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Thread: Horrible, horrible paint job!

  1. #1
    Noobsauce
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    Default My first horrible paint job!

    I see a lot of awesome logs on this site about crazy ass mods. Here's a recap of my first painting attempt. My hope is you'll laugh with me as I encountered several rookie mistakes that may make you say "oh, I remember when!"

    Ok. I've been a lurker here for a long while as mentioned, and recently started posting. I suppose the next logical step was to DO something. Well... I did the cat5 RCA Cable thing: turned out pretty awesome, and my first time with a solder iron (ambulances standing by). I feel like a man!

    And so I've decided to try something a little more fun: Painting. I figured I'd start easy. I work at ASU, and have access to a bunch of old mice. Mice are easy to paint! So I took some old 2 button scroll wheel optical Dell mice home with me, cracked one open, got it apart (fairly easy), went to Wal-Mart for some spray paint and clearcoat, and went to work.

    Yes, Wal-Mart el-cheapo spray paint. I'm just testing things out after all. Since this was mostly a trial run to see how it'd end up, I did virtually no prep work ya'll are so adamant about. No sanding down or priming. This was a brand new clean mouse though, and the problems didn't come from prep. So I laid down my first coat of burgandy on the base after I taped it up, let it "dry" for 20 minutes, did a 2nd coat, let that "dry" for 30 minutes, and proceeded to do the click buttons golden yellow (school colors).

    Once the base was dry.. no.. scratch that.. once I was no longer willing to wait, I masked the whole thing in blue painter tape and cut out the ASU logo, so as to paint that part the same color yellow. Well.. Painter tape is thick, and my exacto knife wasn't exactly like a knife through butter, so I carved groove lines into the plastic, as while cutting out the logo, I did it in strips. No big deal, the paint will fill in the scratches. I did my thing with the yellow paint, sat it to dry for 15 minutes, saw the scratches still showing, so I went back for a recoat of the yellow. Of course, spraying side to side as the Commando tuts say to do was taking too long, so I sprayed in one spot for like 1.5 seconds. I lol'd when I saw how thick it was.

    Ok. Fast forward an hour later. I'm done waiting for this thing to dry. It's been next to a fan, it's gotta be good. I coat it in clearcoat, let it dry over the logo, and start removing the tape.

    Red paint. Not quite dry before taping. Not quite dry. At all. Worse? Yellow paint for logo? ehm... less dry than the red. This is what I ended up with:



    On the upside, the click buttons came out pretty nice.

    So I learned that patience for paint to dry is crucial. CRUCIAL. And I don't think blue painters tape is necessarily the best thing to do masking with. I'm going to go out tonight and buy some high grit (or is it low grit for fine?) sand paper as well so my next attempt wont look so awful.

    A few questions I feel better about asking now that I've attempted to do something:

    1. What do you guys use for masking? Commando's tuts always seem like he's using something very thin to cover his parts. I've seen masking tape on Acrylic, but do you use that for alum? what about plastic?
    2. I didn't use HQ paint by any means, this stuff was like 2 bucks a can. However, I did notice that even after the clear coat, the paint remains tacky or sticky to the touch.. I don't like that, is there a way to smooth that away? Is that accomplished by sanding?
    3. As you can see, I went for a logo, but I did the Burgandy/Red and THEN the yellow. Should I have done a base coat in yellow, and then masked off the logo and finished in red instead?

    Any tips would be awesome! I hope I made some of you laugh a little with my MAD MODDING SKILLZORZ. More questions to come in the future, don't doubt.

  2. #2
    Measure once, curse twice nevermind1534's Avatar
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    Default Re: Horrible, horrible paint job!

    It didn't turn out too bad. You need a lot of time and patience for spray paint.
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  3. #3
    Noobsauce
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    Default Re: Horrible, horrible paint job!

    Pictures don't do it justice. I promise

  4. #4
    Spam Sniper SgtM's Avatar
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    Default Re: Horrible, horrible paint job!

    Prepping.. For plastics, it's CRUCIAL! You gotta sand the surface down with 400-600 grit paper. This gives the primer something to stick to. After using a primer, some people like to use an adhesion promoter before color coats. It's not necessary, but not a bad idea. I personally haven't used any, but I've heard good things about bulldog adhesion promoter.

    First rule of actual painting.. coat times. Spray (or other solvent based) paints have what's called a flash time. This is the window where you can recoat without worrying about chemical reactions. Read the directions for the paint you are using, and follow the coat times like your life depends on it. This rule doesn't apply for water based paints such as Auto Air or Createx. These paints would be sprayed from an HVLP gun or airbrush.

    Second. Use VERY light coats. Use the 3 coat method. Your first coat should look like nothing more than little specks of colored dust on your project. Second should be a little better coverage, and finally, complete coverage with the 3rd coat (using subsequent coats at your discretion).Don't try and just wet the paint. This is how you get runs.

    Masking. Painters tape will work, you just have to be careful with it. The film you see Commando (and all other pros) using is called frisket. It's very thin, extremely low tack masking film. I know that Commando gets his from Kustom Shop, and DrumThumper was just talking about how he found some at his local Car Quest auto store.

    Wet sanding. Whether you can wetsand or not depends on your primer/paint. Reading the directions will tell you whether you can or can't.

    Follow the same steps for clear coating as you did with painting. I like to use a lot of clear, at least 5 coats. After you get that 2nd coat on, do a light wetsanding (with 600 grit), just to get rid of the little nibs that tend to build up.

    Most importantly, remember.. it's only paint. It you mess up, you can sand down and start over.

