How to paint it?

[FiddlersGreen]

So I have an airbrush and spay paint... I paint all my stuff from my mail box... Ps3... Anything I can do a nice design on.

I've never painted on aluminum though and found out the hard way, you can't paint on it like everything else or I just didn't prep it properly cause when I laid down tape, it just pulls the paint clean off.

So, how would one go about painting top of a MacBook Air? Or can you even? And if not, is there something I could paint and lay down on top cause my shell looks kind of ugly now after scrapping the paint off...

[David58117]

Originally Posted by FiddlersGreen

So I have an airbrush and spay paint... I paint all my stuff from my mail box... Ps3... Anything I can do a nice design on.

I've never painted on aluminum though and found out the hard way, you can't paint on it like everything else or I just didn't prep it properly cause when I laid down tape, it just pulls the paint clean off.

So, how would one go about painting top of a MacBook Air? Or can you even? And if not, is there something I could paint and lay down on top cause my shell looks kind of ugly now after scrapping the paint off...

Paint it directly? Seriously?

Why not get a skin or thin case and paint that?

I'm curious how the layer of pain would affect heat dissipation?

[blueroom]

Generally Aluminum is anodized. Just have a custom decal made.

[FiddlersGreen]

Originally Posted by David58117

Paint it directly? Seriously?

Why not get a skin or thin case and paint that?

I'm curious how the layer of pain would affect heat dissipation?

See thats what I was wondering after I had painted on it... the heat thing... which is kind of why I was checking. I scrapped all the paint off but...

And yeah... why not paint it directly? That's how you do anything else... So I didn't really think about it before painting on it... However I also didn't think about how the heat could potentially effect it if it was all painted after reading more about the aluminum shell... and if that would hurt something, then yes I wouldn't paint on it... but like I said, I've done it on a dozen other things and never had a problem and so it never crossed my mind especially after I was researched painting my last macbook but that was a plastic shell.

I'll look at getting a skins or whatever else they have and see if I can't paint that and just lat that on top....

[BeeJee]

Originally Posted by FiddlersGreen

See thats what I was wondering after I had painted on it... the heat thing... which is kind of why I was checking. I scrapped all the paint off but...

And yeah... why not paint it directly? That's how you do anything else... So I didn't really think about it before painting on it... However I also didn't think about how the heat could potentially effect it if it was all painted after reading more about the aluminum shell... and if that would hurt something, then yes I wouldn't paint on it... but like I said, I've done it on a dozen other things and never had a problem and so it never crossed my mind especially after I was researched painting my last macbook but that was a plastic shell.

I'll look at getting a skins or whatever else they have and see if I can't paint that and just lat that on top....

You could paint it the way you want then put a matte finish wrapsol protective skin on top so it doesn't peel off. Almost like laminating your work. I don't see why it wouldn't work, even though generally aluminum in general is anodized, not painted, like the poster above me said

[tillsbury]

Have you tried spraying first with an aluminium primer? That's what I'd do, then sand that down fine with 400 or higher grit paper and paint on that.

[FiddlersGreen]

Hmm... I'll look into that, I didn't know they have a primer specifically for that.

I'm thinking the best is to get a cover as suggested and just paint that... Since its not usually painted on, there would be a lot of experimenting (and ive got plenty of good ideas from other airbrush artists but nothings for sure) so this is kind of a hassel and I don't care for doing that on a Mac less than a month old =p I put a lot of work into it the first time and I don't wanna do that again experimenting and then have it still peel off and make the shell look even worse.

[MattSepeta]

Score it with some sand paper and keys, that way it will really really hold the paint as well as entirely demolishing any resale value that may have been left

[jamesr19]

Why don't you paint the bottom and use that as a tester? The bottom is easily removable so if you muck it up or it doesn't work then it's even less of a problem.

[FiddlersGreen]

Originally Posted by MattSepeta

Score it with some sand paper and keys, that way it will really really hold the paint as well as entirely demolishing any resale value that may have been left

Hmm... Good idea!

=P

Acrually that probably wouldn't work to well... I actually did try sanding before I put the paint on. Can't even tell... When I scratched off the paint with a razor blade, the only noticeable mark is on the white apple... So if anyone was wondering about a macair's durability, at least as far as the outer surface, rest assured... It's quite scratch resistant =D I haven't tried the key thing though...

[halledise]

well it is your Mac, but it seems like a silly idea to me.
have you considered that you will have immense difficulty selling the thing when comes the time?