--- r e f l e X i o n ---

[Couch3ater]

Later congrats on the new sponsor! Hahaha, been awhile. College applications and what not. Absolutely love the polished caps. Looks sweet. ^_^ Can't wait to see this beauty together.

[x88x]

With the precision you've shown throughout this mod I doubt painting the connectors will prove a daunting task. You know the drill, get some of the quick drying acrylic paint, a small brush, breathing exercises and another couple of hours and it will be superb.

You might also want to lightly sand all the surfaces, especially the large, smooth parts.

[Xion X2]

Hey, guys! This sure is a sexy motherboard that's sitting here beside me. All the caps are now polished, and it looks like my mobo is wearing jewelry.

It really does make a difference. Very pleased with the look... now to make sure that she still works!

But.. I'm confident she does. I'll test her out tomorrow just to confirm, but I was very careful.

Onto your comments!

With the precision you've shown throughout this mod I doubt painting the connectors will prove a daunting task. You know the drill, get some of the quick drying acrylic paint, a small brush, breathing exercises and another couple of hours and it will be superb.

Thanks, Datech. I think I'm just a little wary because my last time out with paint was a disaster. But this is much easier work than what I attempted before, and I'm hoping that my skills have improved a little sense then.

Later congrats on the new sponsor! Hahaha, been awhile. College applications and what not. Absolutely love the polished caps. Looks sweet. ^_^ Can't wait to see this beauty together.

Welcome back, Couch! Glad to see that you're still around and enjoying the build. Thanks as always for the compliments!

You might also want to lightly sand all the surfaces, especially the large, smooth parts.

Yep, I was thinking the same thing.

I'll upload some pictures of the mobo tomorrow to show off the caps and the polished CPU socket.

Thanks, everyone!

[Xion X2]

Bling-bling.

MMMmmm. Polished caps and CPU socket. This took a while and a lot of care, but I think that it turned out very well. There are still a couple that I can't get to so easily that I'll have to polish by hand. I used my dremel and a polishing wheel for most of the work on these, along with some aluminum polish.

A few more shots.

The polish goes on in a paste, then dries. So when buffing it off it created a lot of dust. So I used a combination of compressed air, paper towels and isopropyl alcohol to clean off all the excess from the PCB.

Tonight I picked up some painting supplies, as I'll be tackling those red connectors in the next day or two.

I'll cover the pcb with that plastic sheeting and tape it all down with masking tape before spraying.

I couldn't believe my luck, but I found some spray paint made for acrylic and plastic, with no sanding or priming required!

Music to my ears.

More to come.

[Datech]

That Krylon stuff has worked well for me, but it still doesn't hurt to sand it just a little.

[x88x]

Looks very nice so far. One thing I would caution you on while painting though. Since you're spraying it, make sure you put something in the slots to protect the contacts from the paint. If they get painted over, you'll just have a very expensive, shiny paperweight.

[Waynio]

There is no way I would do this, I need my warranties to be functional, I'm not loaded, it 's why I don't mod my psu's or mod my monitor, if I was loaded or the parts were near end of warranty or got them 2nd hand I'd go for it like you are doing, but not with expensive shiny new hardware so the only +rep I could do for the shiny caps and painted slots would be for being loaded and being able to do this lol .

[Xion X2]

That Krylon stuff has worked well for me, but it still doesn't hurt to sand it just a little.

Yeah. I'm going to test it tonight on some spare connectors that I have laying around and may try one sanded and one not sanded. The highest grit paper I have is 1000 (I may have some 1500 but I'll have to look,) and I want these to have a smooth texture in appearance.

Looks very nice so far. One thing I would caution you on while painting though. Since you're spraying it, make sure you put something in the slots to protect the contacts from the paint. If they get painted over, you'll just have a very expensive, shiny paperweight.

Yep, I'm using masking tape over the pins so as not to paint them. But thanks for the warning.

There is no way I would do this, I need my warranties to be functional, I'm not loaded, it 's why I don't mod my psu's or mod my monitor, if I was loaded or the parts were near end of warranty or got them 2nd hand I'd go for it like you are doing, but not with expensive shiny new hardware so the only +rep I could do for the shiny caps and painted slots would be for being loaded and being able to do this lol .

Ah c'mon, Waynio. Give me the +rep for no compromises.

There will be no stickers, bar codes, brand labels or ugly ink anywhere in refleXion. It just can't be that way.

[Waynio]

Ah c'mon, Waynio. Give me the +rep for no compromises.

There will be no stickers, bar codes, brand labels or ugly ink anywhere in refleXion. It just can't be that way.

True . I know I'd do the same if I was well off enough .

[Couch3ater]

Lol, even as you're taking a "no holds barred" kind of approach, I certainly wouldn't have the stones to do it. >_< Good on ya' mate.