I've read Insomniac's, GideonTech's guide, and linear's guide, but I'm still having trouble with the sanding part. I have 220, 320, and 400 grit wet/dry paper, but I'm not too sure on how to sand the painted top of my case. I've already taken off the gloss look and most of the color (by hand, instead of using a block ) But, am I supposed to sand all the color off until I see the metal under it? Or keep sanding it to the metal, to try and even out the scratches that were on it?

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Quote: Originally Posted by ERAD Caz But, am I supposed to sand all the color off until I see the metal under it?

You don't need to sand all the old paint off--the idea is just to take off the texture and end up with as even surface as possible. So basically, you use 220 grit to take off any bumps, major scratches, textured finish, etc. Then, you use 320 grit, sanding at a 90 degree angle to teh first pass, to remove the scratches made by 220. Primer should fill the scratches left by 320 grit. If it doesn't, however, you will have to keep priming/sanding until they are gone. So, it won't hurt you to give it a go with 400 grit (again, 90 degree angle to the previous pass) before you start painting.

Quote: Originally Posted by unholy Then, you use 320 grit, sanding at a 90 degree angle to teh first pass, to remove the scratches made by 220.

Quote: Originally Posted by unholy (90 degree angle to the previous pass) before you start painting.

What do you mean by a 90 degree angle to the first pass? I'm a real big painting noob.

Quote: Originally Posted by ERAD Caz What do you mean by a 90 degree angle to the first pass? I'm a real big painting noob.

For example:

220 grit - front to back
320 grit - side to side
300 grit - front to back again

The idea is for every grit to leave scratch marks perpendicular to the previous one. It's easier to smooth the surface out this way.

Thank you unholy for teaching me how to sand. But now that the case sat in the garage for a few days, some rust has developed on the bare metal parts. Can this simply be painted over?

And I bought a can of Duplicolor sandable primer, and Duplicolor glossy black. The guy at the auto store said that I wouldn't need an overcoat cause the black would be shiny enough. Is this true? Cause these cans are 5 bucks a piece, and I'm not made of money Also, would the absence of a clear coat provide enough protection against possible scratches?

if you sand down the rust so its even it "should" be fine i think

as far as a topcoat, the guy at the store's idea of "glossy" and someone on PR's idea of glossy are to entirely different things, if you want a nice mirror finish a good layer of clear is a good way to go, or you could also simply wetsand the black (with 1500 grit or maybe 2000) and then buff and wax it (that should cost around 20-30 maybe?) this'll get you a great finish, but i also dont know how good of a finish you are going for, so its all up to you as well as how much work you want to do, depending on how the finish turns out you may be completely happy with it straight out of the can

(5 bucks for paint aint bad, and your could VERY easily use more that one can)

but whichever route you choose, good luck, and remember, light even coats

Quote: Originally Posted by ERAD Caz But now that the case sat in the garage for a few days, some rust has developed on the bare metal parts. Can this simply be painted over?

I wouldn't try that. Better to be safe than sorry. Besides, it's just surface oxidation, you should be able to take it off in not time.

Quote: Originally Posted by ERAD Caz And I bought a can of Duplicolor sandable primer, and Duplicolor glossy black. The guy at the auto store said that I wouldn't need an overcoat cause the black would be shiny enough. Is this true? Cause these cans are 5 bucks a piece, and I'm not made of money Also, would the absence of a clear coat provide enough protection against possible scratches?

floatingtrem is right--it's your call. Clear coat will probably give you better gloss, but uncoated paint will result in much deeper black. I liked mine better uncoated. Here's what it turned out like. Nonetheless, clear coat is harder than regular paint, so it will give you increased protection against scratches. Then again, it's just a question of how much protection you think your case needs.

I'm back in black... although the black doesn't look too pretty after the 2nd coat. The 3 primer coats I did yesterday were perfect. So I go to spray the black acrylic lacquer. Sanding the first coat very very lightly with 400 grit (finest I have) when it dried, as this guide suggested. Now the second coat looks like crap, with bright and dull spots all over the place.

Will adding a third coat without sanding the second cover those spots and make it all one pretty color?

A) where you using a block this time?

B) does it look like the spots are realted to the sanding or the way you put the paint on, i have often found that i get a very uneven coat with store bought glossy, i think the paint goes on better and is easier to sand if i use a satin, and then you can always wetsand and buff it be a beautiful gloss.

Yea, I was using a block.

The spots look like they're from both sanding and paint. When I do the sides of the top panel, a little extra tends to go onto the top. And the places that appear dull are areas where the sandpaper had most contact with. The paint brand name I'm using is Duplicolor. Before I attempt to add the third coat in a different manner than the first, should I sand the areas that aren't as dull as the others, to possibly even it out?

Quote: And the places that appear dull are areas where the sandpaper had most contact with.

sounds to me like your sanding wasnt even, if you didnt sand evenly, the paint aint gunna go on evenly (and make sure you wash teh peice thoroughly after sanding and before painting)

The problem is that I'd have to apply more pressure to get an even surface. The block isn't the greatest thing in the world, it used to be some wooden base for some model (and it's about 4-6" long). And the area near the custom blowhole is kinda... uneven from the rest of the piece, which makes it recieve an extra scraping from the sandpaper. I'll try and even it out with the wet sandpaper, but painting over these spots won't hide them?

OK, here's the thing. In the ideal world, you'd wanna sand the thing until it is all evenly dull. Once you're there, you either apply clear coat or buff the thing to high gloss. The idea behind mirror finish is that the surface needs to be perfectly flat--thus all the sanding. Chances are, however, that your panels are not that flat to begin with, especially if you've done some cutting on them (see the blowhole area, for instance). From this point, you have basically two options. Either you can try to be a perfectionist and sand until the surface is actually flat (but with just two coats of lacquer, you are gonna cut through to primer--which means reapplying the paint and sanding again.. and possibly once more), or you can just stop at the "ah, close enough..." stage. In the latter case you won't get a mirror finish, though. Just glossy, but not mirror-like. (Maybe slightly better than this)

Still, if you can see glossy and dull areas on the painted surface, I'd say you're not even nearly finished with sanding. Optimally, the finished sanding job should look like this. If you can get it to this stage, it can be buffed out to a decent gloss.

From my recent experience, the best piece of advice I can give you is: don't try to cut corners. If, after sanding, the surface is not uniformly flat, keep on sanding. If that means you'll need to apply one or two more coats of color, so be it.

Oh, and get a decent sanding block.

LINEAR1!

god its been ages since i've been there, thats the guy who got me hooked