WARNING! Stop using the Dragonfly with your 7800...

[Gunstar]

...Unless you don't mind if it turns your 7800 into a first class DIVA!

 

 

 

 

I thought that title might get your attention!

Edited January 14, 2022 by Gunstar

[+Muddyfunster]

Ha that looks awesome! 

[+-^CrossBow^-]

@Gunstar

 

You need to make one of those labels up for mine!

 

I might have something for trade to make it worth your while related to the DF cart.

 

[+Karl G]

I don't usually fall for those clickbait headlines.  ? 

[Gunstar]

2 hours ago, -^CrossBow^- said:

@Gunstar

 

You need to make one of those labels up for mine!

 

I might have something for trade to make it worth your while related to the DF cart.

 

It's a bit more "crafty" than it looks in the pictures. If you were within 6 inches of the label you can tell it's actually layered. The first layer is a faux brushed metal decal (they actually are metallic, but are laminated to make them look brushed)  and then on top, the Fuji & Atari are a (multipart) chrome press-on decal and the rainbow 7800 stripe is taken from a photo of my 7800's name plate, resized to fit the Dragonfly (or control pad) and printed out onto semi-gloss decal paper, cut out and applied. I'd be happy to make you one, but it's not really something that can be made up for travel and applied at your end, I'd have to have you send part of your Dragonfly's case to me and I would do it here and return it.

Edited January 15, 2022 by Gunstar

[christo930]

5 hours ago, Gunstar said:

...Unless you don't mind if it turns your 7800 into a first class DIVA!

 

 

 

 

I thought that title might get your attention!

I've not tried it yet, but I was watching some model train stuff and this guy was printing the car bodies out and putting them on the main structure of a car.  He was painting the cars with an air brush and acrylic paint.  He was using one of those cheesy Chinese air airbrushes you can pick up for like 30 bucks complete with a "compressor"  It was by far the best looking home painted plastic I've ever seen.  It looked so natural and not thick and laid on the way regular spray paint tends to look.  I've seen so many hack jobs of painted computers (plastic computers like Amiga and C64) and they just look horrible (not a comment on your 7800. Just made me think of it).  You simply cannot get regular home-depot spray paint to look good on plastic.  But that acrylic looked outstanding. It didn't look painted. It looked like it was always that color.   It wasn't especially expensive, at least going by what the guy said.

[Gunstar]

3 hours ago, christo930 said:

I've not tried it yet, but I was watching some model train stuff and this guy was printing the car bodies out and putting them on the main structure of a car.  He was painting the cars with an air brush and acrylic paint.  He was using one of those cheesy Chinese air airbrushes you can pick up for like 30 bucks complete with a "compressor"  It was by far the best looking home painted plastic I've ever seen.  It looked so natural and not thick and laid on the way regular spray paint tends to look.  I've seen so many hack jobs of painted computers (plastic computers like Amiga and C64) and they just look horrible (not a comment on your 7800. Just made me think of it).  You simply cannot get regular home-depot spray paint to look good on plastic.  But that acrylic looked outstanding. It didn't look painted. It looked like it was always that color.   It wasn't especially expensive, at least going by what the guy said.

That would definitely be an advantage, depending on what you are painting. Those model train car bodies, however, are going to be on a train track or display mostly untouched, and aren't going to be regularly handled and pressed on, etc.

 

The 7800's controllers and console buttons will be regularly used, and for paint finish longevity, resiliency, and scratch/abrasion protection I use several coats of paint and clear coat, and if done properly, those are thin coats with full coverage. However, on the 7800, while it is spray paint and clear coat on the lower case front panel and the pro-controller, the red stripe and buttons on the 7800 console and the thumb-pad and buttons on the control pad were hand-painted with a brush using Testor's enamel model paint and clear coat since they will be touched often. The pro-controller is rarely used, mostly for show, so premium spray paint and clear coat was good enough. Nothing that is black was painted, except for the D-pad on the control pad. However, the black plastic on everything else and the brushed metal and rainbow stripes on the console and pro-controller were wiped with a micro-fiber cloth and Rejuvenate color restorer and UV protestant.

