PART 9
PAINTING THE BOX

This is a basic guide to painting the case itself.  I am using a "crackle finish" like on my first project done in May of '99.  This finish is VERY forgiving, and certainly does not require the level of preparation needed for a glassy auto-quality finish.  Very simple... spray the paint and it does the work, creating a somewhat unique finish.

All images are set to a height of roughly 240 pixels.  Click the image for the full-sized shot (800 x 600)
Wipe down all surfaces with paint thinner.
 
After the thinner is dry, spray the chassis.  I used semi-gloss black... again, it is very forgiving, plus I prefer semi-gloss colors.
After the chassis paint is dry, some of the parts may be installed.  This is the motherboard I/O cover.  Two are provided, one with prepunched openings for sound and Ethernet, and one "standard" ATX with spaces for sound and joystick, but not punched through.  I have the Abit KA7, so will use the standard ATX plate and leave the sound and joystick spaces un-punched.
The feet fit into the holes in the bottom of the chassis...




 
Push the pin through the center to lock it down.  Do this three more times.
I selected black-over-gold crinkle finish.  The gold undercoat goes on first.  This coat must be even, and on a large panel such as this, fairly heavy.
Here are the panels after the first coat.  Since these panels are flat, I used a method similar to that used on the bezel, but with only one horizontal and one vertical pass.  The second coat will be diagonal.  I did lay these coats on pretty thick.
Starting the black topcoat
 

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The black topcoat is done, now we wait for the magic.
  
 
Voila!  It looked like this after about 10 minutes.  I did lay the black on a bit too thick, which is why the pattern is so large compared to the side panels.  Side panels can be difficult since the black paint has a chance to dry before you can get a second coat on it.  This stuff must have the second and third coats sprayed while the first coat is WET (as in a continuous spray).  My first case was shot on a warm day and one panel dried so quickly that there was very little crackle.
This is how I wish the top would have turned out.
Both side panels.
One thing about this stuff... if you don't seal it with a clear coat, it will get black on EVERYTHING that gets near it!  The black comes out almost like charcoal.  I laid on three heavy coats of matte clear... looks and feels much better now.
  

 
 
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