I wanted to get some advice from people who have modded before and know what they are doing when it comes to painting. I have an Alienware M17x R4 and I am going to be upgrading my wireless card to a Killer 1103 and my screen from a 1600x900 Crape panel to a 1920x1080 120hz panel. Since I am going to have the case dismantled anyway I thought I might try to customize it with a sweet paint job. The problem is I don't know much about painting anything that isn't sheet rock. I want something that will have a smooth durable finish and look great(read not like somebody painted it with a can of paint). What kind of paint should I be looking for and should I(and with what) finish it with a clear coat? Should I sand it before/after spraying? Any ideas on what I can do to take care of the scratches and dents(very small but Id like to fill them in) before sanding and painting? Any help I could get would be awesome. The finish they use now appears to be plastic with a soft touch finish (aluminum is on the M18x). Thanks Guys.

I think the last 3-4 issues of CPU mag had a series on case modding. It may have been covered there and i think the issues are available online on their site.

Roger that good buddy

Thanks for the tips. It seems like this soft touch finish is going to be a pain in the ass to remove. Im still going to go for it though. Thinking about going with a white finish and special black "decal" for the top cover. I don't want to give anything about the theme away as I might enter it in the case mod contest in Aug (a laptop in a case mod contest  ) but think X-Files. I may or may not make the alien head custom lit. I also may or may not be laser cutting some lettering in the lid and back lighting it. For the chips and dents, I think some two part epoxy or even pourable epoxy might do the trick. The problem is figuring out how to apply it to the edge of the plastic and make it look good after sanding. I'm sure it's nothing I can't handle with a little patience and a few "beverages". I will definitely be taking before and after pics and some along the way too so I will keep you all updated. Thanks