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Final finished pictures will be uploaded tomorrow, stay tuned!!
So basically a small tutorial so to speak.. also to make a name for myself.
If you need any words of advice or to have any work done PM me.
Ok guys here is the first host of what I hope to be many.
The host is obviously Silvershots and it is a Hotlights host.. although I am not too sure of the model.
So I created a thread a few weeks ago about painting host's for people and Silvershot was kind enough (or should I say brave enough too send me his host to do)
We briefly discussed what the plan was; Silvershot not being sure decided to let me think of something.....
So I Received the host a week and a bit later and Immediately stripped it down, the purpose of this being to find out exactly what I needed to Paint / Not paint / Where I could / Where I couldn't / How much I could / How much I couldn't etc etc.
I removed the Heatsink and Immediately set about etch priming it...
First of the panel was sanded slightly with P400 grit sandpaper. (Fairly smooth)
Simply put, I scratched the old surface so the overlay (Etch Primer) can seep in the scratches and provide a toe hold for the new coating, also known as "toothing in".
This is done for almost every coating applied in the paint industry.
The purpose of etch primer is simple enough to those who know, to those who don't.. It is a 1K primer (Very thin) More solvent based than other primers, it is corrosion resistant while still retaining the properties of adhesion that it will need when other primers are applied on top of it... Observe below.
And now it is etched..
The Next stage I went through was applying a Xylene based black spray to the etched Heatsink, this would serve as a basecoat for the temperature change paint I will explain later.
This paint is pretty straight forward.. literally a spray can of black paint akin to one I'm sure most of you have used at one point or another.
The important thing with paint is LET IT DRY, if I applied the black to the etch and I hadn't left it for more than 1 hour, then hello chemical reactions and goodbye progression.
The black base (gloss)
So I let that dry and over the next few days decided what to do..
I got the host and first of all saw two small indents that followed the host head all the way around.
These needed to be filled, they would definitely be a problem with the paint settling in it later on, so I went about filling them.
The filler was sanded down with 120 grade sandpaper.. then 240.. then 320.. then 400.. then 600, for consistency and smoooooothness.
If you follow the grades up gradually rather than try to flat a hard grade out with a medium grade you will find the transistion soother.
So as you can see below the filler is smooth in the cracks and there are no indents. This will later be etched.
I also thought it would be a good idea to flat the grips down which were originally blue... leaving the paint in between the cracks and creating a cool effect which I think turned out pretty well.
Also repeated for the tail cap...
And the main body grip...
And so the finished result of this stage...
First things first.. ALWAYS test for reactivity..
I was originally going to start off with a black water based basecoat.. seeing as this is readily accessible to me more so than any other paint type I started out with it.
The flip paint I will use for the host works best with a dark basecoat.
Here's an example of flip paint.
Color Flip Paint - 90's ESP Mirage Custom, Absolute Purpleen - YouTube
The flip coat is solvent based and I had my suspicions about using it with a water based basecoat in the first place.
Water based can easily be washed off with water even if its dry and solvent paints will have the same effect.
So I proceeded to brush some water base on a test bit of metal.. let it dry then brushed some of the flip paint on.
Left it for an hour or so and alas it lifted the water based and reacted with it.
Test No. 1 FAILED.
Result below..
As you can see there are numerous smudges in it from the end of the paint brush, if it didn't react, only the flip coat would of moved of course...
Failing this I thought it through and decided with 2K...
The result was brilliant, the 2K hardened off fully, and the flip paint went on without a problem.
Two-pack, Twin Pack, or ‘2K’ as it’s sometimes known, is a type of automotive paint which has been around for years now, replacing the old cellulose (Used earlier on the Heatsink) and is widely used on production cars and in modern repair bodyshops such as my own.
The hardener contains isocyanate, which is extremely toxic if breathed in, so if you ever get to use this paint be very careful, breathing apparatus is a must.
So the laser head was masked up then etched..
Etch...
This was flatted down with 600 grade flatting soft pad.. and then it was all masked up ready for the black 2k paint!
And heree she is..
If you ever spray your own host, I would recommend a small airbrush from a hobbyist shop, or something similar, the paint gun I used in that picture cost about 300$ (£210-ish)
The best way of painting something that small is to give it very light coats and build your way up, if you put it on too heavy you run the risk of sags in the paint.
