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Painting your Spigen Apple Watch stand!

fischersd

fischersd

macrumors 603
Original poster
Oct 23, 2014
5,380
1,942
Port Moody, BC, Canada
Here's the "after" pic:

IMG_0608.JPG


The Bill of Materials (removing pricing as people seem fixated on that):

Spigen 330 Apple Watch Stand
Rust-Oleum Self-Etching Primer
Dupli-Color Perfect Match Premium Automotive Universal Black
Dupli-Color Perfect Match Premium Automotive Protective Clear
1M Apple Watch charging cord
Double-sided Carpet Tape
Plasti-Dip Black (Spray Rubber)
Meguiar's Ultimate Polish

Removed from BoM (from first attempt):
Rust-Oleum Hammered Black (which really isn't Black) :(
Rust-Oleum Painter's Touch Flat Black
Rust-Oleum Painter's Touch Semi-Gloss Clear
 
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Some pics showing progress:

The rubber top pulls straight off:
thumb_IMG_0508_1024.jpg

Putting strapping top/bottom protects the aluminum - vice grips in the middle
You want to paint some of what's covered by the rubber so you don't see any bare aluminum
thumb_IMG_0509_1024.jpg

It's important to use a self etching primer on the aluminum first
thumb_IMG_0510_1024.jpg

Primed:
thumb_IMG_0511_1024.jpg

First coat of paint:
thumb_IMG_0513_1024.jpg
 
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As you can see from an outside shot, the paint hasn't darkened enough
thumb_IMG_0519_1024.jpg

The Plasti-Dip does an excellent job at making our charging cord black!! :)
thumb_IMG_0523_1024.jpg

Showing the second coat - doesn't appeared to have darkened at all. :(
thumb_IMG_0521_1024.jpg

Looks like I'll need to do some more painting - this certainly isn't dark enough!

Notes on the Plati-Dip/making your cable black.
- I left the tabs at the end white as I figure they're prone to a lot of contact (in the case of the puck end, it's going to be hidden by the rubber Spigen top anyways)
- Doing a good job on taping is, as always when you're painting, key to having a good clean result
- Have a paring knife handy to protect the rubber on the cable as you're removing the tape
- You need to lay the coating on thick - really soak it to get a really good shiny look
- If the final product isn't shiny enough for your liking, give it a coat of armour all (also gives it more of a plastic feel)
- The cables have a natural curve / way they want to lay - by using that, you can spray one side, let it dry (10 minutes or so), then flip over and paint the other side. USE a new surface for painting the other side! The rubber will stick to the oversprayed portion from the first side!
- After doing both sides, I just had a little touching up to do (a couple thin spots)

Oh...and not sure why Plati-Dip is SO much cheaper in the US...only $5.98 at Home Depot:
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Plasti-Dip-11-oz-Black-Rubber-Coating-Spray-11203-6/100131010
 
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Very nice.....I paint a lot of car pieces for the interior and it's easy with thin light coats....if you want to polish the optional clearcoat after you're done, to a black lacquer piano type shine, just do about 200 strokes of meguires 205 finishing polish with a microfiber towel.

I've got two spiegens, I'll do one in base black Mettallic and clear next month....stay tuned...great idea on the black PD cord.....
 
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You paid that much for a spigen stand? It was only $19.99 U.S. When I got it a couple of weeks ago?
 
Glene said:
Very nice.....I paint a lot of car pieces for the interior and it's easy with thin light coats....if you want to polish the optional clearcoat after you're done, to a black lacquer piano type shine, just do about 200 strokes of meguires 205 finishing polish with a microfiber towel.

I've got two spiegens, I'll do one in base black Mettallic and clear next month....stay tuned...great idea on the black PD cord.....
Click to expand...

Thanks for the tip on the clear coat! :) I have some of that - was debating if I'll use it - now I think I might just try your Meguire's trick and see how it comes out. :)

Edit: The colour of this paint is definitely a "gun metal grey", not black as advertised on the can / can top - the can top is CONSIDERABLY darker / more black. Either I got a dud or they've misrepresented the colour of this paint. After looking at several pics of available black metallic as well as considering Glene's suggestion on creating a piano-like finish, I'm going to cover the current colour with a flat black, then a couple coats of clear-coat to shine it up. If I can find the Meguier's polish, I'll also use it to give it that extra richness. :)

Stay tuned....
 
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[MOD NOTE]
Please stay on topic. Off topic posts were removed.
 
Impressive! Unfortunately I have neither the time nor tools nor expertise for a project like that.
 
Had these handy (didn't use them for a prior project)
IMG_0526.JPG
First coat of black:
IMG_0527.JPG

I'll be adding another coat of black to make sure the colour's perfect, then a coat or two of clear.

