't seem to collect any paint, while others did. But those areas that didn't color much did seem to become 'wet' from the pass over. Let me ask you, when you paint a case, I picture you putting it on a box, and then spraying down at it. Maybe I didn't angle the can properly. I just worked my way around the sides and back, and then looking back it felt like it just hadn't picked up very much color. Maybe I didn't shake the can enough.

This project will not defeat me!  ;D
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Offline Photoelectric

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Re: Krog's QFR Topcase Mod Thread
« Reply #29 on: Tue, 24 September 2013, 12:41:24 »
It appears to be an oil-based formula, but not made to be sprayed entirely as a base.  Seems to be recommended as a few thin top layers over white paint for maximum fluorescent effect.  Many reviews say it's very thin and runny, which makes me think it's a bit translucent.  From what I've read in the past, a lot of the fluorescent paints are not very color-fast either.  I would use a normal bright green enamel paint.  Like this (Rust-Oleum Painter's Touch 2X in Key Lime)



This should go on very smoothly and not present you with the problems you've encountered.  It should be at your local Home Depot.  For any new and unusual specialty paint, I recommend looking for reviews and experiences on-line: some paints and lines are much worse or better than others.

Likewise, the glow-in-the-dark paint might not be very durable, but you could always try it on a piece of scrap metal or plastic, over your paint of choice.  Samples are great for being able to see the final color, hardness, and durability.

I'd sand that current green paint down as much as you can and start over with different paint.  You won't need a primer if you use the Painter's Touch 2X as it has primer for plastic in it already.
----

Oh and for painting, I don't spray top-down.  I spray at an angle and periodically rotate my box or go around to spray from multiple directions to get even coverage after a number of layers (at least 5 very thin layers--not all are complete layers, sometimes I go over a part of a case more before doing another full layer).  Imagine dusting with one of those pink fluffy feather dusters.  Left and right in a gentle sweeping motion.  You want your spray paint to be landing as gently.
« Last Edit: Tue, 24 September 2013, 12:46:51 by Photoelectric »
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Offline Krogenar

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Re: Krog's QFR Topcase Mod Thread
« Reply #30 on: Tue, 24 September 2013, 12:47:49 »
It appears to be an oil-based formula, but not made to be sprayed entirely as a base.  Seems to be recommended as a few thin top layers over white paint for maximum fluorescent effect.  Many reviews say it's very thin and runny, which makes me think it's a bit translucent.  From what I've read in the past, a lot of the fluorescent paints are not very color-fast either.  I would use a normal bright green enamel paint.  Like this (Rust-Oleum Painter's Touch 2X in Key Lime)

Show Image


This should go on very smoothly and not present you with the problems you've encountered.  It should be at your local Home Depot.  For any new and unusual specialty paint, I recommend looking for reviews and experiences on-line: some paints and lines are much worse or better than others.

Likewise, the glow-in-the-dark paint might not be very durable, but you could always try it on a piece of scrap metal or plastic, over your paint of choice.  Samples are great for being able to see the final color, hardness, and durability.

I'd sand that current green paint down as much as you can and start over with different paint.  You won't need a primer if you use the Painter's Touch 2X as it has primer for plastic in it already.

That's what I'll try then -- something with the primer already mixed in. I'll just aim to get a nice coat, and then decide whether to put a glow-in-the-dark coating or not. Instead of learning to fly on a biplane I decided to strap on a harrier, LOL! Thanks again for the help, Photo, I appreciate it.
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"If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or your arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen."

Offline Photoelectric

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Re: Krog's QFR Topcase Mod Thread
« Reply #31 on: Tue, 24 September 2013, 12:48:22 »
Sure.  I edited my previous post to add some more as you were replying :)

The reason I keep recommending the Painter's Touch 2X line is that it's SO easy to paint with, is easily available at Home Depot in lots of colors and finishes, and it's cheap.  It's really good coverage smooth paint that's difficult to mess up (though of course prerequisite reading and practicing is helpful, you can still mess it up by spraying too much too fast).
« Last Edit: Tue, 24 September 2013, 12:50:00 by Photoelectric »
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Offline Krogenar

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Re: Krog's QFR Topcase Mod Thread
« Reply #32 on: Tue, 24 September 2013, 13:01:11 »
Sure.  I edited my previous post to add some more as you were replying :)

The reason I keep recommending the Painter's Touch 2X line is that it's SO easy to paint with, is easily available at Home Depot in lots of colors and finishes, and it's cheap.  It's really good coverage smooth paint that's difficult to mess up (though of course prerequisite reading and practicing is helpful, you can still mess it up by spraying too much too fast).

I think that was definitely my problem -- too fast, too much. I'm going to try to just mist the paint over it, and if there are holidays, I'll try to get them on the next layer, that's all. Another question: do you typically worry about painting the inner walls? For example, the vertical walls surrounding the T-cluster, do you worry much about getting good coverage in there, or is it not really that critical anyway?
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Quote from: Samuel Adams
"If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or your arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen."

Offline Photoelectric

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Re: Krog's QFR Topcase Mod Thread
« Reply #33 on: Tue, 24 September 2013, 13:05:31 »
Should be fine.  Depending on paint (like if it's textured thick paint), you might want to use some blue paint over the inner *side* walls of the case, as that's what will be rubbing against the bottom part of the case.  But generally paint is thin enough overall where it won't make a difference.  I do a bit of light sanding to smooth out the paint on inner sides that will rub against the bottom tray sides. You do want to get the paint into the sides that go around your keycaps, as you'll actually see those parts.
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Offline Krogenar

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Re: Krog's QFR Topcase Mod Thread
« Reply #34 on: Sun, 20 October 2013, 11:00:30 »
Flocked my QFR case. I won't know how well it came out for another three days or so.
Photos here: http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=47194.msg1084029#msg1084029
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Quote from: Samuel Adams
"If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or your arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen."

