Joust stenciling fail, what paint would you guys recommend?

[Reality_Studio]

Joust stenciling fail, what paint would you guys recommend?

Hey guys I tried to stencil my Joust, with poor results as the picture shows. I have to assume I used the wrong paint since the first stencil layer just removed chunks of paint even though that brown layer had a two week curing time. I attached a pic of the paint I used as well.

There's no point continuing because I figure the next stencil layers will just keep taking more paint chunks off, so I'd like to repaint it all brown and maybe tackle it again in the future. But I was wondering what brand of paint you guys would recommend. I figure that way I can repray it all brown but this time with the correct type, and then try stenciling it again in the future. I've watched videos on it and it seems like this can happen to both oil and water based paints, so I figure it must be something else I missed.

 

[muchuckwagon]

How did you prepare the surface before you painted the brown layer? There are a handful of reasons why the brown layer didn't adhere well - residue on the surface, that primer might not be the best, the temperature when the paint was applied, etc.

I have limited experience but good luck with sanding the cabinet to the wood, priming, sanding and then painting. On a positive note, the yellow layer looks sharp.

 

[Reality_Studio]

I sanded the sides with a mix of 100 and 150 grit with my oribital sander, not super fine because I figured let the paint have a slightly rough surface to bond to. Cleaned it all with cheese cloth and painted on a typical LA day, so it was dry and in the 70s. The yellow came out ok but I suspect the next stencil layer will totally mangle it as well since it's the same brand/type paint as the brown layer. That's why I'm thinking there's no point continuing, but before I repaint it all brown I'm hoping to pick a brown that won't get pulled off again. I did a whole bunch of research on this and it's tough to get a single answer, some prefer water based, some oil based, some automotive paint, etc, so I'm not sure what to go with. But the Rustoleum I used definitely is not the correct paint that's for sure!

 

[muchuckwagon]

I clean the surface before painting with mineral spirits. Your issue might be a lesser primer in that 2-1...hard to say. As for the paint itself, automotive > oil based > latex. Spraying with oil based paint from Sherwin Williams is a good compromise in my opinion.

 

[Wyo]

If you aren't going to use automotive paint, which is the best......that rust oleum you are using will work great. You are obviously having an adhesion issue. The grits you used are fine for the raw wood. What did you prime it with and how did you prepare the primer?

Primer, primer, primer. I've said it a million times on here....the best paint jobs are going to happen with proper surface prep. And Primer is the number one tool for that. Put down a layer of two of sandable rattle can auto primer (Walmart or Home Depot). Let it dry....make sure it's dry. Sand it 220, then finish 400. Make sure it's dry and clean. Then put down your base coat brown. Light coats. Let the light coat dry, then put another light coat....until you have full coverage.

An issue you may have had is if you put down the paint to heavy, it didn't fully cure in places and pulled off with the masking. I believe that that rattle can you are using needs to have two full days to dry before it can be top coated again.

Also. In between stencil colors, take a red scotch brite (Home Depot) and stuff the paint The negative space that is going to be painted. You need to scuff the previous paint colors to give the new colors bite. Good luck. Should look great.

 

[Reality_Studio]

Ah so looks like I did everything right except the most important part, primer. I prepped and cleaned the surface, put multiple light brown coats, and let it dry for 2 weeks. But I didn't put a base primer coat. Part of the reason I didn't bother is because I saw another youtube video of someone doing a stencil and it pulled both the paint and primer off, so I figured it wouldn't matter for me since I both prepped the surface well, let it cure for two weeks and used paint that was both paint and primer in one. I guess not

Ok, well I'm wondering now if I should just complete the other two layers of stencils since I have them already, then try and touch it all up when it's all done. Wouldn't cost anything but time and if it sucks then I'd have to sand and start over as suggested anyways. Or I'm tempted to just paint it all brown and call it a day as I just want to play the game lol. I'll mull it over I guess, thx for the help.

 

[Eternaliquid]

Since you don't have a solid prime coat, anywhere you have to peel off the stencil will likely take more paint off with it. If it were me, I would just sand and repaint. I've had to do it myself.

 

[Wyo]

Ah so looks like I did everything right except the most important part, primer. I prepped and cleaned the surface, put multiple light brown coats, and let it dry for 2 weeks. But I didn't put a base primer coat. Part of the reason I didn't bother is because I saw another youtube video of someone doing a stencil and it pulled both the paint and primer off, so I figured it wouldn't matter for me since I both prepped the surface well, let it cure for two weeks and used paint that was both paint and primer in one. I guess not

Ok, well I'm wondering now if I should just complete the other two layers of stencils since I have them already, then try and touch it all up when it's all done. Wouldn't cost anything but time and if it sucks then I'd have to sand and start over as suggested anyways. Or I'm tempted to just paint it all brown and call it a day as I just want to play the game lol. I'll mull it over I guess, thx for the help.

Sand it down and prime, then repaint. It doesn't have to be back down to bare wood.....just get it smooth and prime. Believe me, you are gonna make ALOT more work for yourself if you don't. Also, the paint job will look so much better. If you try and touch up the brown peeled off parts, you will have what's called "buttholes" all over your brown layer. Even if you feather them out correct....it'll look like the surface of the moon.

Carry on with the rattle can, just make sure to prime.

 

[Wyo]

Also, I noticed your brown base coat has what's called "tiger stripes" meaning that you can see the spray pattern which is not hard to do with rattle can because the fan is so small. Its hard not to do this on such a big surface area using a rattle can. It's thin in some areas and heavier in others. To alleviate this, cross over the horizontal spray pattern you've been doing with a vertical or diagonal one....like cross hatching. Then to horizontal again. Do it as many times as you need to until the coverage looks even.

 

[Reality_Studio]

Ok thanks guys, all very useful info. I'm not sure if I'll redo it just yet, it doesn't have to be perfect since it's just for me and guests to play and it'll probably get scuffed anyways when I move it to my film house, etc. So I may just finish the last two stencil layers anyways. Some blemishes won't bug me, my Robotron is like that with scuffed side art but it's mostly there so I was ok with it, if this looks ok completed and touched up I'll just keep it like that. Lesson learned though, I'm better equipped now for any future stenciling!

 

[Atari The Jedi]

For when I did my stencil job 95% of the work was standing Bondo and priming up my ass. Only 5% was the actual spray painting although I had a few mishaps along the way nothing major the one thing I learned is that it takes a long time to get all this done even after I did the primer back in some spots. I didn't have the luxury of having a stencil kit or anything so I had to before hand create stencils using white paper and frisket. needless to say it actually took me a few months sanding most weekends.
What I also discovered if there were any splinters cracks chips in the wood this also caused issues so I would have to sand portions again and again and filled with auto Bondo

 

[Reality_Studio]

Well I just did a test, sprayed some of that brown spray paint into a can and used a brush to do touch up, and you're right it looks terrible. So I'll sand it tomorrow, two coats of primer, paint it brown again and leave it at that. It took a month to get the stencils and I can't wait that long for another set alas, so it'll remain all brown for now. I'll just put it in between games at my film house so the lack of side art doesn't annoy me. You win some you lose some, so it goes. At least my Jr Pacman restores turned out awesome