Anyone Painted Their Thinkpad?

[Gottaknow]

I know it has been discussed before, but has anyone done a custom paint job on their Thinkpad?

I have a used T30. It runs great, but the top/back of screen is pretty scratched up.

If anyone has painted theirs, or put something on it to cover the top, let me know.

Also, I was wondering if anyone makes a commercial product to coverup scratched laptops.

Any ideas or suggestion would be great.

p.s. someone here on the forum talked about covering their thinkpad with black truck bedliner plastic once. I wonder how that turned out.

[Gottaknow]

Oh, I just found this:

http://spiike.shadowdragon.net/laptop%20painting.htm

That guy got pretty good results.

Now, anyone have any ideas on how to get the screen off of a T30? Or, rather, I mean the LCD cover off of the LCD. I'm thinking about only painting the top of the laptop. The rest looks great.

[Mike8]

Have a look at ThinkPad Photo Gallery via www.thinkpad-portal.com. Someone paintet an IBM T20. Nice pictures.

[Steve007]

Oh, I just found this:

http://spiike.shadowdragon.net/laptop%20painting.htm

That guy got pretty good results.

Now, anyone have any ideas on how to get the screen off of a T30? Or, rather, I mean the LCD cover off of the LCD. I'm thinking about only painting the top of the laptop. The rest looks great.

I wouldn't worry about doing that. Anyone who paints their machine makes it look about a million times worse than when they started.

That guy who butchered his Dell made it look like a cheap tacky piece of [censored] - do people really want to do things like that to their TP's?

[bhtooefr]

I wouldn't do that to any laptop, FWIW - basically, it looks like my crappy Inspiron 1100, except for the fact that it's a) mirror finish (that part's nice, though - I'd just use a different color, and probably not metallic), and b) all over, not just on the back of the LCD, the console, and around the touchpad...

However, I think this is more meant for S3 series knockoffs - you know, the piano black...

[Bob Collins]

Steve007, I gotta disagree. Your opinion is that the Dell looks worse. I think now the Dell looks worthwhile.

I agree that I would not do that to my Thinkpads, but for a Dell or HP, it is a good mod, although I would go for a metal flake black.

[bhtooefr]

Hmm... metal flake black wouldn't be bad for a gaming laptop, or (if done right) POSSIBLY a ThinkPad... anybody got an old, beat up ThinkPad that they're willing to try this with?

EDIT: Still, I think non-metallic jet black is the best aftermarket paint job. Myself, I'll stick with the stock color on my X21...

[Lockman]

I'm in the process of painting a ThinkPad 600 right now. The rubber coating/paint was damaged and peeling. The same rubber coating is my biggest problem as well. You can't exactly sand it. In some places it would flake off, leaving a .2mm raised surface. Compensating for this by sanding is simple enough, but the risk of furst flaking is too high. The key to all good paint jobs rest in its preparations.

So far I've tried multiple methods of removing the rubber coating. At first I simply peeled it off. This was easy in the areas it was loose. Shortly after, things got harder. Spraying the surface with soad and water as I continued made things easier again but it still got harder as I went along. Frustrated, I decided to step it up a notch. I dipped the piece in boiling water for afew minutes. This caused bubbles to form under the coating and the edges that I had peeled to buckle. Even still, this was only effective to a point. Right now, I have it soaking in paint thinner.

Any suggestions on removing the coating, especially in the more difficult areas like around the hinge and top of the keyboard bezel?

[STS06]

"This Krylon Plastic Fusion is incredibly durable! The handrest coating was peeling anyway (that's what prompted this), so I used liquid "Aircraft Remover" paint stripper to remove the rubberized coating (pretty much fell right off). Used some fine grit snapaper on the rough spots, washed it thoroughly, then gave it around 5 coats with dry time between each coat. I didn't use a clear coat. It has a semi-gloss finish just with the Krylon. The paint really does bond to plastic well. We'll see how long it holds up."


I don't know if this person is talking about the same thing you are but he did repaint his thinkpad.

