Do it Yourself Notebook Paint Job

Context

My motivation for painting the laptop were centered around no longer wanting to look at an unattractive two-tone grey case. While it was neither really ugly nor deteriorated, I still felt that it could draw a little more attention than it currently does. Bright red would certainly attract attention and be an excellent source of conversation.

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My initial plans were to paint the interior and the exterior as well; a true red laptop. But since this was my first experience with paint, I wasn't too sure of how resistant the paint would be. I opted for the safe option; deciding to start with only interior; sowhen the laptopis traveling,no painted surfacewill bevulnerable to damage. This guarantees that the paint will look good for a long time.

Precautions

Before you start doing anything, you should check your hardware store for a color you like. Check more than one store, since they generally have a limited selection of colors. You should pick paint that bonds well to plastics. Many people recommended Krylon Fusion; it's indeed very good. I've also seen recommendations of nivyl-based paint. While I didn't use this type, I don't think it's a bad choice either.

I highly recommend that you consider and choose something else to paint first, otherthan your valuable laptop. By doing so, you will have a good idea of the finish, and you will be improving you painting skills as well.

While color is an important decision, final finish is very important as well. Would you like to have a mirror-like finish that looks killer,but alsoshows finger marks and dust easily? Or would you like to have something that forgives thesecosmetic issuesbetter? The first option probably looksthe best, but is also the most time consuming. It requires sanding between layers of paint, and finishing with compound wax. To save time and since this was my first attempt at such a modification, I opted for the second option. Finger marks, greasy-hands and such also bother me quite a bit.

Here's a list of the parts I used

• Krylon Fusion for plastics, red pepper
• Tremclad clear coat
• Metallic wires (for suspending the part to be painted)
• Masking Tape
• X-Acto blade
• Flashlight
• Gloves
• 1000-grit sandpaper (800+ is good enough)
• Cheap nurse mask (for your safety, consider better than that!)

I picked a cordless phone as the test device, because the plastic looked similar. The plastic was kind of porous, just like the plastic Compaq used. The phone was black, the computer was silver. While I was a little worried that the color of the plasticmight have changed the end result, don't worry, it will not, so long asyou apply a sufficientnumber of layers. I painted 4 layers of paint, with 2 layers of clear coat. When looking closely, I noticed my mistakes. I didn't apply enough layers, and on each layer, there was toolittle paint. Some areas were darker; thus telling me that these areas lacked paint. The finish wasn't glossy at all. Clear coat requires many layers to look good; so 2 was clearly deficient.

I opted to go ahead and paint the laptop, with this educationin mind. After finishing the phone, I noted that the finished color didn't exactly match the color of krylon's cap. It was better in fact. But you're never sure; try a test area first. It is also a good idea to test the resistance of the paint on your test device. Use some water, sharp objects, friction with your hands. The paint I usedwas very resistant to all.

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Removing the parts

You should start by removing the parts to be painted. Some people cover only the parts that shouldn't be painted. While this isn't a bad idea, I do not recommend it with a notebook. If you have the time and the skills to remove the parts completely, you will rest assured that the other parts won't be ruined by some human mistakes while painting. I suggest you follow the service guide of your laptop to be sure you don't break anything.

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Tape the area

Carefully clean all the areas to be painted with a degreaser (your hands are full of grease), and wash again with plain water. Dry well. Then proceed to cover the edges of everything you don't want to be painted with masking tape. Use paper to cover large areas, along with the masking tape. I suggest you cover the bottom as well, if possible. It doesn't really matter in fact; it will only look cleaner if you or somebody else removes that part later.

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Use the X-acto to make sure the tape sticks to the edges. Cut the tape to round the corners. It is important to have this step performed nicely, because if you get paint where it isn't supposed to go, it will look messy in the end. Take your time; draw straight lines with the tape. It is easier to apply the tape correctly the first time than to try to remove the paint. Do not forget to cover the other side of buttons and LEDs. Cover holes/ports on both sides to avoid surprises.

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Paint area

Build yourself a paint area in a well-ventilated area. The area should not have high humidity, and should be around 68 degrees or warmer. Use garbage bags to limit the spray of the paint. Suspend your parts with the metallic wires. Why suspend the parts? Less dust will stick to the surface. Be careful to not attach your wire to an area to be painted. It is a good idea to have the area cleaned before you proceed, as dust is very attracted by any surface that shouldn't contain dust.

