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How to Remove Hydrodrip and Repaint Case

Captain Matt

Just bought on of the last Mastercase 5 Pro's in existence. Only way I could get it was with this overdone paintjob.

Now it's my job to remove the paintjob.

 

This is going to be my "magnum opus" build - Not components wise, but mod wise. 🙂

 

IMG_1222.thumb.JPG.0221be39159de5f54e1daa8d1aef8b77.JPG

 

Challenge #1:

It's a hydrodrip and It feels like it might have some kind of gloss finish/polycoat on it.

 

I studied how to remove it from metal and denatured alcohol came up a lot, but I also read that that damages plastic.

 

So I'm thinking of just sanding it down with my orbital sander, but I don't want to rough up the plastic or the metal too much.

 

Challenge #2:

 

When painting plastic and metal, how can I get them to blend well?

 

Here's an extreme close up so you can get a sense for the texture.

 

IMG_1240.thumb.JPG.f973315d71def1ee367e8f715fe8264e.JPG 

 

Desired outcome:

Semi-gloss, non-metalic black

 

Source: https://colorshiftpearls.com/shop-custom-paint/candy-pearl-paint-colors/nightshade-dark-candy-pearls/

 

I have NO IDEA what "pearls" are though... Someone please explain haha.

 

Screen-Shot-2015-05-06-at-2.37.36-AM.png

 

Questions:

  1. How would you recommend removing this paintjob?
     
  2. What paint and painting process would you recommend to get the metal and plastic to blend well, and to get a finish like on the car above? Will I need to rent a pro spray booth to accomplish that?
     
  3. When painting plastic and metal, how can I get them to blend well?
     
  4. I live in Colorado in an apartment. I have a small garage, but temps outside are like 20-45 F. Not good for painting. I don't think it's really safe to leave space heaters on in a small garage with spray painted stuff drying... Thoughts? Tips?

 

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Question for you , have you ever spray painted anything before

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21 minutes ago, Captain Matt said:

I studied how to remove it from metal and denatured alcohol came up a lot, but I also read that that damages plastic.

yes, denatured alcohol will texture the surface of most plastics and it's a huge pain to sand and resurface. (I ran into this alot when painting props for stage and texture was less an issue but anything that catches light wrong is noticeable)

sand blasting/bead blasting is an option to texture the surface before using a brakeclean but that's also likely to damage the surfaces.

 

best we've used is just hand sanding with 200+grit and then finishing the parts with a 300+ grit to smooth the surface for prime and paint.

 

22 minutes ago, Captain Matt said:

When painting plastic and metal, how can I get them to blend well?

primer and testing. Automotive paints often work best blending metal to plastic because that's what they were designed for but that's all spray booth work and lots and lots of thin coats. the car from the photo probably has 5-10 layers with wet sanding and curing between each.

 

Pearlescent paints have ceramic or mica particles which reflect and refract the light which is what gives them the deep colour and cause curves to change the refracted light angle causing the colour shift you see. "colourshift pearls" are often a paint additive which is added to the pigment and base shade of the paint before spraying. Mixing this without prior experience or a few days of trial and error will not turn out well. Choose a paint which is pre-mix (probably won't be as deep and rich as a custom mix) it will be much less of a headache and less expensive.

 

A sprayer with a soft wide pattern would be best for blending, you'll have to research nozzles for the size of pearls you're using, these paints don't come in spray cans and the few that do look pretty bad compared to sprayer versions of the paint which you can control how thin each coat is and layer for plastic vs metal.

 

22 minutes ago, Captain Matt said:

I don't think it's really safe to leave space heaters on in a small garage with spray painted stuff drying... Thoughts? Tips?

it's not a great idea, it doesn't take a ton of heat to cure the paint since you aren't baking it on so once you've built your paint booth (you should absolutely use a paint booth with a suction fan blowing outside) build in a seal-able door and toss in a bag of kitty litter or desiccant to keep the booth air very dry, temperature doesn't matter much as long as you don't get moisture buildup which causes cracking and texturing during the curing process.