Offline Krogenar

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Re: Krog's QFR Topcase Mod Thread
« Reply #35 on: Fri, 25 October 2013, 07:30:28 »
Most photos of my flocked QFR case, here: http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=47194.msg1090054#msg1090054

Not a complete failure, but not what I would call a complete success.
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Quote from: Samuel Adams
"If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or your arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen."

Offline Photoelectric

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Re: Krog's QFR Topcase Mod Thread
« Reply #36 on: Fri, 25 October 2013, 09:19:32 »
But is it soft? :)  Can you pet your keyboard between typing? :D
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Offline Krogenar

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Re: Krog's QFR Topcase Mod Thread
« Reply #37 on: Fri, 25 October 2013, 09:28:36 »
But is it soft? :)  Can you pet your keyboard between typing? :D

Now I must mod it to emit a purring sound and vibrate -- the Katy Perry keyboard. It is soft, but on the back (this is going to sound really bad) it has some hard, dried bits, where the clumped up flocking struck the undercoating. (facepalm)

Here, look:



See the bottom notch (gah! this is unintentional, I swear) ... to the right, the slightly darker spots? That's where my flocking failed the fibers clumped together in a mass and struck the undercoating. I'll put a marble in the container that holds the flocking so I can mix it up and prevent clumping next time around.
« Last Edit: Fri, 25 October 2013, 09:31:50 by Krogenar »
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Quote from: Samuel Adams
"If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or your arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen."

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Re: Krog's QFR Topcase Mod Thread
« Reply #38 on: Fri, 25 October 2013, 09:35:21 »
But is it soft? :)  Can you pet your keyboard between typing? :D

Now I must mod it to emit a purring sound and vibrate -- the Katy Perry keyboard. It is soft, but on the back (this is going to sound really bad) it has some hard, dried bits, where the clumped up flocking struck the undercoating. (facepalm)

Here, look:



See the bottom notch (gah! this is unintentional, I swear) ... to the right, the slightly darker spots? That's where my flocking failed the fibers clumped together in a mass and struck the undercoating. I'll put a marble in the container that holds the flocking so I can mix it up and prevent clumping next time around.

 :o Surely I'm not the only who interested in one of those ;) And it would be a Katy Purry keyboard :p

Offline Photoelectric

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Re: Krog's QFR Topcase Mod Thread
« Reply #39 on: Fri, 25 October 2013, 09:40:39 »
But is it soft? :)  Can you pet your keyboard between typing? :D

Now I must mod it to emit a purring sound and vibrate -- the Katy Perry keyboard. It is soft, but on the back (this is going to sound really bad) it has some hard, dried bits, where the clumped up flocking struck the undercoating. (facepalm)

Here, look:

Show Image


See the bottom notch (gah! this is unintentional, I swear) ... to the right, the slightly darker spots? That's where my flocking failed the fibers clumped together in a mass and struck the undercoating. I'll put a marble in the container that holds the flocking so I can mix it up and prevent clumping next time around.

I have a solution--glue something soft there!  Like a mustache at an angle :D  This is a good case for some WASDon!
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Offline Krogenar

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Re: Krog's QFR Topcase Mod Thread
« Reply #40 on: Tue, 05 November 2013, 07:39:33 »
Alright, well, someone said posting failures is good, so here's more of my failed flocked case! There are two reasons why I'm not thrilled with how this case turned out. Well, three if you count the backside of the case which I discussed earlier.

42629-0
Whenever I flock anything, there's always some flocking along the edge or base that needs to be trimmed away. So, this is not so much a failure as a fact of how flocking works. This little flange or flap of excess flock was just trimmed off using a sharp scissor. No harm no foul.

42631-1
At the arrow cluster area, look at the area directly above where the right arrow would go. A section where the flock did not hold because there wasn't adhesive. I painted the whole case with the adhesive prior to a second coat of the same adhesive, so it was difficult making sure that the whole case was fully covered by adhesive. So that sucked.

42633-2
Why is there a discoloration here? No idea. Maybe some flocking remained from a previous run? Grr....
« Last Edit: Tue, 05 November 2013, 07:47:32 by Krogenar »
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Re: Krog's QFR Topcase Mod Thread
« Reply #41 on: Tue, 05 November 2013, 07:58:17 »
I like it anyways!! Flock everything FTW!!

Offline Krogenar

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Re: Krog's QFR Topcase Mod Thread
« Reply #42 on: Tue, 05 November 2013, 08:50:37 »
I like it anyways!! Flock everything FTW!!

I've got two new QFR cases. One of the is halfway sanded (will finish tonight) -- and the silver ones are a lot easier to sand. For one, it's easier to see that the coating has been removed, and it just seems to come off more easily. The first case is going to be painted red, and then I'm going to give it a black flocked stripe around the entire perimeter of the case OR I'm going to try a flocked geekhack logo on the back side.

I've given up on cleaning up the evil neon green turd QFR case (sanding is so tedious) and just use it for testing.
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Quote from: Samuel Adams
"If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or your arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen."

Offline Krogenar

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Re: Krog's QFR Topcase Mod Thread
« Reply #43 on: Thu, 07 November 2013, 14:55:26 »
Testing out some vinyl masking on the QFR of Doom, and I think my new case looks much better. I took Photoelectric's advice and I think it's working.

