Hunt for a White Ocean: Part III (Don’t worry. Everything is all white.)
Posted by Greg Kumparak on April 24th, 2008 at 06:42 PM
Click for a larger image
Bam! I’m now the proud owner of a white Helio Ocean. Okay, fine - I’m the proud owner of a white Helio Ocean body and a bunch of disassembled Helio Ocean pieces. But it’s getting closer!
I sprayed it in about 15 light coats over the period of a day and a half. The texture is gorgeous, looking far less spray-painty than I expected. It still needs a light wet sanding before it’s clear coated, but it was nice to not have to deal with nasty orange peeling.
(Ignore the big solid white areas in the middle of the frame pieces - it’s just masking tape.)
Pretty soon comes clear coating, where I’ve got a decision to make: Do I spend around six dollars on a really nice, hard clear coat.. or do I dump 53 dollars (after shipping) into getting a can of soft-touch clear coat? First will look shiny and sexy, but the latter’s texture will be much more like the original Ocean paint job. I’m definitely leaning toward the first option for the sake of not making myself poor.
April 24th, 2008 at 7:10 pm
go for the expensive stuff Greg. if you’re gonna do this project. then go all out and do it right. we’re all counting on you…
better yet, take the soft touch approach and i’ll make a site donation.
April 24th, 2008 at 7:39 pm
hey quick question..
how did you get the only the body initially? like did you buy it or did you take it from you own ocean?
April 24th, 2008 at 7:50 pm
I WANT A WHITE OCEAN
:(
April 24th, 2008 at 7:53 pm
nice job man. the two bottoms pieces look like they are peeling though. its gonna be sweet when you finally get it all together. keep it up.
clint
April 24th, 2008 at 7:55 pm
Yeah deffinatly go for the 50 dollar approch thats gonna be awesome and look alot less homemade. I must say that is gonna look pretty damn awesome when its done. Although Im not a fan of white Id deffinatly get one.
April 24th, 2008 at 8:08 pm
great job greg. it’s looking badass. I think the shiny ook would be really sexy with the white.
April 24th, 2008 at 9:19 pm
you should have used Plasti-dip spray paint. It would have given you the nice rubberized soft touch feel of the original paint.
April 24th, 2008 at 10:35 pm
wat did u sand it down with?
wat kind of paint have u been using?
April 24th, 2008 at 11:00 pm
dude cant wait to see part IV! its gonna look awesome
April 24th, 2008 at 11:01 pm
Go with the shiny option. With it being white, you don’t want it to have a “flat white” look, do you?…you want high-gloss, high-sex appeal. I mean…that IS why you’re making a white Ocean, right? The sex appeal? To put it in girl’s butts, right? I can’t think of any other reason, so just assuming…
April 24th, 2008 at 11:24 pm
If the “shiny” coat really does shine, go with that. Otherwise, it may end up looking dull and flat, as stated above.
April 24th, 2008 at 11:58 pm
no, you guys are thinking the glossy approach is gonna come out resembling the ipods sexy white look…glossy white plastic is going to look sooo spray painted. trust me, not only am i a traditional artist, air brush artist, and an ex-graffiti artist, i also work in a factory that paints car parts (metal and plastic).
if the soft touch spray you;re talking about actually comes out with about the same texture that the ocean already had, youre going to better off with that.
either way its probably gonna be pretty dirty looking after a while.
April 25th, 2008 at 12:44 am
@Bobbydash:
Doh, you’ve tempted me. I may have to go with the soft touch goodness, now.
@johnthegame:
Disassembled an Ocean I already had.
@ClintD:
The “peeling” your seeing in the two bottom pieces is masking tape - it’s not actual surface. It looks like it’s peeling because its a bunch of layers of mask layin’ on top of each other. Same with the edges of the battery, the mirror/camera area, etc - anything that is visibly bumpy is just masking tape.
@blitzdemon:
Probably not a bad idea. Next time, right?
@Andrew:
Just your standard sand paper. I think I was using 100 grit to get it off. Can’t remember the brand of paint I went with. I wanted to go with Kyrlon Fusion, having used it on a few projects in the past - but they apparently don’t sell it anywhere in my friggin’ town anymore.
April 25th, 2008 at 7:10 am
holy crap, can u make me one too?
