Hey folks- sorry, there won't be a real update this week. I am over my head in work for school. It seems like all my classes have papers, reviews, assessments, tests or exams coming up. I have been studying and working until midnight or 1 AM for the last few days just to try to keep up with everything. I wanted to have time to work on the clipper, but it isn't happened before next Monday at the soonest, unless a prof decides to cut us all a break, which I don't think is going to happen.
But get this. I was planning on taking a picture of my workshop desk (which is next to my computer and the is place where I have been piling up all my text books and notebooks and packets and whatnot), because its a pretty impressive collection of accumulation of academic amassment; despite the unplanned way I have been picking things up and putting them down, there is also a chaotic beauty in the pile. BUT I pick up my digital camera, and what does the screen say? "please recharge battery" and ker-putt! the camera turns itself off. Camera fail on top of blog writing fail.
But hopefully these fails are the price I will pay for not only NOT failing my classes, but actually doing ok in them. I can only hope. But I need to get back to work. As soon as my head is above water again, I'll get some work done on the clipper and write a post about it. Hopefully soon. In the mean time, be good to yourself, and have a good one.
Until next time,
David D.
Showing posts with label fail. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fail. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Monday, October 3, 2011
Painting the HQ, or, Another Fine Mess I've Gotten Myself Into
Ok then. The styrene is all cemented together and looking good. All I need to do now is paint the thing. I did exactly what the instructions said: wash everything down first to get rid of dirt or oil or whatever, let dry, and go nuts.
I went nuts, all right.
After spending a bit of time at the local hardware store, I picked Krylon Fusion for Plastic Satin River Rock spray paint. I wanted to go with a kind of light gray look, because the original GI Joe Headquarters was grey. Grey seems more like a military base color than BLINDING WHITE STYRENE I had going on here. So I started painting with the River Rock.
And it looked pink. Even after 3 good coats applied well after the the previous coat had dried, the BLINDING WHITE STYRENE under the River Rock kept the paint from looking dark at all. At the end, it was looking kind of like a weak cream color. Not at all the kind of bad ass look I wanted for my headquarters. I wanted to find a good grey. And what luck! The store had this paint called Grey Metal for plastic. The cap looked just right. So I grabbed that and came home.
Except, I was thinking kind of a gun metal color, and the paint was thinking metal metal color. The stuff was shiny and not at all what I was looking for. Maybe in a computer room or if I ever make a robot costume out of cardboard or something, but not want I wanted in my model. It looked horrible.
I still have that Krylon Fusion for Plastic Grey primer that I have used for a few of my other painting projects. Sure, it would leave that chalky consistency on top, but the color is exactly what I wanted and I didn't see any good grey paint at the hardware store. So I went with that for the back, in what the directions call the tac ops center itself. And it looked great. Ok. One room down, one to go.
And here is where the wheels kind of came off the wagon.
See, I couldn't find any white Krylon for plastic at the store, so I just grabbed some white spray paint for wood or metal. Hey! It couldn't be *that* bad, right? After all, the plastic already had a good coat of paint on it. What could go wrong?
The metal/wood white paint looked like shit almost instantly. As I did my quick spray motions, I watched the stuff curl up into horrible looking spider webs of cracks and fissures. To make matters worse, I sprayed a few more times over the cracks in the doomed hope that it would fix itself. No such luck. I did some looking on the internet, and yeah, non plastic paint should never be used on plastic. It ends up looking like crap said pretty much every site on the internet.
If only I had checked it out before I started spraying.
So now I had options. I could: a) accept the fact that the lobby looked like crap, decide this was my first project and give myself a pass. b) try to fix it, knowing I had no idea of how to fix it.
Because I am optimistic and dumb, I went with option b.
At first I tried sanding the paint off. Didn't work. Then I went to the internet and did a google search on "how to I get spray paint off of plastic?" It turns out there is a fantastic product in England that comes in a spray bottle that can be used to do this, but nope, that stuff isn't for sale in the US. Which is probably good, because the fumes in my workshop at this point, between the paint and the plastic bonding compound, are pretty intense.
Some websites recommended trying rubbing alcohol. I have some rubbing alcohol on one side of my workshop that I use to clean out the contacts of my old NES game cartridges. I grabbed the Q-tips I use for NES game repair, and started rubbing the rubbing alcohol on the paint with the Q-tips. I started working on just the desk itself, as I figured that if it damaged the desk, at least I was not screwing up the entire room. I didn't screw up the desk.
Didn't make much progress getting rid of the paint through, either.
My wife suggested I try using her nail polish remover. Hmm. I could give that a shot. I put some on a rag and rubbed it into the paint. Again, I tried it on the desk, but on the other side this time. The nail polish remover worked slightly better than the rubbing alcohol, but not by much. Then I thought of the mineral spirits.
"Don't use turpentine!" called our forum upon forum of internet discussion boards dealing with the topic of how to get spray paint off of plastic. I can warp the plastic!
But Curious David was Curious. And he was learning how not to do things, so he figured, why not try that? He put some mineral spirits from his work bench on a rag...
...and the paint came off like MOTHERFUCKING MAGIC.
AND THE PLASTIC DIDN'T WARP.
(cue Indiana Jones music)
So after getting the paint off, he washed all the pieces in the sink and put them on the table to dry over night. Tomorrow, hopefully they would not be warped and he would be able to spray paint the lobby room with white plastic paint.
Until next time.
Please don't warp over night, styrene.
David D.
I went nuts, all right.
After spending a bit of time at the local hardware store, I picked Krylon Fusion for Plastic Satin River Rock spray paint. I wanted to go with a kind of light gray look, because the original GI Joe Headquarters was grey. Grey seems more like a military base color than BLINDING WHITE STYRENE I had going on here. So I started painting with the River Rock.
And it looked pink. Even after 3 good coats applied well after the the previous coat had dried, the BLINDING WHITE STYRENE under the River Rock kept the paint from looking dark at all. At the end, it was looking kind of like a weak cream color. Not at all the kind of bad ass look I wanted for my headquarters. I wanted to find a good grey. And what luck! The store had this paint called Grey Metal for plastic. The cap looked just right. So I grabbed that and came home.
 |
| What we have here is River Rock in front, and Grey Metal in back. If the River Rock looked as nice as thisin real life, I probably would have kept it. But it was severalshades lighter than it shows up on camera, and it didn't work at all. Obviously, Grey Metal wasn't what I was looking for either. |
I still have that Krylon Fusion for Plastic Grey primer that I have used for a few of my other painting projects. Sure, it would leave that chalky consistency on top, but the color is exactly what I wanted and I didn't see any good grey paint at the hardware store. So I went with that for the back, in what the directions call the tac ops center itself. And it looked great. Ok. One room down, one to go.
And here is where the wheels kind of came off the wagon.
See, I couldn't find any white Krylon for plastic at the store, so I just grabbed some white spray paint for wood or metal. Hey! It couldn't be *that* bad, right? After all, the plastic already had a good coat of paint on it. What could go wrong?
 |
| This is why you should never use non plastic spray paint on plastic surfaces. Let this be a lesson to all. |
If only I had checked it out before I started spraying.
So now I had options. I could: a) accept the fact that the lobby looked like crap, decide this was my first project and give myself a pass. b) try to fix it, knowing I had no idea of how to fix it.
Because I am optimistic and dumb, I went with option b.
At first I tried sanding the paint off. Didn't work. Then I went to the internet and did a google search on "how to I get spray paint off of plastic?" It turns out there is a fantastic product in England that comes in a spray bottle that can be used to do this, but nope, that stuff isn't for sale in the US. Which is probably good, because the fumes in my workshop at this point, between the paint and the plastic bonding compound, are pretty intense.
 |
| Out out, damned paint! ...or maybe that should be off off, damned paint. eh, whatever. |
Didn't make much progress getting rid of the paint through, either.
My wife suggested I try using her nail polish remover. Hmm. I could give that a shot. I put some on a rag and rubbed it into the paint. Again, I tried it on the desk, but on the other side this time. The nail polish remover worked slightly better than the rubbing alcohol, but not by much. Then I thought of the mineral spirits.
"Don't use turpentine!" called our forum upon forum of internet discussion boards dealing with the topic of how to get spray paint off of plastic. I can warp the plastic!
But Curious David was Curious. And he was learning how not to do things, so he figured, why not try that? He put some mineral spirits from his work bench on a rag...
...and the paint came off like MOTHERFUCKING MAGIC.
AND THE PLASTIC DIDN'T WARP.
(cue Indiana Jones music)
So after getting the paint off, he washed all the pieces in the sink and put them on the table to dry over night. Tomorrow, hopefully they would not be warped and he would be able to spray paint the lobby room with white plastic paint.
Until next time.
Please don't warp over night, styrene.
David D.
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Lame, I know.
Hey folks. Sorry for the lack of posts in the past week. School started on Wednesday at I got really busy, really fast. I finally got around to adding the pictures I meant to include with the last post. I apologize in advance for the photo quality, or more accurately, the lack there of. I had to use my phone, since my wife is gone for the month being a doctor in Alaska and she took the digital camera I normally use for blog images with her. I do have some other pictures from a project I am working on ready to go as well as the blog posting set in my head. Hopefully I will have that up in the next few days- I just really need to deal with a bunch of reading first. Hope you are all well.
