Black paint job on an old Dell

[shimeng]

Hi, I currently have a 2-year old mini-BTX based Dell 5150 that's badly in need of an upgrade. I gave up on this after realizing motherboard manufacturers were no longer supporting this form factor. Luckily, I had an old Dell Dimension XPS T600 lying around - this was from back when Dell made ATX based PCs with a fully plastic exterior.

I went about disassembling the panels, face plate and buttons. I've read that vinyl dye works best on plastic and does not require the surface to be sanded and primed, so I'll be going that route. I'd like these to be black, with a semi-gloss finish, just like the faceplate of an ordinary black floppy or CD-ROM drive. Any suggestions for the type/variant of vinyl dye/paint I should be using?

One issue I have is with the "Dell" logo. As you can see in the picture, the logo is not moulded as part of the faceplate but a separate plastic insert.

http://s233.photobucket.com/albums/ee8/shimeng_pb/?action=view&current=DSC_0102.jpg

I'd like for it to look like this when it's over:

http://s233.photobucket.com/albums/ee8/shimeng_pb/?action=view&current=01092007034.jpg

I was thinking of spray-painting the plastic logo insert black and dipping just a bit of the front in silver paint. I had initially though about spray-painting it silver first, but I wasn't sure how I would be able to paint the hole in the "D" and the lines between the "E" black - does anyone have any suggestions on how best to do this? Thanks!

[SgtM]

Welcome to TBCS! All I can suggest is a REALLY good masking job on the D and E. On second thought.. maybe vinyl dye the whole thing, and then paint the dell logo with really fine brushes and testors model paint (http://www.testors.com/catalog_item.asp?itemNbr=56). Good luck, and remember we like pics!

[shimeng]

Well wouldn't you know it - I can't seem to find anyone in my country (Singapore) that carries vinyl dye, so I've ordered some online from www.dyeandpaint.com. They carry 2 vinyl dye products, one for soft plastics and one for hard (I chose the hard).

The thing is I realized after checking out via Paypal that there was nowhere on the online order form that you could specify what COLOR you wanted. I'm going to have to call them tonight and sort it out. Can't wait for it to arrive so I can start taking a crack at it!

I think I'll try making a mold of the Dell badge out of epoxy putty so I can make several of them with modeller's clay in case I screw up the detailing.

[Luke122]

It could be masked more easily by covering the entire thing with masking tape, then using a blade to cut out around the letters. With a steady hand, you could mask it really easily, and have a great result.

I have a 5150 here at work also, so I'm familiar with the case. :)

Welcome to TBCS!

[shimeng]

Urgh! I just got off a call with the sales rep - he says there's a bug in the Paypal shopping cart - the shipping cost to my country is supposed to be US$140 and not US$21! That's 7 times more than the cost of vinyl dye. I wasn't about to spend that kind of money so I cancelled the order. Wonder how long before I get my refund?

I did some more searching on the web and I read on some auto/motorbike forums that certain VHT paint products are available locally - VHT has a vinyl dye product as well. Hopefully I'll be able to get what I want in satin black.

[xRyokenx]

$140 for dye? There's something wrong with that, no matter the country it's being shipped to... how much does that stuff weigh anyways?

[Bopher]

$140 for dye? There's something wrong with that, no matter the country it's being shipped to... how much does that stuff weigh anyways?

They left out the part where they're send a 50 gallon drum of the stuff, lol

[Luke122]

International shipping can be a real pain.. I was looking at a set of speakers last night on Ebay from the UK. To ship the pair to Canada, it would cost me 400 GBP for the speakers, 150GBP for the packing fee, and another 200 GBP to ship to Canada! I think I'll just wait and buy some MM5's thanks. :P

Back on topic: Vinyl dye isnt the only option.. Krylon Fusion Plastic paint works a TREAT! I used it to paint my Xbox white, and it looks great. I often get asked if it was bought that way. "Nope, I painted it white!" :)

[xRyokenx]

Yeah, that 50gal drum could be a problem... that's gotta be really freakin' heavy, like a few hundred pounds if it has water in it or anything, esp. considering a gallon of water is like 8 pounds methinks.

[XcOM]

for them speakres,what were they, if ther no to heavy, i coldhave tem shipped cheaper than that.

[shimeng]

I made another inquiry at Speco Thomas Australia for VHT vinyl dye. The fellow on the other end was nice enough to explain the exorbitant shipping charges.

The product is combustible and being only available in compressed aerosol form makes it a potential fire hazard. They may only be shipped over land/sea, and it even has some kind of a rating that must be declared to the freight forwarder. They have to be specially packed and handled (maybe stowed away in a refrigerated container).

Shipping for 5 boxes at 6 cans per box comes up to AU$600 or about US$500. This makes the deal from Parasol Inc. look like spare change.

Interestingly enough, I did manage to find a local dealer that had a few cans of the stuff, albeit only in red. They advised me against buying it as it had been lying on the shelf for 13 years!

I think I'll have to organize a mass order for the Parasol Inc. vinyl dye.

[calumc]

have you tried ebay? im sure most of the people on there arent too fussed about shipping regulations!!

[shimeng]

Forget eBay - I won a bid on an old Dell chasis once, everything seemed to be going fine and I PayPal-ed him the money plus the hefty shipping charge (I live in Singapore). 2 days later, he gives me a refund and refuses to answer my emails.

I finally stumbled on a solution - my local mail provider has a free forwarding address service. They've give me a "virtual" Oregon based shipping address where my purchases get delivered to. I just have to email them the invoice and they calculate how much it is to ship the item to Singapore from Oregon. I pay for both local and international shipping.

I went with the only vinyl dye solution by SEM (I've heard this is pretty good), cost is a little under US$16 including shipping to my virtual address. I'm still waiting for the post office to respond with an estimate on the shipping to Singapore. Hopefully it'll clear customs without issues.