43085-0
43087-1
43089-2

I'm going to use that green case to test flocking masked areas next.
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Quote from: Samuel Adams
"If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or your arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen."

Offline SpAmRaY

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Re: Krog's QFR Topcase Mod Thread
« Reply #44 on: Thu, 07 November 2013, 14:58:54 »
:eek: that looks to have some very awesome potential!!

Offline Krogenar

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Re: Krog's QFR Topcase Mod Thread
« Reply #45 on: Thu, 07 November 2013, 15:02:33 »
:eek: that looks to have some very awesome potential!!

I just pulled off the masking, and it came out perfect. I gouged the green paint (check the "G") when I weeded out the letters, but I could weed it first and avoid that problem next time. Photo, if you need some vinyl masks, I'm your guy -- let me know!
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Quote from: Samuel Adams
"If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or your arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen."

Offline Krogenar

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Re: Krog's QFR Topcase Mod Thread
« Reply #46 on: Thu, 07 November 2013, 15:05:55 »
43092-0
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Quote from: Samuel Adams
"If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or your arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen."

Offline Krogenar

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Re: Krog's QFR Topcase Mod Thread
« Reply #47 on: Wed, 13 November 2013, 09:17:20 »
Okay, I finally have a QFR case paint job that I wouldn't chain in my sub-basement for being a mutant.
43823-043825-143827-2

Notice the last image of the backside -- not horrible, but maybe some super-fine sandpaper, wetsanding will resolve this. I used the Rustoleum Painters Touch 2x (contains primer) as suggested by Photoelectric, and followed her guide. This took about 3 to 4 passes (speckling for the win) and a sanding of the backside, which got a "mud-cracked" look because I put down too many layers. At one point I held a piece of cardboard above a part of the case that I judged to already have enough coverage, in order to get some paint down into the key "wells", and block paint from going down in those other spots -- and that helped.

Thanks Photoelectric, for the excellent advice! Now I'm wondering what else to do to this red case. I'm definitely going to do some sort of mask -- maybe a sportscar look, or maybe a Christmas theme -- throw some snowflakes onto it? And then a clear coat to finish. Do you recommend a sanding after the maskwork, or just go straight to the clear coat?

In a related experiment, my Slow Mutant QFR case got an orange flock stripe around the outer edge, just to see if I could, to see how well the line would hold with flocking fibers. It's not perfect, but it could work. And since the flocking in these locations won't receive constant finger pressing, it should last.


« Last Edit: Wed, 13 November 2013, 09:22:59 by Krogenar »
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Quote from: Samuel Adams
"If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or your arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen."

Offline Krogenar

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Re: Krog's QFR Topcase Mod Thread
« Reply #48 on: Wed, 13 November 2013, 09:21:47 »
43829-043831-1

Closeups. The excess orange flock is just that, excess. When (if) I vacuum these guys, those extra fibers will come off. Flocking is dirty business.  :)
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Quote from: Samuel Adams
"If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or your arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen."

Offline Photoelectric

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Re: Krog's QFR Topcase Mod Thread
« Reply #49 on: Wed, 13 November 2013, 12:07:29 »
Hey, those are some pretty cool experiments!

I like the red--seems to have some orange to it?  That crackled finish could have resulted for other reasons, like painting when it's too cold out or having some surface contamination under the paint.  You can use some fine-grit sandpaper to try wet-sanding it a bit, something at least 1000-grit and up.  Just make sure to wash your hands before every time you touch this cover, as if you put any more paint onto it, you're depositing some amounts of oils onto the red paint.  If you do wet-sanding, I'd rinse it off REALLY well with some detergent to wash off any sanded particles, as the color will turn chalky and splotchy otherwise on the surface, and then leave it to dry thoroughly.  Then wipe it with some fiber cloth--I've found that paper towels leave some dusty fiber pieces on the surface, and I have to use compressed air cans to remove.

Anyway, after you apply your stencils and paint another color, you'll definitely end up with some raised edges, because the spray force is usually too high from rattle cans, unless you use specialized airbrush equipment.  I'd cover up the part entirely, just leaving the spots you want painted in a different color exposed, and spray from a distance, misting on the new color.  If you spray too close and start over the design area, you might end up with a lot of runny paint, resulting in seriously raised edges.  If you start spraying away from the design and then gently sweep over that area, misting on the paint, and do that in a few layers, you should have better texture/smoother edges.  I'd remove the masking/painter's tape as soon as possible after you paint-maybe an hour or two: just long enough for you to be able to handle the part safely outside of the freshly painted areas.

Sanding any raised edges is risky too, as you might end up chipping off the raised paint and end up with a jagged line.  You can do a little bit of smoothing, but otherwise I'd just go over it with Clear.  Either you can do a lot of Clear and sand that to smoothness later or just a bit of Clear for protection and accept some unevenness.

If you want stripes, check out your local auto supply stores.  One of mine sells silver, gold, black, and chrome sticker stripe rolls in various widths, meant for car decoration.  You can apply those under or over clear coats.

Sorry for the long stream-of-consciousness reply--just woke up  :-\
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Offline Krogenar

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Re: Krog's QFR Topcase Mod Thread
« Reply #50 on: Wed, 13 November 2013, 12:51:18 »
Hey, those are some pretty cool experiments!

LOL, thanks! I still have one more QFR case to destroy! I'm tempted to try a complete flocking, or just a band, as seen in the red/green case. If you check out my Flocking thread, you'll see that flocked keycaps (specifically spacebars) are going to have issues eventually. Single keys aren't so bad (clip your fingernails and we'll be in great shape) but spacebars... they need work.

Quote from: Photoelectric
I like the red--seems to have some orange to it?