 

Whatever is used, be it brush, spray paint or air brush, it can look professional or a hack job depending on the skill of the painter and care taken, and quality of paint.

Edited January 15, 2022 by Gunstar

[christo930]

On 1/15/2022 at 2:12 AM, Gunstar said:

That would definitely be an advantage, depending on what you are painting. Those model train car bodies, however, are going to be on a train track or display mostly untouched, and aren't going to be regularly handled and pressed on, etc.

 

The 7800's controllers and console buttons will be regularly used, and for paint finish longevity, resiliency, and scratch/abrasion protection I use several coats of paint and clear coat, and if done properly, those are thin coats with full coverage. However, on the 7800, while it is spray paint and clear coat on the lower case front panel and the pro-controller, the red stripe and buttons on the 7800 console and the thumb-pad and buttons on the control pad were hand-painted with a brush using Testor's enamel model paint and clear coat since they will be touched often. The pro-controller is rarely used, mostly for show, so premium spray paint and clear coat was good enough. Nothing that is black was painted, except for the D-pad on the control pad. However, the black plastic on everything else and the brushed metal and rainbow stripes on the console and pro-controller were wiped with a micro-fiber cloth and Rejuvenate color restorer and UV protestant.

 

Whatever is used, be it brush, spray paint or air brush, it can look professional or a hack job depending on the skill of the painter and care taken, and quality of paint.

 

Well, I agree that bad technique, bad prep  and or cheap materials will completely screw up any project.  But I literally have never seen a spray painted computer look good.  You can't usually do any after work either, because the surfaces don't allow it (like a dotted surface similar to the look of sand-cast metal) and so you can never get the paint looking right. 

I've gotten metal to look good with spray cans, but it also involved a lot of work afterwards.  I have seen youtube videos of people who (hand brushed) painted large plastic panels for stuff like motorcycles which looked outstanding after sanding and polishing and buffing, but never myself.

 

I'm not sure how acrylic paint would stand up though. Didn't think of that.  Although my father used to paint all of his lawn stuff (gnomes, birdbaths, decorative rocks etc) with acrylic paint and it held up to the animals and elements fairly well. The main problem was sun fading.

 

[Gunstar]

4 hours ago, christo930 said:

 

Well, I agree that bad technique, bad prep  and or cheap materials will completely screw up any project.  But I literally have never seen a spray painted computer look good.  You can't usually do any after work either, because the surfaces don't allow it (like a dotted surface similar to the look of sand-cast metal) and so you can never get the paint looking right. 

I've gotten metal to look good with spray cans, but it also involved a lot of work afterwards.  I have seen youtube videos of people who (hand brushed) painted large plastic panels for stuff like motorcycles which looked outstanding after sanding and polishing and buffing, but never myself.

 

I'm not sure how acrylic paint would stand up though. Didn't think of that.  Although my father used to paint all of his lawn stuff (gnomes, birdbaths, decorative rocks etc) with acrylic paint and it held up to the animals and elements fairly well. The main problem was sun fading.

 

I do always look for better and easier ways to do things, and I do plan on looking into an airbrush since I am doing a lot more projects lately involving paint. And as a matter of fact, I'd seen some art, done like an oil or water color painting, but using airbrush on glass. IIRC, that's also how they used to do backgrounds for the epic movies as well. I seem to recall a documentary on Return of the Jedi talking about the Moon of Endor Ewok forest village being done with airbrush on glass. It's amazing how finally detailed it can be with a skilled hand, as good or better than can be done with the finest brush and a skilled hand.

