Mario Paint

[eseyo1]

I've decided to pick up another hobby (in addition to paper crafting): Painting!

It started off with my urge to paint my DS Lite. Instead, I ended up hand painting the clear case for the DS Lite. I didn't want to risk taking the DS Lite apart and possibly damaging it. I was somewhat content with the finished product (sorry, no picture), but I decided to be a little more adventurous.

I took an old GBA SP that I had laying around and decided to take it apart and paint it. I didn't take pictures of the process, but here is the finished product. I used a textured metallic gray for the main color and a metallic gold for the triforce.

After painting the GBA SP, I decided I'd take it a bit further and find other stuff to paint. I noticed that I had a plain white Guitar Hero III Wii faceplate. I made two stencils out of card stock using the same mario image. I first sprayed on the base coat in textured metallic gray. Then, I spray painted one layer of metallic blue using one stencil cutout. Finally, I added on the final layer in white. I think I'm going to use contact paper next time because I had to tape down the bits and pieces of the card stock and it was very time consuming and sloppy. I ended up having to touch up the image by hand. All in all, I'm happy with the finished product as well and I feel like I'm getting the hang out it.

 

[610925]

whoa! how did you make that stencil come out so well?

 

[eseyo1]

First, I edited the image in photoshop to make it less detailed so it's easier to cut. Then, I made 2 copies of the image. The first copy I cut out one shade and the second copy I cut out the other shade. It's a very long and tedious process, but the more time you spend on it and the more precise you are, the better the graphic will come out when you spray it.

 

[dinofan01]

Man that came out nice. I always wanted to do something to my guitar but Im always to scared to mess it up.

 

[eseyo1]

Well, the nice thing with spray paint is that, if you mess up, you can always paint over it with the base coat again. =) It's like whiteout on steroids.

 

[Paard]

The faceplate looks nice, maybe you should try painting the Wii?

 

[raulpica]

Whoa! I like the textured metallic gray you used

Also kudos for the Guitar Faceplate, it's amazing

 

[Doomsday Forte]

Very nice. I'm reminded of what some ludicrous soul did to his original model DS. He..well, he didn't spraypaint it. He used the brush kind of paint. I don't remember what type, but it was painted blue and green for Lost in Blue. ...Needless to say, it looked like shit, and it turned out very badly. I want to say he even painted on one of the screens which...which...*sobs*

I haven't had the nerve to try to paint any system of mine, since A) I like how they look already and B) opening it up and painting everything...eh. I like them how they are. =P

 

[webjedi]

Painting!

Nice job. Both look great.

Now come paint my stuff!!!

 

[zidane_genome]

what's a good paint to use? I know regular spray paint will come out really bad, and I really wanna do this stuff too

 

[eseyo1]

I researched a lot of paints and it was kind of hard to find good paint. I wanted to find something that was durable and long-lasting at a reasonable price. Unfortunately, unless you go to a paint store or independently owned hobby store, you're not going to find a lot of decent paints.

I use three types of paints: Krylon, Rust-O-Leum, and Testors.

Krylon and Rust-O-Leum are the two main American made spray paints. Krylon is usually the multiple-use brand and Rust-O-Leum is really meant for covering wood, plastic, or metal made furniture to make them last longer and give them a nice coat of color. Testors is cheap model paint that is cheap and isn't very durable or long-lasting, but the keyword is cheap and they have a wide variety of colors. What I do in this case is paint details with Testors and coat it with Rust-O-Leum Crystal Clear Enamel. That way, you'll still get the Testors color, but the durability of Rust-O-Leum.

One key thing to remember is that if you use a better spray paint like Rust-O-Leum, make sure you let it dry for up to 7 days. I know if it's your DS or Guitar Hero guitar, you'll be tempted to play it especially if it's beautiful, but resist the temptation. Also, if possible, pick paint that is MADE FOR PLASTIC. Rust-O-Leum and Krylon both have brands that are MADE FOR PLASTIC and you don't necessarily need to sand or prime in that case.

Believe me, it will pay off. After a week of drying, Rust-O-Leum is pretty durable and it leaves a nice hard coat of paint.

You can find Testors paints at your local chain craft store (for me it's Michael's). Krylon and Rust-O-Leum you can find at any Walmart or any chain hardware store (OSH, Home Depot, etc).

I hope I answered your question.