Yeah, it's not a great photo. It looks like a Christmas red -- some blue component to the color. It's not a candy apple red, though.

Quote from: Photoelectric
That crackled finish could have resulted for other reasons, like painting when it's too cold out or having some surface contamination under the paint.

It is cold in the area where I painted this, and not terrific-ly clean. I flocked the band around the case by hanging it from a hook, which worked very well.

Quote from: Photoelectric
You can use some fine-grit sandpaper to try wet-sanding it a bit, something at least 1000-grit and up.  Just make sure to wash your hands before every time you touch this cover, as if you put any more paint onto it, you're depositing some amounts of oils onto the red paint.  If you do wet-sanding, I'd rinse it off REALLY well with some detergent to wash off any sanded particles, as the color will turn chalky and splotchy otherwise on the surface, and then leave it to dry thoroughly.  Then wipe it with some fiber cloth--I've found that paper towels leave some dusty fiber pieces on the surface, and I have to use compressed air cans to remove.

(snaps off a salute)

I previously wet-sanded under running water at a slop sink used for cleaning brushes, etc. But I hadn't actually thought to wash it with detergent afterwards. I'm going to follow your suggestions (I need finer sandpaper) and will report back, regardless of the outcome. So, if I put any oils on this case (finger oil, even) it's going to hurt me when the clearcoat is applied, correct? Also, as I wet-sanded the "mud-cracks" away the surface looked pretty good, but then I would towel it down, and only then would it become apparent that I needed to do more sanding. So I would wet-sand, dry, examine for remaining trouble spots, and then re-wet and sand again. Do you do something similar?

Quote
Anyway, after you apply your stencils and paint another color, you'll definitely end up with some raised edges, because the spray force is usually too high from rattle cans, unless you use specialized airbrush equipment.  I'd cover up the part entirely, just leaving the spots you want painted in a different color exposed, and spray from a distance, misting on the new color.

Gotcha. I figure some doubled-up newspaper will do to cover the other areas.

Quote from: Photoelectric
Sanding any raised edges is risky too, as you might end up chipping off the raised paint and end up with a jagged line.  You can do a little bit of smoothing, but otherwise I'd just go over it with Clear.  Either you can do a lot of Clear and sand that to smoothness later or just a bit of Clear for protection and accept some unevenness.

I was thinking of using a font that could accept a small amount of unevenness, or distressing, and still look ... intentional?

Quote from: Photoelectric
If you want stripes, check out your local auto supply stores.  One of mine sells silver, gold, black, and chrome sticker stripe rolls in various widths, meant for car decoration.  You can apply those under or over clear coats.

I didn't realize I could clearcoat over it! The vinyl I use in my work is probably suitable; I'll try the really thin "high performance" vinyl.

Quote from: Photoelectric
Sorry for the long stream-of-consciousness reply--just woke up  :-\

No worries; wall o' texts don't bother me at all. Thanks again for all your help.  :thumb:
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Quote from: Samuel Adams
"If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or your arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen."

Offline Photoelectric

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Re: Krog's QFR Topcase Mod Thread
« Reply #51 on: Wed, 13 November 2013, 13:14:52 »
I wouldn't touch the surface with a towel, if it's a regular towel.  It can leave fibers stuck to the paint, and then you'll be painting over those, they'll show up as uneven bumps.  Plus the towel would have to be perfectly clean. I always wash with a detergent after sanding (I use 7th Generation free and clear type for everything, since it doesn't destroy my hands from frequent cleaning and also rinses off really well), rinse VERY well, and then leave to air-dry for an hour or two.  Then wipe with microfiber or similar--something that doesn't contain oils or grease or would leave fibers behind.  It's not a huge deal if you get some onto the surface, but it's best not to for the cleanest smoothest finish possible and durability--you want the paint to cure well and stay strong in the long run.

As for temperatures, I wouldn't paint at anything under 60F.  I've had some poor crackling and cloudy results when painting in cold temperatures, so I even prefer 65F and up. 

Smoothness-wise, just do what seems right.  It's not like you have to paint to someone's specifications.  You're essentially working on an art project, so it's all subjective.  If the roughness looks good and you like it that way--nothing wrong with just leaving it like that.  Due to the limitations of spray paint cans and spraying environment, I always improvise and go with what seems natural for each particular cover, unless I'm confident that I can get the results I need by doing a lot of extra sanding and polishing.

Painting over vinyl: I'm not sure--I'd test on a small strip of vinyl on some scrap piece.  I know that those metallic stripe vinyls are fine.  But they do have some thickness, so there'll be a bit of a raised edge around them.  And if you use something chrome-like under Clear, it won't look very good, unless you can polish your Clear to perfect smoothness over the chrome.  I'd either use matte or just put the stripes over the clear coat as stickers.  Here's matte gold over clear as stickers


As a potential bonus--those stripes are removable :)
« Last Edit: Wed, 13 November 2013, 13:21:26 by Photoelectric »
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Offline vztrx200

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Re: Krog's QFR Topcase Mod Thread
« Reply #52 on: Mon, 25 November 2013, 17:26:01 »
Greetings from the UK!

I'm an utter noob here, however I work with commercial spray paints on a daily basis respraying everything from plastic to metal and laminate surfaces. I know a lot of the basics have undoubtedly been covered here but I'd just like to reitterate several fundamentals when it comes to respraying, rules that essentially I swear by and that I think will come in handy for anyone looking to do a custom spray job on their keyboard, or anything else for that matter.

