Looking for opinions on Q-Bert paint and sanding

[gumby1109]

I have been working on this Q-Bert and I'm finishing the paint. In the picture here the top portion has been sanded with 320 and the bottom is unsanded after painting yesterday. I'm sanding because the paint did not lay as flat as I would have liked. I've tried three spraying methods and the last coat with a airless sprayer layed it on nice and thick but not glass flat. In your opinion, would you put a light coat on after sanding or would you call it good after sanding. If I use a LVHP I can get a glass like finish but the adjustment band sucks so it will not spray a wide pattern.

 

[Cashdog]

I would not mind if not completely flat many of these games did not.

 

[Brick Top]

That all looks the same. Yellow.

 

[WadeLanham]

I'd go over it again. And when restoring a game, it's OK to make a finish better than the original vs. worse than the original. That said, I struggle with painting. I can get a cabinet front to look good, or a pinball head, but full sized cabinets, I'm never happy with the results. I think after 20 years I'm calling it quits and won't paint another one. It takes some knowledge and skill that I don't have.

Wade

 

[TheYeti]

I have been working on this Q-Bert and I'm finishing the paint. In the picture here the top portion has been sanded with 320 and the bottom is unsanded after painting yesterday. I'm sanding because the paint did not lay as flat as I would have liked. I've tried three spraying methods and the last coat with a airless sprayer layed it on nice and thick but not glass flat. In your opinion, would you put a light coat on after sanding or would you call it good after sanding. If I use a LVHP I can get a glass like finish but the adjustment band sucks so it will not spray a wide pattern.

If you are trying to replicate an original Qbert, then you would want the paint to be extremely smooth. The original paint on Qbert was about as smooth as laminate.

 

[gumby1109]

If you are trying to replicate an original Qbert, then you would want the paint to be extremely smooth. The original paint on Qbert was about as smooth as laminate.

And that is what it is like after sanding. The color is much closer as well after sanding. Much appreciated on your feedback.

 

[cysnake]

Im going to be restoring my qbert next, im going to go with laminate sides and front. There is just no nicer, easier, and less scratch resistant way to do it.

 

[gumby1109]

Im going to be restoring my qbert next, im going to go with laminate sides and front. There is just no nicer, easier, and less scratch resistant way to do it.

For this Q-Bert, I went with Valspar Oil-enriched latex cabinets and furniture paint. I used the Q-Bert paint code that is floating around here. It's extremely durable, scuff and scratch resistant. Dries to the touch in two hours, recoat in four and full cure and hardness in 7 days. I laid Zinser primer in white where the yellow is and gray primer where black goes.

After sanding with 320 it has laminate characteristics. I see laminate almost on the daily and after sanding it, I was super impressed.

 

[cysnake]

I used to paint, and sand, and sand, and sand. I painted my mario widebody and did so much sanding, you couldnt tell it wasnt the original gelcoat. And i painted my scratch build wacko, which turned out amazing, it was just so much damn work, and i was always afraid it was too easy to scratch. Ive done laminate on baby pac, tron, and a few others, and its just so much nicer in my opinion, and its 10% of the work when comparing to priming, and sanding, and painting, and sanding, ect. Im a little impatient and dont like waiting for paint to dry either, lol!

 

[Onji]

I used to paint, and sand, and sand, and sand. I painted my mario widebody and did so much sanding, you couldnt tell it wasnt the original gelcoat. And i painted my scratch build wacko, which turned out amazing, it was just so much damn work, and i was always afraid it was too easy to scratch. Ive done laminate on baby pac, tron, and a few others, and its just so much nicer in my opinion, and its 10% of the work when comparing to priming, and sanding, and painting, and sanding, ect. Im a little impatient and dont like waiting for paint to dry either, lol!

So when sanding, are you wet sanding? Also do you step up the grits?
(I struggle with getting a good finish as well, need all the tips i can get)

 

[Brick Top]

For this Q-Bert, I went with Valspar Oil-enriched latex cabinets and furniture paint. I used the Q-Bert paint code that is floating around here. It's extremely durable, scuff and scratch resistant. Dries to the touch in two hours, recoat in four and full cure and hardness in 7 days. I laid Zinser primer in white where the yellow is and gray primer where black goes.

After sanding with 320 it has laminate characteristics. I see laminate almost on the daily and after sanding it, I was super impressed.

Sounds like an excellent job with excellent materials. I bet it will look outstanding.

My comment was more about the attached picture quality, I saw no difference from top or bottom. Maybe its my plain Jane Dell work monitor, but it all looks the same to me sanded or not.

Can anyone else see a difference?

 

[gumby1109]

If you closely you can see a line right above the hinge bolt hole, above that line is sanded.

 

[cjoli]

I sprayed my Qbert with an HVLP sprayer and wet sanded it to nice sheen similar to a DK cab.

 

[gumby1109]

I sprayed my Qbert with an HVLP sprayer and wet sanded it to nice sheen similar to a DK cab.

What was the final grit that you wet sanded it?

 

[cjoli]

What was the final grit that you wet sanded it?

I forget off-hand, I have wet sanded a lot of cabinets, but it was probably 2000 grit. I used Rustoleum Safety Yellow and put on some extra layers on because I knew I was going to wet sand it. I am guessing I used 600, 1200 and 2000 grit, after that clean it really well and make sure there is no paint residue left, then I put the side art on, you could wax it after that to get the shine back, but I usually just use furniture polish like pledge and give it a quick buff.