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Portable with changeable control panels - Complete (More or less)
Hawkweber:
Well, I might have a possible solution for smoothing out the bumpiness of the paint finish. I had a scrap piece of MDF that I had rolled on some of this paint. Smoothed it out a touch with a foam brush to see if that would work, but it had streaks (ridges) in it - I will not be foam brushing the panels or case). However, I've put on 3 coats of Minwax Polycrylic semi-gloss (lightly sanding between coats) and it is getting smooth. I figure I might have to put on about 5 or 6 coats of the stuff on the tops of the control panels to smooth them down. Will put fewer coats on the undersides as well as the case as I don't really mind the bumps there and the clearcoat will protect the paint finish. Still need to wait a couple of weeks for the latex to cure before I coat it...
Hawkweber:
Ok - 3 coats of polycrylic on the underside of the panels (just needed some protection, don't really care how it looks). 4 coats of poly on the exterior of the case for protection - still has the bumpy look, but I think it gives it some character similar to a nice leather finish like a briefcase. Maybe I should call this the "BriefCade"?
After 6 thick coats of poly on the top of the panels it was still bumpy...
But, I hoped it was thick enough so I could sand them down smooth. It took about 1.5-2 hours per panel to sand them down to where it felt mirror smooth. Then I put on another coat of poly on each. Bubbles. :angry: Ticked off since I am using an expensive synthetic brush purchased specifically for this. Sanded them out and put on another coat of poly. Bubbles again! :banghead: So now I'm up to 8 coats of poly total. Running out of "brush on" poly. Figured since I have to get more and am having nothing but trouble with the brush poly, maybe I'll try the spray-on poly. It's not like I'm spraying this stuff vertically, so I shouldn't have to worry about dripping or runs. So, did a coat with the spray. Gotta tell you, much happier with the process. The brush-on type took a real long time for each coat, the spray took mere minutes per panel. Let them dry. Looked nice and smooth except for where either little particles of dust or apparently cat hair landed on them and dried. UGH! :hissy: Lightly sanded the crud out of the panels and sprayed them again. Let dry overnight. YEAH! All except one came out great! The one that didn't was simply because a bug decided to commit suicide on it. So, that one got sanded again and sprayed and is now drying. So, after 10 coats of poly, this is how the panels came out:
And the case (after 4 coats):
Lessons learned:
1) Use oil/alkyd paint instead of latex.
2) If you live in an "ECO" zone and oil/alkyd is not available and you have to use latex paint, DO NOT USE A FOAM ROLLER! No matter what people say, rolling on latex will always stipple even when using an "ultra smooth" finish foam roller. Brush it or spray it on. Foam roller might be fine for oil, but since oil takes so long to set, brushing should be fine.
3) If using polycrylic and not applying it to a vertical surface, use the spray. Sets flat and level and no bubbles to worry about. This probably would have cut down the number of coats I needed to do in half, at most.
Well, now the fun part starts - I get to put everything together. :applaud: Not sure how fast that process will go as I am expecting my son to be born within the next few days. Will do little bits here and there when I can sneak in the time.
drventure:
Nice job! That's an interesting build. All the goodness of a Frankenpanel with none of the bad ;)
And it's small too!
njay:
again some nice work m8 !!
hope everything goes well with the delivery of your new soon te arcade addict :applaud:
Hawkweber:
--- Quote ---Nice job! That's an interesting build. All the goodness of a Frankenpanel with none of the bad Wink
And it's small too!
--- End quote ---
Yep - that was the idea. Small enough to be portable and all the controls necessary to play 99.44% of games (I don't play 4 player games) just not all on the same panel. Of course, you make a Frankenpanel look awesome with your Arquadium Steampunk build. That's probably one of the best darn builds I've seen.
--- Quote ---hope everything goes well with the delivery of your new soon te arcade addict
--- End quote ---
Thanks! Wife is in early labor right now, so he'll be here sometime this afternoon (hospital has wi-fi!). I hope he likes the classic arcade stuff. My wife rolls her eyes when she sees me working on this project and the time it is taking me to make sure things are right - "Why do you have to keep sealing the panels? They feel smooth enough to me. Who cares about some bubbles?" You get the idea. On another thread someone had asked about a game they are trying to remember that had planes and dinosaurs. The game was Prehistoric Isle. It got me interested, so I downloaded it and checked it out on my laptop. My 3 year old daughter saw it and was fascinated by it - "Daddy, look! Dinosaur mountains! Play it again, play it again!" My wife is not pleased about that. ;D