Putting Oil over Latex question?

qbass187

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Hey Guys,
I need to repaint my MARIO BROS. widebody cab. I had sanded & painted it with latex earlier this year but it really looks like crap.
I want to sand it down again and this time do oil paint but what do I need to do to prep that?
Can I just sand it down prime with an oil based primer and then paint?
Will the oil and latex have issues?

I figured I'd ask since with all the great restro work done here someone must know the answer.

Thanks, ERIC
 
Why does it look like crap? Keep in mind that the finish can at best be as smooth as the surface underneath. I just sprayed my Stargate Friday, and due to some filling scratches, raised grain in the wood, and general defects, I did 4 coats of primer. Now that sounds like a lot, but sanding the 3rd application with 220 grit, I still nearly burned through to the wood in spots. It's all about building up a base and filling in scratches for the paint you'll be spraying. Mine didn't turn out perfect, but any issues I had were due to me not having the gun spraying really well on the 1st coat and damn bugs flying into the finish.
 
Why does it look like crap? Keep in mind that the finish can at best be as smooth as the surface underneath. I just sprayed my Stargate Friday, and due to some filling scratches, raised grain in the wood, and general defects, I did 4 coats of primer. Now that sounds like a lot, but sanding the 3rd application with 220 grit, I still nearly burned through to the wood in spots. It's all about building up a base and filling in scratches for the paint you'll be spraying. Mine didn't turn out perfect, but any issues I had were due to me not having the gun spraying really well on the 1st coat and damn bugs flying into the finish.

I used high-gloss latex and a roller and there's orange peel ALL over and you can see the roller marks. It's just bad.
I've sanded it down and reapplied and sanded it down and reprimed and reapplied and it still looks bad.
I just did my first oil job and it came out amazing and before I apply the MARIO BROS side art I just got from PHOENIX ARCADE I want to make sure the cab is as perfect as I can possibly make it.
I just want to make sure since there is already a few layers of latex on there if I sand it down and apply oil based it won't ruin anything or what perp I'd need to make sure was done first.
Unfortunately this is going to have to be a roller finish since the cab is already inside the house and in the basement...I have no bulkhead so it's a brutal pain in the ass to get it into or out of the basement.
 
I sprayed my DK Jr with semi-gloss latex and got incredible results. It's the flattest latex finish I've sprayed, but I think some of it was luck. If you're trying to make it look like the original melamine or paint, I definitely recommend semi-gloss, defintely not gloss. I think satin would be too dull. Expect to prime, sand, prime, sand, prime, sand if you have to and get it really flat before painting. Good luck!!

Oh, and for this, I used a gloss rattle can lacquer for the black areas. It looks really good, but I wish I'd used a semi-gloss or satin. I think it looks a bit un-original, but I'm not going to change it.

3850525049_00ff46d7c1_b.jpg
 
I can't even remember why I did the black in two passes. I fixed it tho...

That job was actually a redo. I had painted it with oil-based, but had no clue what I was doing, many years ago. I only added Penetrol, did not thin the oil based paint, and it sputtered on, leaving a nasty textured finish. The cabinet sat in a shed for at least 7yrs, giving the paint time to dry..ha.

I sanded it flat, making a ton of orange dust, from the oil based orange. I didn't take it all the way to the primer or melamine though. I then put a couple of coats of primer, sanded, and sprayed the latex. It went on beautifully.

I'm rounding up a few more parts to finally get that project wrapped up. It's many years in the making..
 
Looks really nice.

Yeah, hi gloss was a baaaaad idea. The very first restoration I did was a DKjr and I used thesame hi-gloss and it came out great...must have been luck because no matter what I did to this MARIO BROS cab it looks like shit.

Do you tape off inside of the speaker slots?

I've been going back and forth as to whether or not I should.
 
As long as you prime it first, you shouldn't have a problem with any type of finish on top. Most primers I've used will adhere to oil or latex and can be covered with oil or latex. Read the label to be sure though.

On my DK Jr. I put on 4 coats of primer and sanded it totally smooth, not just to help hide any small imperfections on the cab, but also so the primer doesn't contribute to any orange peel texture in the final coat.

Looks really nice.
Do you tape off inside of the speaker slots?

I'm also wondering how people handle the speaker slots when spraying, since the walls of the cutouts are supposed to be black. It seems like it would be a pain in the ass to get masking tape in there. Do you mask the front (after spraying) and go from the inside with a small brush?
 
I'm also wondering how people handle the speaker slots when spraying, since the walls of the cutouts are supposed to be black. It seems like it would be a pain in the ass to get masking tape in there. Do you mask the front (after spraying) and go from the inside with a small brush?


I wonder if i didn't bother taping off and the after the outside color dries if I put tape over the holes on the outside and then spray from the inside THROUGH the slots if that would work?

Hmmm....
 
I'm also wondering how people handle the speaker slots when spraying, since the walls of the cutouts are supposed to be black. It seems like it would be a pain in the ass to get masking tape in there. Do you mask the front (after spraying) and go from the inside with a small brush?


The insides of the slots are actually supposed to be unfinished wood. Not sure where the black slot idea came from, but you're the second or third person on this site who has said that. The only black in that area is from the metal speaker grill, which is removable.
 
The insides of the slots are actually supposed to be unfinished wood. Not sure where the black slot idea came from, but you're the second or third person on this site who has said that. The only black in that area is from the metal speaker grill, which is removable.

You're right Phet, I just checked my DK Jr. cabinet (since it's already stripped down) and the insides of the slots are not painted:

VAfey.jpg


From the outside, especially with the metal grille on there, they really looks like they're painted black.

Still, if you didn't mask it while spraying the front, I suppose the slots would look closer to original painted black than leaving them orange.
 
I just didn't worry about masking the slots. By holding the spray gun perpendicular to the surface as you make passes, very little should end up in the slots.
 
I masked off the whole slot area and used a hobby knife to cut out the slots then painted the insides of the slots with black using a brush.
I know they were originally unfinished wood but I like the look of the black.
When you spray the speaker panel some gets into the slots and it looks like ass.
I figured either sand the over spray off and risk chipping the paint or just paint them black.
I opted to paint them.
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The insides of the slots are actually supposed to be unfinished wood. Not sure where the black slot idea came from, but you're the second or third person on this site who has said that. The only black in that area is from the metal speaker grill, which is removable.

Really?

Huh, mine are black. Both of my particle board Popeye cabs have the slots painted black. I know I didn't do it and the goober I got 1 from probably couldn't even paint by numbers.

I wonder if some of the maufactuers did it and some didn't.
 
High gloss was a baaaaaaaad idea. The problem you will have is the monitors light will reflect and actually get amplified off that gloss which in return will create almost a haze effect on your bezel.
There's a reason why the black on the sides behind the bezel are flat black.
If it were me, I'd simply go buy a rattle can of flat black and spray over the black areas behind the bezel. Problem solved.
 
High gloss was a baaaaaaaad idea. The problem you will have is the monitors light will reflect and actually get amplified off that gloss which in return will create almost a haze effect on your bezel.
There's a reason why the black on the sides behind the bezel are flat black.
If it were me, I'd simply go buy a rattle can of flat black and spray over the black areas behind the bezel. Problem solved.


Actually all the black was flat. It was only the Orange that was High-Gloss.
 
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