Spray painint onto a window

[F_A_F]

I've looked around at having a window etched and decided that seeing as everyone else does it, I want to be a little different. I think that the look of etching is good, but I want to err away from the appearance that side lighting an acrylic panel etching gives.

What I'd really like to do, and would be simple to setup, is to spray a logo in black onto the window itself. Then carefully backlight it so that the writing shows up dark against the glow of the PC contents :)

My problem is that I'm unsure as to how well the paint will stick. As I'm planning on printing a mirror image and then spraying it onto the interior face, sanding or priming the clear acrylic is a no-no. Will the paint stick well? There is little need to worry about general wear and tear on the paint as it's going to be inside the case.

I have a couple of black sprays that I could use; one general DIY "odds and ends" can and another bog standard car body spray can. Will either be good enough to stick to the acrylic?

Suggestions would be most welcome :)

[tybrenis]

Well, painting acrylic is a bit of an issue when you can't sand it. However, if you work in EXTREMELY light coats, it will work with a lot of care. Simply lay down your stencil using some adhesive spray, then mask off the rest of the window using masking paper or even newspaper.

Then, from a decent distance away, spray a ridiculously light coat, and let it completely dry, giving it 5-10 minutes. Then do the same over and over again until its completely covered. Then, you can spray in light coats, but it will be fairly easy to spray, as you are spraying onto paint, not the acrylic itself.

I am actually currently writing a guide for my site about painting acrylic, should be up this weekend. I'll give you a link.

[F_A_F]

Wow a guide, sounds good :)

My plan is to get hold of some full A4 (letter sized) sticky labels, print a design onto it, cut out the lettering, stick it to the window, and then spray onto it. I like the concept of slow, light spraying....can't wait to read the full guide.

Until then I'll just practise on a few old CD cases, they're about the cheapest form of clear plastic I can find to practise on :)

[tybrenis]

The thing with using labels is that if your using a spray paint, they can soak up the paint and thats usually a bad thing. Althoguh in this case it probably isn't a big deal since you're usign acrylic, the labels can havea hard time peeling off. Also, with paper templates and spray guides, the edges can get gunked up with paint etc and then you get a sloppy edge.

My recomendation is buying some transparency films for inkjet printers, the kind that they use in classrooms for overhead displays. Cut out your design using a sharp exacto knife, and then use some spray adhesive to hold it down. It peels off when you need it to, but holds its edge well and works great for stencils. It's not very expensive, either.

[F_A_F]

Thanks for the tips. Hopefully, as I'm spraying lightly and waiting for it to dry then the labels will hold out and not get sodden....but that's one thing that testing out first will show me.

Otherwise I'll see if I can come up with some other form of transparency based templates. A concern is that I'm only able to use a home PC printer to print the designs, so I'll have to make sure that it's able to print out clearly.

[tybrenis]

Certainly give the labels a try, as they will probably be much cheaper. I also only have a home inkjet printer, and as long as you purchase the lables that say "inkjet" on them, you'll be just fine.

[Produkt]

if you want the letters to be darker...

why not sand everything but that part... that way the surrounding will be lit up and the letters wont seem so...

[Commando]

Another trick is to just sand lightly once you have the stencil down. You don't need to do any major sanding at all and the stencil will handle a light sanding.

I would recommend the above technique with 600 grit.

By the way. I'm gonna let you know right now that the effect of a reversed image underneath acrylic, looks abosolutely awsome. A great example of this is R/C Car bodies. Not the wal mart toys, I'm talkin the serious hobby type. Almost all of the bodies you buy are painted from the inside on acrylic. The effect looks wicked cool because it give the illusion of a super deep clearcoat paint job. Here's an example: http://www.adrcracing.com/Photo_Gallery.html

By the way I don't have any idea who runs that site. I just googled it as an example.

[silverdemon]

Do you really want to paint it? because you can also aply some sort of vinyl or decal on the window of your case. I did the same thing on my window. I think the effect is the same, except that I have my decal on the outside of the window. It would probably look nice if you put it on the inside.

[F_A_F]

By the way. I'm gonna let you know right now that the effect of a reversed image underneath acrylic, looks abosolutely awsome. A great example of this is R/C Car bodies. Not the wal mart toys, I'm talkin the serious hobby type.

That's where I got the idea from; back in the eighties as I was approaching my teenage years, I got hold of a Tamiya Falcon. (http://classictamiyarc.com/tamcars04.html) Although it was second hand, I got a new bdy kit and brush painted it myself with classic hobby paint.....I remember that it looked great but cracked very easily. Hopefully using tybrenis' guide will help stop that this time round :)

[tybrenis]

Yep, as the others said, if your tests aren't working well (first check to make sure you've shaken your paint for a good 3-4 minutes), then I recomend sanding it if you're dead set on painting acrylic.

For my acrylic case, I had vinyl graphics made and then applied them to my case. I think they turned out quite well.

[SgtM]

What about the DIY window tint stuff you can get at auto stores? Get the limo black stuff. Then lay the tint down to cover the window completely, and before it dries, cut out your pattern, and strip off whatever isn't needed.

[F_A_F]

I did a basic first stage test today with an old CD disc cover and just paper address label stickers and standard car body spray paint.....and would you believe that the result is actually quite decent. The edges are sharp, the coverage is even with no paint movement, and most importantly the viewing side of the plastic is just as I hoped.

Once I've managed to find time to do the whole PC side window then I'll post up the images of the test and also of the final result.

[Moofaa]

Sweet ideas. I look forwards to the painting guide. I have a case mod idea that involves spraypainting a window. Im going to sand the whole thing first, as I dont want it totally transparent. Hopefully I'll get the effect I wish for, ordered a peice to test it out with from tap plastics.

[F_A_F]

Sweet ideas. I look forwards to the painting guide. I have a case mod idea that involves spraypainting a window. Im going to sand the whole thing first, as I dont want it totally transparent. Hopefully I'll get the effect I wish for, ordered a peice to test it out with from tap plastics.

Yea, I thought of that first too. With the correct lighting, a tinted effect window looks really good :)

What I'm trying to achieve though is a really clear but low light effect, superimposed with jet black writing on the window itself to give a very understated but distinct appearance. If it doesn't work, I can always order a new case side panel :redface:

[tybrenis]

Finished, as promised. Took me about 45 minutes to completely publish.

http://powerpackedpc.com/

[SgtM]

Nice guide Ty. Any chance of you coming up with a tut on flame polishing?

[tybrenis]

I was actually thinking about making one. Now that you asked, sure!

I'll try and have it by next weekend.

[jdbnsn]

I could have sworn you already made one of these flame polishing tutorials, losing my memory at my ripe old age.

[tybrenis]

Lol, I sort of did. There's a video that goes along with my worklog. I'll write up a formal one this week.