  5. #5
    Like a Lightning Bolt in Your Cheerios! Drum Thumper's Avatar
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    Default Re: Horrible, horrible paint job!

    Regarding frisket--you only need it for largish projects, such as a computer case and up. The stuff I used on my home fileserver goes by the name Stickey Mickey. It's basically a 10 inch wide roll of low-tack (stickiness) masking tape. It adheres well, can be a bitch to get flat (ie no bubbles or creases), and cuts great with a razor or x-acto knife.

    150 foot roll cost me ~$33, which was in line (and cheaper than more than one site) with buying online. I'm all for supporting the local economy when I can, so once this roll is used up (and I'm already starting to get some requests from friends and co-workers to paint stuff ranging from an X-Box to a dirt bike shroud), I'll be more than happy to keep my hard earned cash local.

    Now, the question is: do you really need a 150 foot roll of this stuff? In my case, yes, as I have two co-workers who are also artistic and we've made a pact of sorts regarding costs for materials. Plus, airbrushing is something that I am considering as a side job of sorts, but that's far down the road.

    So, what about small projects? Blue painters tape works well, but might not be cost effective depending on the size of the project. I've seen a few members here using blue tape for masking prior to cutting. It works great for situations such as that, but cost wise, there are cheaper alternatives. You might also want to look into the cream colored masking tape, as it is usually cheaper. The important part is to test it first on either an inconspicuous area or, even better, a piece of scrap that you've prepped, painted, and allowed to cure. It becomes a measure twice, cut once frame of mind, to borrow an over-used cliche.

    For a first attempt, with store brand paint nontheless, your mouse doesn't look half bad. I've never used the Wally World brand before, but sadly, they are my main supplier of Krylon, as hardly anyone in this town knows what dupli-color is.

    There's a ton of other issues to keep in mind whilst spray painting. I am by no means a master of the subject, but one of these days I shall share what I've learned over the last 15 years I have played around with spraypaints.
    We all have to start somewhere. And for a first attempt, this is worthy of a +rep.
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    aw heck guys. We're modders. Let's just build our own, shall we?

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  6. #6
    Noobsauce
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    Default Re: Horrible, horrible paint job!

    Thanks for all of your input guys. I went out and bought myself a sanding block and 600 grit sand paper, and sanded down 2 "new" mice from work, one Dell 2 button scroller (same as the one I started with) and one Microsoft intelli-mouse. I did notice that while not using much pressure, sanding it does scuff it up quite a bit, so I'll have to experiment with that a little more closely. This happened before the new paint job though, so lets see.

    I did check the times on the paint cans for coats and such. Clearcoat says to do it within four hours or after a week. Wow. A week? Interesting.

    SgtM - I took your advice about the really really light coats. I never imagined just how light people were talking about, but I did the specks thing and it turned out really really awesome. I'll take pictures of the dell mouse later tonight. I did 4 coats of clear on it when it was done drying, and I've actually ordered the Frisket from the recommended website (do I need it? no, but I tend to want the best.) to do the logo paint job.

    I took the Dell mouse to work and I've gotten quite a few people to say it looks like a professional job. Awesome! The sticky-like residue is also not on this mouse. I don't know if it's because I let the paint thougherally dry before the clear coat or not.

    For a first attempt, with store brand paint nontheless, your mouse doesn't look half bad. I've never used the Wally World brand before, but sadly, they are my main supplier of Krylon, as hardly anyone in this town knows what dupli-color is...
    Thanks. That is very encouraging to someone who's both fascinated and intimidated by this art form. I'm glad I chose to gradually ease myself into it

    We all have to start somewhere. And for a first attempt, this is worthy of a +rep.
    Awesome I totally agree. I'm not at all happy at the end product of my first attempt, in fact, I think it's downright embarrassing compared to the other mods/paintjobs on this website, but I'm really proud for attempting it at all.

    So if anyone out there is thinking about doing this, go for it! You'll screw up, but you'll learn a lot!

  7. #7
    Like a Lightning Bolt in Your Cheerios! Drum Thumper's Avatar
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    Default Re: Horrible, horrible paint job!

    I've ruined my fair share of projects, and still do to this point. It's all part of the learning curve.

    Now as soon as I get my Master Series G23 airbrush...I'll be ruining even more stuff till I get the hang of it. I've got an extremely cheap single action airbrush at the moment and utterly destroyed a large piece of cardboard the other night. But hey, I had fun with it.
    Quote Originally Posted by artoodeeto View Post
    aw heck guys. We're modders. Let's just build our own, shall we?

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  8. #8
    Banned Eclecticos's Avatar
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    Default Re: Horrible, horrible paint job!

    Make a stencil.
    You could print your design on a shipping label, cut it out with an x-acto knive
    . . and apply it to the face of the mouse before painting.

    +Rep To SGTM, and DrumThumper for there excellent advice.

  9. #9
    Noobsauce
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    Default Re: Horrible, horrible paint job!

    Shipping Label. Brilliant. Absolutely Brilliant. I would never have fathomed that. Now to see if someone here at the University has some big enough!

  10. #10
    Spam Sniper SgtM's Avatar
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    Default Re: Horrible, horrible paint job!



    lol.. I had to. Sounds like it's really working out this time. I'm glad for ya. See what I mean about coat times? Chemicals are a funky thing sometimes. That's why you don't have any sticky residue this time.

    EDIT
    After the clear is cured, grab some 3M polishing compound (the fine cut), and polish it up. After about 45 days, you can use car wax on it to keep the shine.

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