Big Brother is watching... A Family reunion...

[Corey986]

So I finished my Altair Micro this morning and decided I needed a family portrait...

What do you think?


Took this one this morning as I was test fitting the aluminum strip...


Cheers,
Corey

[Toolkitman]

Very nice Corey,
is the altair 8800 strip the one i putted in this forum?

[Corey986]

I dont recall where is got the original artwork, but I did have to do a lot I cleanup.
The strip is real brushed aluminum held on with double sided trim tape. I cut it from a "hobby" aluminum sheet. Then hand brushed the strip and cleaned up the edges so no one would get "cut".
For now the logo is printed using a computer connected label printer on clear tape.
I tested watershed transfer and heat toner transfer but both results were too fragile without an overcoat which would ruin the brushed aluminum look. I may do a silk screen but it is a lot of work for a small logo. Another option is to have two stamps made up and then transfer the logo using testors model paint.

For now though it looks pretty good so I won't mess much with it. In the second picture with the Altair micro not on top of the big Altair the logo did start to peel in the corner so I replaced it already once but I think that was due to not using a tweezers initially to install it and not triming it closely to the logo. Didn't make that mistake a second time

Cheers,
Corey

[Corey986]

Here is a closeup...

Yes I know part of the logo should be blue, but the label printer I have is B/W. I have a color laser so I could re-do it...

[Toolkitman]

Great : ).
What color have you used to make the blu like the real Altair?

Thanks

[elchucko]

Excellent! OK I'll pony up $ for your first production run.

[tbtalbot]

Nice job with the authentic looking top. I spray painted mine with a pretty close blue (Tamiya TS-23 for plastics) that can be purchased at a good hobby shop.

[Corey986]

Thanks,

I don't remember the paint code off hand and I threw out the can since it was actually left over paint from something else. I wasn't going to color match paint for a Micro, if I was painting a real Altair I would have gone to an autobody shop and had them make up a batch for my air sprayer or I would have powder coated it.

I was surprised when I painted a sample that it matched the Altair so well. I did check it before I went to the store in case I needed to buy a different color. I think it was from Home Depot or Lowes as that's usually where I get my "canned" spray paint.

I should also mention this was about 3-4 coats of plastic compatible primer and then 3-4 coats of spray paint with about an hour between each coat and 24 hours between the primer and the color coat.

Now if only I can get a external serial port working so I can use a serial to TCPIP/telnet box instead of the built in terminal so I can use my iPad as a terminal and still be able to access the SD card it would be perfect...

Cheers,
Corey