May be another day or two (I do my painting outside - rain delays) :(
 
Second coat of black:
IMG_0528.JPG
3 coats of clear:
thumb_IMG_0533_1024.jpg
Once this last coat of clear has cured, I'll debate whether I use an automotive polisher/cutter to give it more sheen or not. I like the Meguiar's suggestion I got from Glene, but at $45 a bottle, that's a little pricey when I don't have another project in mind to use it for. :)

Oh, and I decided to grab another outside shot, so you can see how much blacker it is than the "hammered black" I tried first. As you can see, it still keeps that "hammered" texturing in some spots. I think it gives it a little character....if I decide to change it, I'll have to sand this all out. :eek:

thumb_IMG_0532_1024.jpg

Stay tuned!! Next should be assembly with our nice black charging cable! :)
 
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Glene said:
What? Meguires 205 is about 18!!
Click to expand...
You mean $ or coats of clear before I use it? :)
Up here they've rebranded it as Meguiar's M105 (they assured me it's the same thing). Same size bottle as the US, but it's $45 up here. (lots of things that aren't a straight exchange rate, unfortunately).

Edit: I was approximating. We pay $41US for it up here ($51 Canadian).
Here's the current link (Canadian distributor for Meguiar's): http://www.garage16.ca/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=M10532
 
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105 IS NOT the same thing and far more abrasive, stay away from that person that told you that he's an idiot.

Meg's 205 ultra finishing polish is $10 USD on Amazon.

But this stuff is not magical, find a local auto parts store and pick up any finishing polish, that will work.
 
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Very cool work! Out of curiosity, couldn't you have used the Plasti-Dip on the stand itself? I also want to try that on all my cables!
 
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Glene said:
105 IS NOT the same thing and far more abrasive, stay away from that person that told you that he's an idiot.

Meg's 205 ultra finishing polish is $10 USD on Amazon.

But this stuff is not magical, find a local auto parts store and pick up any finishing polish, that will work.
Click to expand...
Heh...it was Brandon, at Meguiar's support that told me that the 105 is the same. :)
Thanks Glene! After watching a few youtube videos, I might get brave and buy some 205 to spruce up the finish on my car! :)

@BeyondtheTech Yes, you could potentially cover the stand in the Plasti-Dip. If you did, I'd give it a good coat of Armour-All (otherwise, it may be a little difficult to keep clean). I did that with the cable as well, just to give it less of a rubber and more of a plastic feel. It won't have the appearance of a painted finish though. If you didn't prime it, it may also flake and peel off. Paint is more durable and produces better results for hard surfaces.

I may still end up putting Plasti-Dip on the top of the base if I find my link bracelet rubs against it when I get it (another member mentioned that). Even though mine will have the DLC coating, repeated wear will eventually damage the finish.

I'll likely polish the stand today. Need to make sure the clear coat is fully cured first.
 
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It's still giving off paint fumes, so I'm going to let it cure another day before polishing it up.

I'm planning on "tacking" the cord to the back, left, inside edge of the stand with gorilla glue to make it stealthy - the design of the stand should hide that for the most part.

Here's some "eye candy" until I come back with it polished (and possibly assembled) :)

Front:
thumb_IMG_0551_1024.jpg

Side:
thumb_IMG_0554_1024.jpg
 
fischersd said:
It's still giving off paint fumes, so I'm going to let it cure another day before polishing it up.

I'm planning on "tacking" the cord to the back, left, inside edge of the stand with gorilla glue to make it stealthy - the design of the stand should hide that for the most part.

Here's some "eye candy" until I come back with it polished (and possibly assembled) :)

Front:
View attachment 558092

Side:
View attachment 558093
Click to expand...
No offence. But that isn't a very good spray job. It's not very flat. Looks like you've tried to apply too much all at once.
 
IllusionEntity said:
No offence. But that isn't a very good spray job. It's not very flat. Looks like you've tried to apply too much all at once.
Click to expand...

Heh. If you actually read the thread, you'll see that I started with a "hammered black". That leaves a texturing to the finish. I put a darker black over it. I could have sanded the texture out first, but I think (as I said earlier), it adds character.
 
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fischersd said:
Heh. If you actually read the thread, you'll see that I started with a "hammered black". That leaves a texturing to the finish. I put a darker black over it. I could have sanded the texture out first, but I think (as I said earlier), it adds character.
Click to expand...
Not the way I spray but ok. Doesn't add character. Looks shocking.
 
IllusionEntity said:
Not the way I spray but ok. Doesn't add character. Looks shocking.
Click to expand...
Well, I was on the fence about it. Just talked with Glene about it (who paints all the time) - the problem with a textured surface like that is that your polishing won't work (you'll get build-up of residue in the crannies, thin spots in your clear coat on the highs. So, I'm going to have to do what I thought in the first place and take it back down to the aluminum.
Heh. On my way out to grab some airplane paint remover. :) Thanks Glene!
 
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