Side Panels

The Inwin A500 uses a steel hood that covers both sides and the top. Therefore I only had to cut the appropriate side off each hood to make 2 panels that covered the sides and top of the case. Unfortunately, I was left with a small gap between the panels running across the top of the case. This doesn't bother me, as I keep my scanner on top of the case anyway.

I had originally planned to repaint the side panels, but since the only colour spraypaint I had left was matt black, I had a bit of a rethink. I decided a brushed steel finish would work well with the gloss black frontpanel, and started work on the panels with an electric sander, and some cellulose thinners, hopefully to soften the paint, as well as keep the dust down. I used p80 aluminium oxide paper for removing the paint, and this worked okay, although by the time I had finished the paper was worn down to the paper backing sheet.

The cellulose thinners left big black marks on the metal, from the black paint that I had painted the side panels with many years ago. These marks proved almost impossible to remove, because the thinners would evaporate before I got a chance to wipe the paint off, leaving a dry paint mark that wouldn't budge. After wasting most of the tin of thinners in this way, I realized that I was leaving long streaky marks across the metal, which didn't look half bad, considering the industrial theme of this case. So I just wiped the paint streaks so they all went in the same direction, and left it at that. This idea might have been inspired by laziness and xylene fumes, but I think it looks rather good. I didn't try for a brushed effect on the steel in the end, the paint streaks seemed to suit the overall character of the case better.

<< Back | 1 | | 2 | | 3 | | 4 | Next >>