1) Preparation
I know this is the really boring part and whenever we begin a project everyone has that urge to just grab the paint and get busy, but I cannot emphasise enough the necessity of putting time and effort into preparing your surface. Ideally all surfaces that you wish to paint should be sanded to a fine degree and thoroughly cleaned and brushed down so as to be clear of all grime, dust and detritus, paying particular attention to burs and moulding marks on corners and edges. Previous posts in this thread seem to have it spot on in terms of what type of sand/glass paper to use, however a quick and easy alternative to sanding can be fine sand-blasting should you happen to know of anyone with the appropriate facilities.

2) Location
The location in which you choose to conduct your re-spray job is very important. You should have available to you at least one flat surface and one wall against which to rest your keyboard case. This should preferably be either indoors or in another form of 'still air' environment (i.e. garden shed, greenhouse or garage). Additionally, if this is not a designated painting area and getting paint everywhere is a problem you might want to consider covering these surfaces with well taped-down material such as newspaper or ideally cardboard or plastic. Always cover a greater surface than you think you need to because spray paint does have a tendency to travel and the last thing you'll want is to end up doing is repainting the entire garden shed fluorescent green because Mum, Dad or Auntie Doreen did not appreciate the creative finesse of your accidental overspray. Again, having masked the area ensure that any dust, dirt or debris is removed from the surrounding environment in which the painting will be taking place.

3) Climate and Temperature
Of key importance to any spray painting project is the climate and ambient temperature of where you choose to paint as paint particulates react to whatever atmospheric conditions they encounter upon leaving any form of compressed spraying device. Consequently if you spray in wet or cold conditions spray paint, like any liquid medium, is prone to condense 'mid-air' and will therefore leave your incredibly well prepared and buffed down surfaces with a very obvious bobbly, dimpled or stippled effect. Therefore ideal temperature conditions should be between 17 and 25 degrees centigrade (sorry for those not in the UK I'm not sure what the Fahrenheit equivalent is). And once again I cannot emphasise enough the importance of spray painting in a still air environment. Personally I am fortunate enough to have access to a proper spray painting booth with an extractor fan so if you, or anyone you know, has access to similar facilities I'd highly advise making use of them if you can. Obviously though the vast majority of us will not have such facilities in which case finding an appropriate location where you can avoid drafts and sudden gusts of wind is vital - certainly try to avoid areas in hot direct sunlight, under trees or anywhere your pets might have easy access to because picking out bits of leaves, dead bugs or pet hairs (or anyones hair for that matter) from a half completed paint job is a chore best avoided.

4) Ventilation
When inhaled commercial spray paints are damaging to your health so before doing anything ensure you have an appropriate mask to prevent you inhaling fumes and particulates. Your cheap DIY dust mask will normally do for the odd small job here and there however if you plan to use spray paints on a large project or on a regular basis the I would highly advise investing in a decent particulate mask with replaceable charcoal filters. Additionally, while as I mentioned,you should ideally be spraying in a 'still air' environment it should nevertheless be a place with adequate ventilation to allow fumes to escape.

5) Paint Prep
While all off-the-shelf spray paints come ready mixed they often spend a significant part of their lives either sat in boxes or on the shelves of your local paint/DIY store. As a result this can cause any paint (even polymers and enamels) to congeal and separate, the heavier particulates sinking to the bottom of the can and the lighter at the top. This process can also be exacerbated by their being stored at varying degrees of temperature. Therefore before using any type of spray paint it is firstly very important to ensure that the can is at room temperature and, secondly, to spend at least 5 to 10 minutes agitating the can so that the metal ball inside does it's job of returning the paint to an even consistency. Ideally you should shake the can vigorously for the fore mentioned time or at least until your arm starts to actually ache (or you get what we call 'wankers cramp' here in England) before swapping to your other arm for an equivalent amount of time.

6) Setting Up
So once you've ticked the boxes in terms of location and paint prep you'll want to set up your case ready for spraying. As mentioned earlier in this thread it is important that you do not spray your case while it is lying down horizontally. Ideally, your spray paint can should always be held at right angles - a vertical 90 degrees to the surface you wish to cover. It may sound obvious but doing this will ensure that the paint is always delivered from the bottom of the can and therefore your paint feed will not be interrupted, sputter or spit as a result of the air inside the can entering the paint feed. To work against this take your case and lean it against your wall vertically ideally with it base (the shorter edge) on something other than the floor. I normally rest whatever I'm painting on a wire basket or plastic bottle crate which are both useful as the ridges prevent leaning objects slipping mid-spray while also allowing any overspray to pass right through and not pool at the base of the surface I am spraying. Not doing this and simply placing your keyboard cover on the floor, or in fact any smooth flat surface, will inevitably lead to overspray bouncing back up onto your cover from that same surface and thereby create an uneven delivery while also inconveniently adhering whatever dust and dirt has remained on the floor/surface to your lovely paint job.

7) Technique
Once again to reiterate a point previously made in this thread the key to a consistent spray job is to build up layers slowly... ever so slowly... in a series of very light layers. I cannot emphasise this enough!!!! Your first coat, regardless of colour, should hardly be noticeable and should, at most, only show up as a very light 'misting' upon your well-prepped surface. If you are worried that you will run out of paint then please please please just let let the paint run out as opposed to trying to cover it all in one go. After all you can always buy another can of paint tomorrow if needs be and it's far better to take your time and do a job properly than expend extra time, effort and money because you rushed to get everything covered in one go only to create a horrible gloopy mess. Also be aware that as the paint runs out in your can the more likelihood there is that air will enter the feed. Therefore it is often wise to try and not use every last drop of paint in your can should it start spitting and spotting on your otherwise perfect paint job.   

