Sunburst Mouse

[Aud1073cH]

I just found this mouse at a thrift store today. A wireless IntelliMouse 2.0 Explorer for just $3 - and it was filthy.

The rubberized coating on the sides was starting to wear off, so I opened it up and gave all the rubberized parts a few fresh coats of black Plasti-Dip.

The boring color scheme (similar to the one in the background) had to go.

I decided to go with a simple metalic sunburst, with some gloss clear on top.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3217/2678278787_821434daf0.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/aud1073ch/2678278787/)

This was just a quickie paint job, done in only a couple hours start to finish. (just to jazz it up for home use)

so how'd I do?

[Mach]

I say you did great! How'd you do the rubber coating? Spray on, dipped or brushed?

[Aud1073cH]

I did the spray on. I didn't want to coat the insides :)

Even the original had tiny bits of overspray, so I knew that just a quick tape mask would work.

I think the spray comes out more evenly than the dip or brush for this type of thing. You just don't want to breathe the stuff.

[PartyLikeARockstar]

Cool! a 1957 Fender Mousecaster! Nice job.

[FuzzyPlushroom]

Nice work! Even the scroll wheel looks sorta orangey - is that just a reflection, or...?

[Aud1073cH]

That must have been a reflection, or the tint from the incandescent lights used to light the photo.

The scroll wheel is the unmodified clear/pearl color - it is made of a sort of gel-type rubber, so I didn't think it would take any paint.
I could still make a replacement from some other material, and paint it, and coat it with clear plasti-dip. However, I don't have any plans to do that for now. And I kinda like the pearl look.

[nailz]

I'd like to do something similar to this to the microsoft intelli-mice we have at work.. I have about 5 of them that are scummy from use that I brought home to repaint.

[Aud1073cH]

Well, on this mouse there was only one screw holding it together, accessible from inside the battery compartment. Others hide the screws beneath the skid pads opposite the end with the buttons.

I used regular isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol) sprayed onto a cloth to clean all the gunk off that fingers have left behind.

The rubberized parts were masked with masking tape, and sprayed with Plasti-Dip (3 coats, 15-20 min apart did it for me.)

the hard surfaces were wet sanded with fine grit (400 or 600 or so) to their plastic to give a good surface for the paint, then I gave it 2 coats of quick dry grey auto body primer, then I used the airbrush to apply the color and the gloss coats: silver (2x), then thin coats of color, leaving a little bit of the last color each time - starting with bright yellow, and adding a drop of red at a time to get from yellow to orange to red, then I added a drop of blue at a time for a couple shades of purple, then added black until the edges were very near black (to go with my black plasti-dip) Then I gave a couple coats of instant age varnish, and then four coats or so of clear gloss varnish. I used acrylics because the cleanup is easier in the brush (again, for time's sake)

sorry I didn't take photos for a worklog this time. (phooey on me, huh.):redface:

:think: I'd originally thought of doing a red metal flake, then translucent pearlized candy apple red, (also had blue metal flake and blue translucent pearl) all from those mini-size rattle cans, but the tips on the cans didn't have very good control. :down: - I may still try this alternate scheme on some other mice.

[Drum Thumper]

Cool! a 1957 Fender Mousecaster! Nice job.

I think it's more of a 59 Les Mouse with a sunburst!