painting aluminum case

[Necrolezbeast]

is it all good to paint a lian li pc-60? I'm thinking about getting one and want to paint it with mirage green/purple get a window in and tint it then put a blue cold cathode...would it be safe to do that, I've heard nothing about painting aluminum,

 

[skeedawg]

I'd love to hear something on this as well. I've often thought of doing some paint scheme on my coolermaster too, but I've had the same questions as Necrolezbeast.
The coolermaster I have has a clearcoat finish on the sides and top, I imagine that's a fairly involved process requiring auto shop type equipment to do correctly. It does look nice! I just wish I could do it all in different color too.

 

[2Cool]

Aluminum is fairly easy to paint, as any other metal. Biggest issue is prep work, sanding it to give the paint some texture to grab. A good primer would also be smart to use, as paint adheres best to other paint. If the case has a clearcoat already, do NOT sand it off. Just use a scotch-pad to roughen the shiny finish, and paint over top of it.

Aluminum is great for anodizing or poweder coating too, so check in your local area for shops that do that kind of work. Powder coating would be the most durable and long lasting finish.

 

[MassiveUnit]

Definately just roughen up the surface a little with some 400 grit or so. Since the mirage system comes with primer that should be all you need. My suggestion is to read this article on painting <http://www.pc-workshop.net/articles/paint102/paint102-1.shtml> from pc workshop, great article. I followed it (i did the mirage thing with my lower model Antec case, took me three kits and about two weeks to paint and sand it) and i got an absolutely gorgeous mirror finish off of it. It's not cheap to do and it takes a bit of time but you will be more than happy with the results, especially when people see it and they are drawn to the shiny case like moths to a light.

 

[VTBigBear]

why are all these ppl trying to paint thier lian li's?


why why why why??

 

[Gladwin]

<< why are all these ppl trying to paint thier lian li's?


why why why why?? >>



And, oddly, you can buy Lian Li cases that are already anodized. And, other
aluminum cases are also powder coated (or at least that is what the
Enermax appears to be in the other thread I posted to.

Enermax

 

[S13SilviaK]

Actually Aluminum is very difficult to paint, it's a soft metal and the softer the metal the harder it is for paint to stick to it. If you move your case at all most likely you'll develp a scratch on it and you'll be pissed about all the work you did, you'd have better luck getting it anodized, or I suppose you could get it powdercoated since that just needs a current. Both of those options are much more durable.

Actually I can see the point from the previous posts, all metals are fairly easy to paint in so far as the paint doesn't bead as if you were painting plastic but I seriously doubt that if you had the cash to put down on a lian-li that you'd want to do a rattle-can (spray paint_ job on your case. Also, if you have a pro do it they should turn it down or at least try and steer you away from it because of the inherrent problems your going to have.

This is from experience I have a friend who's in a shop called Riff-raff customs out of concord we discussed this in detail about what to do with my new case, I ended up getting it anodized but may go get it powdercoated since I hadn't thought of that yet.

Also as far as powdercoating goes with technology today you can get almost any solid color on your case.

 

[CubicZirconia]

I've heard that paint on an aluminum surfaces will wear off quickly unless something called "acid etching" is done. Anyone ever heard of this?

 

[S13SilviaK]

There's a bunch of "supposed" process' that are suppost to keep the paint on Aluminum but from what my buddy at the bike shop said it's all BS it may delay but any scratch is going to pull the paint right off.