When starting to spray you should have your spray paint can at least a foot away from your cases surface (ideally slightly further for your first few layers).  You should begin at least half a foot from the outside edge of your cover and move across it horizontally - left to right or right to left dependent on what feels best -  only releasing your finger from the nozzle once you are at least half a foot past the opposing edge. While this might seem wasteful in terms of overspray it is nonetheless very necessary in that it will ensure your paint will hit your surface when it is at its optimum flow, and also reduces the chances of any unsightly drops or spatters hitting your surface due to temporarily congealed paint in the spray nozzle. It is very important that you maintain an equal distance across the spray plane as you make this action. Naturally your arm will want to make an arcing movement that will bring the can closer to the surface of your cover as you move your arm across your body. Being aware of this and resisting this natural inclination is very important otherwise more paint will condense in the  middle areas of the case than at the edges.


8) Have Patience
When undertaking any spray painting job it is vitally important that you have patience and take your time, especially when it comes to building up layers to get a smooth surface. I personally have never seen a decent spray job that did not involve more than 4-5 layers (excluding undercoats) therefore having the patience to apply thin layers with sufficient 30 - 60 minute drying times (temperature depending) in between should be a pre requisite for anyone looking to do a decent job. There are several important things to remember here:

 - don't attempt to rotate or turn your case until it is totally touch dry.

 - instead of changing your angle to spray difficult edges and corners wait for your case to dry then rotate your case so that you cover these areas as part of your regular spraying action.

 - don't try to patch over any areas you may have missed in between layers, just remember to cover these areas with your next layer.

 - while the paint may be touch dry in a relatively short time  it will not be fully dry for over 24 hours, often longer!

9) Drying and Finishing
Before attempting to do anything with your finished case it will need to dry for at least 24 hours. Once it has you may still find misting, stippling or fuziness across your cases surface. Should this occur simply take a clean kitchen cloth or sponge, dampen it slightly with water and give your case a very light wiping down and that should help smooth away some of the more pronounced differences in texture. If you are especially fussy your local auto parts dealer should sell special finishing cloths that auto spray repair experts use to remove these 'bobbles', however I'd advise against using these if your case is anything other than metal as some of them contain a chemical residue that may react with plastics. Another way to combat this problem is use a clear polymer lacquer to smooth away these differences, an added benefit is that this will also make your paint job a lot more hard-wearing. To apply a clear lacquer these simply follow the same procedure as you did with the painting, though this time be even more aware of giving your layers sufficient drying time as the last thing you want to do is ruin your perfectly finished case with a nice big finger print or congealed drip.   

Hope this has been of some help and apologies for any typos it's been a long day, good luck.
:thumb:
« Last Edit: Tue, 26 November 2013, 04:47:54 by vztrx200 »

Offline rowdy

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Re: Krog's QFR Topcase Mod Thread
« Reply #53 on: Mon, 25 November 2013, 19:28:55 »
Greetings from the UK!

I'm an utter noob here however I work with commercial spray paints on a daily basis respraying everything from plastic to metal and laminate surfaces. I know a lot of the basics have undoubtedly been covered here but I'd just like to reitterate several fundamentals when it comes to respraying, rules that essentially I swear by and that I think will come in handy for anyone looking to do a custom spray job on their keyboard, or anything else for that matter.

<big snip>

Hope this has been of some help and apologies for any typos it's been a long day, good luck.
:thumb:

Welcome to Geekhack!

Wow!  Fantastic first post!!

Can we get this stickied somewhere?
"Because keyboards are accessories to PC makers, they focus on minimizing the manufacturing costs. But that’s incorrect. It’s in HHKB’s slogan, but when America’s cowboys were in the middle of a trip and their horse died, they would leave the horse there. But even if they were in the middle of a desert, they would take their saddle with them. The horse was a consumable good, but the saddle was an interface that their bodies had gotten used to. In the same vein, PCs are consumable goods, while keyboards are important interfaces." - Eiiti Wada

NEC APC-H4100E | Ducky DK9008 Shine MX blue LED red | Ducky DK9008 Shine MX blue LED green | Link 900243-08 | CM QFR MX black | KeyCool 87 white MX reds | HHKB 2 Pro | Model M 02-Mar-1993 | Model M 29-Nov-1995 | CM Trigger (broken) | CM QFS MX green | Ducky DK9087 Shine 3 TKL Yellow Edition MX black | Lexmark SSK 21-Apr-1994 | IBM SSK 13-Oct-1987 | CODE TKL MX clear | Model M 122 01-Jun-1988

Ị̸͚̯̲́ͤ̃͑̇̑ͯ̊̂͟ͅs̞͚̩͉̝̪̲͗͊ͪ̽̚̚ ̭̦͖͕̑́͌ͬͩ͟t̷̻͔̙̑͟h̹̠̼͋ͤ͋i̤̜̣̦̱̫͈͔̞ͭ͑ͥ̌̔s̬͔͎̍̈ͥͫ̐̾ͣ̔̇͘ͅ ̩̘̼͆̐̕e̞̰͓̲̺̎͐̏ͬ̓̅̾͠͝ͅv̶̰͕̱̞̥̍ͣ̄̕e͕͙͖̬̜͓͎̤̊ͭ͐͝ṇ̰͎̱̤̟̭ͫ͌̌͢͠ͅ ̳̥̦ͮ̐ͤ̎̊ͣ͡͡n̤̜̙̺̪̒͜e̶̻̦̿ͮ̂̀c̝̘̝͖̠̖͐ͨͪ̈̐͌ͩ̀e̷̥͇̋ͦs̢̡̤ͤͤͯ͜s͈̠̉̑͘a̱͕̗͖̳̥̺ͬͦͧ͆̌̑͡r̶̟̖̈͘ỷ̮̦̩͙͔ͫ̾ͬ̔ͬͮ̌?̵̘͇͔͙ͥͪ͞ͅ

Offline vztrx200

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Re: Krog's QFR Topcase Mod Thread
« Reply #54 on: Mon, 25 November 2013, 20:04:38 »
Thanks! Pleasure to be here - even if I am typing on a piece of c**p Dell 1421 right now. Yes sadly I'm yet to take the 'mechanical' plunge but I am looking to rectify this ASAP, hence my signing up and forum scouring.

