Is the color of the Apple II cases (not GS) the same across the years?

[Matthew Power]

If I mixed paint to touch-up a IIe case, would it match a 1977 case? Or a II+ case?

[James Davis]

On Saturday, April 15, 2017 at 7:05:03 PM UTC-7, Matthew Power wrote:
> If I mixed paint to touch-up a IIe case, would it match a 1977 case? Or a II+ case?

Hi MP,

I just replied to you privately, accidentally! I meant to reply to you publically, so maybe you can post my reply here, as part of your public response.

James Davis

[Matthew Power]

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If you are mixing the paints yourself, you should eventually be able to match the color.

If you take the case you want to touch up to a paint store, they should be able to match the color with their color analyzer immediately and mix up a small amount of paint for you.

"Is the color of the Apple II cases (not GS) the same across the years?"

No, the paint color never stays the same. Every batch is slightly different. Paint colors fade. Etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.

I believe that my original Apple II Plus was slightly darker than my Apple IIe computers are. And, the Platinum or Extended Keyboard Apple IIe is definitely lighter and whiter, more like the Apple IIgs, IIc, Macintosh, and later Apple computers.

Yours truly,

James Davis
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Thanks, it's hard to tell from photos, but yes is does seem the IIe is slightly lighter.

Matt

[Leeland Heins]

On Saturday, April 15, 2017 at 9:05:03 PM UTC-5, Matthew Power wrote:
> If I mixed paint to touch-up a IIe case, would it match a 1977 case? Or a II+ case?

Most Apple ][ cases change color over the years, a lot of it due to exposure to UV and/or environment (cigarette smoke seems to drastically accellerate yellowing). I have a couple of //e units that the case color varies from one part to another and you can see where the monitor on top shielded it from exposure to UV. Also the //e came in two distinct colors in different years... the early ones which are beige like a ][+ and the later ones which are "Platinum" more like a IIgs.

[James Davis]

Hi Matt,

Thanks for posting that.

Also, I would like to say that I have seen some Apple II computer cases, that have been personalized by artists, that don't look anything like the original color. If you clean the case with soap and water and rinse and dry it well, you can spray paint it what ever colors you like. Just, don't forget to mask off the Apple II logo. You can also use magic markers to draw and color your own art on it. You can also silk-screen them. And, camouflage them. Or cover them with stickers (papiermache them).

Yours truly,

James Davis

[Chris Zuhars]

How does the silk screening work? That's the main thing that's prevented me from going the paint route instead of retobriting.

ChrisZ

[Mark D. Overholser]

The Apple ][s, the ][+s and the first 18 months or so of the Apple ][e
have the Jerry Manock Designed Case..
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Manock>

These are all Foam that is Painted.. They don't Yellow with age..

The Plastic Cases of the later ][es and the Platinum //e ( with the
Platinum Colored Case, of course ) an the ][gs and the early Macs will
Discolor as the Bromide leaches out to the surface..


The Jerry Manock cases are Thicker, than the Plastic Cases...

MarkO

[James Davis]

On Thursday, April 20, 2017 at 7:34:43 AM UTC-7, Chris Zuhars wrote:
> How does the silk screening work? That's the main thing that's prevented me from going the paint route instead of retobriting.
>
> ChrisZ

Hi Chris,

I have not actually done any silk screening of Apple Computer cases myself, but I saw one once that had a company logo silk screened onto it right over the embossed Apple II logo. The whole case had been painted blue first. It was really ugly looking. They probably did it to keep thieves from wanting to steal their computers. I saw it in an electronics recycling warehouse.

I have a spare Apple IIe case that has never been used. Someone who used to work for Apple Computer, Inc., in their factory, gave it to me a long time ago. I've kept it wrapped up, so it is practically brand new. I wonder what it's worth?

Yours truly,

James Davis

[slickr...@gmail.com]

On Saturday, April 15, 2017 at 9:05:03 PM UTC-5, Matthew Power wrote:

> If I mixed paint to touch-up a IIe case, would it match a 1977 case? Or a II+ case?

I recall in my high school in one of the labs I used frequently two unenhanced Apple IIe's having cases that were slightly different shades of tan making me think they were different models, and wondering if that was how to tell an unenhanced IIe from the enhanced IIe at a glance, but finding out they were both unenhanced when I went to check (and I actually remembered how to do that back then :-D) Don't bother telling me, I haven't touched an actual Apple IIe since they got rid of them in 1995).
If you are talking about a "platinum" Apple IIe instead of a tan one, then it doesn't match at all.

In short, the early Apple II family computers were all tan, but the exact shade could vary.
The later platinum IIe, the IIc, IIc+ and the IIGS however were generally consistent with the color.