trying to paint my case. can't paint. bad painter.

[gui3]

hey - i'm new to the forum :) don't know if anyone here has painted a case, but...

i'm getting a new set of plastics for my IBM X22 laptop....planning to paint them with color-change paint (like this guy: http://linear1.org/gm/archives/00000080.php ).

problem is, i suck at it.

i tried it once before on my PDA, and ran into problems:
- textured surfaces came out BADLY.
- couldn't get an even / high gloss shine.
- tried wet-sanding the clear coat /using rubbing compound / using wax...all that did was remove all the paint.

so i'm guessing that my problem here is my prep work. how do i properly prep everything? how do i wet sand?

thanks

[Mntsnow]

Welcome to XPC gui3!

I haven't done any case painting (but will be soon) but I did use that type of paint on my snowmobile and yes I did a TON of wet sanding prior to the paint getting shot onto the hood of my snowmobile. It looks so cool when done....Makes peoples heads just follow my sled as we go past them!

[gui3]

how & with what grit did you wet sand?

[Mntsnow]

I started out with like 600 grit. and then went on to 1000 and 1500 and lastly 2000 grit.

Here is a couple of images...I'll try and take some more if you need me too but this sled is now in storage as I bought new ones this past year. but if you look close you can see the nose cone area has the color change paint. (goes from gold/green/purple/black and then goes into my checkerboard scheme)

[gui3]

so, you wet sanded before even applying the primer?

the problem is - i have a lot of different surfaces that i'm painting on - part of the laptop has this kind of rubbery paint already applied and some are *textured* bare plastic.

[Mntsnow]

Yes I did prior to the primer and then again after primer I would assume you would still need to do at-least a light sanding on all your parts as the sanding is what preps the surface for paint adhesion. Just don't sand till it's totally smooth if you want the texture to show thru the paint.

[gui3]

well, i really //don't// want the texture to show through the paint.

i'd like it to all be one smooth, uniform, glossy color.

[Mntsnow]

Then sand away my friend :D

[Xaotic]

Given the differences in composition of the exterior surfaces, you may need to use a surfacing primer. There are some automotive epoxy based surfacing primers that may give better durability.