Hi, I’ve started a project and I’m in the step of painting my case. I’m not really happy with the results, at first I primed the case, then I used Rustoleum spray paint (black) and I got crappy results. There were a lot of imperfections, bumps and the paint was not spread evenly. I then painted it over with an oil-based black paint (not spray paint), and it came out worse… So I don’t know what to do now.
I want to get a smooth finish, as little imperfections as possible. What should I do now? Sand it, then prime again? Any tips? Any help is appreciated.
As for now I think you can let the paint fully cure (read how long the curring time is for your paint) and use say maybe 400-600 grit wet/dry sandpaper and smooth it out and apply more paint on it as per the video.
At least thats what I would have done when i got to that stage and botched the paint job
I am making a painting tutorial, but it won’t be up for about a week.
The short answer though is yes, sand it off and restart. Spray paint will always have a slight texture to it because that’s just the nature of painting out of a rattle can. To remove it you just sand it flat and buff it out with rubbing compound and then a swirl remover.
Thanks for the link, I tried sanding it before with a 150 grit sandpaper and I applied the paint again and the bumps and imperfections were still there…
I don’t mind that, thats actually how I would like it to be. I have it differently, it’s like… the surface isn’t smooth and there are alot of lines that go vertically.
Oh I see. Are they drip marks? You’re probably putting way too much paint on at one time. You have to put on very very thin coats, and lots of them. Never 1 thick coat, and keep away from the thing. Don’t have the tip too close. Keep it at 8-12 inches or so.
Yeah I thought so. Don’t do that. Keep it far away are put it on super thin. Like just a fine mist. After the first layer it should look like there’s barely any paint on it, like you can see through it easily. Do that to the whole case, wait a few minutes until it dries just a little bit, and repeat for as many times as possible to get a fairly consistent coat. After that’s done that is your first coat. You can then wait a few days, sand, and repeat. Or just leave it at the first coat and be done.
Hmm well 100 is definitely too coarse. You need something like 400-600 to get it really flat without seeing the scratch marks, and if that’s wood grain showing through and you don’t want it there you might need to sand everything off and apply some wood filler or bondo or something to the whole thing to get rid of it. Or maybe just start over with some MDF, it’s totally flat. Those little drops of paint though are from you starting the spray while pointing at the wood. You need to start the spray off of the wood, then go over the wood with one pass and don’t let off the spray until it’s off the wood again. Also you need to do one pass then stop the flow. Then start again on the next pass. Don’t keep the flow going non stop.
Yeah Home Depot, Lowes, almost any hardware place. You can get a half sheet for around $8 or so, not too sure. That’s enough to make like 5 boxes probably. A quarter sheet would be even better. If they don’t have them see if they can cut a half sheet for you and sell you that.
Yeah MDF is one of the cheapest woods you can buy, and it’s outstanding for doing certain things like arcade sticks. It cuts very cleanly, it’s perfectly flat and doesn’t warp easily, can be easily sanded, etc. Great stuff if you plan on painting it.
