When I paint it, I do have it supported. The box was just lying flat for pictures after I sanded it and wiped it down with turpentine to clear all the dust off
:sigh: I may have to go back and fix a few spots on the box. When I sanded the primer down, it looked pretty smooth, WIth the 1st coat of lacquer, I can still see some areas where the spackle is higher than Iād like. Itās fethered decently, so itās smooth, but I can see it annoying me if I looked at it too long. Iād really hate to go at it with some 150 grit to take it down a bit, then resmooth, prime, and paint that area. Iāll have another look at it once I get home from work.
man, I was following this tutorial to the tee.
Then during one of my first coats of paint I left it outside to dry for 10-15 and it fell off the table, cracked an edge and got a bunch of dirt and grass stuck to the sides.
The crack isnāt a big deal, itās like a tiny hairline on one edge, so I can spackle that. B
But Iām basically back to square one and going to have to start from the beginning, because to get this dirt and stuff out Iām going to have to sand it down with a rougher grit paper.
Damn Lucky, bad luck there. Painting can be such a pain in the ass sometimes.
After I finished my first paint job I left it on a couch. Then my roommateās girlfriend decided to move it off of the couch so she could move the couch. Then later that night our basement flooded and soaked up water into the MDF, bubbling up my entire paintjob. What a pain in the assā¦
oh yeah everyone, REMEMBER to paint/Primer in a CLEAN environment. Even when you put the clears on. I didnāt, and i had weird wood chips stuck underneath the paint and dried! I couldnāt sand it off because it wouldāve blown through all the coats of paint and clear!
Clean environment guys!!! clean environment!
Good point. Iām gonna edit my original post to include that tip.
As much as I didnāt want to, I went back and sanded down everything. I grabbed some 180 at the store and went down to the spackle in the places that needed it, and smoothed it with 220, 320 & 400. Wiped it all down, now reapplying the primer. Not at all what I wanted to do, but Iām sure it will be worth it in the end.
Awesome guide.
Was going to start today, but in the initial sanding of my case (was literally just a frame. 4 sides, butt joints and a dowel in each) I realised that my fabrication left a bit to be desired!!
So Iāve glued some support inside and will hopefully be able to start tomorrow.
In the mean time Iām practising on a scrap piece so will have some idea of what Iām doing before I let loose on the case!!
Thanks again and Iāll post up my results when I can 
Does anyone have any experience of spraying metal?? My wooden, 100% made by me stick will be my pride and joy, but Iāve also found a local sheet metal worker willing to make me a case.
Will a similar process work? I assume just no prior sanding required, and finer paper to sand between coats??
Or am I well off??
Cheers
for each coat of paint, do we have to wait 3 days? Like I know the first one I had to wait 3 days, what about the second coat?
i am going to love using this guide to paint the cases i just ordered from qcfgaming. awesome stuff, dude!
Anybody tru steel wool yet?
Iāve read thru the worklog a few times and decided to give it a try. The first time I went thru and tried to wet sand with 400 grit, it didnāt seem to look too hot. So I decided to try something else. I cleaned it, put on another coat of paint, dry sanded it with th4 3M flexible 400 grit paper, which gave me one nice smooth even finish. I then wet sanded with the 600 grit. Not as bad as the wet sanded 400 was, but I still wasnāt nearly as even as I wanted. Then I remembered something I read on slagcoinās site:
*
Steel wool is steel frayed to different thicknesses and wound together; steel wool is graded using 1ās and 0ās, the more 0ās, the finer; because of rust, steel wool should be avoided on water-based finishes, and should not use water as a rubbing lubricant. Rubbing compound is small bits of minerals usually mixed with a lubricant and rubbed with a cloth; pumice (which is white) and rottenstone (which is finer and looks and feels like dirt) are used most often in rubbing compounds; polishing compound is a very fine rubbing compound often using silica (which is white; note that silica is the same ingredient for softening sheen; this is another reason to wait on drying and curing). It is important to note that steel wool and rubbing compounds are different from sandpaper; they are not pressed into the surface and yield much more to the base of the surface, moreso with rubbing compounds.
