How do I paint this case without losing the brushed finish?

[feerof]

Well, I've read a few case painting guides, however most of them achieve the high glossy look... which is not what I want. I just purchased a Coolermaster Stacker stc-101 from a friend of mine for 40 bucks... and this is going to be the first case that I have ever bought myself. However I do not like the colour silver... it doesn't feel... right...

The outer shell of the case is aluminum with a brushed finish. I want to keep the brushed look, but I don't want the silver look. Do you guys have any idea how to get by this? I think adding primer would fill in these gaps... which isn't what I want, however I've heard that the paint doesn't stick well onto metal because of how paint dries up, thus we add primer...

I want this to be a DIY project.

What do you guys think? Could I just paint it black and see what happens?

Here are some pictures:



Excuse the poor white balance choice my camera automatically picked =P



Had to clean the case a bit



Why have a case and not put food on it? =P
=o pokemon spotted!


Thanks guys!

[Perineum]

I wouldn't touch it. I think paint isn't going to come out looking right. Perhaps this? Anodizing - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[feerof]

Why isn't the paint going to come out looking right?

And i don't think i have any time or money or patience to anodize a big sheet of aluminum =P, but that's a cool project though.

[MarkOne]

you can't paint and have a brush effect , you have to clean, electrolyze, stain it and after boil the parts to seal the pores. you may have an other solution ; I will test it tomorrow on the left over of the hole I do today in a similar case.

[Perineum]

I'm very interested to hear it....

[MarkOne]

if this chemical work , it will not give a glossy finish .

[Perineum]

Wonder if gun "bluing" chemical would work okay?

[Sushi Warrior]

You would need to use oven cleaner then anodize it. A. Spraypaint (or any other paint) will fill the cracks and B. Once coated (sealed, w/e) its basically a smooth finish anyways. No matter how fine the paint, with that protective layer on it will never, ever work (and it won't work without it anyways).

[feerof]

nvm, i decided to just paint over it... the case looks much better than compared to before =P

I didn't add primer, ... i know i know, you're suppose to... but i didn't sand down my case ... sooooo i didn't see the point...

What does primer do anyways?

i'll post pictures up later

[jcmaz]

Primer makes sure that the paint sticks on to the metal. You should use primer before you paint your case or the paint will peel off.