April 25th, 2008 at 8:10 am
So lets say you do go with the SoftTouch, would you be willing (for a price of course) clear coating others? Because i’m sure once your done with yours many others will likely follow (like myself).
April 25th, 2008 at 1:05 pm
Go for the soft-touch. As bobbydash said, the clearcoat will make it look horrible. Not to mention that it will scuff and scratch much more easily than the soft-touch.
April 25th, 2008 at 1:35 pm
Why don’t you get a soft-touch white paint instead of clear? I think you should say shiny anyways. You should stencil on the helio logo in black or blue on the battery before clear coating.
April 25th, 2008 at 3:41 pm
@Zach:
Unfortunately, I barely have the time to get my own device finished.
@Matt:
The brand of soft touch most similar to the Ocean’s original coat (Alsa) doesn’t come in white. The Helio logo on the back is definitely something I’m considering - I’ve got two batteries (one that is staying black), so I may leave the battery unfinished for a few days while I work that out.
April 25th, 2008 at 4:32 pm
How did you find out what brand the Ocean’s original paint is? That’s crazy.
i wish my job was currently running plastic parts… i’d probablly do my ocean as well. It’d be car paint quality too
April 25th, 2008 at 6:25 pm
LOOKS SWEEEEEEEET.
I was wondering about the black part surrounds the screen. were you able to point that too?
also what about the keyboard buttons, are they still the same or did you paint custom black lettering?
omgwtfbbq i cant wait to see it
April 25th, 2008 at 8:29 pm
greg said he was going toleave the buttons and qwerty black for a sick ass contrast. im excited to see it.
April 25th, 2008 at 8:38 pm
Multiple coats of whichever gloss you choose, with light sanding of the highest grit sandpaper (400+) you can find, then blow off with air and rub with a tack cloth to make sure you get it all. Then re-apply the gloss and repeat a few times! Obviously don’t sand the last coat…
April 25th, 2008 at 9:18 pm
Buttons are stayin black, as is the bezel around the keyboard (the very outer edge, so that there will be a black ring around the white surface. Should balance out the black keys. Also, paint in this area could totally screw up the slide mechanism.
April 26th, 2008 at 4:44 am
you have inspired me to start workin on a lime green ocean. just thot you should know that. im following your steps thus far…well, have gotten as far as you, but i will!!! maybe later you can put your process in a guide? either way, thank you so much!!!
April 27th, 2008 at 7:24 am
I’d go for the more expensive paint because the gloss is prone to being scratched and chipped easily and then the whole entire thing will have been a waste of money
April 27th, 2008 at 5:55 pm
I didnt make my donation so you wouldnt spend it… go with the expensive touch… we want goods!!! make them quality!!!!! lol
April 28th, 2008 at 9:59 am
Edit: FYI, SoftTouch on white will attract AND show dirt like no other. It’s been tested
April 30th, 2008 at 9:50 pm
Mrs. Thox doesn’t let you spray paint inside the house, does she?
May 1st, 2008 at 4:50 pm
I used a glossy glaze kind of finish on my xbox projects and it is extremely shinny!
May 2nd, 2008 at 3:01 pm
No matter which one you choose, although I bet you’d be missing the soft touch feel if you went glossy, I see nothing but possibilities! You have just opened the door to pink Oceans, teal Oceans, Green Oceans…..I think I should stop now! lol
May 3rd, 2008 at 8:37 am
Any pictures of the finalized White Ocean yet?
May 10th, 2008 at 9:30 am
Where is the hunt part IV???
May 10th, 2008 at 10:40 am
Final shots are comin’ - just been crazy busy, and had to fix a few flaws.
May 14th, 2008 at 9:13 am
oh god now i want to make a red one… why you have to give me ideas.. lol. rock on looks sweet cant wait tell part IV
May 21st, 2008 at 5:58 pm
wow thox you need to be the CEO of helio
July 28th, 2008 at 5:07 pm
I really want to change my ocean helio to a different color too.
Can you make a guide?
please?
including the list of items you got and the steps by steps,
I read the parts of Hunt-for-a-white-ocean and took notes.
but, i’m very confused.
i looked on bunch of websites.
can you make one?
especially recommend tips that could make our helio oceans much better painting?
like some steps that you missed you could do before?
thank you.