Strong caution should be exercise when buffing edges. It is very easy to remove the entire finish on cornered edges. Keep sandpaper flat on surfaces and try not to curve it into the corner. Also be gentle with steel wool. Rubbing compounds tend not to have too much of this problem.
To give an idea of the approximately equal size of each grit for each buffer:
* About 220 grit sandpaper equals #00 steel wool.
* About 400 grit sandpaper equals #000 steel wool.
* 600-1000 grit sandpaper equals #0000 steel wool which equals rougher grades of pumice rubbing compound.
* 1200-1500 grit sandpaper equals finer grades of pumice rubbing compound.
* 2000-4000 grit sandpaper equals rottenstone rubbing compound.
* 5000+ grit sandpaper about equals polishing compound.
But it needs to be noted that each buffer functions differently. Rubbing compounds have more give than steel wool which has more give than sandpaper. This is why in progressive buffing it is a good idea to make steps from higher grits of sandpaper to lower grits of rubbing compound; it is a good idea to move from 2000 grit sandpaper to pumice rubbing compound. *
So, I got some fine grit (#0000) steel wool and went to work. It got rid of all the marks and left a nice matte finished surface that was even better once I cleaned teh dust off. I suppose itās the equivalent of using 1000 grit paper, without the wet stuff (but with fine wool in the air, so wear that respirator!). And I didnāt burn thru the corners either.
Now, whether this works when the clearcoat is on, I"m not sure. I still have 1500 and 2000 sandpaper T can pull, and I may still use that on teh paint before the clear just to see what it does.
It never looks very good after sanding. At the end though it comes out perfect after that final swirl remover gets wiped off.
Anyways Iām very interested in how well steel wool works for this. Iāve never tried it, but a lot of people use it to sand coats of polyurethane or some other finish on fine woods. I was always curious about it but never bothered to try it. So be sure to report back here. Pics would be great if you could.
Generally yeah. If itās cold though wait a little longer. Any coat that you plan on sanding needs to cure for a few days first. Remember you arenāt waiting for the paint to ādryā, youāre waiting for it to cure. Thereās a big difference.
Iāll try to snap some tonight before I hit it with the clear coat
The left side was touched up with the steel wool just before the shot. The right side is how it looks once I have it wiped clean with turpentine. My son playing Vanna Whiteā¦
I like the way that looks. Itās very uniform. Impressive. Thanks for posting.
Keep us updated.
Looking clean, should look awesome once you stick the plexi on top.
Donāt forget to drill joystick holes before itās too late!
I sprayed 3 coats of clear lacquer. Very shiny. Iāll probably add another 3 or more coats tomorrow after work. The pinstripes are the stick-on variety from Autozone (I didnāt feel like either masking and either painting or airbrushing the stripes), so Iām hoping the more coats I have the less chance of burning thru the clear and tearing up the stripes.
As for the steel wool, Iāll have to see if the wet sanding with 1000 sandpaper or just hitting it with teh wool works better. I will still start with the wet 600 and go from there. I do like using the wool, as it seems easier to work with. But I do want to see what the 1500 and 2000 will look like.
Ah, did that already my friend. I lined everything up and drilled the holes for the panhead screws. Then I used a countersink to drop the screws below the surface, then packed spackle in the hole and sanded it smooth. Bondo or wood filler would have worked as well, but I didnāt have any at the time.
http://i557.photobucket.com/albums/ss13/spenzalii/fightstick017.jpg
Iāve got pics of the build Iāll post once Iām done.
Must say, this thread has been some wicked inspiration to finally get my stick done.
This stick has taken many many months, and there have been a few āattemptsā that have simply made the bin!!
But now itās finally built (much bigger than I imagined, so a smaller sleeker version will come soon. But thatās another thread!!), and is covered in masses of filler!!
Should have time to sand it down, add my filler primer coats tomorrow before work in the afternoon. Iām excited!!!
Iāll post pics as I go so you guys can correct and advise me along the way.
Wish me luck!!! 