Lambent Darkness 7

I appricate the feedback. Thanks blupuper and fishman88 for checking it out.

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YOSHIBA

the color scheme is sexy

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Riki-Tiki-Rocketfish Log

XBOX 360 mod

Lambent Darkness 7

Thanks yoshiba, wait until it is all painted it will look even sexier.

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GoOffroad

Looking good. Hope you get pics of it painted up soon. These pics remind me of my senior year of high school when I worked at an auto body shop. Masking cars was not fun, lol.

Danylu

Keep it up

Keep giving me inspiration !

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Lambent Darkness 7

Hi, Everyone

I want to thank everyone that looked at my project and took the time to give feedback. I got some more work done on my case.

Here is a quick supply list . You also need lots of patience and time if you want it to look better that normal and like a new car. Prep work is the key!

Supplies:
1) Sandpaper (duh), I used 3M brand. various grits, (80, 220, 400, 600, 1500, 2000), automotive kind. Available at your local jobber.
2) Tackcloths, like DuPont™ Sontara® cloths. various ones of different tackiness. for the varoius stages of coatings.
3) Wax/tar/greese remover , like Prep-Sol cleaning solvent.
4) Paint/surface cleaner - like DuPont™ Final Klean
5) Sanding block - i used a flexable one since the cases surfaces were so irregular.
6) Shop towels - for what else but to clean up and wipe the panels and case.
7) Gloves- vinyl or latex doesnt matter.
8) Buffing pads and terry towels

Paint
1) Self etching primer - DuPont™ Variprime -If surface is taken down to bare metal.
2) High build primer/surfacer -- DuPont ChromaSurfacer or use primer/sealer if not stripping old paint off. Sealer prevent problems from reactions to the old finish
3) Base coat - DuPont™ ChromaBase® I used cause of its quality, easy use, value and appearance. doesnt give me any trouble durring application.
4) Clear coat - DuPont™ ChromaClear® I use for its gloss an outstanding durability.
5) Finishing compound - 3M™ Finesse-It™ Finishing Material takes out those 1500 and 2000 grit scratches.
6) Polish material - 3M™ Perfect-It™ Ultrafine Swirl Mark remover / Turtle Wax polishing compound makes it like glass and takes out all those swirl marks from the buffing.

The most labor intensive part is the sanding, its over 50% of the job the second longest part would be the masking and that's what you pay for if you had a professional do it. But in the end its worth it if you do it yourself.

NOW FOR THE UPDATES !

I was able to get alot done this morning and afternoon and will be getting more done later.



Primed the one panel while that panel was drying I did the other panel. I have to sand all the panels and pieces with 400 grit to begin with then 600 grit to leave a nice level smooth surface with just enough bite for the base coat to adhere to.

For the plastic parts, here is the procedure I used. For all the plastic, I cleaned it first with SEM Plastic/Leather Prep several times and then I washed it with warm water and scuffed it with plastic cleaning paste using a gray Scothbrite™. I used SEM Scuff and Clean for the paste. Rinsed it off and made sure it did not dry on the surface. I repeated the steps until it is dull and no water beads up on the surface. It is crucial to clean the surface to get good adhesion. You need to use care when sanding or scuffing plastic parts. There is a possibility the plastic parts might be damaged during the scuffing/sanding process.To prepare the surface and make the primer stick I used Plas-Stick® 2330S™ Adhesion Promoter and used one coat, I applied it right after cleaning. I allowed that to dry for 25 min. I then applied the high build primer/surfacer allowed a 5 min flash time between coats and used two coats. Allowed the primer to dry for 1 ½ hours, then sanded it with 400 grit to start with and finished it with 600 grit to make it smooth.



Looking good.

Here's all the little plastic pieces primed. The one piece has a black tint to it because I sprayed a guide coat on it as I did all the panels so I had a visual guide to a smooth surface. Sand the guide coat until its gone or you stop sanding when you see no more of it left.



The other panel primed



Allowing them to dry there for at least a hour before I can sand it or mask it. Perfect conditions in my house 80 degress with 45% humidity to dry.

Here is the test panel again just so you can see the color it is going to be.



Oh such a beautiful blue. I can not wait to paint it to see it on the case.

Thanks for viewing everyone. Leave your feedback I like to know how I am doing. Going to get more work done tonight.

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Lambent Darkness 7

Thanks GoOffroad and Danylu. glad you liked it.

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Lambent Darkness 7

saving a spot

Lambent Darkness 7

After cleaning it with DuPont™ Final Klean® solvent, I proceeded to apply my basecoat I applied two coats that which was enough to hide the primer achieve the color match. I allowed it to flash 5 min between coats with no sanding required because it dries to a smooth matte finish. I waited for 30 min until the basecoat was dry to apply the clear coat. The clear coat was a two-part urethane clear coat, which provided resistance to weathering, chemicals, outstanding durability and appearance. I used two medium wet coats of clear with 5 min flash time between coats. I waited 12 hours to handle the parts I clear coated to inspect them. I waited another 12 hours to start polishing it.

I have most of the case painted and it looks good so far. The color is so deep and vibrant it is amazing, the weather was real nice yesturday evening and this morning also. Using a Hygrometer to measure humidity:



Now for the case, it came out better that I expected since I didnt have a spray booth. The color is amazing, the camera does not do it justice.



So very sexy !! The clear coat makes the depth and gloss amazing.



Another sexy photo above.

Here are the rails from the front of he case



Looking good!



I think they came out ok you cant see the metallic shine or the color sparkle in the camera lens like you can in person. It is there though.



The fan grill and the top piece of the case front



Drying in my house now.

Took a picture of the panel minutes after being painted , Does not look too good now but but you sure can see the reflection there somewhat.



After it flashed for 5 minutes looks a bit better.



You have to love that orange peel.

After a hour drying looks so much better both of them.






Lets look at the other side panel shall we :



I glad it turned out well. I really have to colorsand it though.

The case looks great with the satin black inside and the deep blue outside



So all that painting done, only have the top part left to be painted as you can see it in the corner there.



Well let me know what all you pro's think here at OCN of the paint job and if its rep worthy for a newbie to the site. Thanks for the feedback and I'll have a little more tommorow for the people that are checking this one out.

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Slider46

Wow

That paint looks amazing!! Very nice! +rep

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