 

 

The best gaming PC is the PC you like to game on, how you like to game on it

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8 minutes ago, GhostRoadieBL said:

yes, denatured alcohol will texture the surface of most plastics and it's a huge pain to sand and resurface. (I ran into this alot when painting props for stage and texture was less an issue but anything that catches light wrong is noticeable)

sand blasting/bead blasting is an option to texture the surface before using a brakeclean but that's also likely to damage the surfaces.

 

best we've used is just hand sanding with 200+grit and then finishing the parts with a 300+ grit to smooth the surface for prime and paint.

 

primer and testing. Automotive paints often work best blending metal to plastic because that's what they were designed for but that's all spray booth work and lots and lots of thin coats. the car from the photo probably has 5-10 layers with wet sanding and curing between each.

 

Pearlescent paints have ceramic or mica particles which reflect and refract the light which is what gives them the deep colour and cause curves to change the refracted light angle causing the colour shift you see. "colourshift pearls" are often a paint additive which is added to the pigment and base shade of the paint before spraying. Mixing this without prior experience or a few days of trial and error will not turn out well. Choose a paint which is pre-mix (probably won't be as deep and rich as a custom mix) it will be much less of a headache and less expensive.

 

A sprayer with a soft wide pattern would be best for blending, you'll have to research nozzles for the size of pearls you're using, these paints don't come in spray cans and the few that do look pretty bad compared to sprayer versions of the paint which you can control how thin each coat is and layer for plastic vs metal.

 

it's not a great idea, it doesn't take a ton of heat to cure the paint since you aren't baking it on so once you've built your paint booth (you should absolutely use a paint booth with a suction fan blowing outside) build in a seal-able door and toss in a bag of kitty litter or desiccant to keep the booth air very dry, temperature doesn't matter much as long as you don't get moisture buildup which causes cracking and texturing during the curing process.

 

 

Bottom line - Pretty much rent out a spray booth for this project for best results?

If I use automotive paint, do I need to do a polycoat or other finish on top?

 

 

Thanks for the detailed reply!!

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1 minute ago, Captain Matt said:

Bottom line - Pretty much rent out a spray booth for this project for best results?

If I use automotive paint, do I need to do a polycoat or other finish on top?

unfortunately that's probably the best option if you want a pearl finish.

yes you will need a clearcoat top, doesn't have to be a polycoat product specifically but any semi-gloss enamel topcoat would work to seal the paint and prevent the pigment from lifting with fingerprints or skin oils.

The best gaming PC is the PC you like to game on, how you like to game on it

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5 hours ago, GhostRoadieBL said:

unfortunately that's probably the best option if you want a pearl finish.

yes you will need a clearcoat top, doesn't have to be a polycoat product specifically but any semi-gloss enamel topcoat would work to seal the paint and prevent the pigment from lifting with fingerprints or skin oils.

Well I think I'll knock out the sanding tomorrow and then do a LOT of research on where I can rent a spray booth around town...

Dry times... Paint mix... Paint sourcing... Etc.

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If this is your first time using a real paint booth / spayer /automotive paint, then you can expect to fail. Getting a nice result is not trivial. The biggest thing to remember is that proper prep is absolutely key. Sand, primer, sand, primer, repeat until the surface is perfect. 

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1 hour ago, Blue4130 said:

If this is your first time using a real paint booth / spayer /automotive paint, then you can expect to fail. Getting a nice result is not trivial. The biggest thing to remember is that proper prep is absolutely key. Sand, primer, sand, primer, repeat until the surface is perfect. 

Thanks for the tip! I would have only though to sand and prime once.

 

Know a good YouTube channel I can study up on? 🙂

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On 1/28/2022 at 6:55 PM, GhostRoadieBL said:

yes, denatured alcohol will texture the surface of most plastics and it's a huge pain to sand and resurface. (I ran into this alot when painting props for stage and texture was less an issue but anything that catches light wrong is noticeable)

sand blasting/bead blasting is an option to texture the surface before using a brakeclean but that's also likely to damage the surfaces.

 

best we've used is just hand sanding with 200+grit and then finishing the parts with a 300+ grit to smooth the surface for prime and paint.

 

primer and testing. Automotive paints often work best blending metal to plastic because that's what they were designed for but that's all spray booth work and lots and lots of thin coats. the car from the photo probably has 5-10 layers with wet sanding and curing between each.

