Custom iMac G3 - "The Black Mac"

[Shankworks]

Hey everyone. This is my first post, and i joined this site because i wanted to get get some feedback about the iMac i painted recently nicknamed "The Black Mac". So i figured i would share the pictures here and let the apple community discuss it, if you deem it worthy that is.

I know this computer is old, and although i use it occasionally, i know that this computer is nothing amazing and most would/will mock its sad specs (400MHz G3, 256MB RAM, DVD-Rom, OS X 10.4). Either way, i still like the original, and i wanted to give it a fresh new look, so lemme know what ya think...

 

[bartelby]

That looks pretty good. Well done.

 

[hatehereyes]

That's really clean.

Did you just spray paint it?

 

[Shankworks]

Yeah i just spray painted it.

 

[Pixellated]

Yeah i just spray painted it.

It looks much cleaner than most spray jobs on computers.

 

[Shankworks]

Hey thanks alot Pixellated! I have been spending some time learning how to airbrush and spray paint lately, but this was the first actual item that i have painted, and im pretty happy with the results

 

[wesrk]

It looks much cleaner than most spray jobs on computers.

and much better than any spray paint job, period.

Very good, it's always good to bring these old computers back to life in any form, and if you use it, even better!

 

[andalusia]

I've always wondered - what does that button next to the force restart button do?

 

[jaw04005]

I've always wondered - what does that button next to the force restart button do?

Access Open Firmware.

 

[Satori]

Nice job! Did you remove the case or mask the parts you didn't want to spray?

 

[Shankworks]

Hey thanks for the positive response everyone!

And to answer your question Satori, I removed the entire case and i masked off the power button, the label on the bottom, and the dvd load slot.

The dvd slot was probably the hardest to get right, i had to get the tape to stick to the white cloth pieces inside the slot. I felt like this was necessary because otherwise paint would have gotten on the cloth and probably scratched all cds entering or exiting the drive.

And just in case anyone was wondering, this imac was a terrible purple color (grape) before i painted it.

 

[MattZani]

The Back looks pretty good, but the front looks horrible.

 

[toolbox]

Yeah i just spray painted it.

Well you have done a great job nice work. Looks impressive.

 

[amd4me]

That's really clean.

Did you just spray paint it?

No it isnt actually. It needs to be wet sanded and clear coated. It looks like complete ****.

 

[iSaygoodbye]

No it isnt actually. It needs to be wet sanded and clear coated. It looks like complete ****.

such negativity.it think it looks way better then the original colors.id buy it

 

[amd4me]

such negativity.it think it looks way better then the original colors.id buy it

I dont buy things with shoddy construction,thanks though

 

[iSaygoodbye]

I dont buy things with shoddy construction,thanks though

then your gonna have to take that up with apple,he just painted it

 

[terriblyjordan]

Looks very good nice job.

 

[Benguitar]

Very nice! Most custom jobs look horrible, but I think you did a great job with this one.

 

[Shankworks]

then your gonna have to take that up with apple,he just painted it

Haha thanks.

As for the front looking "horrible" (mattzani), i dont think it looks bad at all. It however wasnt my original plan to paint the bottom/front piece, but once the unit was dissasembled, i noticed that there were many white scuffs on it from hitting walls i guess. So, i then decided that i wasnt gonna paint some of it and have some of it look crappy and scuffed, so i painted all blemished parts.

I noticed that in a few of the pics, the paint looks textured, and i think thats why people(amd4me) were saying i need to sand and clear coat it, but in person, the paint does not look textured, the camera just captured it weird.

Plus, this is a computer worth $30, im not gonna do 20 coats and wet sand and clear coat something like this. Why waste my money? It was something i did one morning cause i was bored. It came out pretty glossy and i like it, i just got sick of seeing this ugly purple thing laying around.

 

[mrsir2009]

Dude that iMac looks real cool You did it very cleanly! Kinda looks like a special edition Mac like the Snow iMac G3.

 

[Andy348]

Thats awesome!

I think I'll take one of my old iBook G3s and do this. Could turn out nicely!

 

[MacHamster68]

i like this "special edition black" iMac
really looks nice
so what did we learn ?
if you dont like the color? or has your iMac g3 bad scratches ?
paint it black
a silver alloy colored would look nice too i suppose

 

[mrsir2009]

i like this "special edition black" iMac
really looks nice
so what did we learn ?
if you dont like the color? or has your iMac g3 bad scratches ?
paint it black
a silver alloy colored would look nice too i suppose

I think it was the colour...

 

[AngryApple]

The iMacs had a handle on them with little pimple things on them? I never knew that.