Offline Photoelectric

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Re: Krog's QFR Topcase Mod Thread
« Reply #55 on: Mon, 25 November 2013, 21:03:41 »
Greetings from the UK!

I'm an utter noob here however I work with commercial spray paints on a daily basis respraying everything from plastic to metal and laminate surfaces. I know a lot of the basics have undoubtedly been covered here but I'd just like to reitterate several fundamentals when it comes to respraying, rules that essentially I swear by and that I think will come in handy for anyone looking to do a custom spray job on their keyboard, or anything else for that matter.

<big snip>

Hope this has been of some help and apologies for any typos it's been a long day, good luck.
:thumb:

Welcome to Geekhack!

Wow!  Fantastic first post!!

Can we get this stickied somewhere?

Great post indeed!  Most of that is already here:
http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=44191.0

but not stickied :(
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Offline vztrx200

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Re: Krog's QFR Topcase Mod Thread
« Reply #56 on: Tue, 26 November 2013, 03:06:49 »
Haha sooooooo didn't see that, yeah ignore me and just follow what the other poster says instead, it's much more detailed. Someone sticky that one for the sake of gloopy badly sprayed cases everywhere! :'(
« Last Edit: Tue, 26 November 2013, 03:13:39 by vztrx200 »

Offline rowdy

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Re: Krog's QFR Topcase Mod Thread
« Reply #57 on: Tue, 26 November 2013, 03:58:41 »
Haha sooooooo didn't see that, yeah ignore me and just follow what the other poster says instead, it's much more detailed. Someone sticky that one for the sake of gloopy badly sprayed cases everywhere! :'(

A bit of both won't hurt!
"Because keyboards are accessories to PC makers, they focus on minimizing the manufacturing costs. But that’s incorrect. It’s in HHKB’s slogan, but when America’s cowboys were in the middle of a trip and their horse died, they would leave the horse there. But even if they were in the middle of a desert, they would take their saddle with them. The horse was a consumable good, but the saddle was an interface that their bodies had gotten used to. In the same vein, PCs are consumable goods, while keyboards are important interfaces." - Eiiti Wada

NEC APC-H4100E | Ducky DK9008 Shine MX blue LED red | Ducky DK9008 Shine MX blue LED green | Link 900243-08 | CM QFR MX black | KeyCool 87 white MX reds | HHKB 2 Pro | Model M 02-Mar-1993 | Model M 29-Nov-1995 | CM Trigger (broken) | CM QFS MX green | Ducky DK9087 Shine 3 TKL Yellow Edition MX black | Lexmark SSK 21-Apr-1994 | IBM SSK 13-Oct-1987 | CODE TKL MX clear | Model M 122 01-Jun-1988

Ị̸͚̯̲́ͤ̃͑̇̑ͯ̊̂͟ͅs̞͚̩͉̝̪̲͗͊ͪ̽̚̚ ̭̦͖͕̑́͌ͬͩ͟t̷̻͔̙̑͟h̹̠̼͋ͤ͋i̤̜̣̦̱̫͈͔̞ͭ͑ͥ̌̔s̬͔͎̍̈ͥͫ̐̾ͣ̔̇͘ͅ ̩̘̼͆̐̕e̞̰͓̲̺̎͐̏ͬ̓̅̾͠͝ͅv̶̰͕̱̞̥̍ͣ̄̕e͕͙͖̬̜͓͎̤̊ͭ͐͝ṇ̰͎̱̤̟̭ͫ͌̌͢͠ͅ ̳̥̦ͮ̐ͤ̎̊ͣ͡͡n̤̜̙̺̪̒͜e̶̻̦̿ͮ̂̀c̝̘̝͖̠̖͐ͨͪ̈̐͌ͩ̀e̷̥͇̋ͦs̢̡̤ͤͤͯ͜s͈̠̉̑͘a̱͕̗͖̳̥̺ͬͦͧ͆̌̑͡r̶̟̖̈͘ỷ̮̦̩͙͔ͫ̾ͬ̔ͬͮ̌?̵̘͇͔͙ͥͪ͞ͅ

Offline SpAmRaY

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Re: Krog's QFR Topcase Mod Thread
« Reply #58 on: Tue, 26 November 2013, 06:08:50 »
Why is all this in krog's qfr thread?

Offline Krogenar

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Re: Krog's QFR Topcase Mod Thread
« Reply #59 on: Tue, 26 November 2013, 06:32:17 »
Why is all this in krog's qfr thread?

That is a really good question, LOL!
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Quote from: Samuel Adams
"If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or your arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen."

Offline Krogenar

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Re: Krog's QFR Topcase Mod Thread
« Reply #60 on: Tue, 26 November 2013, 13:52:50 »
Ok, an update -- after a few false starts (oversanding) I've finally put two coats of clear gloss on my current QFR case. And I purchased a QFR (my rapping skills were no match for lastpilot and others) so I'll be able to actually put the case to some use. I'm going to let this case dry over the holiday break (5 days or so) and then consider whether polishing is necessary or wise.