 

Pearlescent paints have ceramic or mica particles which reflect and refract the light which is what gives them the deep colour and cause curves to change the refracted light angle causing the colour shift you see. "colourshift pearls" are often a paint additive which is added to the pigment and base shade of the paint before spraying. Mixing this without prior experience or a few days of trial and error will not turn out well. Choose a paint which is pre-mix (probably won't be as deep and rich as a custom mix) it will be much less of a headache and less expensive.

 

A sprayer with a soft wide pattern would be best for blending, you'll have to research nozzles for the size of pearls you're using, these paints don't come in spray cans and the few that do look pretty bad compared to sprayer versions of the paint which you can control how thin each coat is and layer for plastic vs metal.

 

it's not a great idea, it doesn't take a ton of heat to cure the paint since you aren't baking it on so once you've built your paint booth (you should absolutely use a paint booth with a suction fan blowing outside) build in a seal-able door and toss in a bag of kitty litter or desiccant to keep the booth air very dry, temperature doesn't matter much as long as you don't get moisture buildup which causes cracking and texturing during the curing process.

 

 

 

 

This video is an AMAZING resource.

 

Basically he explains where you can get automotive paint in spray paint cans! 🤩🤩

 

https://scratchwizard.net/scratch-repair/spray-paint.html

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1 hour ago, Captain Matt said:

 

 

This video is an AMAZING resource.

 

Basically he explains where you can get automotive paint in spray paint cans! 🤩🤩

 

https://scratchwizard.net/scratch-repair/spray-paint.html

I've never seen a spray can that matches a proper compressor based job. Even with proper preparation, my guess is the solvent/propellant in spray cans is the issue. 

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12 hours ago, Blue4130 said:

I've never seen a spray can that matches a proper compressor based job. Even with proper preparation, my guess is the solvent/propellant in spray cans is the issue. 

You can get really close, most of the issues I've had to fix have been poor/not enough mixing of the can before spraying.


multiple 2 min shakes with letting the can rest for a few seconds upside-down between can help with the mix and finish.

The best gaming PC is the PC you like to game on, how you like to game on it

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32 minutes ago, GhostRoadieBL said:

You can get really close, most of the issues I've had to fix have been poor/not enough mixing of the can before spraying.


multiple 2 min shakes with letting the can rest for a few seconds upside-down between can help with the mix and finish.

Since you're so knowledgeable about painting... 😉

 

I'm looking at applying a satin wrap post-painting to finalize the look.

 

I found this Xpel stealth wrap which is crazy expensive because it's for cars.

 

Do you know anything cheaper that 1) will achieve the same result 2) can have heat applied to it safely for easy application around bends?

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24 minutes ago, Captain Matt said:

Do you know anything cheaper that 1) will achieve the same result 2) can have heat applied to it safely for easy application around bends?

Cheaper would be a satin top coat spray

https://www.rustoleum.com/product-catalog/consumer-brands/stops-rust/clear-enamel/

 

Since it's the top coat you should use the lightest passes. You'll be able to see the texture build with each pass and stop when it's the right finish.

Mask off the plastic and paint the metal first as it will pick up the finish faster, then do the plastic parts to match. It should take 2+ more passes for the plastic to match if it's textured. If it's shiny it may take less passes to match the metal. (same with the paint layer)

 

Also use this for the edge masking, the thin width gets you really clean lines and then use normal masking tape to cover more area.

https://www.amazon.com/Cornison-Fineline-Masking-Automotive-Yellow/dp/B0993C8J1D/ref=mp_s_a_1_18?crid=GGKRAI7JW6YI&keywords=auto+masking+tape+for+painting&pscroll=1&qid=1643561753&sprefix=auto+masking+tape%2Caps%2C353&sr=8-18&wIndexMainSlot=23

 

The best gaming PC is the PC you like to game on, how you like to game on it

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  • 2 weeks later...

Sanded. Painting some edges black. And I found a really similar wrap. ❤️

 

WAY EASIER than painting. 🙂

No expensive either. - $50 out the door to over the whole case with some decent size scraps left over,

https://metrorestyling.com/products/avery-satin-dark-basalt-vinyl-wrap-sw900-871-s

 

 

Closing this thread and will make new posts when I do my project build log 🙂

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