Custom PC - UK (2021-09)

We’ve gone to town on our painting guide in
our full guide on p102 this month, as painting
is one of the more involved ways to mod your
case. Here, though, we’re focusing on a slightly
more advanced (but still fairly easy) way to
make your painted PC even more impressive.
We’ll be adding a marble effect to the paint,
but there are many more effects you can
choose from companies such as Montana and
Plastikote. The marble effect spray comes
from Montana and is available in a few colours,
including black, white and silver.
Start by following our guide on p102 until
you get to the part where you need to apply
the colour coat, which is where you’ll need to
make some key decisions if you want to add
effects. The marble effects are best applied
on top of high-contrast colours. Darker colour
coats work best with the lighter marble sprays,
such as white and silver. Meanwhile, the
black marble effect really stands out on top
of colours that are punchy and vivid – bright
orange, purple and green for example.
You need to pick the right colour for this to
work, even if it affects the rest of your colour
scheme. Due to the thickness of the strands,
you’ll also need a significant amount of clear
coat. Instead of two or three layers, you’ll need
ten to 15 layers or more to cover the marble
strands, so consider this before you start.

Apply the colour coat according to our main

guide and allow it to dry for an hour before

applying the marble coat. After that, crack open

your marble effect spray and shake it well. Give

this a test on an old piece of cardboard first to

gauge how fast you need move the can to get

a good marble effect. The effect can change

depending on weather conditions, so make

good use of your practising on the day.

You won’t be able to remove the marble

effect once it’s on the surface, as it’s sticky, so

you need to get it right the first time. You’ll need

to hold the can at least 40cm away from the

surface. You’re aiming to have a good distance

between the strands, and for them not to

bunch up or cross over each other too much.

To get a good marble effect, you’ll want to

concentrate on one direction, then overlay

some strands at 90 degrees to that direction.

It will likely take only a few seconds to apply

all the marble effect you need. Make sure

you go over the edges and extend onto your

work surface.

This will allow you to fill the whole panel

with the marble effect – if you aim to stop at the

edges, you’re likely to leave large, unnatural-

looking gaps. The best tip we can give here is

not to apply too much marble effect ,and not

to overlay too many strands. Every layer and

crossover you add makes the marble effect

PAINT EFFECTS

Polishing is where the magic happens, as the

clear surface will become glossy and reflective

You’ll want to apply many layers of clear coat,

in order to cover the marble strands beneath it

2K clear sprays dry faster and harder so

you’ll be able to get polishing after 24 hours

Aim to have a good distance between the

strands, and for them not to bunch up or

cross over each other too much

FEATURE / CUSTOMISATION