In the mean time, if you don't know about the following weekly online comic, you should check it out:
Ages 25 and Up
I will say this- this is a pretty PG-13, and sometimes rated R comic (for those of you outside the US, this is a reference the film ratings system we have here in the US of A. These refer to films that have adult content (ie, lots of explicit sex and drug talk, as well as violence) Adult situations abound in this comic, and its also funny as hell. It is a weekly serial staring GI Joe action figures vs. Cobra action figures, with guests stars from Transformers, Duke Nukem, Legos, Marvel and DC heroes, and all kinds of other stuff. If your sense of humor is anything like mine, you will *love* this site. So until my next post, check out Ages 25 and Up. Start from the beginning and read forward. There are plenty of ongoing gags over there that are much funnier if you have the background.
Until next time!
David D
In the mean time, if you don't know about the following weekly online comic, you should check it out:
Ages 25 and Up
I will say this- this is a pretty PG-13, and sometimes rated R comic (for those of you outside the US, this is a reference the film ratings system we have here in the US of A. These refer to films that have adult content (ie, lots of explicit sex and drug talk, as well as violence) Adult situations abound in this comic, and its also funny as hell. It is a weekly serial staring GI Joe action figures vs. Cobra action figures, with guests stars from Transformers, Duke Nukem, Legos, Marvel and DC heroes, and all kinds of other stuff. If your sense of humor is anything like mine, you will *love* this site. So until my next post, check out Ages 25 and Up. Start from the beginning and read forward. There are plenty of ongoing gags over there that are much funnier if you have the background.
Until next time!
David D
Monday, September 5, 2011
Spray Nozzle Surprise!
 |
| Yes! |
Because if you can't laugh at yourself, you are missing out on one of life's best comedies. Today's fail tale: David's spray nozzle fiasco.
When I first worked on the Coyote a few months back, I used Krylon spray paint. When the paint came out of the can, it really splattered all over the place. I didn't know if it was the temperature, (it had been in the 90's,) or my technique, or maybe that's just how spray paint worked, and in the few cases where I had used spray paint in the past, I hadn't really noticed. Maybe I was just anxious because I wanted the project to turn out well, and really, it was was fine and that's the way its suppose to be.
Uh-huh.
 |
| No! |
According to the diagram, on the nozzle of this particular spray paint can is a removeable, little plastic plug. It is set into the opening where the paint rushes out of the spray can. It is actually suppose to be there, and in the diagram, I was shown how it is suppose to be used to control the flow of the paint. You can twist it up and down to get a more vertical spray, twist it to the side to get a more horizontal spray, or diagonal to get a horiz-tical spray.
In my first project, I assumed that the little plug was a cap meant to make sure the paint doesn't get out of the can during transit, or something, and pulled the thing out.
SMOOTH MOVE, EX-LAX.
 |
| The hero of the hour! |
So I figured something out! Don't pull out that little cap from the spray paint, because it is suppose to be there, and because it makes your paint application work much better!
So from the initial fail came renewed interest in how to do things right, which led to me investigate painting further, which led to me figuring out NOT to take out the plug, which lead to
LEARNING
and now, satisfaction that I got the thing right.
Because in the end, what we are really about in our hobbies is satisfaction, right? Well, if it wasn't for fail, if it wasn't for the fact I was not satisfied with how the spray job went before, I would not feel the satisfaction I feel right now. So, thanks Fail. I think.
Next time: David discovers amazing cheap action figures to use for practicing his painting and modding techniques! I need more time for that post, but it'll be good. I promise.
Until then,
David D.
Friday, September 2, 2011
Rome wasn't built in a day...
...so why should I expect that I should be good at painting action figures right away? Its good to have realistic expectations. There is a big difference between thinking you can just pick up an action figure, some paints and create an amazing looking custom paint job and actually doing it. I'm new at this, and this is going to be learning curve. Which is another way of me just saying I am learning to deal with the fact that my projects aren't turning out as nicely as I want them to at the moment. But I know I'll get better with practice. Here is a current recap on what is going on with one of my current projects.
I was near a TJ Maxx the other day and know that they often have GI Joe figures for really low prices, soI went it. Low and behold, they had several older figures from the 25th anniversary line and some Rise Of Cobra Figures. I purchased a Cobra B.A.T., Mercenary Wraith, and two Storm Shadows, all for $3.99 each. Woo! Each of these figures have really cool molds and would be great for future products. And I had a plan for one of the storm shadows.
