I just wanted to share with you some pictures of my new “business look” backcover. I got inspired by one guy in the german fairphone facebook community, who painted the frame of his Fairphone in white.
Since I wanted to have a more subtle color than the available ones, I bought a can with a grey, matte color. My basic idea was to make the letters in red, but since the color does not last on the silver letters I just removed the color completly with a small screwdriver.
I am still not sure if I like the result (colourwise!), nonetheless I was just surprised how easy it was to change the color of the backcover. In total it took about 20 minutes. So if you don’t like the colors of the existing backcovers just change them!
Of course no longterm experience so far if the color is going to last, but I will let you know.
I like the new look very much.
I have a transparent cover and I simply peeled the shiny letters off. They are made of some sort of foil and can be removed by gently using a cutter knife to loosen one edge. Take extreme care of the surface to not leave marks …
You used TS, but there are also PS and TS, AS, X and XF as types of paint.
I can’t really find out, what the differences are just that TS is normal acryl paint and PS is specialized for flight models (whatever that means … maybe more flexibel?)
Does anyone knows something about that stuff?
Cheers
The color itself lasts very good on the backcover, there are no cracks in the paint. Unfortunately it is not very scratch resistence, so you can mark the color with your fingernail.
So it might be a good solution to use ground coat then maybe the AS color, because it’s more flexible and finish it off with clear lacquer (against scratches).
3 cans needed for one little back cover
According to the Paint and Body Handbook by Don Taylor and Larry Hofer (it’s an excerpt on GoogleBooks), there are Flex Agents used to make the paint flexible on parts that use to bend.
On page 101 there is a list how to paint plastic body components (of toys / models i guess), differentiated by the type of plastic.
If one wants to make it perfect, my guess would be to take this road or a likewise one.
Edit:
And here is for an explanation of giving the part a protective clear coating:
So I did it, too.
I used a Surface Primer, TS color and TS-80 which is a clear coat spray.
It’s now day 4 and it seems scratch resistent (tested with fingernail) because of the clear coat.
And it looks pretty much as it was bought like this. I’m happy!
Cheers
I wonder if it would make sense if Fairphone would produce and sell a “blank canvas” case some time in the future that would be optimized (e.g. a “raw”, colour-receptive surface without protective coating) for such DIY colouring. However, warranty challenges could arise.
Ok, I also applied the clear coat to the backcover - it definitely gives some more strength to the painted surface. My grey color is another shade (TS66 Kure Arsenal matte). I’m trying not to make a stupid “fifty shades of grey” joke now…
I also tried a red one (TS33), but even with the clear coat on the color stays somehow sticky and soft. So it depends very much on the color if this is going to work.
The paint is worn out at the edges and the parts that “stick out” a bit. So slowly the shabby chic look evolves
Most of the paint is still in pretty good shape
Cheers
If I can find some time this weekend, I’ll probably buy clear coat.
