Painting a C64

[Mark Smith]

Hi all,

I've a few C64 cases and keyboards here that are horribly yellowed, so I'm planning on painting them.

Does anyone know the proper process for painting plastic ?  Do you have to prime them first and what sort of paint would work best ?

Replacement keyboard stickers I'm going to get from http://www.4keyboard.com/

Thanks!

Mark

[RobertB]

...what sort of paint would work best ?

Hmm, what was that type and color of Krylon paint that has been recommended?

              Trying to determine it,
              Robert Bernardo
              Fresno Commodore User Group
              http://videocam.net.au/fcug
              The Other Group of Amigoids
              http://www.calweb.com/~rabel1/
              Southern California Commodore/Amiga Network
              http://www.sccaners.org/

[Andrew Wiskow]

Hmm, what was that type and color of Krylon paint that has been recommended?

Krylon Fusion paint is the type that's recommended for painting Commodore computers.  Color, however, is up to your personal preference.    If you're trying to get it close to the original color, for the 64C or 128, the color that's closest is called "River Rock".  I'm not sure about the breadbin 64 though...

As for the method, this advice was posted on Lemon64 in 2004:

well, I'm a painter. listen what you should do.

make sure you clean your case very, but really, very well. if you don't it'll peel off indeed like schema just mentioned. use alcohol, and after that clean it with a product you are using to do the dishes. dry it (make sure it's really (!) dry. that's the most important thing actually. after that grab some spray you like and make sure it's dry (again - wait atleast 24 hours) to put it back together.
make sure the paint is based on a satin substance.
oh yeah, the advice was for free 

[airship]

I would first try bleaching (if you're talking about the 64C, not the breadbin). The process has been discussed extensively on Lemon64.

Essentially, it involves immersing the case in a strong solution of hydrogen peroxide spiked with a bit of OxyClean, then placed under a UV light source. (The sun will do.) People report really good results.

[Mark Smith]

Thanks for that .. they sell that down the auto shops here I believe.

I'm not going to try match the original colour, I find that when something is "close" in colour it doesn't look quite right, so I'm going to go the opposite and find some bright colour .. maybe Orange :-)

Not sure on what colour to spray the keys .. what goes nice with orange ?  Blue ?  Green ?  And the function keys ?

Regards

Mark

[Andrew Wiskow]

Not sure on what colour to spray the keys .. what goes nice with orange ?  Blue ?  Green ?  And the function keys ?

Orange, huh?  Check out this heavily modded C64 on eBay right now:









Here's the link to the eBay auction for it.

[Mark Smith]

Ooooh tacky and garish ... i like it! :-)

Think i will skip all the knobs and buttons, but the colour is nice, and it looks metallic blue keys go fairly well.

Also looks like the top part of the case is completely home made .. quite good work really.

Mark

[RobertB]

Check out this heavily modded C64...

Nicely done!

              Truly,
              Robert Bernardo
              Fresno Commodore User Group
              http://videocam.net.au/fcug
              The Other Group of Amigoids
              http://www.calweb.com/~rabel1/
              Southern California Commodore/Amiga Network
              http://www.sccaners.org/

[Andrew Wiskow]

Not so heavily modded, but sharp-looking nonetheless, is Leif Bloomquist's blue 64c:



Click here to see more photos (including the "before" shot of the badly yellowed case) and descriptions on how he did it.