I did some research on the web to find tutorials on painting camo patterns on action figures. I didn't find anything on action figures per se, but I did find some tutorials on creating camo patters on objects with stuff with spray paint on you tube. The basic idea was this: Take three colors, and spray paint the entire object with the first color. Put some paint tape over it in a stripe pattern. Spray pain the object again with the second color. Put some additional tape cut into stripes over that layer. Finally, paint the object a third time. After that third layer has dried, remove the tape and presto! You have a cool camo design.
I thought 'hey, I am using acrylic brush paint and not spray paint, but this could work, right?' (See? This is basic noob thinking). I had some red and silver paint and was planning on buying some white. I figured I would do a layer of red, let it dry, tape it, a layer of silver, let it dry, tape it, and a layer of white, and then remove the tape. I figured mostly white with some cool red and silver stripes would look pretty cool on Snake Eyes. Well, it didn't work out so hot.
There were two problems. The first was that the paint would seep under the tape when I painted over it, so the old color was not being protected by the tape. The second problem was that when I tried removing the pieces of tape to see how things were going, the paint on top of the tape would pull at the paint on the figure, resulting in a kind of rubber-y/latex-y/acrylic-y/stretch-y/hang nail-y like sections around the edge of where the tape had been, Ug-ly.
So scratch that idea. I went back to hisstank.com's custom forum and finally found a good how to paint camo on action figures thread, which I have started reading and will get more familiar with before I restart the camo ninja project again.
When I was younger, I probably would be more frustrated with this than I am right now. I am mildly frustrated, but I also really enjoy having the artistic outlet, so I don't mind making the mistakes. I figure I'm learning a zillion ways NOT to paint my figures, so eventually through the process of elimination, I'll have to come upon the right way to do it.
Before I sign off, I thought I would add something more, even if it isn't hobby related. My wife and I have two cats, Booty and Dora, and Dora has been very intent on getting my attention while I wrote this post. The computer I am using right now to write this posts sites on a desk built into the wall in my basement, and there is a little cubby hole under the desk surface proper. When I use this computer and Dora wants to get in my face, but knows I will push her away if she jumps in my lap, she jumps into the cubby hole and swats at my hands with her paws in an attempt to get my attention. Well, Dora, congrats, not only have you succeeded in getting plenty of pats and scratches, you are also getting your picture on the internet. Way to go!
Until next time!
David D.
 |
| Not going the way I planned. |
I did some research on the web to find tutorials on painting camo patterns on action figures. I didn't find anything on action figures per se, but I did find some tutorials on creating camo patters on objects with stuff with spray paint on you tube. The basic idea was this: Take three colors, and spray paint the entire object with the first color. Put some paint tape over it in a stripe pattern. Spray pain the object again with the second color. Put some additional tape cut into stripes over that layer. Finally, paint the object a third time. After that third layer has dried, remove the tape and presto! You have a cool camo design.
I thought 'hey, I am using acrylic brush paint and not spray paint, but this could work, right?' (See? This is basic noob thinking). I had some red and silver paint and was planning on buying some white. I figured I would do a layer of red, let it dry, tape it, a layer of silver, let it dry, tape it, and a layer of white, and then remove the tape. I figured mostly white with some cool red and silver stripes would look pretty cool on Snake Eyes. Well, it didn't work out so hot.
There were two problems. The first was that the paint would seep under the tape when I painted over it, so the old color was not being protected by the tape. The second problem was that when I tried removing the pieces of tape to see how things were going, the paint on top of the tape would pull at the paint on the figure, resulting in a kind of rubber-y/latex-y/acrylic-y/stretch-y/hang nail-y like sections around the edge of where the tape had been, Ug-ly.
So scratch that idea. I went back to hisstank.com's custom forum and finally found a good how to paint camo on action figures thread, which I have started reading and will get more familiar with before I restart the camo ninja project again.
 |
| As far as Dora's concerned, nothing is more interesting than her, and nothing is more important than petting her. |
Before I sign off, I thought I would add something more, even if it isn't hobby related. My wife and I have two cats, Booty and Dora, and Dora has been very intent on getting my attention while I wrote this post. The computer I am using right now to write this posts sites on a desk built into the wall in my basement, and there is a little cubby hole under the desk surface proper. When I use this computer and Dora wants to get in my face, but knows I will push her away if she jumps in my lap, she jumps into the cubby hole and swats at my hands with her paws in an attempt to get my attention. Well, Dora, congrats, not only have you succeeded in getting plenty of pats and scratches, you are also getting your picture on the internet. Way to go!
Until next time!
David D.
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