Black Amiga 500 project

[TjLaZer]

Ever since I saw this pic:



I have wanted a black A500!  Well yesterday I went to RePC in Seattle as I heard they had some A500's.  I wanted to buy one with the sole purpose to paint it black.   But I have been holding out for a chicken lips case as it would be better for painting.  I found one!  $12 and listed as DEAD.  No problem!  It has the case I want and it looked ok.  Just a bit dirty.  Well here some pics on how it looked:


Found her in the "as is" dead parts bin for a mere $12.


Yes Mehdi Ali, it's the rare C= Chicken Lips edition A500!  


---
Fired her up to see what she does.  White screen and drive is clicking!  Hmmm.. Where is Dave Haynie when you need him!

Checked memory card as they are notorious for battery leakage.  Yep batt leaked!  Removed card.  Still no juice.

Took her apart and pressed on all the socketted chips.  Tried again and she fired right up!  YEAH!!

I took the MB out and cleaned the cases and started painting it black.  More coats tomorrow!  Once I am done I will use the keys on my CDTV keyboard!  It is going to be NICE!!!

[Damion]

Nice, that style case is a little hard to find. What kind of paint are you using? (Dye works fantastic if you want to keep a factory look, plus no runs or dust inclusions to worry about.)

[rja4096]

Hi, I've been thinking of doing this too - any idea what you would have done if you did not already have some black keys to stick in, how do I write the ket letters on in white?

thanks, Rick

[TjLaZer]

Krylon Fusion Satin Black is what I am using.  Should work ok...

I would of not even thought of attempting this if I did not have a CDTV keyboard.  It will just look tacky.  You could spray the keys and get some generic white keycap lettering to put on the keys...

I assume the key caps from the CDTV keyboard will simply pop off and I can pop them on the A500 keyboard right?

Looks like the keyboard on this one is bad, as far as the F1 key is loose.  Seems to work just will rotate left and right!  I might take it apart to see what the deal is but I do have a spare KB I plan on using.  This thing will be straight off the meat racks!!!

[Crom00]

You can actually paint the keys black. Run the keyboard keys through the dishwasher. YOu can then plug them back into the keyboard.

As for the paint, use automotive paint as it actually bonds to plastic, some colors don't even require primer. I've used krylon, but their nozzles are sub par. I use an airbrush and compressor, it provides such a fine stream that a spray can could never match.

To relabel the keys you can get white water slide decal paper and on a PC or MAc in Adobe illustrator use a cool foont like Eurostyle or CGFURUTA and type out the keys. You want white keys on a black background.

The waterslide decal works like the model kits out there.

Then use testors dull cote or another MAtte or satin finish. To match the Amiga keyboards a little better use satin finish.

I ran a model shop paint dept for 10 years. Works like a charm.

Now what's this I hear about using die? I thought about using india ink as a base as that stuff is impobsible to get out.

[klx300r]

I did the exact same thing to my Rev6A machine last year except I painted it Royal Blue...my advice for a quality finish is a minimum of 3 light coats for a duarble/scratch free coating..i used krylon paint for plastics (no primer needed)

good luck with your project :-D (...ill try to dig up some pics of mine later)

[TjLaZer]

I am done!!!  Had to do a good 3-4 coats with the Krylon Fuzion Satin Black to cover everything.  Even sprayed the insides too.  Else it looked cheesy.

Swapped the keys from the CDTV keyboard this evening and put her all back together!  Will take some better pics during the day...






Ignore the cat!!  
 :lol:

[clemenza]

Great job! But, IMHO the truly hard part is obtaining a CDTV keyboard!

[rkauer]

TjLaZer wrote:
--snip--

Swapped the keys from the CD32 keyboard this evening and put her all back together!  Will take some better pics during the day...

--snip--

 CD32? You use a CDTV kb or a CD32 one? Those CD32 keyboard are rare as hens teeth! :-?

[TjLaZer]

Sorry no I meant CDTV keyboard!!

[trekiej]

Looks good. :bow:

[jmbattle]

Looks terrific, nice job!

I'm inclined to think that you deliberately angled the last shot to capture your cat, or worse still, picked him/her up while sleeping, and plonked them in front of the food bowl.

Cheers,
James
x

[mauidj]

What's a Chicken Lips case?

[kolla]

"chicken lips" refers to the commodore logo.

The first A500 on the top of this page has a stcker on it, the one TjLaZer painted now has the "chicken lips" ingraved in it.

[rkauer]

mauidj wrote:
What's a Chicken Lips case?

 Look at the first two pictures: you'll notice the first (black) A500 have a badge and the original have a Commodore logo (also known as "chicken lips").

 The C= cases are the older ones, and hard to find in Europe. I have 4 of those cases in home, and not a single one "badged"... Go figure.