How I colored the engraved icons on my UL30VT-A1

I found the engraved icons on the side of the laptop very hard to read unless you were right up close to them. I had an especially hard time discerning the mic and headphone jack apart from each other. I searched here and didn't find anything on how to color them in, but I did find this article on how to color golf clubs and modified it a bit.

Supplies:

Testors Enamel Paint - White
Testors Enamel Paint - Black
Testors Enamel Paint Thinner
The smallest brush you can find
An old rag (T-shirt)

I used White for the icons on the body and Black for the icons below the touch pad. In retrospect I wish I had picked a color for the icons on the body, maybe a blue to match the LEDs or a silver to match the lid.

Before you start, lightly dampen the rag with thinner and rub it on a non-visible area of the laptop body to test if it will discolor, melt, etc. the plastic.

Using the smallest brush they had at the local hobby store I dabbed the paint into the engraved icon, let is dry for a few seconds and then using a rag that is lightly dampened with paint thinner I rubbed the excess paint away. I repeated this several times to ensure there was sufficient coverage of paint. For the icons below the touchpad, with the high gloss finish of the plastic I just rubbed the excess paint away with a dry rag.

This worked great for me, but I take no responsibility for the outcome of your project, proceed at your own risk. I assume this could possible void your warranty.

Happy painting,
Brian

 

Nicely done

The paint job looks awesome and now i'm tempted to try this on my UL30VT too!

 

Thanks, it was surprisingly easy. It just takes a little patience to not put too much paint on, especially on the body, the white pant gets down in the grooves of the texture, but it comes up with the rag lightly damped with paint thinner.