The Monster Ti

by Ted Warren

Attribute this hack to too much Monster Garage and American Chopper.

This hack is a simple paint job. After stripping the guts out of the cabinet, I scuffed the old paint with emery paper. Then masked the screen, track pad, latch button, and power button with low-tack transluscent shelving paper. A good coat of primer is applied to all exposed surfaces. Let dry thoroughly and add a couple of good coats of flat black. Again let dry overnight.

The flames are made by using low-tack transluscent shelving paper as a mask. Cut sheets of LTTS paper to cover entire surface. Make sure that the paper has no bubbles under it. With a sharp X-Acto trim out design and peel away part from area to be exposed. Use light coats to prevent paint from pealing up with mask. To get faded effect, I started with a coat of yellow. Then over-layed that with a light coat of red. Gradually, over-spraying the red to darken it in areas as desired. By painting the color coats while wet, paint mixed to create a nice orange in place. Let all this dry, remove mask, then cover with clear coat to seal and protect. Enjoy the envy.