Smoothing out cracking ply

[Tahnok]

I picked up a Moon Patrol a couple weeks ago and have been restoring it. It's fully functional, but cosmetically it's pretty trashed. The most glaring flaw is it's side art. I've been working on creating new stencils, but I'm a little uneasy about how cracked the surface of the plywood underneath has become. Below are some pictures of the worst areas. I've not sanded yet (just waiting to make sure the stencils turn out), but I can tell that sanding alone wont completely fix things. A lot of the defects go below the surface.

I figured I'd pickup either some drywall compound or bondo and put a layer on there to try to smooth things out. I'm just wondering if anyone else has dealt with this kind of damage before though and if anyone has any better ideas.

Also, while I'm posting, I guess I should ask if anyone has any specific recommendations about what paint to use. I need something that can be thinned for a sprayer and the colors need to cover in only a layer or two (since there are places where the light yellow must cover the dark blue). I've gotten a few ideas from these forums and other sites, but maybe someone has some advice regarding this particular situation.

[shardian]

Wade has restored a Moon Patrol. He could probably answer any of your questions.
Here is his machine:
http://usergallery.myhomegameroom.com/gallery/album76

[Tahnok]

Wade has restored a Moon Patrol. He could probably answer any of your questions.
Here is his machine:
http://usergallery.myhomegameroom.com/gallery/album76

Yeah, I've poured over his thread. A lot of good information. I PMed him a couple weeks ago though and he never got back to me. Too bad.

[sstorkel]

Use Bondo, not drywall compound, to smooth out the wood. Fill with Bondo first, then sand everything smooth.

If you're planning to spray paint and you don't know what to buy, you're already in trouble. I'd suggest going to a store that sells paint to professionals and ask them what to buy. If worse comes to worst, you can always buy generic latex paint and mix in some Floetrol.

[shardian]

I emailed Wade and sent him the link to this thread. I doubt he's ever even looked in the woodworking forum.

[Wade]

Hi Tahnok,

I can't really tell how bad the surface is from the pictures.  All Williams plywood cabinets have some woodgrain that shows through the paint (it is just painted wood after all), and with some water or light damage, the grain can raise a bit and be more noticable.  One side of mine was probably not as bad as yours, but it was bad enough that the paint just flaked off if I rubbed it with my hand.

I would definitely avoid sheetrock compound.  It isn't meant to be used on wood, won't ahere well enough and can't flex enough to withstand a wooden cabinet that will expand, contract, and flex.

Here's what I did, and what I'd recommend you try.  I just sanded the side smooth, then painted over it.  No need for primer if you use decent paint, and I've found that in MOST cases primer is just a wasted step that adds no durability or color.  I did a few coats of flat baby blue for my base coat with a smooth foam roller (just decent wall paint), and sanded between coats to get it perfectly smooth.  This got rid of the woodgrain look, even more so than Williams cabinets had originally.  I would think this would probably work for you too, judging from the pictures.

IF your grain is far too deep and this won't work, you could use Bondo to skim the side.  I actually did this on the front of my cabinet because it had pretty deep cracking and I wanted to spray paint it (I didn't have good black roll-on wall paint at the time).

For the stencilled parts, I just used regular canned spray paint.  I think the yellow was Sunbeam Yellow from Krylon, and it was an excellent match.  It took several coats to get it thick enough, but I wasn't going to bother with my air compressor just to spray a little yellow.  The darker blue I used was too dark, unfortunately.  That's my big regret with the paint job.

After it was all done, I covered the sides with a thick coat of water-based polyacrylic with the cabinet on its side.  This eliminated the ridge from the spray painted areas and gave the entire side an even sheen (since my base was flat and the spray paints were gloss).  I messed up a little on one side while experimenting with canned clearcoats, but aside from that it turned out pretty good and it's extremely durable.

If you want it to be more original, you'll want your final sheen to be gloss or close to it.  I used Rustoleum Satin black for some of the black areas and it was a pretty good match, though I went with flat on the front because it was a lot easier to get an even finish.  Also, the original didn't have a primer or a clearcoat (though some people say it had a clearcoat, but mine sure didn't appear to, neither have the other Williams I've had or seen).

Hope this helps.  There's definitely more than one way to do it.  Good luck with whatever you try!  It was a lot of work, but in the end I was proud to have such a nice looking classic game, saved from the dead.  I swore I'd never do it again, but I will probably want a mint Joust one day, and repainting is the easiest way to get one.

TTYL,
Wade

I picked up a Moon Patrol a couple weeks ago and have been restoring it. It's fully functional, but cosmetically it's pretty trashed. The most glaring flaw is it's side art. I've been working on creating new stencils, but I'm a little uneasy about how cracked the surface of the plywood underneath has become. Below are some pictures of the worst areas. I've not sanded yet (just waiting to make sure the stencils turn out), but I can tell that sanding alone wont completely fix things. A lot of the defects go below the surface.

I figured I'd pickup either some drywall compound or bondo and put a layer on there to try to smooth things out. I'm just wondering if anyone else has dealt with this kind of damage before though and if anyone has any better ideas.

Also, while I'm posting, I guess I should ask if anyone has any specific recommendations about what paint to use. I need something that can be thinned for a sprayer and the colors need to cover in only a layer or two (since there are places where the light yellow must cover the dark blue). I've gotten a few ideas from these forums and other sites, but maybe someone has some advice regarding this particular situation.