 

But when it comes to painting console and computer cases and devices or even 3D printed stuff for modern home-brew peripherals, regardless if I spray paint, brush paint or airbrush, I will always be adding a couple of coats of clear coat to protect against minor scratching and abrasions. Stuff gets scratched, but no paint is scratched underneath. Even if it's pieces that will be up only for display and not used, it's a lot better to have a clear coat to actually clean and dust and not deteriorate the paint underneath. The clear coat can be maintained. So there will always be more than one layer on anything I paint.

 

Just like the paint itself, clear coats come in gloss, semi-gloss, satin, matte and flat variations. I usually stick with satin and matte myself, though with the 7800 above all I had on hand for clear coat was gloss. But since it's just really trim, and not an entire case, I decided it would be ok.

 

But as far as fully painted computer cases go, using spray paint, I think my 800CX custom paint job I recently did on my Atari 800 system looks pretty damn good.

 

Edited January 18, 2022 by Gunstar

[christo930]

20 hours ago, Gunstar said:

I do always look for better and easier ways to do things, and I do plan on looking into an airbrush since I am doing a lot more projects lately involving paint. And as a matter of fact, I'd seen some art, done like an oil or water color painting, but using airbrush on glass. IIRC, that's also how they used to do backgrounds for the epic movies as well. I seem to recall a documentary on Return of the Jedi talking about the Moon of Endor Ewok forest village being done with airbrush on glass. It's amazing how finally detailed it can be with a skilled hand, as good or better than can be done with the finest brush and a skilled hand.

 

But when it comes to painting console and computer cases and devices or even 3D printed stuff for modern home-brew peripherals, regardless if I spray paint, brush paint or airbrush, I will always be adding a couple of coats of clear coat to protect against minor scratching and abrasions. Stuff gets scratched, but no paint is scratched underneath. Even if it's pieces that will be up only for display and not used, it's a lot better to have a clear coat to actually clean and dust and not deteriorate the paint underneath. The clear coat can be maintained. So there will always be more than one layer on anything I paint.

 

Just like the paint itself, clear coats come in gloss, semi-gloss, satin, matte and flat variations. I usually stick with satin and matte myself, though with the 7800 above all I had on hand for clear coat was gloss. But since it's just really trim, and not an entire case, I decided it would be ok.

 

But as far as fully painted computer cases go, using spray paint, I think my 800CX custom paint job I recently did on my Atari 800 system looks pretty damn good.

 

You did a very nice job with the Atari 800.  It definitely looks professionally designed and not all cheesy like most home computer paint jobs.  Though I would say you might want to sand the space bar (though, it could just be lighting).  I think the main problem you tend to see with home painted plastics is that the paint never goes on evenly and most spray paint from what I know is enamel.  So if you cut away a cross section and looked at it from the side, you would see the surface as wavy.  I believe, though I am not all sure, that is one of the reasons it tends to look "thick"

 

Of course, none of this is meant as criticism of either job. They both look great.

[Gunstar]

6 hours ago, christo930 said:

You did a very nice job with the Atari 800.  It definitely looks professionally designed and not all cheesy like most home computer paint jobs.  Though I would say you might want to sand the space bar (though, it could just be lighting).  I think the main problem you tend to see with home painted plastics is that the paint never goes on evenly and most spray paint from what I know is enamel.  So if you cut away a cross section and looked at it from the side, you would see the surface as wavy.  I believe, though I am not all sure, that is one of the reasons it tends to look "thick"

 

Of course, none of this is meant as criticism of either job. They both look great.

Space bar already fixed. It was a last minute touch-up attempt before taking pictures that didn't work, I saw it too in the picture and repaired it, as well as a couple other small things. Sometimes I just don't notice stuff until I see it in a photo, especially when zooming in. I think it's just that I don't see as well as I used too close-up, even wearing reading glasses. But with the advantage of modern tech and being able to zoom-in on photos helps me inspect stuff better and easier than trying to use a magnifying glass.

Edited January 19, 2022 by Gunstar