BTW, i copies this text from a thread i started a few days ago over at macnn.
MacNN thread
Just thought i'd share it with you guys

Ok, heres the plan:

I really love the white shiny finish of the ibooks, but there are times that i wish i had a shiny black ibook.
Yes, i know all about www.colorwarepc.com, and yes their black ibooks do look very nice, but there is no way i can justify a $400 paint job.
Plus, they do a pretty bad job on the ibooks - they leave the keyboard, cd bezel, trackpad and the I/O bracket all white.

Since i am currently working as an Apple tech, at an Apple authorised service provider, i get access to all sorts of goodies. I was mucking around and found a Powerbook Ti black keyboard. This got me thinking that it could provide the perfect finishing touch to a proper paint job.

Now the powerbook keyboard does not fit straight out of the box, but what someone with patience can do is snap of each individual key and swap it for the ibooks white keys (I did this one afternoon). I actually think this looks nicer than the original ibook keyboard (the keys are translucent black, and have the nice italic font printed on them).



I also have an ibook g4 shell lying around from some lady who spilled drink all through her machine and fried the logic board.
Part B of the plan is taking the empty shell to a contact i have who works in the car painting industry. He is a heavy PC modder, and paints PC peripherals and cases in his spare time with car paints. He is painting the ibook shell a gloss black as we speak.
I will post more pics when i recieve the shell back, and then i will re-assemble the ibook for the final product (provided the shell comes back looking veeery nice

Update 1: 19/1/04

Just got the bits back. They look veeery nice. Take a peek
Should be together later tonight


Final Update: All the rest of the pics:





Also, Thanks to ImageShack for Free Image Hosting

That looks very nice

oh that's awesome! cant wait to see it all put together

Damn, so nice!

Wow, should look nice back together, be sure to post updated pics

Now that is going to be sweet. Even having only the keyboard black looks sweet. iBooks normally look sweet anyway

But anyway, I love black... I think that's going to look incredibly good. Hmmm... Maybe I should paint my Mac mini (when I actually buy it) black! That would be awesome!

hey guys, im currently mid-operation

...had to stop for dinner you know

Finished!

And it looks soooo sweet. Full pics coming soon. Im going to bed

But for now, heres a teaser:

wow, very nice,

wel done that looks realy nice can i ask how much was the paint job and would you be able to get ahold of some more keys that i could buy

Hey good job mate, looks nice that apple logo with black background

That looks awesome man

that looks mighty fine

BEAUTIFUL!!
THAT'S JUST BEAUTIFUL!!!

Was the paint airbrushed on and then glossed over?

I love modding my gadgets (see Titanium P800 or Tahiti MGF)

Let me know, (now if only I had an iBook)

wow i really wish i could do that to mine. The whiteness of the iBook stands out in all my sliver/black hardware.

Awsome job.

Awesome snitch! You should write a tutorial up, I might do this to mine if ya did. (care to tell me what paint you used?)

Im not big on macs but that is FRICK'N AWSOME!

Looks nice, I may have to get my old iBook shell out of the closet and get some paint. I hope it wouldnt make it a difference if the shell I have is an old 500Mhz snow model.

that is an awesome mod! now you make me wanna go buy an iBook just so i can do somethin like that!

Dang~ that is a cool mod...

But if I had extra $400 to spend, I would probably upgrade my HDD and RAM.

SEXY!!

oh baby, if white didn't look cool enough. That is F'n amazing

Well done

Now that's a great mod Nice work dude

Very cool, but I myself would prefer the keyboard to be still white, still matching the touchpad.

Sweet That's an incredible thing to do

man, you have some good skills. it looks really beautifull

That would look great with a U2 iPod.

Great work

The paint job cost me $60 Kiwi (around $35 US)
It was around 3 coats of black, plus 2 clear coats airbrushed on. He laquered the finish for me too. It was sooo cheap, its just cos he hasn't started his company yet.

well its lucky this only cost me around $30, plus 5 hours of my time

That is truely awesome, makes the white apple stand out so well! How were the keys done exactly?

That's awesome, be very cool if the trackpad was black though. You should see how much you'd be able to sell them on ebay for

hey snitch

you could use that mod for the color sheet and make it red (make the apple on the back red)--> iBook U2 edition
you know that mod by steveFC

genius mac it up sell it on eBay for a WHOLE LOAD of cash

Nice idea


Im thinking about this. Its ALOT more labour intensive than i think any of you could possibly realise. You basically pull the computer down to its lowest form, it takes alot of care not to break anything.

BTW if you live in NZ and want this done, PM me and i'll see what I can do. If your outside NZ, im sure you could ship to me, and i could get it done much cheaper than the US $400 job colorware rip off.

Dude what the hell is with your sig, it's friggin' sick

Awesome job man.

wow that looks slick. get a matching black touchpad and your set.

that rocks you should see if you could get a black two button touchpad off a pc to finish it

More pics please?

Wow, that looks amazing

More....pics.....please....

Holy crap.

That look amazing.

Well ok...just for you





Note how the edge of the lid framing the screen is white. My friend originally forgot to paint it as he had the lid face down when he sprayed it. I was gunna take it back for him to finish, but ended up just sanding the edge smooth white. It actually looks real nice.
Also, teh tabs on teh keyboard i forgot to get painted. But, im getting them done, dont worry

Wow... your mod doesn't stop impressing me. With the black, it just looks so much more professional.

congrats on 1k posts dude, broke it in my thread

nice mod keep it up :thumbsup: