[jfunk]

Hi there Head-Fiers - 
 
 
 This is a quick guide to how we paint the headphones, I’m not saying it is necessarily the only, best  or quickest way to do it. But we have been experimenting for a couple of years to try and get the right combo and it passes all the adhesion, chip and scratch tests. I will try to remember to post some vids of the destruction tests 

If you have any questions just ask

 

OK Here we go…

 

Firstly we dismantle the headphones http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40T0ccS3uAc then sand them with 800 grit sand paper. Once the shiny surface had been removed we give them a coat of 2k adhesion promoter to make the paint bond permanently to the plastic.

 

Next we give them several thin coats of AutoAir white sealer alowing each coat to dry before applying the next.

 

Once they are looking fully white we then give them a couple of coats of bright white AutoAir paint as the sealer is a slightly off white.

Then they are left to dry fully. When the auto air paint drys it is porous. So to bond all the layers together we use a thinned down 2k urethane clearcoat. Because it is thinned down it can soak into the porous paint and harden it. Then we give them two more coats of clear allowing 30mins inbetween coats for it to reach a gel before the next coat goes on. Then they go in the dryer. The clear coat normally takes 24 hrs to dry which is why we use an infra-red dryer to speed up the process without getting the plastic too hot. This cuts the drying time down to a few hours saving a lot of time.

Than once the clearcoat has hardened we give them a bit of wet sanding to get a nice smooth surface to do the design on.

Then another coat of bright white just for luck

 

Once that is dry then it is time to start on the design. These ones are simple block colours so it is just a case of masking them. We use a plotter to cut the masks on Artool Ultramask. We use this because it allows us to stretch the mask over the curved surface.

As you can see I have started by spraying the red details then masked over the red bits I want to keep. Then over it all with several layers of AutoAir black

 

Then the exciting bit… Taking off the masks

Then go back in and neaten up some of the edges and sort out any overspray

 

Then 3 more coats of of clear and they are done

 

[chadbang]

Wow, very professional, labor-intensive process! I was wondering what phones were getting such slavish attention until the last photo revealed the HD-25-1s! Well, I suppose that's the perfect phone for that kind of attention. I really like them in white, too. Neat. Where do you sell these? I'd love to see some of your other designs. 
 
 
EDIT: Oh, I found your website. http://www.customcans.co.uk/blog/ Cool stuff, man. The color scheme on those Ultra UV phones is absolute genius. As good as anything Modrian ever did, I mean it. Whoever came up with that combination of color is an artist. I'd buy a pair of those in a minute. Very Clockwork Orange!
 
You need to have some cool Los Angeles artists like David Choe and Mr. Cartoon do you some designs.

 

[jfunk]

Quote:

Wow, very professional, labor-intensive process! I was wondering what phones were getting such slavish attention until the last photo revealed the HD-25-1s! Well, I suppose that's the perfect phone for that kind of attention. I really like them in white, too. Neat. Where do you sell these? I'd love to see some of your other designs. 
 
 
EDIT: Oh, I found your website. http://www.customcans.co.uk/blog/ Cool stuff, man. The color scheme on those Ultra UV phones is absolute genius. As good as anything Modrian ever did, I mean it. Whoever came up with that combination of color is an artist. I'd buy a pair of those in a minute. Very Clockwork Orange!
 
You need to have some cool Los Angeles artists like David Choe and Mr. Cartoon do you some designs.

LOL... Cheers chap I studied art and electronics in college so probably an ideal business for me to get into. I do plan to do some collaborations in the future but still really just trying to get the business sorted before I start farming out work to people - It has only really officially been running since april and still sorting out suppliers and trying to develop some new products. But it is great fun to tinker with lots of expensive headphones and I am hoping to start some audiophile mods soon.
 

 

[Parall3l]

Nice, amazing work 

 I gotta try doing this when I'm free

 

[BenAdamson]

Wow, fantastic! Are the prices listed on your website including the cost of the headphone itself?

 

[JamesMcProgger]

great 

 
I'be been folowing your blog since a few months now and you have done some really good designs. the white TMA1 was one of my faves.
 
thanks for the guide, maybe one day I'd give it a try.

 

[jfunk]

Quote:

Wow, fantastic! Are the prices listed on your website including the cost of the headphone itself?

 
I don't want to upset any mods so this is purely a DIY guide - I want to avoid talking shop but i'm sure you will figure it out
 
 


Quote:

great 

 
I'be been folowing your blog since a few months now and you have done some really good designs. the white TMA1 was one of my faves.
 
thanks for the guide, maybe one day I'd give it a try.

 
Ah that reminds me - when you mentioned the TMA-1 . I just checked and I forgot to add a pair to the blog. Similar design bit better as I was using my new rotring rapidograph ( its sad but i got so excited about getting a new pen

 

[Lynrax]

is it possible to get the old, slightly rough look and feeling, without damaging the paint?
 
if yes, then i will do my own as soon as possible

 

[jfunk]

Quote:

is it possible to get the old, slightly rough look and feeling, without damaging the paint?
 
if yes, then i will do my own as soon as possible

Not too sure what you mean - ???
 

 

[Lynrax]

my hd25 have kind of a rough look and feeling(i mean they are not polished.) can i get that effect back?

 

[jfunk]

Quote:

my hd25 have kind of a rough look and feeling(i mean they are not polished.) can i get that effect back?

Still not 100% what you mean but...
 
If you want a matte finish you just need to use a matte clearcoat
If you want the rough texture just don't sand it in between coats
If you mean you want to be able to remove the paint and go back to the black plastic - that could be tricky. If you don't sand them or use the adhesion promoter you could probably peel of the paint if you want to go back to black but I cant guarantee it will work or the paint may chip or peal unexpectedly.
If you wanted to stick with the matte rough black don't paint them - just give them a clean  
 
Hope this helps 

 

[Lynrax]

uhm yes, that was, what i actually wanted to say thanks.
i just didn't had the word matte in mind 
Quote:

If you wanted to stick with the matte rough black don't paint them - just give them a clean  

 not yet. they are only 3 months old

 

[jfunk]

Just looking through some old pics and found this one.... Might be useful. In this series of pics you can see a design build up using computer cut masks. If you wanted to achieve the same sort of effect you could design your masks and then send them to a sign making place to cut them on a vinyl cutter... It should only cost a few quid and means you get nice crisp results with minimal chance of c0ckups. In these I used normal sign vinyl rather than the ultramask I used above. It is a bit trickier to match up as it is not see through but works almost as well for a fraction of the cost.

 

[nikp]

Oh man, these look cool! It's too bad I don't have a closed headphone right now.

 

[wormsdriver]

wow, awesome work! 
..just checked your website...bravo! very nice.