My finished UglyFace! (photos)

[Noplasticrobots]

I finally painted and boxed up my UglyFace, my first stompbox with an aluminum enclosure. I wasn't going to paint it but I happened upon two cans of Testor's spray paint and I thought "What the hell". I knew I wasn't gonna be able to bake the paint in a toaster oven, and I don't have any clear coat or money for any so I know that this paint is gonna eventually just fall off, but that's fine with me.

I wanted a very rough paint job, after all the paint job needed to lend itself to to the pedal's name. I painted a base coat of yellow. I wanted to stencil "UGLYFACE" across the front but I couldn't find any stencils small enough to fit lengthwise. My girlfriend was riding her bike home from work and happened to see a kid's ruler/stencil combo that had been run over so she brought it home to me to see if it would work. As soon as I saw it I knew I was gonna have to use it. I knew the little cracks throught it would allow paint leaks that would give it character. I still couldn't fit UglyFace across the front so I shortened it to just UGLY. I spray painted each letter individually and masked off the rest. This was the first mistake. Somehow the tape stuck and when I went to lift the stencil it brought the box up with it and dropped it, chipping the paint on 3 of the 4 top corners. It actually looked cool so I left it. Then I somehow managed to get silver spraypaint on my thumb and touched the front of the box. I tried to cover it up with some yellow model paint but it didn't work too well. Oh well, you live you learn, right? I think after the box gets some useage I'll clear coat it, preserving it in a deconstructive state.

Here it is:

[$uperpuma]

looks good man! the box fits the sound! make sure you get one of these pics over in the Pictures archive!  The uF I am building for my buddy is also yellow... it should be done tomorrow night.... Congrats and rock that ugly thing!

[deathbravo]

ohh, its not ugly.

[reverberation66]

looks good, right on about using the found stencils, that's the way to do it.  I like that color of yellow, testors you say?  I was looking at yellow spray paints the other day and none seemed to be a very good shade...so what did you use for the optoisolator/vactrol/ldr/led thingy???  What would be appropriate part to order from smallbear or mouser for that? 

[PB Wilson]

Great pedal, isn't it? I too put a pot (Frequency) near the corner so I could use my foot to adjust it like some of the vibe pedals. Nice job! Here's mine:

[Processaurus]

Looks awsome, the white footswitch washer people complain about actually looks good (like plastic can look good), the oversize knobs with lots of space in between them are great too, looks like you can grab ahold of them without being too careful.  PB thats cool with the big knob too.  I was lucky enough to find these crazy 2" knobs with a rubber boot around the outside in the dumpster, they're great for foot knobs. 

[Noplasticrobots]

Thanks for the compliments folks! Photographing it outside actually masked the mistakes a little so it look sbetter than it doe sin person. I barely had enough paint to cover the outside, and in some places you can still barely make out some gray. Since I don't sell pedals or gig, it's cool with me.

$uperpuma, I wasn't aware there was a pictures archive. I'll have to search that out.

The Testor's spray paint I had was in with my old models. I forgot I had it. It was a small can of gloss yellow, and I think it approximates the MXR yellow.

PB, nice paint job! Did you attach a washer beneath the plastic one and paint over it? I see it's raised there. I like the idea of using the larger knob for foot control, but I'm a real stickler for knobs being uniform and the same size. It's the one thing I'm real anal about when it comes to pedals. I'd love to be able to control the UF frequency with a wah, did anyone ever figure out how to do that?

I like the plastic washer too! I just recently saw some people making digs at it, but I think it looks cool.

[PB Wilson]

It's just light shining off the finish. No extra washer. I used a gold hammered finish with Future floor polish over it for the clear coat. (Thanks Jack for the tip so long ago.)

For the unifirmity of knobs, I got the big knob at Rat Shack and found the same knobs in my Mouser catalog in several different sizes if you are looking for a certain look. I totally understand your desire for sameness. I sometimes agonize over knob selection.

[Noplasticrobots]

Future floor polish eh? The kind available at any supermarket? What's the process like? I searched the forums here but only got two results, and one was this topic. The link I found didn't explain how to use the polish. I'm really interested in this as it seems to give a nice finish, and I'd assume it's cheaper than other clear coats.

[bwanasonic]

Future floor polish eh? The kind available at any supermarket? What's the process like? I searched the forums here but only got two results, and one was this topic. The link I found didn't explain how to use the polish. I'm really interested in this as it seems to give a nice finish, and I'd assume it's cheaper than other clear coats.

Hmm, I wasn't impressed with my experiments with Future. It certainly is not a *replacement* for a proper clear coat. I just brushed it on, and while you can get a shiny finish, I didn't find it to be very durable. It's also a pain to get even coverage on the sides an enclosure. It's cheap enough to goof around with, and see if you like it, but a good clearcoat will give you much more *pro* results.

Kerry M

[Alex C]

Here's an older thread about using Future Floor finish:
http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=31932.0

The older thread linked to in the above thread is dead.  I think it was the one that caused me to try it in the first place.  I used it on two RACO boxes that I bondo-ed, sanded, and sprayed.  It made a smooth, glossy coat on top, but was a bit uneven on the sides.  I can't attest to its durability as a stompbox finish, as I haven't really taken the pedals out, and they don't see much wear from my use at home.

As far as durability, I prefer a standard spray clear coat. 

-Alex

[PB Wilson]

I too like a spray on clear coat, but after reading about Future on this forum, I thought I'd try it out. It's very thin so the sides dripped and pooled on the bottom edge a bit. I'm pretty careful with my pedals, but some got dinged anyway. What are you gonna do?