Database Info

Back In Black

I think the tornado is a great phone. If not for its A2DP performance, I wouldn't imagine replacing it with anything. I like candybar format smartphones. Even the Experia X1 is bigger and heaver and maybe harder to charge on a cradle, not to mention that it will be twice as expensive. And the sliding panel UI on WM6...perfect on the tornado.
But if you have had one from when they were first released and you use it every day then it is pretty thrashed. Every corner of mine showed white plastic worn or scratched through the silver. And every lettering on the black part of the phone was partially worn.
Most of the places advertising housings for under $50 do not have any stock. And then my usb connector de-solders itself, so buying an expensive fascia for a phone that I can't flash while I have to charge its batteries on an external charger does not seem wise. I have to buy a new phone and a Qtek is the first tornado I find on eBay in the states.
So one evening I picked up some 600 grit wet dry sandpaper and plastic paint to see what it would have looked like in black and I think it would have looked good.
A few notes if anyone else tries this: You will sand off all the extruded buttons marks and icons removing all the silver but usability is fine. If you sand the black parts they will be flat black so ideally use flat paint on the silver\white parts if you want them to match. Use clear paint on top when you are done to protect it. Don't think you can remove the rubber antenna cover more than a couple of times without wrecking it. I couldn't get the mirror and camera assembly out so I just sanded it flush as it was already chipped. But if I were using this phone I would have either completely blackened the mirror or figured out a cover\protector for it. I am not sure what to do about the joystick once it is worn down to the white. That is one piece that really would have benefited from vinyl dye.

ive been thinking on doing this on my cingular 2125 for a long time since it has like 1000 scratches not to mention the screens plexi glass looks like crap ><,after seeing your post il definitely do it

NIIICE,
No use fretting over bumps dents scratches your method is great plz specify as to what kind of paint would stay all plastic paints aval in mkt are not of industrial standard and get worn off in pocket.

bukhariwaheed111 said:
all plastic paints aval in mkt are not of industrial standard and get worn off in pocket.
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I won't know much about industrial paint. And since the painted model has no miniUSB port I am not going to be carrying it around in my pocket so I won't know how it would wear.
Frankly I am surprised that the color isn't in the plastic. I had read this before http://case-mods.linear1.org/im-high-on-vinyl-dye/
but I kind of did this on a whim and I wasn't going to spend more time looking for dye than actually painting the stuff.
http://www.parasolinc.com/products.asp?ProductID=Varibond is the paint I would have tried if I were using the phone a lot. An aerosol can is $20 USD.
If I could still find a supplier for the cases I would buy a bunch and test it out. They used to be $20 USD and it made sense to buy five because the shipping and wire fees dealing with China, but at $50 I will pass.

Painting my Nexus One ((in progress))

Well I got seriously bored of the Battery cover and bottom piece. I was just never a fan of the bronze like tint to it.
I initially started with the Ol Touch Pro battery cover method using Rit Dye.
The results were great but it started running leaving my hands tinted =-(.
I placed an order for paint which arrived but was the wrong finish so Im awaiting the return shipment.
In the meantime I went ahead and started on the Battery Cover/Bottom panel with some left over paint I already had.
Im using Krylon Fusion but I may regret not switching to Duplicolor as there bonding is to plastics may be better. Im worried that the teflon coating of the pieces may mess up the finish.
Removing the bottom panel is a PAIN unless you have a pry tool. I highly suggest going to Ifixit.com and order a few of there tools if you make a habit of pryin open phones/electronics. They help out a bunch.
http://www.ifixit.com/Tools/Plastic-Opening-Tools/IF145-000
This is what I used for bottom panel.
Second problem was the little metal contacts. Fortunately I have no intention of getting a dock. They are too small to duct tape and was worried about removing them. If they are removable I may just do it after as scraping the paint off copper shouldnt be a big deal.
Masking the camera is a pain as the metal circle doesnt give one an indent to xacto blade smoothly. It was a bit of trial and error but definitely doable.
Anyways pics of coat one below. I wont continue until I get the right sandpaper and paint finish. Still tossed up between gloss and matte.
This was my original goal.
http://www.colorwarepc.com/p-216-nexus-one.aspx?2907=54726&2908=54787&2909=54877&2910=54955
I really like the black covers and the way it now matches the front paneling. I may not rip the rest apart to paint it white just yet.

Much prefer stock compared to that to be honest.
I know you're not done but the finish doesn't look to great.

Yeah the finish is nowhere near done. But the contrast the black creates is just alot better.
Already had someone ask me what phone I'm using ... in 11 months that's only happened twice.
Hopefully it'll look the way I intend it to.

wet sand, wet sand, wet sand
also make sure to use super high grit paper.
dont be afraid to wet sand the clear coat either...its necessary to keep it glossy with out any orange peel

ewwwwwwwwww

Here's to destroying the resale value of the your phone I do appreciate the idea though and DIY mentality.

irishrally said:
Here's to destroying the resale value of the your phone I do appreciate the idea though and DIY mentality.
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lol Same thing was said about my G1.
After I changed it to all white I sold it for 50$ more than I paid.
I was REALLY bored. With Gingerbread not around yet I figured why not.

seeking said:
wet sand, wet sand, wet sand
also make sure to use super high grit paper.
dont be afraid to wet sand the clear coat either...its necessary to keep it glossy with out any orange peel
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Thanks for tip about the clear coat.
Already ran into some trouble as the paint doesnt seem to adhere as good as I thought. I went at it without adhesion promoter..may have to hit the do over if it doesnt settle well.

xManMythLegend said:
Thanks for tip about the clear coat.
Already ran into some trouble as the paint doesnt seem to adhere as good as I thought. I went at it without adhesion promoter..may have to hit the do over if it doesnt settle well.
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Did you sand the pieces before painting?
Your paint is going to fall off if you didn't.
It's the entire idea behind teflon coatings.

A little painters trick. Next time don't try to tape off the contacts (or any small area) just get a toothpick and some Vaseline. Put the Vaseline on the contacts then paint. After you are done just wipe clean.
Also watch your flash time between coats. Believe it to not wet paint doesn't bond to dry paint that well. You first coat should still be a little tacky when applying your second coat.

JCopernicus said:
Did you sand the pieces before painting?
Your paint is going to fall off if you didn't.
It's the entire idea behind teflon coatings.
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Only a light sanding. I did the same with the G1 and had zero issues (I did use adhesion promoter with that one though). Nexus one must have super super teflon.
[IO]ERROR said:
A little painters trick. Next time don't try to tape off the contacts (or any small area) just get a toothpick and some Vaseline. Put the Vaseline on the contacts then paint. After you are done just wipe clean.
Also watch your flash time between coats. Believe it to not wet paint doesn't bond to dry paint that well. You first coat should still be a little tacky when applying your second coat.
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Great tip.
I actually tried that with Elmers but vaseline would be MUCH easier for the tiny spots.
I may have let it dry too long. I normally have only painted in warm weather months so I can let it sit longer. With the cold weather it seems I have to reduce time between coats.

BTW
How many coats of clear coat is recommended ?
I only had my G1 a few months after painting when I sold it. If I plan to keep the N1 for longer ((no trackball or leds on Nexus S *sigh* Im looking for more durability.))
I recall reading on another forum where someone skipped clear coat altogether and put a zagg/BSE ever on top and it looked great after over a year of usage.

I would prefer spending $15 on full back black available on ebay rather than painting, it doesnt look smooth and highly finished.

charnsingh_online said:
I would prefer spending $15 on full back black available on ebay rather than painting, it doesnt look smooth and highly finished.
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You mean a case ?
Cant stand the extra bulk.
Anyways..
Had to go back and sand everything off to get all the teflon removed.
What a pain.
I did the bottom piece over much improved. Battery cover will have to wait till after turkey day.

xManMythLegend said:
You mean a case ?
Cant stand the extra bulk.
Anyways..
Had to go back and sand everything off to get all the teflon removed.
What a pain.
I did the bottom piece over much improved. Battery cover will have to wait till after turkey day.
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There's a couple of people selling black battery covers/antenna bottoms on ebay. With htc/google logo and all.

heres some pics of my painted nexus.. decided to paint it while waiting for replacement digitizer and lcd came in.. one coat primer -> lite sanding -> 2 coats rustoleum flat white -> lite wet sand (just to knock off some of the orange peel) -> 2 coat clear matte rustoleum (not a fan of glossy finishes) -> wet sand.. was going to do the battery/bottom, but am not sold on paint holding up well to that rubber.. will probably end up buying the black ones of ebay later on..

famandeggs, your Nexus looks amazing. Excellent job.
Expecting more pictures once you collected the black Nexus covers and complete your project.

Kelvino9 said:
famandeggs, your Nexus looks amazing. Excellent job.
Expecting more pictures once you collected the black Nexus covers and complete your project.
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thanks man, will do.. it was a frustrating process lol.. i first tried a gloss enamel gloss paint, but the cure times where a pain (48 hours), and im all thumbs (dropped it a couple times while it was still drying, or wet sanded it to far down exposing the aluminum, forcing me to start over).. eventually just went w/a normal paint, im hoping w/the clear it'll hold up

famandeggs said:
thanks man, will do.. it was a frustrating process lol.. i first tried a gloss enamel gloss paint, but the cure times where a pain (48 hours), and im all thumbs (dropped it a couple times while it was still drying, or wet sanded it to far down exposing the aluminum, forcing me to start over).. eventually just went w/a normal paint, im hoping w/the clear it'll hold up
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I can only imagine all your efforts you put in. Judging the pictures the paint job looks amazingly smooth.

Kelvino9 said:
I can only imagine all your efforts you put in. Judging the pictures the paint job looks amazingly smooth.
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looks very nice indeed. but you got dust on your camera lens

Color swap possible?

Hey guys ive been looking for a different housing for my infuse, i love the white galaxy s 2 but i dont think ill fit on my phone even though they look the same the speaker grill is on the right side. Any suggestions?

52 views and no replies omg lol. Ive seen the stock housing but i want the white one so i can rock the phone without a case.

antrax360 said:
52 views and no replies omg lol. Ive seen the stock housing but i want the white one so i can rock the phone without a case.
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Lol well how bout I change that-
Try this: http://www.colorware.com/default.aspx
It's not free and you would have to send you phone in, but I know they can paint (i'm not even sure its paint, it might be some type of dye or film) iphones and blackberrys.
That or you could go ghetto and buy sand paper and a rattle can of white and go to town!

lmao 250 no way lol. thats a new phone right there

antrax360 said:
lmao 250 no way lol. thats a new phone right there
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Never said it would be cheap, get a white case...

xIC-MACIx said:
Never said it would be cheap, get a white case...
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yeah that would be my best option.

Cases are so cheap that I would just go with that as well

phone is really rather easy to take apart just 8-9 screws and then a guitar pick to pop the screen out...Is there an aftermarket replacement full housing or just cases

also fell in love with the white S II. gonna try a white vinyl skin and will post results.

eghoti1 said:
also fell in love with the white S II. gonna try a white vinyl skin and will post results.
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would really love to see the turn out!!!

look up hydrographic dips, I have done a few guns and some other things. Works very well.

Ok so here is what I ended up doing. I basically did only a white front skin. Since I didn't want to cover the back battery cover white, I purchased a frosted TPU case to kind of keep everything light colored. The back still showed too much black to make it convincing, but overall it turned out really nice IMO with a white case. I highly recommend doing this if you're craving a white SGS variant without the $500+ pricetag. The skin is good quality and I laid it on top of a new screen protector, and then put on the case. The skin has a back bottom piece & back battery cover piece that I didn't use. Overall, this makes the front of the Infuse look like a White SGS II clone (minus different soft key layout). See pics and purchase info below:
White Infuse Skin:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/300567071501?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649
Clear/Frosted Tint TPU Case (light frost, the front looks more clear than frost):
http://www.amazon.com/TINTED-Design..._20?s=wireless&ie=UTF8&qid=1320885240&sr=1-20
Black/Smoke TPU Case (this is the case I had before I went white, I highly recommend it):
http://www.ebay.com/itm/330626579027?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649

That looks amazing and will be the road I take, just curious if the back texture would make the vinyl bubble over time?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using xda premium

the texture of the vinyl or the battery back cover? The vinyl is relatively thick and sturdy. The front was flimsy only because the sides aren't supported with an inside until you apply it, but the skin material itself is pretty durable. I took it off and reapplied 3 times. There are a couple of very small bubbles that are only visible in certain light. I applied this overtop my screen protector so the results may vary with a direct application.
I chose not to apply any skin on the back of the phone. It still showed too much black IMO and didnt cover enough area around the sides to look like a full white phone from the back. So I do not know if a vinyl applied to the back battery cover will bubble. I actually like the OEM back design so I was going to leave it anyway. I opted for that frosted case which I think blends nicely with the front skin. For $13 total, I think it's worth the mod.

im actually in the process of figuring out how to pop this baby open. last night i had thsi wild dream where i spray painted it white!
now if the housing is just plastic, then i could easily unscrew the back. spray paint white with a glossy finish. then get the white screen sking you got there. its looks beast in white by the way. i was thinking going with all black. but the white just did it for me.
im gonna head over to walmart in a bit to check these things out. ill report on what i find.
---------- Post added at 04:04 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:19 PM ----------
okay so i got back from walmart.
so this i believe is going to be my set up.
for the back. im going to spray paint it white then apply a glossy finish to it.
and for the front a white skin.
im down to do it. then im not down to do. lol.

I am not confident enough to try and spray paint the back white, but if you are then that would be ideal I think. I wish the back was white, then the effect would be more permenant but I am pretty thrilled with the way the front skin came out looking so convincing. I'm think that the only way to make it look convincing on the back to to really color the entire housing. I would be curious to see how yours comes out if you get the courage. Unfortunately, the phone's curved sides cause any skin to leave too much black space that makes it look tacky on the back.

I'm gonna do it! I think... shouldn't be hard just time consuming.
Sent from Optimus-Prime's Samsung Infuse 4G

Optimus-Prime said:
I'm gonna do it! I think... shouldn't be hard just time consuming.
Sent from Optimus-Prime's Samsung Infuse 4G
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Hey Optimus, I've actually done a lot of custom painting to various things on my truck exterior and interior, and my old iPhone, if you really wanted to paint your phone, you've got a couple options to make it turn out correctly:
Option 1, you could start by googling "plasti-dip", its basically a reversible rubber coating that you can apply without any prep work. Now I have a can in black from home depot but, I wanna say you can get it in white or other colors online, its like 6-8 bucks for a rattle can of it. EDIT: found a LINK This would be the easiest and way less time consuming. (On my truck forums, people have sprayed their rims and its apparently pretty durable)
Option 2, if you wanted to go the normal rattle can route, I would seriously advice on getting some 1500 or 2000 grit sand paper to prep sand the phone before you paint. It's a real fine grit and doesn't take much, really helps the paint stick. After a couple coats of white, I would spray some clear coat too. (Make sure you clean the housing before moving to painting)
Also another thing I had issues with on my truck interior was the textured plastic like the back plate on our phones. To do it correctly people had to sand the texture off till it was smooth, then paint. So IMO just leave the plate alone and keep the gray color and save your self from a headache of white paint chips after normal use lol (might be a nice contrast from the white anyways )
Hope this helps brah

i looked into the "plasti-dip" but i don't want it to peel, and for sure considering the fact that its going to be around the edges of the phone its gonna peel. so spary painting it is my other option. also i don't want to give the phone thickness just a make over. haha. i worried about the back plate being a *****... and i was right... lol. well i can always order a new one off amazon.but what im aiming at is this:
is it all fails completely. ill just spray paint it black. haha.

Optimus-Prime said:
i looked into the "plasti-dip" but i don't want it to peel, and for sure considering the fact that its going to be around the edges of the phone its gonna peel. so spary painting it is my other option. also i don't want to give the phone thickness just a make over. haha. i worried about the back plate being a *****... and i was right... lol. well i can always order a new one off amazon.but what im aiming at is this:
is it all fails completely. ill just spray paint it black. haha.
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Ya the corners would deff be the first thing to peel, but I "plasti-dipped" my iPhone a long time ago and it actually held up really well, the only reason it started peeling was because I dropped it on concrete. But honestly for 6 bucks, its worth a shot, if you don't like it you can peel it off like a stretchy sticker lol Actually, you could do this to the back plate and spray paint the actual housing white, just a thought.
And ya your best bet with the back plate is sanding it down till it's smooth and the painting it should be easy cheesy, the sanding part is the ***** lol Leaving it textured would be a mess...

