Infected by Bacteria!

[sacapuntas]

I recently received my kit from bacteria and am so excited to get started on this project. I am deciding a few things before I get started such as color preferences. I thought I would check in with the community here ask for a little input.

I am looking at doing a metallic look finish (think new macbook) and am wondering if I should plan on painting the case in the first steps of this project or after most of the work is done but before I mount the components. Also, are there any recommendations on how to get a really good brushed metal finish?

All comments and any advice is welcome!

[bacteria]

Excellent, pleased the kit arrived ok.

Please ask me for any advice you might need as you progress in the project - I am always keen to help!:D

I got a really good finish with metallic black; just make sure you use a metallic spray paint varnish/sealer.

Cut out all your holes first, add decals; then spray paint lots of thin layers (allowing to dry between coats) then about 3 layers of varnish/sealer.


PS - Now I know you received my package, I have left feedback on e-bay for you as the transaction is now complete! Many thanks again!

[stephen0205]

someone else with a kit, nice, see u doing well, inspiring more people to build portables, metallic black, sounds kl.

[bacteria]

There are lots of nice colours to spray paint a project case in; plain and also metallic. If someone wants a really sheeny one, how about metallic red?

It will be interesting with you two guys documenting your work as to what changes you make to the overall look of the system and also colour scheme; and if you change anything I did.

Watching these threads with a great deal of interest

[Aguiluz]

Lemme see the final product if it's any good.

I am considering of getting one too.

[bacteria]

Of course it's good, it's brilliant!

(I know what you mean, see what results others get).

Any progress, sacapuntas?

[sacapuntas]

I am probably going to apply something over the entire case before cutting to build up the thickness so that I can sand it smoother and have a truly flawless case.

Any recommendations on what to use to "fill" unevenness in the case surface.

PS- the surface of the case is not terrible, it is exactly how bacteria said it would be "nice but not flawless". I am simply trying to create a truly flawless looking product.

Also the color I was thinking of is actually closer to the brushed metal finish on new macbooks (ie not dark).

[bacteria]

Yes, I did go to great pains to explain that the case was not perfectly smooth, like a commercial product, however with a bit of time careful sanding, you can get it really quite excellent.

[sacapuntas]

Bacteria, (or anyone else used to working with these kinds of cases) what have you used, or what would you recommend me for filling the case bumps? I am considering using epoxy with glass beads, but I wanted to see what is the standard for using on this type of case. Anyone who has experience with this kind of thing is encouraged to give me some advice.

[bacteria]

The plastic on the case is around 1 - 1.5mm thick depending on the place and the bumps you refer to are very superficial. I just spent a couple of minutes on a case backing rubbing with a foam sanding block and got a section (one of the complete curved corner edges) really smooth and flat - probably lost no more than 0.1 - 0.2mm of the case thickness. See pic below - it is completely smooth (in the circled area I just did) and no detriment to the case thickness or strength:

This is a reject case, the plastic misformed and creased in places. I recon on getting about 75% success in making quality cases, the remaining 25% go in the bin or get used for testing.



There are no issues, just sand, and every so often hold the case to the light to check you haven't been over zealous and starting to see daylight through the plastic!

You try this sanding method too - spend half an hour or so with a foam sanding block and see the benefit. You don't need any filler. The sanding blocks are good because they are flexible whilst sanding, and are fairly small grain sand so easier on the plastic (you want small grit sandpaper).

I forgot to sand the case backing before painting on my IntoPlay project; had I done it, it would have looked really smooth. My future systems will be completely smooth!

[sacapuntas]

I got to work in the case today.

I sanded the two halves of the case down to the proper height.
l



All was going good but I realized that there was a lip on the edge of each side, this made the two halves sit improperly. I decided to use a file to straighten the edge out.





That ended up creating a very nice level case edge.

Here are the result of todays (minimalistic ) work.







Tomorrow I will be applying a high build primer to the case. This is to ensure that the finish turns out smooth(I know you said to just sand it , bacteria.. but I didn't want thin the case out and am willing to make the extra effort.) after some drying time I will sand to my hearts content and repeat until the case is totally smooth. I will post pics when I have completed that step.

[bacteria]

Coming on nicely. If you want to get the case sections to meet better, you will need to sand the cases a little lower (still above the line); compare one half against the other and decide which one needs a little more sanding.

Use a pencil eraser to remove the pen lines, otherwise they will show up through the paint (using a pencil eraser removes all traces of the pen marks).

Up to you, but if you prepare the case first with all the holes done, you won't get bits of white showing through from the hole edges - the edges will be uniform then to the rest of the colour you make the case - up to you though.

[sacapuntas]

Coming on nicely. If you want to get the case sections to meet better, you will need to sand the cases a little lower (still above the line); compare one half against the other and decide which one needs a little more sanding.

Use a pencil eraser to remove the pen lines, otherwise they will show up through the paint (using a pencil eraser removes all traces of the pen marks).

Up to you, but if you prepare the case first with all the holes done, you won't get bits of white showing through from the hole edges - the edges will be uniform then to the rest of the colour you make the case - up to you though.

Bacteria, I have undoubtedly misunderstood your instructions. I thought you said that the top need to be between 21 -25 mm. That is why I did not go further. Can you help me out with this?

[bacteria]

Certainly: I made mine 21mm tall and everything fits fine although it would have been easier to get a perspex backing on the joysticks better; so I suggested certainly 22mm, ideally 23mm; 24mm and more is a bit overkill. 23mm is ideal.

[sacapuntas]

Okay everyone I have an update for you guys. (sorry for the trashy picture quality, my good camera is out of town so I was forced to use my laptop...)

I have sanded both sides down to the proper height. I also proceeded to spray each half with a high build primer.




Every time I sprayed the primer I wet sanded the primer down until spots started coming through.






This is my "sanding workshop"



All of this sanding has greatly smoothed the surface of the case. The top is now almost completely done with the priming stage.






I am now planning on finishing my case after I have made all necessary cuts. I really wanted a metal looking case, so I decided to use an alternative finishing method. In my experience, plastic painted with metal colored paint ALWAYS LOOKS like plastic painted with metal colored paint. Because I wanted a realistic finish I chose to use another method to create a metal finish. I was at my local hobby store today and I found a Liquid Leafing product called "Precious Metals" . The product is actually a metal leafing product that is sprayed or brushed on. In person the metal coating that it creates is VERY convincing. It is a water based coating and I am therefor still able to shoot clear acrylic over it as my sealer/finish at the end




I will cut the wholes soon, and updates will come whenever progress is made