45909-045911-1

Then, the vinyl!

45913-2

My company used to do a lot more cut vinyl in the past, so I started digging through our more exotic rolls of vinyl. There were fluorescents (bleh.) and three stood out -- I have a vinyl meant to simulate frosted or sandblasted glass (could look interesting) and a metallic (very metallic -- you can see my reflection in it) gold, and a matte black. I've mocked up a few designs, and I think I may go with something like this:

45915-3

The word "mechanical" is going to go roughly where the CMSTORM logo is normally located on branded cases -- the back side, to the right. Pinstriping will go all around. The yellow would be the mirror gold, and black is matte. Hopefully my pinstriping skills are up to the task.  :thumb:
« Last Edit: Tue, 26 November 2013, 14:03:02 by Krogenar »
GeekHack Artwork Resources | The Living GeekHack Logo Thread | Signature Plastics ABS Chip Scanning Project | Krog Flocks Around | Keyboard Color Scheme Archive | [GB] PBT DyeSub DSA Granite Set
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Quote from: Samuel Adams
"If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or your arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen."

Offline Krogenar

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Re: Krog's QFR Topcase Mod Thread
« Reply #61 on: Mon, 02 December 2013, 12:50:34 »
Second post updated, with the flocked case attached to a QFR: http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=47581.msg1015003#msg1015003
GeekHack Artwork Resources | The Living GeekHack Logo Thread | Signature Plastics ABS Chip Scanning Project | Krog Flocks Around | Keyboard Color Scheme Archive | [GB] PBT DyeSub DSA Granite Set
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Quote from: Samuel Adams
"If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or your arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen."

Offline Krogenar

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Re: Krog's QFR Topcase Mod Thread
« Reply #62 on: Thu, 05 December 2013, 09:29:26 »
Third post updated with red QFR w/ matte black pinstriping and logo.  :D

http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=47581.msg1015006#msg1015006
GeekHack Artwork Resources | The Living GeekHack Logo Thread | Signature Plastics ABS Chip Scanning Project | Krog Flocks Around | Keyboard Color Scheme Archive | [GB] PBT DyeSub DSA Granite Set
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Quote from: Samuel Adams
"If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or your arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen."

Offline Photoelectric

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Re: Krog's QFR Topcase Mod Thread
« Reply #63 on: Thu, 05 December 2013, 17:22:32 »
- Keyboards: LZ-GH (Jailhouse Blues)M65-a, MIRA SE, E8-V1, MOON TKL, CA66
- Keyboard Case Painting Tips -
- Join Mechanical Keyboards photography group on Flickr -

Offline Krogenar

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Re: Krog's QFR Topcase Mod Thread
« Reply #64 on: Fri, 06 December 2013, 08:32:46 »
Third post updated with red QFR w/ matte black pinstriping and logo.  :D

http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=47581.msg1015006#msg1015006

 :thumb: :thumb: :thumb:

Thank you! I've still got one case left, and I've been reading up on how to clearcoat over vinyl so that there's no detectable edge. I'm thinking of:

1. Take the Hulk case and trying to clean it off and giving it a flocking. I discovered that the the best way to flock anything is to suspend it up in the air. For the Hulk case with the strand of masked flocked all around the edge I used a metal hook to hold it up, and it worked really well. I think this goes for cases, keycaps, everything -- get it up in the air, and it's likely to paint/flock better. Also, getting an even coating of paint is tough -- I'm thinking of investing in a airbrush. They sell for a little over $100, which isn't too horrible.

2. I still want to try to make a whiteboarded dry erase case. You could write all over it, and then clean it off. I considered a chalkboard surface, but the dust from chalk would probably gunk up the electronics, so that won't work.

3. Glow-in-the-Dark white case. Just because? I figure paint the case white, then apply the GitD coating, the a clearcoat to protect it all.

4. Also been thinking about just doing a vinyl wrap on the entire case, like they do for auto wraps. All those bends, though, in the key wells.

5. White nylon flocked case, using the hanging method.

Anyway, just thinking out loud.
GeekHack Artwork Resources | The Living GeekHack Logo Thread | Signature Plastics ABS Chip Scanning Project | Krog Flocks Around | Keyboard Color Scheme Archive | [GB] PBT DyeSub DSA Granite Set
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Quote from: Samuel Adams
"If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or your arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen."

Offline Jixr

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Re: Krog's QFR Topcase Mod Thread
« Reply #65 on: Fri, 06 December 2013, 09:22:19 »
i've already tried a glow in teh dark case, panited white, then with glow paint over it, it didn't work out well at all.

to give it a consistant glow you need tons of layers ( i used a whole can and it still came out crappy ) its pretty splotchy, but it did glow well, just not very uniform or evenly and looked grainy, and in the daylight the color was pretty aweful.

Offline Krogenar

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Re: Krog's QFR Topcase Mod Thread
« Reply #66 on: Fri, 06 December 2013, 12:01:02 »
i've already tried a glow in teh dark case, panited white, then with glow paint over it, it didn't work out well at all.

to give it a consistant glow you need tons of layers ( i used a whole can and it still came out crappy ) its pretty splotchy, but it did glow well, just not very uniform or evenly and looked grainy, and in the daylight the color was pretty aweful.

Ok, then scratch that. I'm going to see about flocking the case with better success. Maybe a nylon blue flock would work.
GeekHack Artwork Resources | The Living GeekHack Logo Thread | Signature Plastics ABS Chip Scanning Project | Krog Flocks Around | Keyboard Color Scheme Archive | [GB] PBT DyeSub DSA Granite Set
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Quote from: Samuel Adams
"If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or your arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen."