Paint Play/Experiment- Orange Squeezer

[davent]

Thanks guys, much appreciated!  Was playing/experimenting with some new to me and readily available, waterbased paints and finishing materials. Starts out pretty rough but the clearcoat saves the day.

Take care
dave

Dave, if you have the inclination and the means to shoot a short video of your process, I'm dying to see how you do it.

Hi Kato,

Can't do the video bit but usually have lots of stills to help me remember later on just what i did.

Box prep- sand with 220 grit, prime with self etching primer (grey and thin), re-prime with BINS shellac based primer, thick, heavy bodied so you can sand it to a perfectly smooth base surface (moot point for this project) and more importantly is white. Tried the spray can version of the BINS and it sprays too much volume and at too high a pressure so going back to the quart can and an airbrush for this step once the spray can's empty.

Wanted to play/experiment with mixing colors using Golden Fluid Acrylics plus experiment with their GAC 200 adhesive/hardener promoter. http://www.goldenpaints.com/justpaint/jp12article3.php

Airbrushed Cerulian Blue/Airbrush Medium (1:1). Sponge painted over that with Auto-Air Pearl White, how well you see the white depends on the lighting/viewing angle. Clearcoated with a mix of GAC 200/Airbrush Medium 2:1 or maybe it was Auto-Air Clear Base? Taped on the "lines" with 1/16" plastic tape then sealed all the tape edges by brushing on GAC 200. The tape doesn't lay absolutely flat going around bends and corners plus i just lay crossing tapes on top of each other, no splicing, subsequent colors will bleed under the tape edges at the best of times so to ensure a nice clean edge to the color changes, seal the edge, the GAC 200 worked great, i would usually just spray a clearcoat before applying the next color but this worked better and considering some of the big gaps that needed sealing, was the only way to go.

Repainted/primed the box white, then masked off the area that would eventually be green. Mixed up an orange color using Cadmium Red and Hansa Yellow Light, mixed that with an equal part of Airbrush Medium spayed it on. Mixed a slightly darker shade and darkened the edges, then took a piece of shelf liner with random holes in it, layed it over the enclosure,  sprayed the darker orange, moved/turned the liner, sprayed, just kept repeating 'til it looked better. The mottled finish makes it easy to make invisible repairs later on because of sand-throughs and dust intrusions during clearcoating.

Peel off the "green" mask and ...

...mask off the orange areas.

Mixed up the green using Cerulian Blue/Hansa Yellow Light plus the medium and airbrushed away.  Both the orange and the green mixes  required very little paint,  just counting out drops. Splattered on a slightly lighter green shade as well as Paynes Grey. Great effect to hide that inevitable clearcoating dust fallout. In this case i had peeled the masking off before splattering but things looked rather anemic so remasked and got out the toothbrush and scrub brush and set to enhancing the green.

Peeled all the masking off and am left with deep blue canals that have to be brought up to the level of the surrounding paint so brushed in layers of the GAC 200.

Wanted to try clearcoating with Minwax Polycrylic as i was out of the StewMac Waterbased Lacquer i've been using (they now sell Target 7000 Waterbased Laquer). Was a major pain compared to working with laquer but in the end couldn't be happier with the results. A coat of waterbased lacquer, as long as you re-apply within a pretty generous time window, will burn into the previous coats so you can just keep re-applying until you have a thick enough base to start sanding level. Polycrylic and the like, require sanding between coats with 220 grit to ensure a decent bond between old and new layers. Tried rolling, brushing and spraying the Poly, rolling it, goesresults are very pebbly, brushing, on vertical surfaces, it's so thin a liquid it runs down and pools along the bottom edge and with sparying the coats are extremely thin and then you have to sand between coats but then you risk sand through and on and on it goes. Eventually went with thick, brushed initial coats, gentle, careful sanding and finally finished up with airbrushing which resulted in a great matt finish from the Gloss Polycrylic.

Cheers,
dave

Picture thread pics; http://www.diystompboxes.com/smfforum/index.php?topic=36392.msg853182#msg853182

[John Lyons]

Very nice Dave! Thanks for the detail...
And I thought I spent a lot of time on a box's paint. 

[kato]

Wow, Dave, thanks so much for taking the time to document all this. It's very generous of you to share your hard-earned tips with the community. I appreciate all the detail you went into; it will cut the trial-and-error stage by countless hours.

And again, beautiful work! I've never seen anything like it on a stompbox before. It's inspiring.   

[robmdall]

Thanks Dave, nicely done!

