Pictures will be added soon.
So I’ve seen a ton of consoles online that have been modified. Many good...Many...well, horrendous. So what exactly is the reason why some of the consoles come out so good after being painted? Well, it has a lot to do with one very simple thing; how much the person doing the mod cares. Wait, how does that make sense you might be asking? How does someone who thinks something will be SUPER ULTRA cool, yet, they don’t care about the outcome? Well it’s simple. These people typically have a lot to say, but when it comes down to it, they don’t want to do the work.
So what’s the reason we’ve come to? Laziness, yes that's right. When doing something on this magnitude you CANNOT settle for anything less then what you’d expect to buy from say, a store.
Required items/products for this:
- Console
Wet/Dry Sandpaper:- 300-400 grit
- 600-800 grit
- 1200-1500 grit
Krylon Crystal Clear Acrylic (again this is what I use and know)
Meguiars Cut Polish (4-5 on the hardness guide)
Shammy
Tape
Lots of time and patience
- 1. The console must first be looked at, and then the design must be taken into consideration which part will be what color. If it’s all going to be one color, you can skip this step.
2. With the overall design outcome in mind, you can now start sanding the console down to prep it for paint. Yes you MUST sand the console down. While we are using Krylon Fusion which specifically states on the can that the surface does not need any prep, this does not hold true if you want a QUALITY finished product.- a. Were going to start with a fairly rough 200-300grit sandpaper at first. You can start sanding the console in a circular motion, noting to not go in straight lines and push too hard. Let the sandpaper do the work for you!
b. Once the console is sanded down you’ll notice the surface is quite rough, you can see the sanding marks, you can also feel the ridges left by the sandpaper. This needs to be smoothed down, time to get out a MUCH finer sandpaper and use a technique known as wet-sanding. Wet sanding basically uses water as a lubricant reduce the chance of the sandpaper scoring the surface too much. So lets
get out our 600-800 grit wet/dry sandpaper and some water and lets start sanding the surface down so it’s as smooth as sheet of glass.
c. Now that your sanded down to a super fine smooth glasslike feel you might think your done. Well, your not. That surface still needs to be sanded one last time with an even finer sandpaper. So lets get out our 1500 grit sandpaper and again, wet sand the surface. After doing this you’ll notice its now even smoother than last time! Amazing stuff I know.
3. OK our part is now sanded ready for paint. Lets go ahead and wash this surface in some water and let its air dry. Please do not rub dry, you’ll introduce lint, hair among other things that you may not even be able to see until its too late. Then you must sand the part down again and start over.
4. Now we can finally spray the part with this amazing cheap stuff called Krylon Fusion. It’s made specifically for plastic and is just overall amazing. Lets tape off our parts if you decided to have multiple colors, or just an area that you do not want to be painted. Like the stickers on the bottom of the consoles for example.- a. OK now that were all taped off and ready to start painting, lets get this in an area where you can walk around your object. Heres the thing with spray paint. It works BEST when being sprayed ONTO the part, not letting the paint fall onto the part. So if you can suspend the console from a
ceiling, please do. If not, just be very careful not to hold the spray can horizontal as that will sputter
and spray some awful nasty crap onto your part having you to sand again. Also it’s very important to be able to walk around your object so you don’t accidentally touch it while the paint is drying and then ruin all your work.
b. So lets start spraying the paint onto our part. Start the spray OFF the part then work your way across the part then let off when your past the part. This is very important to get an even coat of
paint on everything. Now the most important part while painting is to spray VERY lightly and overlap your sprays a bit. If you go too heavy you will get drips, and maybe even some fisheye, which are fixable but beyond the scope of this how-to.
c. Continue step b until your part is coated. After the first coat you should still be able to see the original color of the part. This is not a “one coat deal”. You WILL have to go over this part at least 4-5 times for optimum coverage. With a bunch of paint on the part it will be much easier to work with later. Apply extra coats 15 minutes after your previous coats.
5. OK, our part is now completely painted and ready to go, right? Wrong... Now we must prep the part AGAIN for the eventual clear coat we will be putting on this. The clear will give the part a unique look as there are multiple types of clear. A “crystal clear gloss” for example will give you a finish of just that, clear and glossy. A satin clear will give you a rather dull but sharp looking part. The extra added bonus of using a clear coat is that it is added protection against the wear and tear of everyday use, scrapes and bangs.- a. Get out your sand paper again, we got work to do! Let’s start wet sanding our painted part with our 800 grit paper to bring that paint to a dull smooth finish. Be careful not to sand too far, or you’ll have to repaint again and then wait for the paint to dry.
b. After the part is sanded with 800 grit. Wet sand some more with 1500 grit. Remember to sand it CIRCULAR motions.
- a. Spray your part with the type of clear you want. Remember to not mix paint types while doing this. You may experiences bubbling, peeling, and lifting. This is not fixable, you must strip the paint and start over. SO TEST ON SOMETHING BEFORE YOU APPLY THE CLEAR.
b. Apply the clear just like you would paint. With Krylon Crystal Clear Gloss Acrylic the dry time is 10 minutes and the coats should be applied 1-2 minutes from each other. Apply 3 coats. Then let dry for at least 4 hours.
c. After 4 hours have passed... You guessed it, more wetsanding! Wet sand the clear with 800 (1500 if your feeling confident) and then move up to 1500 grit. We want to get this clear to a dull but super smooth finish.
d. Apply one last coat of clear and let dry.
e. Wet sand AGAIN and then use some cut polish. I use Meguiars cut polish finish. This stuff is meant to be used with a hand drill and a buffer. But you can use a very fine cotton cloth, or one of those shammies used to clean windows (sticky, yet smooth, everyone knows what these are).
f. Apply the cut polish to your objects and start rubbing in a circular motion. What this does is creates super super fine scratches in the surface that our eye mistakes for being a reflective surface!
- a. Were going to start with a fairly rough 200-300grit sandpaper at first. You can start sanding the console in a circular motion, noting to not go in straight lines and push too hard. Let the sandpaper do the work for you!
Keep in mind I am not a professional painter by any stretch of the imagination, I may be doing things overkill. However, these are the steps I use, and they work every single time. This is a time consuming process and most definitely should NOT be completed in one day or even worse, a few hours. Also note that I do not wait for the full 7 days for the paint to cure before applying the clear. You will have to be careful not to touch the surface too much and leave finger prints and oils...It sucks and you’ll have to sand the part down again. Hopefully this has helped.