The quality of your gun / airbrush is a major factor, if you ever do this yourself make sure you ask the person you're buying it off how good it "Atomizes" which for those who don't know what it means, when a gas (Air) (ok ok N, H20, Ar, CO2) is injected under pressure through a tube with a decreasing section, it speeds up, generating a pressure drop at the narrowest point.
The reduced pressure, due to the pressure difference between the two points, sucks up a liquid from a reservoir through a narrow tube into the moving air flow, and projects it forward as a fine spray of droplets (although not atoms as the name suggests). (Courtesy of wikipedia to get my point across easier, with a little tweaking of course)
...Right sorry getting back on track
De-masked and put back together for the pictures..
Unfortunately there was a small problem with the colour temp change paint.. that being it's short shelf life which I didn't realise was up.
Here's an example of colour change temperature paint.
Helmet Temperature Color Changing Paint at paintwithpearl - YouTube
But it still looks badass I think.
So I proceeded to lightly scotch the paint, leaving very minute scratches in it, mentioned before as "toothing in"
Then masking up followed, making sure the tape was stuck very tightly to the grip!
Here's the paint looked in the gun, not what you expected? Me neither.
You cannot believe how much paint creeps even when you think things are masked up as best as they can be..
I painted it very lightly as described before using small coats to build up the colour at a distance of about 6-9 inches with fairly low pressure, my other thought also was that just in case it did react I would try and get a very dry coat on first to sort of "seal" in the paint so that when I did put a full coat on it hopefully wouldn't react.
The lacquer is applied by painting on a "drop coat" to help the lacquer adhere to it, this is basically just a a light coat.
Other shots..
Really starting to come together now
So I left that to dry overnight, ideally paint would be "Flashed off" at 45 degrees for 10 minutes.. then baked at 80 degrees .c for 30 minutes, but it was an incredible waste of money to switch on the booth for something that small.
So I got it home unmasked it and put it back together and here are the shots...
She changes from green to purple
All in all I'm very happy with my first out come and I hope silverhsot will be too.
So basically a small tutorial so to speak.. also to make a name for myself.
If you need any words of advice or to have any work done PM me.
Ok guys here is the first host of what I hope to be many.
The host is obviously Silvershots and it is a Hotlights host.. although I am not too sure of the model.
So I created a thread a few weeks ago about painting host's for people and Silvershot was kind enough (or should I say brave enough too send me his host to do)
We briefly discussed what the plan was; Silvershot not being sure decided to let me think of something.....
So I Received the host a week and a bit later and Immediately stripped it down, the purpose of this being to find out exactly what I needed to Paint / Not paint / Where I could / Where I couldn't / How much I could / How much I couldn't etc etc.
I removed the Heatsink and Immediately set about etch priming it...
First of the panel was sanded slightly with P400 grit sandpaper. (Fairly smooth)
Simply put, I scratched the old surface so the overlay (Etch Primer) can seep in the scratches and provide a toe hold for the new coating, also known as "toothing in".
This is done for almost every coating applied in the paint industry.
The purpose of etch primer is simple enough to those who know, to those who don't.. It is a 1K primer (Very thin) More solvent based than other primers, it is corrosion resistant while still retaining the properties of adhesion that it will need when other primers are applied on top of it... Observe below.
And now it is etched..
The Next stage I went through was applying a Xylene based black spray to the etched Heatsink, this would serve as a basecoat for the temperature change paint I will explain later.
This paint is pretty straight forward.. literally a spray can of black paint akin to one I'm sure most of you have used at one point or another.
The important thing with paint is LET IT DRY, if I applied the black to the etch and I hadn't left it for more than 1 hour, then hello chemical reactions and goodbye progression.
The black base (gloss)
So I let that dry and over the next few days decided what to do..
I got the host and first of all saw two small indents that followed the host head all the way around.
These needed to be filled, they would definitely be a problem with the paint settling in it later on, so I went about filling them.
The filler was sanded down with 120 grade sandpaper.. then 240.. then 320.. then 400.. then 600, for consistency and smoooooothness.