[Colonel Angus]

Awesome stuff Dave!!! Really unique and super pro looking! I took your advice and got some Target 7000 waterbased lacquer, that stuff is the shizzzle. I can't wait to try some toner transfer labeling with the GAC 200

[davent]

One of the great things about the acrylics is that while painting you can just plow right along. Spray a color, hit it with a hot airgun for a minute or so, spray again or tape/mask off and spray, just keep going there's really no down time in the painting aspect of the project. (Unless you're doing a bunch of stencil work then time gets eaten up cutting and positioning those.)

Now clearing... that's the patience tester, seems like it could go on forever.

I've a can of the Target 7000 (found a Canadian distributor) but haven't tried it yet, got gloss but now wish i'd ordered the matt. Be forewarned... when spraying the StewMac lacquer (with an airbrush) it takes an obscene number of coats and drying time between coats to get to level with those highly variable paint surfaces i end up with. Been playing with more Golden product's including the GAC 200, to use as a leveler before getting to the clearcoats. Also have a spray gun now to experiment with which should give me thicker coats and the need for fewer coats... we'll see.

dave

[John Lyons]

Dave
(not that you don't know this) I usually always spray clear gloss until the last coat which I often spray semi gloss etc.
Since you have the gloss around...

[Colonel Angus]

Are you using airbrush for your spray finishing John?

[petey twofinger]

stunning !

i wouldnt step on it ...

[John Lyons]

Are you using airbrush for your spray finishing John?

I use powder coating for a base mostly, sometimes spray pain from a can and then water slide decals or
a control plate under the knobs.
BUT I just got an airbrush! 

[snarblinge]

Dave can you show a few pics of your compressor and air weapons.

I have been planning on ditching the rattle cans for a while now, (the hippie in me is unhappy) was thinking small gun. But interested in how you rate whatever it is you have been using.

[davent]

Dave can you show a few pics of your compressor and air weapons.

I have been planning on ditching the rattle cans for a while now, (the hippie in me is unhappy) was thinking small gun. But interested in how you rate whatever it is you have been using.

OK, opening caveat... based only on my experience. I use a basic, small, inexpensive workshop compressor, this is my second, the first, a different brand burned out fairly quickly, this one has been going fine for quite a number of years and shows no signs of slowing down, used of course for more then airbrushing. It is not an oilless unit, oilless is what is recommended for airbrushing but i haven't had any issues related to that fact. I was told when shopping, that this unit was being recommended by a local teacher to students in his airbrushing class so i bit... inexpensive, noisy and built like a tank.



Have a moisture trap and an inline oil filter. Moisture trap only works on liquid, i've seen it suggested to have 50' of hose between the compressor and moisture trap to allow time for any present water vapor to condense and then be trapped by the filter before it gets to your brush and then sprayed. I've got quite a bit of hose between the two but not 50', can't say it's ever been an issue but will probably take this advice in the future when i find a good deal on hose.



These are the only ones i've ever owned or tried. First airbrush is/was an Iwata Eclipse HP- BCS, double action, siphon feed. Double action just means that to paint; first you depress the trigger to start the air flow then draw the trigger back to control the paint flow. Couple different bottle sizes plus siphon caps that fit the bottles of Createx and Auto-Air paints, makes it very convenient for swapping paints and colors. I just keep water in the big bottle to use when cleaning the brush.



Next got a little Badger 250 single-action siphon feed. Not sure whether this one's still made but there's lots similar available. Single-action, press the trigger- air and paint flow. To control the amount of paint you have to raise or lower (threaded) the paint nozzle in the airstream. Super easy to clean so i like this for non-water based sprays like the BIN shellac/primer. Also use it a lot for clearcoating but the spray is coarser, bigger nozzle opening, so finish clearcoating with the HP-BCS.



To paint the OS mostly used an Iwata HP-BS, double-action, gravity feed. Finest spray of the three but the best thing about it is it's gravity feed, paint sits in a cup above the brush. With siphon feed, in order for them to work you need a good quantity of paint in the bottle. With the gravity feed if you need a couple drops of color that's all you need to put into the cup.  When you mix up a color you only have to mix up as much as needed, not how much do you need in order to get the brush to work, very little waste and and no need for extra storage containers. I scored this one on ebay, great deal as i'm assuming the very small size of the cup would be a strike against it for a lot of people so there was little demand. I watched a long time for the the Eclipse HP- CS  but it was always way more then i wanted to spend. I think the HP-CS would be an ideal brush to have as an only brush, big cup/resevoir, fine nozzle, double action and gravity feed. The HP-BS is noticebly better in quality then the HP-BCS and was able to get the HP-BS on ebay for much less then i paid for the new HP-BCS. (I think Iwata has since released an economical version of the HP-CS.) That's all very confusing, in hindsight a large cup, gravity feed, double action airbrush would be my way to go, many brands out there but i've no issues with the Iwata's i've got. Widely available and parts have been easy to get, wore out a nozzle.

