More paint questions

[xmastree]

Waht's the best way to prep a textured surface like this:

for painting? I don't want to lose that texture if possible, although I suspect the paint might not sit too well on it, and run into the channels anyway.

It's the frame for the front panel on this:

There's some damage to the top left side, so smooth may be the way to go.

I was thinking about using body filler then sanding it until I can see the pattern starting to show. That would give me an indication that it's even.

I'm planning to use acrylic from an aerosol. Metallic blue.

[Rankenphile]

I'm not an expert when it comes to painting, so bear that in mind and take my advice with a grain of salt.

Your first step for painting this piece should be to clean it thoroughly. Soap and water should take care of it.

For that damaged edge, body filler should work fine. In order to preserve the texture, look for something, like a strip of leather, that has a similar texture. Sand the edge there and apply your body filler in a very thin stroke over the sanded area, let the filler set for a few minutes, then apply the leather carefully but firmly over the filler, pressing to apply the texture to the surface. Note that this will ruin the leather, obviously, so don't use your jacket or anything. Peel the leather off slowly and inspect the work. Use sandpaper along the edges to smooth things together and, with any luck, you should have a relatively seamless texture.

Your next step would be primer. Any primer should work, as long as it is compatible with your final paint - latex primer for latex, enamel primer for enamel, etc etc etc. Apply very light coats and build them up - if you apply them too heavy they will pool and you will start losing your texture. Next, apply your paint color using the same method - many thin light coats is preferable to one or two heavy ones. Take your time. Final step would be clearcoating, done the same way.

Since the surface is textured, you can't exactly sand the paint dow to get a high-gloss shine, but you can certainly buff between applications with a sturdy rag.

I may be way off base, and I'm not exactly sure how well body filler would accept a texture from leather - this advice is purely educated guesses, not first-hand experience. Hopefully some of our more experienced gurus can weigh in on this, as well - I'm just tossing some ideas out there for you.

Have fun!

[The Modfather]

Hmmm... Good tips from Ranken there. I'd really think that going smooth might even be a nicer approach. As much as I always loved the Deskpro look, the rough finish never did much for me. When I had mine (back when it was bleeding edge stuff) we had a show we were working at and one of the guests was Boris Vallejo, I'm sure you're probably familiar with him. Anyway he put on a little workshop and I asked if he'd like to paint my case for that workshop and he thought it'd be a fun idea. So for years I had this amazing Boris case, same case you've got there, it was smooth after the paint and I had it cleared but before he painted it what I did was strip it completely, use filler (bondo) and sanded that nice and smooth, then primered it and sanded it about 5 or 6 times to prep it for him to paint on. I then took it to an automotive place (Maaco) to have it cleared. Looked amazing. I wish I'd had the brains to NOT have let the thing sit in an apartment that I shared with roomates so they could steal it and screw me over.

[xmastree]

Boris Vallejo, I'm sure you're probably familiar with him.

Nope. Googling reveals some nice (if you like that kind of thing) art though.

use filler (bondo) and sanded that nice and smooth, then primered it and sanded it about 5 or 6 times to prep it for him to paint on. I then took it to an automotive place (Maaco) to have it cleared.

What do you mean by 'cleared'?

Should I do anything to help the bondo to stick in the first place?

[OvRiDe]

Hammerite paint might work for ya. If you wanting it textured that is. I dont think it will be the exact same texture but they do have a hammered finish.
http://www.hammerite-automotive.com/

[xmastree]

Well, I've smoothed the damaged part a little, and I'm currently putting primer on it. I have some metallic blue to go on after that, followed by clear coat.

I'll probably make a mess of it, I'm crap at painting. I think I'm too impatient, and put too much on at once. This time I'm doing it slowly, one light coat about every half hour, and it's stting baking in the sun.

I'm dreading doing the cover, so much so that I might have it done professionaly.

[xmastree]

Looks good in the sun...

Shame it'll end up sitting under my desk.

[CanaBalistic]

That looks really good but you should bake it in your oven after each coat. Dont melt it but make sure it gets hot then put it in a deepfreeze after or let it air cool if you dont have one. it will make the paint super hard and way more resitant to scratching and flaking in the first few days of its life

[xmastree]

Hmm, I don't have an oven... I left it in the sun though. Will that help?

[The Modfather]

You don't have an oven? Hmm, that's odd... clearing it just means apply clear coat to it.