PAINTING your G1 INCITE

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some people with white g1s wanted to paint their battery covers to white as do i. i been wanting to do it for some time but too scared that the paitn would rub off.

well i stumbled across some info about painting plastic... instead of using spray paint.. u can use vinyl dye.. spray paint only covers the surface as vinyl dye absorbs into plastics....

so i was thinking about a little project...i'll sand as much rubber i can from the back and use white vinyl dye and let it cure.

but also i can see you can disassemble you g1 found here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PdhXx3g9nU

so its quite possible to do your own paintjob as a diy project using vinyl dye

i will only paint my battery cover using vinyl dye btw and will post results whenever i get to it. =)

TIP: if you have a black g1 and want any other color but white, you would have to first paint ur g1, or battery cover, white first for the colors to pop.

its 4 am right now for me and i dont feel like proof reading..

also check out

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=540404

for android elf charger

I speak from experience when I say that getting a good finish on projects like this is hard. You're going to need a lot of patience and extremely fine grades of sandpaper to get it right.

Good luck

Originally Posted by goldenarmZ

I speak from experience when I say that getting a good finish on projects like this is hard. You're going to need a lot of patience and extremely fine grades of sandpaper to get it right.

Good luck

lol wow all of a sudden i feel discouraged =O

what do u suggest then? since vinyl dye is absorbed into the plastic...do i sand paper my wee little thumbs off>paint it> and use gloss? or no gloss..

Depends what finish you want to go for. I've not worked with vinyl dye before, but the finishing principles should be the same as for raw plastic.. If you want a gloss mirror-like finish like the white g1 you shouldn't need a clear coat, you'll just need to sand and polish within an inch of your life.

If I was doing this, I'd use a fairly rough sandpaper to get the rubber off, then maybe a 400-600 grit to level the surface ready for painting. Apply the paint, cure it, then go at it with progressively fine grades down to at least 1200 grit.. maybe evn 2000. At this point you will have a smooth but not mirror finish, to get that you need some kind of polishing compound (3m finesse-it or perfect-it is good) and a buffing pad... and a truck full of elbow grease.

The main issue you'll have with this is the thickness of the plastic.. there isn't much of it.. You could easily go right through with all that sanding.

for my money, i'd leave it to professionals unless this is something you have a LOT of experience with. Put simply: $175 for a guaranteed perfect and permanent colorware paintjob vs $400 for a new G1 if I screw it up myself. hmmm....

Personally I wouldn't spend 175+ shipping to paint my phone, I'd rather try it on my own. If I mess up on the battery cover, 7 bucks for a new one..

Originally Posted by SolemnWishing

Personally I wouldn't spend 175+ shipping to paint my phone, I'd rather try it on my own. If I mess up on the battery cover, 7 bucks for a new one..

yea.. i really dont feel like painting..kinda worried . i cant find vinyl dye locally.

I believe car parts stores sell vinyl dye.

anyone concerned with the Teflon coating on the g1's battery door? your not really painting plastic, unless you sand paper off the teflon, but if your not careful, youll end up with a wavy (uneven) finish if you sand too much in one area and not enough in another, and thats assuming the paint actually adheres to the battery door

if you do it ontop of the teflon, id keep the fact that your painting teflon in mind, and not go into it thinking your just painting plastic


could be wrong, definitely not a professional