case paint (SANDY LOOK)

[lil_josh]

Ok i am ready to paint my first case, and the these is Operation Iraqi Freedom. I wanted to give the case a desert sandy type of look. How would i go about this and what tools might i need? Any help is highly appreciated!

[sega01]

off the top of my head i can think of just spray painting the case brown, then sanding it. dont try it unless somone else suggests it aswell - i dont have much paint/sanding experience, and dont know how well it would really work.

[tybrenis]

What would be cool is if you actually sprayed the case with glue, and then covered it with real sand. From there, you could just put on MULTIPLE layers of clear coat spray paint or some sort of laquer/enamel to make it so the sand doesn't fall off. That would be the easiest way to do it, and of course the most realistic. Painting tiny grains of sand can't be too easy.

[lil_josh]

so what would the steps be for doing that last idea suggested?

[crazybillybob]

Prep the case like normal (GO here and read this thread if you need info on that Painting links

You want to put a light coat of light brown (sand color) paint then put sand on the wet paint let the paint dry and then clear coat (coat it once if there are places that need more sand add it to the first or second layer of clear, then add on more layer of clear) Then put down 3-4 more coats of clear ( you want 5-6 total coats of clear). You can mask off areas before you paint and sand (say tank tread paths) so you and add other colors or for effect.

Good Luck,

Crazybillybob

[lil_josh]

Sweet! Thanks for the help. I will post pics when im finished.

[tybrenis]

Sweet! Thanks for the help. I will post pics when im finished.

That'd be great! Take pics often and why not put up a worklog? I don't think this has been done before I'm sure many of us would love to see it.

Billybob said it perfectly, but I was actually going to recomend you paint it a sand color, and then perhaps smeared some epoxy or used some spray adhesive to hold the paint down. If your sand isn't the right color (I know middle-eastern sand isn't usually bleached white like you buy it at the store here), don't forget that you can always paint over it before you clear coat.

[lil_josh]

im doing this kinda like a present to my brother. He is a Marine and just got back to California 2day after doing 8 months over there. But im in michigan so i got awhile to finish it.

[tybrenis]

im doing this kinda like a present to my brother. He is a Marine and just got back to California 2day after doing 8 months over there. But im in michigan so i got awhile to finish it.

Great cause! Good to hear he's back and well.

[Mach]

As an alternative, Liquitex makes a resin sand paint. It goes on really thick. I've used it on scluptures before but I'd worry that the flexing of a case would make the sand fall off.

http://www.liquitex.com/Products/texgelmedresinsand.cfm

You might also want to consider sand paper glued on the case that way you wouldn't have to worry about the sand falling off.