Has anyone sprayed an A1200 case?

[Sim085]

Hello, I have an A1200 case which is heavily yellow and have a custom paint job in mind for it. I am mostly looking at matt colour as a final finish however was wondering what type of paint should I use? Do I need any undercoat? I will probably take it to some sprayer to have it done but just want to see what others may have tried, what worked and what failed.

[nogginthenog]

Ms Mad Lemon on youtube did:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSl...ch?query=spray

[Photon]

Go to a car parts shop, they have everything here except washing up liquid



1. Use warm water, not hot as it could warp the case. Dishwasher could be safe IF you can set the temp to ~40C/110F. Just make sure the nooks and crannies are clean.

2. Make sure it's plastic-safe. To get any remaining specks of dust or fat (such as fingerprints) off. (From now on, use standoffs to reach everything and not get fingerprints back on.)

3. Cover with primer for plastic to make the paint stick.

4. Plastic car bumper spray. Buy two of these and keep the receipt for a return if possible. Do not spray varnish on top as this will shrivel the paint! (The paint already protects against light scratches).

Do 3. and 4. in a dust-free place. If you do this indoors, the room will stink afterwards, for quite some time. Try to not inhale the fumes.

[Sim085]

Thanks you both for your replies. I can see in the video she has some stickers for the keys (something I completely forgot). Does anyone know from where to buy these stickers?

[Photon]

Had a look, my source for these on ebay UK seems to have been spammed into oblivion by lesser offers, and my history only goes back to 2017 which was way after I bought them. So I can't even find the seller that way, or via saved sellers.

So the only description I can give is that the ones I bought back then were 1) Vinyl and 2) came in black, grey, white on long horizontal cards (like a keyboard, not the square ones I find now) and 3) cost about $8.

Try these or these.

[Sim085]

Thanks for those links. Pitty I can't find transparent version, would like to spray other from black or white. Will see if I can print my own.

Originally Posted by Photon

Try these or these.

[Photon]

Cool, note that if they are transparent you may get fingerprints on the glue side, so apply by using a scalpel/cutlery knife. If you have ever built Lego or model airplanes when you were young you already know this trick

[Marchie]

If you dye the keys they will keep their original labels with a white outline so you don't need stickers that will scuff and fade.

[Photon]

Originally Posted by Marchie

If you dye the keys they will keep their original labels with a white outline so you don't need stickers that will scuff and fade.

The vinyl stickers don't scuff or fade. They protect the spray paint from wear, but they are a little in the way when you want to type really fast.

So this would actually be better, I'm interested. How do you dye them, and do you have a photo of how it looks?

[Marchie]

iDye Poly with colour enhancer (colour enhancer essential - they come out patchy otherwise)

Basically 'cook' them at 45° for 30mins or so (not too hot or you'll warp your spacebar).

I've only tried black. Pics attached.

[robsoft]

Originally Posted by Marchie

iDye Poly with colour enhancer (colour enhancer essential - they come out patchy otherwise)

I'm really intrigued by the dye approach to the keys (I've got a really bad A1200 case with a few cracks and stuff that I was going to spray, but the thought of bodging the spray job on the keys has been holding me up).

Do you literally apply dye & enhancer to the keys 'as they are', or do you have to do something with the black decals that are already on the original keys? Your end result pictures look great.

[Marchie]

You just wash the keys to get any grease off, then drop them into a saucepan with the dye (and water). I used a cheap frying basket so the keys didn't sit directly on the bottom of the pan and risk melting.

The labels prevent the dye from reaching that part of the surface, so that's why there's this white outline right around all the decals that remains un-coloured.

I was really happy with the result. Not as slick and professional as a set of A1200.net black keycaps, but it's a cheap and effective way to make yellow keys look cool.

Originally Posted by Photon

The vinyl stickers don't scuff or fade. They protect the spray paint from wear, but they are a little in the way when you want to type really fast.

I had seen pics of black Amiga keys with faded stickers - they may just have been cheap stickers and not the particular product you are referring to, I have no personal experience with keycap stickers, so don't want to malign what might be a perfectly good product.

[Photon]

Originally Posted by Marchie

iDye Poly with colour enhancer (colour enhancer essential - they come out patchy otherwise)

Basically 'cook' them at 45° for 30mins or so (not too hot or you'll warp your spacebar).

I've only tried black. Pics attached.

Hmm. OK this was the picture I saw before. I don't know, it still looks quite patchy. Maybe it works better with light gray or similar color? Although the yellowed outline would still show, no matter what the hue.

[haynor666]

I never paint amiga but I had one painted to red. Painting was made really good and last until I sold amiga. For yellowing I used once ozon generator and put plastic on sun. Best is fall spring/early summer for this I think.