My Ferrari Yellow Black Project – A Bit of a Journey
So, I got this idea, right? I was looking at my old, beat-up gaming controller, the one that’s seen way too many late nights, and thought, “This thing needs a serious makeover.” And then it hit me – Ferrari yellow and black. Classic. Bold. Makes anything look faster, even if it’s just sitting on my desk. I figured, why not give it a shot?
First thing, I had to get the right yellow. Not just any yellow, you know? It had to be that vibrant, almost aggressive Ferrari yellow, or as close as I could get with stuff from the local hobby shop. I spent a good while there, comparing cans of spray paint. The guy working there probably thought I was planning something real serious. Finally found a can labeled something like “Racing Yellow” that looked pretty darn close. Grabbed some gloss black too, and a roll of that blue painter’s tape.
The Prep Work – Ugh, This Part
This is always the bit I dread. Taking the controller apart. So many tiny screws! I was super careful, laid them all out on a magnetic tray so I wouldn’t lose any. Then cleaning all the plastic pieces. Had to scrub off years of… well, gamer gunk. Then a light sanding, just to rough up the surface so the paint would stick better. My fingers were aching by the end of it. I nearly just chucked it and bought a new one, but I’d already told my mates I was doing this custom job, so no backing out.
Painting Time – The Fun (and Fume-Filled) Bit
Okay, so I set up a makeshift spray booth in the shed using a big cardboard box. Safety first, opened a window, put on a mask – those fumes are no joke. Masked off the areas I wanted to keep black or paint black later. Started with the yellow. Shook that can like my life depended on it and went for it with light, even strokes. First coat looked a bit patchy, a bit… disappointing, to be honest. I let it dry for a good hour, feeling a bit antsy. Then a second coat. Boom! That was it. The yellow was looking rich and smooth. Looked pretty awesome already, even in pieces.
Then came the black accents. This needed a steady hand. I wanted some clean, sharp lines to get that aggressive, sporty feel.
- Waited for the yellow to fully cure overnight. Patience is key, I keep telling myself.
- Carefully applied the painter’s tape for the black sections. This took ages, getting the curves right.
- Sprayed the gloss black. It’s wild how the black just makes that yellow pop even more.
- Peeled off the tape while the black was still a little soft. It’s a tip I picked up somewhere – helps get cleaner lines, supposedly. It mostly worked, though I had a tiny bit of bleed in one spot. Touched it up later with a tiny brush and some black paint.
The Grand Reassembly (and the small “feature”)
After everything was bone dry, and I mean, I left it for another whole day just to be sure, it was time to put it all back together. This was like a puzzle. Thankfully, I took photos when I disassembled it. Finally, got all the screws back in, snapped the shell together. And man, it looked fantastic. That Ferrari yellow and black scheme just completely transformed it. It feels like a brand-new, high-performance controller now, even if it’s the same old guts inside.
There’s one tiny spot, near a button, where the yellow paint is a little thicker than I wanted. A tiny run. Tried to ignore it, then I thought, “Nah, that’s its unique identifier.” It’s not factory perfect, but I made it. It’s got character. And honestly, every time I pick it up, I get a little kick out of it. Totally worth all the faffing about. Now I’m eyeing up my keyboard… wonder how that would look in yellow and black?
