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I've done this myself. A few years back my old computer case looking like shit with scratches and a bad looking silver color in the center of the front. I did some studying and you have to do this outside. I got some plastic spray paint. I then gave a couple coats of gloss black to that case. It was actually pretty rugged to surprisingly not scratching by laying the pieces on the floor. I believe it was an old compact tower and my family were telling my how much better it looked. Recommendation, I am a smoker so I washed it with dawn and water before painting. I've found dawn is the only cleaner to get smoke and bong residue off stuff easily. I then rinsed carefully, dried, then used alcohol "isopropyl" right before the painting time. You can recoat if I remember right in like 20 minutes but put it on really lightly as in barely so you don't get drips. I think I went to an auto parts store to buy it or a hardware store. You can likely get a can for like 5 or 10 bucks on amazon, and to refinish an old case instead of buying a new one for that money is awesome. Also if you can a flourescent green and black combo could make a case look super cool. I was broke as fuck back then so one can was my budget but some light painters tape or a great eye and you could make a sweet looking case. Also can be used on other stuff so just use your imagination.

I've done this myself. A few years back my old computer case looking like shit with scratches and a bad looking silver color in the center of the front. I did some studying and you have to do this outside. I got some plastic spray paint. I then gave a couple coats of gloss black to that case. It was actually pretty rugged to surprisingly not scratching by laying the pieces on the floor. I believe it was an old compact tower and my family were telling my how much better it looked. Recommendation, I am a smoker so I washed it with dawn and water before painting. I've found dawn is the only cleaner to get smoke and bong residue off stuff easily. I then rinsed carefully, dried, then used alcohol "isopropyl" right before the painting time. You can recoat if I remember right in like 20 minutes but put it on really lightly as in barely so you don't get drips. I think I went to an auto parts store to buy it or a hardware store. You can likely get a can for like 5 or 10 bucks on amazon, and to refinish an old case instead of buying a new one for that money is awesome. Also if you can a flourescent green and black combo could make a case look super cool. I was broke as fuck back then so one can was my budget but some light painters tape or a great eye and you could make a sweet looking case. Also can be used on other stuff so just use your imagination.

(post is archived)

[–] [deleted] • 2 pts 5y

Depending on the materials of the case itself, it can help to sand it before painting. As a rough rule, start off with around ~180 - 200 grit sandpaper, then move to 400, and lastly to 600. Personally, I'd sand it down to the metal where possible.

That done, wash it, dry it, and wipe it down with something like a tack cloth to make sure there's no particles or residue. When painting, try to do so on a reasonably warm day, with minimal wind and humidity - at least if you're painting outside. Prime any surfaces to be painted with a self-etching primer, let it dry, and then gently polish it by wet sanding. If you want a really good finish, go through another round of priming, drying, and sanding.

I won't go into all the specifics of actually painting the thing - presumably people know how to use spraypaint. If not, look it up. Though once the paint has dried, I would recommend another round of gentle wet sanding, with very fine (1000+ grit) sandpaper for the best finish. Lastly, get some buffing compound and polish that thing up good.

[–] [deleted] • 0 pt 5y

Funny thing about the plastic paint, it sprays out like the paint for cars that is attracted to ions so it just sticks. You can sand it but it goes on so smooth. If you did I would recommend a super high grit like a 1000 or more. This stuff was made for plastic or computer coatings because regular paint would peel off unless like you said you went to bare metal. The most I would do is fill gouges and deep scratches and then sand down the filler. This stuff I used coated like a factory paint job but without sanding or baking.

[–] [deleted] • 2 pts 5y

Yeah, for plastics (bezels and the like) I'd typically only very lightly abrade it with high grit paper, and even then only in those situations where it's had some sort of pernicious finishing applied to it. Cleaning is more important.

I suppose as an addendum to this - it's important to use the right paint for the material you're working with.

baking

This brings back a memory. It starts with a client asking about powder coating, and ends with working at three thirty in the morning on a Sunday. Fun , as the philosophers say.

[–] [deleted] • 0 pt 5y

I remembered the paint I used was Krylon plastic spray paint. Awesome shit and worth every penny. That case finish didn't have a scratch even 2 years later when I got my new computer. I would use this paint as a paint and a prime also because it sticks so well to plastic coating like cases and monitors. I would then use a regular spray paint for colors the plastic paint does not come in for trim and other decoration or if you wanted some cool masked logo work or skull and crossbones mattering what your taste was.

[–] • 0 pt 5y

As a rough rule, start off with around ~180 - 200 grit

pardon the pun!

[–] [deleted] • 0 pt 5y

Thing is with the plastic paint it shines like it's been we sanded. I just painted over the original paint and gave it 3 very light coats and it shined like the plastic bumper part on a new car. It looked so good and my family is my biggest critic, they always critisize and they were all damn that came out good. I did the same thing with a crappy dresser and the family was like I didn't know you could afford a new one. The old finish was terrible and that is why it cost me $10 but I could have sold it for $100 when I finished though that did take me about 20 hrs to do and $20 in supplies like sandpaper and paint and new wooden pulls. I still have it now and still looks great. It doesn't have a high gloss cheap finish like todays furniture does. I look like it's wax finished like the old furniture looked when they made it good.