sskunky Posted August 21, 2009 Report Posted August 21, 2009 Hi Guys, Well I have finally got around to completing my TE HDPE bucket that has been sitting in a box for months waiting for some spare time...... I had a complete nightmare upon the first paint job. I had a great glossy finish, left it on a pole in the garden and some pesky kids managed to put their grubby little fingers all over the newly painted lid! Finger prints in wet gloss everywere! I don't know how many of you have had the pleasure:lol: of painting HDPE but I can tell you it aint easy! I am using appliance white for the gloss as it is used on washing machines and fridges and it tends to have a flexible quality which made stripping off the old paint a dream, well almost! It just peeled off. anyway I re primed it and here are the updated pics. I'm going to ESB this one as I don't have one in my collection as yet. And one with a flash... More to come.......... Quote
Darth_Finger Posted August 21, 2009 Report Posted August 21, 2009 Is that a TE or TE2? Has a really sharp pull. Quote
sskunky Posted August 21, 2009 Author Report Posted August 21, 2009 Is that a TE or TE2? Has a really sharp pull. It's a TE. Yeah, it looks great. I wasn't sure when it first arrived because it's so different to others I have but I really like it now. Quote
Darth_Finger Posted August 21, 2009 Report Posted August 21, 2009 That is way sharper then the one I got 2 years ago, interesting. Quote
BFA Posted August 21, 2009 Report Posted August 21, 2009 Crikey , that's one hell of a sharp vocoder on that lid. Great work , it looks great , I love the HDPE helmets . Quote
sskunky Posted August 22, 2009 Author Report Posted August 22, 2009 Crikey , that's one hell of a sharp vocoder on that lid. Great work , it looks great , I love the HDPE helmets . Thanks for your kind words. The vocoder is as sharp as I have ever seen before, none of my others have it this sharp! Quote
sskunky Posted August 27, 2009 Author Report Posted August 27, 2009 All Glossed up! Now just waiting to clear lacquer....... Thanks for looking....... Quote
darren1970[501st] Posted August 27, 2009 Report Posted August 27, 2009 Nice work sir. I'm reading everything on painting lids at the moment so I'm finding it helpful. I had a problem with a lid a while back, when I laquered it the paint crackled ( don't know if I left it long enough ). Can't wait to see this finished. Quote
sskunky Posted August 27, 2009 Author Report Posted August 27, 2009 Of it crackled then you more than likely didn't leave the paint to dry for long enough. I had the same problem with this one. In fact this is the third attepmt at painting this! I have learnt that patience is a vitue! You must leave it for 3-5 days after glossing. Quote
darren1970[501st] Posted August 27, 2009 Report Posted August 27, 2009 Yeah that's what I thought Mark. I never was a patient person Quote
troopermaster Posted August 27, 2009 Report Posted August 27, 2009 You've put the ear caps on the wrong sides Quote
sskunky Posted August 27, 2009 Author Report Posted August 27, 2009 You've put the ear caps on the wrong sides Oh bugger! I'll switch them back. I took them off when I stripped it down last time and put them back on wrong. I just hope I don't mess the paint job up? Should I wait till it cures first? Quote
mods1965 Posted August 27, 2009 Report Posted August 27, 2009 Looks great. What brand of paint and clear lacquer are you using? Quote
oiftanker Posted August 27, 2009 Report Posted August 27, 2009 ears look weird and vocoder looks almost too sharp... looks good though Quote
sskunky Posted August 27, 2009 Author Report Posted August 27, 2009 ears look weird and vocoder looks almost too sharp... looks good though The ears look weird because they are on back to front/ wrong sides, I've switched them now and the vocoder is sharp as it is an HDPE lid and you get a much sharper pull than ABS. I don't think you can get too sharp can you? Quote
sskunky Posted August 27, 2009 Author Report Posted August 27, 2009 Looks great. What brand of paint and clear lacquer are you using? Hi David, I am using Plasti-cote from B&Q . White primer, appliance white as it seems slightly warmer than most and clear coat lacquer Quote
firebladejedi[TK] Posted August 27, 2009 Report Posted August 27, 2009 You've put the ear caps on the wrong sides Ha ha thats the first thing i noticed too Nice looking lid though Quote
sskunky Posted August 27, 2009 Author Report Posted August 27, 2009 Ok, I have put the ears on the right way again but the paint had chipped a bit so i will have to sand and respray it when it has cured properly. I hope it looks better when it's done? I managed to get a great finish on with the ears back to front! This HDPE is a nightmare to get the paint to adhere properly. the slightest knock and it flakes off. anyway some more pics of the corrected ear position(I think)! Quote
Irishtrooper Posted August 28, 2009 Report Posted August 28, 2009 Looking a lot better there bud! Thanks for putting up the paints u used, like Darren i'm going to be doing quite a bit in future for my lid and armour. What grades of sand paper did you use and where did u get them and i need to do a bit of sanding and dont want to ruin my lid with big scratches. Quote
sskunky Posted August 28, 2009 Author Report Posted August 28, 2009 Hi, thanks and no problem. If this helps other troopers out then all the better. Right, sandpaper. It really depends on what you goal is. If you are removing paint then you will want to start with something more abrasive like a 80-120 grit and work down to a finer grit in stages untill you get to 800 wet and dry. Please remember that when using a rough grit paper the last thing you want to do is a back and forth action with a lot of pressure or you will end up with deep grooves a scratches that will be very hard to remove. A circular action with lighter pressure will be preferable. If you have already got a fairly good surface to work on the you will prime it and wait till dry and sand down with a fine wet and dry of about 600-800 which will take off any roughness and leave a good suface for glossing. Remember to wipe down all surfaces in between each sanding process before painting. If you feel the need to sand the gloss for whatever reason use the finest paper you can get, 1200-2000. If you are spraying abs then all you will need to do is take the shine off with a fairly fine paper 400-600 just to give the paint something to adhere to. When you have glossed which should be at least 3 coats, leaving about 15-30 minutes in between each coat and no longer than a few hours. Then you must let the gloss cure/ dry for at least 36 hours before touching it again with any kind of paint or lacquer or it will bubble and crack up. You have been warned! Patience is the big thing here and I have found out the hard way. Waitng the desired time will in the long run save you days more hard work. Then you can lacquer. After that you can add the details. All these products can be got from B&Q or any good hardware store. Always spray outside unless you have access to a spray booth with extractors. I hope this helps. Any more questions please post them here or pm me. Quote
sskunky Posted September 27, 2009 Author Report Posted September 27, 2009 Hi Guys, here's an update and some new pics. I completely stripped her down for the fourth time! put the ears on the right way round and resprayed her again. here are the pics: Not as glossy as I would like but I'll put a high gloss coat on in a week or two when it's had time to cure. then it's detail time! Quote
sskunky Posted September 27, 2009 Author Report Posted September 27, 2009 Looks real nice Thanks Mark. This is my best attempt so far..... Quote
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