I’ve done some painting of portable electronics (specifically an Alphasmart Neo) with good success. I followed the advice of using automotive spraypaints, designed for dashboards, upholstery, etc. I’m not intimately familiar with the chemistry, but allegedly the paint bonds with the plastic for better longevity, and is slightly pliable, so it’s less likely to chip off. I’ve had two Neos painted this was for years now, and they both look great.
Here’s an example of what I used: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/4678615243/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 CAM -- C.A. Magaret Sent from my newfangled mobile technogizmo. Please forgive any typos, inelegant brevity, or nonsensical auto-corrections. > On Oct 13, 2020, at 05:25, Erik van der Tier <[email protected]> wrote: > > Hi, > > I’ve done the retrobrite on my T102 with some success. I have no idea if it > really made the plastics more brittle, but it didn’t get rid of all the > yellow although it was a huge improvement. But two weeks ago, I’ve gone > another direction with it and spray painted it mat-black. I’m very happy with > the results. I had actually sent a mail to this list, but it never seemed to > have gotten through. I used basic ’Spectrum spray paint’ and Spectrum primer. > After about 2 weeks of regular work I haven’t seen any degradation of the > paint job so far (I did go for many layers). Anyway, I can recommend this > approach as for me, I’m very happy with the result. The T102 looks like a > completely new machine. You do lose the decals below the function keys (not a > problem for me…). > > Erik > > <F3BB1F02-E86B-461B-851B-341B6820394F_1_201_a.heic> > > >> On 13 Oct 2020, at 13:13, Michael Kohne <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> I've got an M100 with a severely yellowed upper shell, and I'm >> wondering what remediation possibilities I have. >> >> I've heard of retrobrite, but I've also heard that it can make >> plastics more brittle. For something that's a portable computer, >> brittle (even if only slightly more than original) sounds like a bad >> idea. >> >> Had anyone ever tried painting one of these shells? Are there paints >> that would hold up to actual use? It'd be like painting the case on a >> keyboard, and I'd worry that it was going to chip or rub off very >> quickly. >> >> I poked around the mechanical keyboard community and found references >> to using Krylon's Fusion paints, anyone have any experience with them? >> >> Also, does anyone know what kind of plastic the M100 shell is? I'd >> like to find some similar plastics to experiment with before I risk an >> M100 shell. >> >> -- >> Michael Kohne >> [email protected] >> >> Anything real you do that's important will be scary. Having kids. >> Getting married. Donating a kidney. Writing a book. Do it anyway. - >> Neil Gaiman >