If you follow the grades up gradually rather than try to flat a hard grade out with a medium grade you will find the transistion soother.
So as you can see below the filler is smooth in the cracks and there are no indents. This will later be etched.
I also thought it would be a good idea to flat the grips down which were originally blue... leaving the paint in between the cracks and creating a cool effect which I think turned out pretty well.
Also repeated for the tail cap...
And the main body grip...
And so the finished result of this stage...
First things first.. ALWAYS test for reactivity..
I was originally going to start off with a black water based basecoat.. seeing as this is readily accessible to me more so than any other paint type I started out with it.
The flip paint I will use for the host works best with a dark basecoat.
Here's an example of flip paint.
Color Flip Paint - 90's ESP Mirage Custom, Absolute Purpleen - YouTube
The flip coat is solvent based and I had my suspicions about using it with a water based basecoat in the first place.
Water based can easily be washed off with water even if its dry and solvent paints will have the same effect.
So I proceeded to brush some water base on a test bit of metal.. let it dry then brushed some of the flip paint on.
Left it for an hour or so and alas it lifted the water based and reacted with it.
Test No. 1 FAILED.
Result below..
As you can see there are numerous smudges in it from the end of the paint brush, if it didn't react, only the flip coat would of moved of course...
Failing this I thought it through and decided with 2K...
The result was brilliant, the 2K hardened off fully, and the flip paint went on without a problem.
Two-pack, Twin Pack, or ‘2K’ as it’s sometimes known, is a type of automotive paint which has been around for years now, replacing the old cellulose (Used earlier on the Heatsink) and is widely used on production cars and in modern repair bodyshops such as my own.
The hardener contains isocyanate, which is extremely toxic if breathed in, so if you ever get to use this paint be very careful, breathing apparatus is a must.
So the laser head was masked up then etched..
Etch...
This was flatted down with 600 grade flatting soft pad.. and then it was all masked up ready for the black 2k paint!
And heree she is..
If you ever spray your own host, I would recommend a small airbrush from a hobbyist shop, or something similar, the paint gun I used in that picture cost about 300$ (£210-ish)
The best way of painting something that small is to give it very light coats and build your way up, if you put it on too heavy you run the risk of sags in the paint.
The quality of your gun / airbrush is a major factor, if you ever do this yourself make sure you ask the person you're buying it off how good it "Atomizes" which for those who don't know what it means, when a gas (Air) (ok ok N, H20, Ar, CO2) is injected under pressure through a tube with a decreasing section, it speeds up, generating a pressure drop at the narrowest point.
The reduced pressure, due to the pressure difference between the two points, sucks up a liquid from a reservoir through a narrow tube into the moving air flow, and projects it forward as a fine spray of droplets (although not atoms as the name suggests). (Courtesy of wikipedia to get my point across easier, with a little tweaking of course)
...Right sorry getting back on track
De-masked and put back together for the pictures..
Unfortunately there was a small problem with the colour temp change paint.. that being it's short shelf life which I didn't realise was up.
Here's an example of colour change temperature paint.
Helmet Temperature Color Changing Paint at paintwithpearl - YouTube
But it still looks badass I think.
So I proceeded to lightly scotch the paint, leaving very minute scratches in it, mentioned before as "toothing in"
Then masking up followed, making sure the tape was stuck very tightly to the grip!
Here's the paint looked in the gun, not what you expected? Me neither.
You cannot believe how much paint creeps even when you think things are masked up as best as they can be..
I painted it very lightly as described before using small coats to build up the colour at a distance of about 6-9 inches with fairly low pressure, my other thought also was that just in case it did react I would try and get a very dry coat on first to sort of "seal" in the paint so that when I did put a full coat on it hopefully wouldn't react.
The lacquer is applied by painting on a "drop coat" to help the lacquer adhere to it, this is basically just a a light coat.
Other shots..
Really starting to come together now
So I left that to dry overnight, ideally paint would be "Flashed off" at 45 degrees for 10 minutes.. then baked at 80 degrees .c for 30 minutes, but it was an incredible waste of money to switch on the booth for something that small.
So I got it home unmasked it and put it back together and here are the shots...
She changes from green to purple
All in all I'm very happy with my first out come and I hope silverhsot will be too.
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