I finally got started this afternoon preppin' my painter parts for Da' Train's custom paint job. Thought I'd post the first round of pics for you all to take a look at.
Where do we start? Hmmm, ok... Right off the bat I knew I needed some tunes playin' while I worked on it. You simply CANNOT do paint prep right without music. First step was to pull my beater Maxima up to the garage door, let the windows down and find some suitable tunes.
Next I snapped a shot of the pile of busa parts I wanted to start on today...
As you can see, I'm workin' off of the ground. I use a piece of white vinyl fence to keep the parts from comin' into direct contact with the concrete and gettin' little gouges and scratches. I'm gonna build some saw horses and use this piece of fence as a wet sanding table in my shop. I like the fact that the slits between the pickets lets the water run off instead of poolin' up like a normal plastic table would. When you work off of the ground you need a good, small rollin' table to keep yer shid handy while you're workin'. Here's what I've got. Not pretty but it works.
Now I'll post a few pics showin' the stuff I'm usin' to start prep on the parts. First pic, but not used first, is an aerosol can of SXA-103 alcohol based pre-cleaner for plastics. When workin' with plastic pieces you want to make DAMNED sure you use alcohol based, NOT solvent based cleaners. When you're wipin' on and handlin' plastics you can create a static electricity charge. One spark from that and a solvent based cleaner turns your plastic body part into a great torch and will prolly cook some skin and hair...
The second product (this one is used first) is the good ol' stand by, Dawn dish detergent. Some other brands are ok, some are not. I always used Dawn.
See, I told you I needed that li'l rollin' table.
When you water sand you need a sponge or rag (I'm single and couldn't find a sponge so I'm usin' one of my wash clothes. Married guys should head to the store and buy a sponge unless he's got some suitable rags layin' around. Hehehehehe...) to keep water on the area you're sanding and to wash away sanding sludge as you go so you can assess your progress. You also need some wet-or-dry sandpaper. The grit depends on what you're workin' on and your top coat plans. In this case I'm usin' 3M brand P320 grade paper. I'm also usin' a 3M foam rubber sanding pad to keep the paper flat on the surface so it sands evenly...
Ok, I don't care what kind of project you're workin' on, you need a box of these handy. In this case I was usin' 'em to dry the parts so I could see if I missed any places with the sandin'...
Now that we've covered what's needed to get started, let's, ummm, get started. The first thing I needed to do to these used painter pieces was to clean the road crud off of 'em. For that I used some Dawn dish detergent (see above pic if you forgot what that looks like. Hehehehehe...) and water mixed in a bucket like you'd do to wash a car. The Dawn disolves grease and oil and removes it from the parts and get's 'em clean and ready to start on. Just a little squirt in the bucket does the trick.
Then of course you need water. I got mine from this hose. You can carry it up from the creek if you want, or use a bunch of bottles of the good stuff, but the hose is cheaper and more convenient.
Before washin' the parts with Dawn, rinse them off good to remove any loose dirt, dust, etc, and to wet down and soften any built up road grime, bug guts, etc...
Ok, I didn't take photos of the wash step. I think we've all washed somethin' before...
Where do we start? Hmmm, ok... Right off the bat I knew I needed some tunes playin' while I worked on it. You simply CANNOT do paint prep right without music. First step was to pull my beater Maxima up to the garage door, let the windows down and find some suitable tunes.
Next I snapped a shot of the pile of busa parts I wanted to start on today...
As you can see, I'm workin' off of the ground. I use a piece of white vinyl fence to keep the parts from comin' into direct contact with the concrete and gettin' little gouges and scratches. I'm gonna build some saw horses and use this piece of fence as a wet sanding table in my shop. I like the fact that the slits between the pickets lets the water run off instead of poolin' up like a normal plastic table would. When you work off of the ground you need a good, small rollin' table to keep yer shid handy while you're workin'. Here's what I've got. Not pretty but it works.
Now I'll post a few pics showin' the stuff I'm usin' to start prep on the parts. First pic, but not used first, is an aerosol can of SXA-103 alcohol based pre-cleaner for plastics. When workin' with plastic pieces you want to make DAMNED sure you use alcohol based, NOT solvent based cleaners. When you're wipin' on and handlin' plastics you can create a static electricity charge. One spark from that and a solvent based cleaner turns your plastic body part into a great torch and will prolly cook some skin and hair...
The second product (this one is used first) is the good ol' stand by, Dawn dish detergent. Some other brands are ok, some are not. I always used Dawn.
See, I told you I needed that li'l rollin' table.
Ok, I don't care what kind of project you're workin' on, you need a box of these handy. In this case I was usin' 'em to dry the parts so I could see if I missed any places with the sandin'...
Now that we've covered what's needed to get started, let's, ummm, get started. The first thing I needed to do to these used painter pieces was to clean the road crud off of 'em. For that I used some Dawn dish detergent (see above pic if you forgot what that looks like. Hehehehehe...) and water mixed in a bucket like you'd do to wash a car. The Dawn disolves grease and oil and removes it from the parts and get's 'em clean and ready to start on. Just a little squirt in the bucket does the trick.
Then of course you need water. I got mine from this hose. You can carry it up from the creek if you want, or use a bunch of bottles of the good stuff, but the hose is cheaper and more convenient.
Before washin' the parts with Dawn, rinse them off good to remove any loose dirt, dust, etc, and to wet down and soften any built up road grime, bug guts, etc...
Ok, I didn't take photos of the wash step. I think we've all washed somethin' before...
