Painting and ipod MINI ?????

[mashinhead]

I just got a mini ipod, i wanted a green one and got on the waiting list for a a couple colors. Long story short i ended up with a pink one. To be honest i like some of the colors but i think they could be better.


How do i go about repainting an ipod mini, anodized aluminum. What kind of paint do i use etc? I want it to look professional.


If anyone knows its appreciated greatly.

[stoid]

I don't think that it is possible to repaint anodized aluminum and it look even close to the current texture/surface. Part of the anodized aluminum is that the color is part of the outer layer of aluminum. The only way I know of would be to strip off the current layer and re-anodize it with another color. This makes it more brittle, and is not an easy process by any means. I don't know what kind of paint would be best, try a few on the back and see which works the best.

[Stolid]

You might try colorwarepc -- they paint iPods (regular) and PowerBooks; and they probably list the method they paint somewhere on their site (I'm almost sure I saw it one time that I browsed around)
www.colorwarepc.com
They don't paint minis (and if you can do it yourself; go for it) but if they start to TechTV gave them a great review and the iPod jobs don't void warranty.

~Stolid

[slowtreme]

How do i go about repainting an ipod mini, anodized aluminum. What kind of paint do i use etc? I want it to look professional. UUUUHG new forum, I had a huge post about re-anodizing. and it blew up. so ef-it

Paint will rub/chip off in days. you'll have to re-color it. here's a nice site. http://www.focuser.com/atm/anodize/anodize99.html This is gonna cost big bucks. look for a local shop and see if you can have your stripped iPod added to some batch they are already doing.

[mashinhead]

You might try colorwarepc -- they paint iPods (regular) and PowerBooks; and they probably list the method they paint somewhere on their site (I'm almost sure I saw it one time that I browsed around)
www.colorwarepc.com
They don't paint minis (and if you can do it yourself; go for it) but if they start to TechTV gave them a great review and the iPod jobs don't void warranty.

~Stolid


yeah i checked with them and sent them an email about it. Still waiting for a reply. they said they'd do minis, but who knows when. They thing is everything on that site looks so glossy and plastic, (could be the pictures, which is the answer i'm waiting for) even the computers. i want to change to color and keep the finish the same.

[Stolid]

I agree; check my posts and you'll find one asking about the quality of Colorware in those sort of terms (the look of the colors, not how well painted it is which I'm pretty sure is extremely well done)
On the TechTV spot they didn't look /as/ plastic as the web makes them look - but it really drives me nuts. The mini colors are too bright/pastel-ish and the colorware look too plastic.
I want a nice subdued cool-colored (as opposed to warm colored) royal purple.