Rubberized Battery Cover Mod

Like most of us that keep no cover on our phone, my battery plate was all scratched to heck. I saw the other "mirror polish" mod and it looked great, but also looked like a lot of work and would get scratched again. I bought a can of rubberized spray (see pic) and wound up with a great result (see pic.) The only color Home Depot had was black, and I think a gray might have looked better, but I still like the results and the phone is less slippery now than with the metal cover. This took 3 coats (30 minutes drying time between coats) then I let it dry for 18 hours before using it. Turned out pretty good, but long-term results are TBD...

I like did u just spray the back part? Any trouble with fitting it afterwards as it must add a layer of bulk?
Desire Z Glite 2.0.1

Shambolicuk said:
I like did u just spray the back part? Any trouble with fitting it afterwards as it must add a layer of bulk?
Desire Z Glite 2.0.1
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It added less bulk than I thought it would, it's really not much at all and it fits just fine afterwards. Actually, before, it would slide like a little when locked in place (just enough to notice - probably like .1 mm or so.) Now it is snug and has no jiggle at all.

I forgot to mention the hard part (prepping it...) Removing the original clear plastic coating was the hardest part - a combination of a dremel with the little wire wheel tool and my fingernail took about an hour, then I just hit it with some 220 grit sandpaper and cleaned it with mineral spirits.

I use the same stuff on my car (mid level 2009 Lancer but use the Plasti-dip to black out the front to make it look like an Evo [car guys will understand =p]) Very durable though I have not used it on my DZ yet. You beat me to the punch! I want to do the HTC part in red and the rest in black, will post when I have the time to do it.
Looks sharp though, contrast is nice

Doh! After only 1 day, I caught something on the curved edge and it started lifting the plastic coating... not very durable for this use - I might try again later though and see if I can come up with a better method.
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App

I like it! A little bit rougher texture, but you might try Duplicolor spray on bedliner.

I thought about taking my phone apart and using some white plastidip to change it white...
Durability is alright...on thinkpad forums, a couple of people mixed it with some black enamel paint which made it much more durable.

mralexsays said:
It added less bulk than I thought it would, it's really not much at all and it fits just fine afterwards. Actually, before, it would slide like a little when locked in place (just enough to notice - probably like .1 mm or so.) Now it is snug and has no jiggle at all.
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I thought I was the only one who noticed the battery door wiggle room! No one ever mentions it. I really hope you find some way of preventing it from peeling. I'm practically drooling over those pictures you took. It looks extremely professional compared to most mods I've seen. You could easily set up a service where people send you their doors, some cash, and a self address envelope if you wanted to make some extra bucks.

kierren said:
I thought I was the only one who noticed the battery door wiggle room! No one ever mentions it. I really hope you find some way of preventing it from peeling. I'm practically drooling over those pictures you took. It looks extremely professional compared to most mods I've seen. You could easily set up a service where people send you their doors, some cash, and a self address envelope if you wanted to make some extra bucks.
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I've been meaning to update this. I tried again - this time I sanded with 220 grit, used a "self-etching primer" on the cover, then the rubberized paint. This time it lasted 3 days before starting to peel off... I'm also able to scratch off the primer with my fingernails, so the primer didn't really help. I'm not sure what else to try to make this coating stick at this point.

mralexsays said:
I've been meaning to update this. I tried again - this time I sanded with 220 grit, used a "self-etching primer" on the cover, then the rubberized paint. This time it lasted 3 days before starting to peel off... I'm also able to scratch off the primer with my fingernails, so the primer didn't really help. I'm not sure what else to try to make this coating stick at this point.
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I suggest powdercoating the back cover.

primeral said:
I suggest powdercoating the back cover.
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Powder coating would be nice, but I don't have the equipment for that (and don't want to invest in it just for this.) Also, this cover has plastic tabs that I'd be worried about melting or detaching from the battery cover during the curing process.