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Start painting. Always move from side to side when painting. Never stay in position; as drips are very easy to encounter. I suggest you begin a coat with the hard-to-reach edges, and then proceed with the easier and larger area. Start with thin coat, and wait 10 minutes between them. Use 3 coats if they're thin. Do notuse excess paint, as it will probably drip. If this happens, you should wait until the paint has dried, and sand that area until it is flat again. You should wait at least 12 hours between each layer. Did I mention that you needed to paint in a well ventilated area? If you did not, then you probably noticed by now why you shouldn't have useda cheap nurse mask lise I did. I'm not a doctor, but paintfumes are very bad, don't inhale them.

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Apply about 6layers, or until satisfied result, whatever comes first. It should start to look like a near-final result. At this stage, you should look for spots missing paint, or edges you missed. Apply more coats if you did miss something. Better more coats than too few.

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Scan the surface for defectsusing the flashlight. If you find defects, such as dust, bumps, holes, anything not smooth, you should sand with 1000-grit sandpaper before re-applying paint. You may also use your X-acto to carefully remove superficial dust that sticks to the surface. Apply the clear coat exactly the same way. You can never have enough coats of clear, so use plenty. That will protect your paint. If you scratch the surface later, it's easier to re-sand the area, and re-apply clear over it, than re-painting the whole thing again.

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When you're done with this, start removing the tape. Do it slowly, as you do not want to remove paint around the tape. If needed, cut around the tape to make sure that doesn't happen. If you find areas that have paint and shouldn't, use paint thinner and a q-tip to remove the excess. While the paint will drywithin 1 hour, it is better to wait 7 days, so the paint will fully cure andbe completely chip-proof. Only after that, you should put the whole computer back together.

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Looks very nice, especially how the red and silver go well together

You have any plans to paint the screen bezel?

 

Very nice. Job well done

 

wow wipeout~
awesome paint job there
how about painting the LCD casing too?
I am sure there are better combinations than silver and red

 

Nice article, and good info on techniques, etc.

I used to paint airplanes, and I painted one of my first cars. If you could get an auto body shop to paint while they are doing another car, I wonder if they would do it cheap. They'd have to be planning to paint a bumper or plastic part so they could use plastic primer. Car paint, unlike spray paint, has hardeners which make it very tough and difficult to scratch, relative to spray paint (hardeners would make the paint set up in the can, although there is some new single stage epoxy that is a bit better.) Plus the high quality spray guns, along with a professional, can make a truly smooth “orangepeel-free” paint job. High quality car paint can even rival a clear-coat job for gloss.

There are other options. You can get any plastic or metal part chromed. I can see it now, on “Pimp my laptop.”

 

Interesting project.... but I wonder how long the paint will last since the palm rest always get warm (where the HDD resides)?

 

Looks awesome. So quick question, how did you remove the keyboard? I'm askin because mine is attached by a flex cable that doesn't look like it can be reattached.

 

Yes, I would like to paint the bezel around the screen, as well as the back of the screen.

I am just waiting to see if the paint is durable enough for this !

Thank you for your praises, all !!

Hucsman;

By reading your post, I assume you already unscrewed the keyboard. The ribbon cable you are talking about can be removed, and re-attached as well. It is retained by a socket which can be released by pulling on a small plastic retention device. It is kind of hard to explain, i'm sorry.

Just DON'T pull on the cable

You can have a look at the service guide, which is well written here : http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c00444244.pdf

 

See p.139 of the service guide.

 

Great job. Question though? Can this process work on a desktop? I wanting my white box to transform into a black box.

 

Yes

Is your case made of plastic or made of metal ?

The paint is quite different. If it's made of plastic, the process is the same.

For metal, it's a different process.

 

Here's a company that offers some specialty paints for those who are truely adventuresome:

http://alsacorp.com/index.htm

I found these guys through an ad in a trade magazine.

I don't think I have the nerve to try something like that (yet), but I would love to see what someone else (more talented) could do!!

 

Really great walkthrough of your experience! The pictures are incredibly instructive, great job all around.

 

Wonderful job wipeout! The red certainly gives your Compaq a smart look, much better than the original silver. I'm 100% impressed with your efforts.

Chaz

 

fantastic..

if you finish paint all of your laptop please post your update picture again I want to see the final work

 

Hello,

I was wondering if anyone has painted the white trim on the dell inspiron notebooks??? It's not bad looking but it could look very slick with another color. I was thinking same shade silver/black/other. Anyone tried this? Any success stories?

Thanks,

Whitesharkz

 

Man you are the ****!....I want to do that on mine!

 

The rest of the laptop is now painted. Including the LID. I am trying to get Brian to update this article to reflect the changes !