It's really quite surprising just how little paint is used to paint a box (when most of what you're spraying actually ends up on the box.) 



Also have a generic, StewMac touch-up spray gun but haven't used it  much, has a big nozzle and will spray metal flakes. http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Tools/Special_tools_for_Finishing/Spray_Guns.html?keyword=5430

Other bits; two stage chemical respirator, old pantyhose with a small funnel to filter the paints and clearcoats, lots a lighting and an always dusty workspace.  All hoses have quick release connectors, for the airbrush hose i was able to find (ebay) adapters and quick connects that allow me to use the heavy Iwata hose with both brands of airbrushes. The spray gun just uses your standard hose.

dave

[snarblinge]

thanks, so much, the model shop guys are all about fine lines and stuff, and the painting guys are all about the sides of houses, and cars, was finding it difficult to decide where I should start. will have a look around at gravity feed double actions. though I like the idea of locking off at a single spray size for evenly coating a box. hmmm, research continues.

thanks again

[John Lyons]

Thanks for the pics and words Dave...

[Earthscum]

Honestly, look first into airbrushes. I own a Badger, and the course needle and seat has a wide enough pattern and plenty enough flow to spray a stompbox. The fine and medium needle and seats will get you into fine line stuff. The kit I bought has medium needle, half oz side cup and 1 oz jar. I bought the other needle and seat seperately.
Very cool work, Dave.

eta: was checking my email... for anyone interested, Harbor Freight has a Delux Airbrush Kit for $14.99 (USD), and Airbrush Kit (w/Compressor) for $89.99. If you get just the brush kit, you can try the cans of air for them... I've never had any luck, but I was also trying to do some pretty extensive stuff. If you own a compressor, keep in mind that an airbrush only uses about 5lbs. of air pressure... 10 or more can damage the brush. Gotta keep it well regulated.

[davent]

Thanks guys, happy to be able to put something back in the pot.

I'm with the model guys and Dave, have a hard look at airbrushes, models/enclosures, small and little capacity needed from the airbrush. As far as set and forget, just about all the painting/clearcoating i do is at full out paint volume, the tools are far more capable then i am able. Air pressure is regulated at the compressor, i usually run at 30-35psi, going low to 5-10psi just gives me a bit of sputter and splatter. The bottle of Auto-Air Colors says for spray guns and airbrushes Operate @ 40 PSI so i've gone that high and higher but also all the way down to barely anything, different pressures - different effect on the painting.

John, have considered getting another quart of the Target lacquer in matt finish but with shipping that would run me another ~$40 and i don't want to spend it if i don't have to. I'll play around to see if i can't adapt what i do to get matt from the gloss. On top of that there's another quart of gloss and a quart of sanding sealer sitting at a friend of my brother's, in PA,  ordered from StewMac last September  my brother was to pick up on one of his frequent trips there, hasn't happened... yet... I gave up and did the search that got me what i have now. And still haven't tried it to see whether it will do what i want. Oh well...

dave

[John Lyons]

Dave
I was thinking that you could use the gloss for the bulk for the bulk of the work and the last coat(s) could be matte
that would take very little (you could get a smaller amount for that...) I need to test drive my airbrush still...

[snarblinge]

thanks again, full tilt airbrush good little compressor. onto it. report in 6 months or so once this gets sorted.

[davent]

Dave
I was thinking that you could use the gloss for the bulk for the bulk of the work and the last coat(s) could be matte
that would take very little (you could get a smaller amount for that...) I need to test drive my airbrush still...

Hi John,

That was my thinking as well unfortunately quarts are the smallest size offered up here so i'd have to go back to StewMac to get pints ( that's the size, along with other stuff, i have waiting in PA, not quarts like i stated earlier.) A pint costs $16.30, shipping for a pint to Canada is $18.29cdn (1-4 weeks shipping arrival window). With StewMac orders i always got stung at the border so i need to add 13% to the above costs plus a flat $5 handling fee so now we're well over that $40 mark for just a pint. The same pint's shipping to PA would be $7.08cdn., no further costs to look at. So i place my StewMac orders based on my brothers travel schedule to PA and those trips just aren't happening.  A quart of lacquer from the supplier i used up here is $23cdn and is available in 4 sheens. I haven't explored other U.S. suppliers.
.
You should have a load of fun with your airbrush. The difficulties for me have been finding decent primer, you've got that covered with your powdercoating setup and then clearcoat compatability with the acrylic paints i use,  so far all the waterbased clears i've tried have worked fine, using "real" lacquer was hit and miss.

Snarblinge, go for it, good luck!

dave

[asatbluesboy]

A work of beauty! Thanks yet again for taking your time.