Scratches and dents

As with basically all my other cellphones I convinced myself that I would not drop my Desire S on the road or other killer surfaces, so now that this has happened like 3 times at least, I am left with a few pretty nasty scratches on the aluminium body at the back. Besides dents and scratches not looking all too nice on their own, in this phone's case it looks even worse because it reveals the silver aluminium colour under the paint.
So does anybody know of a way to somehow kinda cover up these aluminium rends ?

meteish said:
As with basically all my other cellphones I convinced myself that I would not drop my Desire S on the road or other killer surfaces, so now that this has happened like 3 times at least, I am left with a few pretty nasty scratches on the aluminium body at the back. Besides dents and scratches not looking all too nice on their own, in this phone's case it looks even worse because it reveals the silver aluminium colour under the paint.
So does anybody know of a way to somehow kinda cover up these aluminium rends ?
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put in a case, hide it in your pocket or go for the other extreme and scratch all the remaining paint off!

black edding. it works

TatoValverde said:
black edding. it works
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Do you mean the Edding paint marker?
I have a grey Desire S which I dropped on a tile floor (ouch), left side first. Now it has two 1mm white dots where the metal paint chipped off, so I was looking for a silver permanent marker to maybe cover the white dots.
Have you tried the Edding marker? Does it wear off by taking the phone in and out of the pocket all the time?
If you've used this marker I'm looking forward to your feedback.
Thanks!

I have some lovely scratches and dents on mine. Somehow managed to take off a 1cm patch on the back under the logo; it's not too pretty. Even one of the dents is painful to touch as it is so sharp.
I'm afraid permanent marker will only make worse the current situation of my handset! In the case it goes and stays until it's needed!

Just put it in a case and convince yourself it never happened

Inginerul said:
Do you mean the Edding paint marker?
I have a grey Desire S which I dropped on a tile floor (ouch), left side first. Now it has two 1mm white dots where the metal paint chipped off, so I was looking for a silver permanent marker to maybe cover the white dots.
Have you tried the Edding marker? Does it wear off by taking the phone in and out of the pocket all the time?
If you've used this marker I'm looking forward to your feedback.
Thanks!
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Sorry, I have a Black Desire S, and yeah, Edding marker works. Just try to find the smallest you can, since the marker on top of the original paint will be noticeable under sunlight. try to stick to the white dots, and good luck!

lol whats the chances of finding this thread, i've always kept mine in a rubber case to try an prevent chips etc, but i removed it the other day to flash another rom and noticed the dust/dirt that had got into the case had made a right mess on the back, so i htought what could i do to fix it,, i chose to just put it back in the case an forget about it but im defo gonna try the black paint pen,, thanks man

meteish said:
As with basically all my other cellphones I convinced myself that I would not drop my Desire S on the road or other killer surfaces, so now that this has happened like 3 times at least, I am left with a few pretty nasty scratches on the aluminium body at the back. Besides dents and scratches not looking all too nice on their own, in this phone's case it looks even worse because it reveals the silver aluminium colour under the paint.
So does anybody know of a way to somehow kinda cover up these aluminium rends ?
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Perhaps an oil based enamel paint... you may be able to get a small tin from a hobby shop.

Metal paint
Guys, please allow me to brag about how I fixed the two tiny paint chips on my Desire S. :laugh:
As suggested by TatoValverde, at first I wanted to buy a paint marker, but since I have the gray Desire S this became a bit complicated. It turns out paint markers are not really easy to find (in Romania at least), much less if they're silver/gray and it becomes almost impossible to find a gray paint marker with a 0,8 mm tip.
After searching for 2 weeks I gave up the paint marker idea, went to the closest DIY store and bought a 750ml paint can + one thin brush. DIY stores are great because you can find a lot of colors and different shades. And by the way, a paint can costs about as much as a thin paint marker.
Although I tried to pick the closest shade of gray, even the smallest paint dot is noticeable on the phone so I had to put just a tiny amount, let it dry for some minutes, then very gently wipe off some of the excess paint. Then apply again a tiny bit of paint and wipe the whole area, over and over again until I couldn't really notice with the naked eye where the initial chips were.
The good thing is this paint seems to be pretty durable (as I've noticed when trying to clean some stains.. ) and it's water and UV resistant.