[ThinkPad]

Oh, I just found this:

http://spiike.shadowdragon.net/laptop%20painting.htm

That guy got pretty good results.

Now, anyone have any ideas on how to get the screen off of a T30? Or, rather, I mean the LCD cover off of the LCD. I'm thinking about only painting the top of the laptop. The rest looks great.

That doesnt look too bad. But I wouldnt do that to my TP. Though I do remember reading somewhere here about a glossy black top which looked pretty decent.

[pphilipko]

Oh, I just found this:

http://spiike.shadowdragon.net/laptop%20painting.htm

That guy got pretty good results.

Now, anyone have any ideas on how to get the screen off of a T30? Or, rather, I mean the LCD cover off of the LCD. I'm thinking about only painting the top of the laptop. The rest looks great.

That doesnt look too bad. But I wouldnt do that to my TP. Though I do remember reading somewhere here about a glossy black top which looked pretty decent.

That must be the "special edition" piano-black X30.

[bhtooefr]

Give me the choice between piano black, and rubberized really dark gray, and I'll take the rubber

That said, of the paint jobs, the piano ones are the best.

[GomJabbar]

Give me the choice between piano black, and rubberized really dark gray, and I'll take the rubber

It makes sense why you chose such.

[benplaut]

hmm... would it be possible to do a carbon fiber-esque coating? that would ROCK

[bhtooefr]

I remember somewhere where someone was going to buy a carbon fiber kit for their ThinkPad...

Ah, here we go. No pics, but...

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.ph ... rbon+fiber

[Bob Collins]

Late to the party, but here is a suggestion for the rubber coating removal. I have used a product called "OOPS" in the past. Basically you brush it on and let it sit. After a few minutes it should have released the material. I used it on old adhesive on platic. Left the plastic incredibly clean and removed the adhesive fine. May be worth a try if the paint thinner bath does not work.

[GomJabbar]

For you would-be painters out there, I say: Just be careful when using any type of solvent or paint stripper when removing existing paint. Some solvents can dissolve certain plastics quite rapidly. Try a little bit perhaps on the underside before commiting yourself. And what a shame if some landed on your LCD screen! You would never see your laptop the same way again.

[Lockman]

The paint thinner had no effect at all. Not surprising since this isn't really paint. I am trying to be careful about what I put on this thing because, as pointed out, some chemicals will damage the composite itself. I'll look into OOPS, thanks for the suggestion. This coating, now that I think about it, seems very simular to the spray on bed liners you see in pick-ups.

As for the LCD and other parts, nothing is at risk. I spent almost a day dismantling the laptop and documenting the location of every part and screw. I made the mistake of just setting things aside when I first dismantled a laptop about a year ago. Reassembly was a disaster and took several builds to get the unit put back together right. The only parts that will be even close to any chemicals or paint are those that I intend.

[supergoat]

Off Topic but, we NEED a pictorial walkthrough for taking the laptop apart like that for our machines. That would help a lot!

[GomJabbar]

Off Topic but, we NEED a pictorial walkthrough for taking the laptop apart like that for our machines. That would help a lot!

If you are looking for a manual on how to take apart your 770, here is the: Hardware Maintenance Manual - ThinkPad 770.

[MadeInJapan]

you know that top bezels can be ordered for the TP600's and your machine will be restored to look like new. I've seen them on eBay at times and a few other places...I think it would be a much simpler solution.

On a side note, I also have a 600E and the palm rests began to peel about a year ago...about the same time I gave it to my son. He very quickly came up with his own solution. He put skateboarding stickers over the areas that were peeling and it's stoppped the peeling for now. Actually looks pretty cool too.

[tonepaq]

After some time researching this topic and trial and error on my part, I finally found something that makes getting this rubber junk off my thinkpad easy. I used Permatex gasket remover and after letting it sit a couple minutes, the stuff peeled off like hot butter!

couple pics (top spot I worked on about an hour with variuos tools and chemicals,before I tried the gasket remover. Bottom area is with the gasket remover quick and painless!)

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e384/ ... int004.jpg

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e384/ ... int005.jpg