Paint Your Wagon - with a roller!

[HarryMann]

Great stuff, these tips. Perhaps we need to merge them into an overall FAQ?

Can't find sponge brushes in too many places, B&Q and Homebase here seem to be devoid of cheap ones (just had a £2 named make composite foam brush)... anyone tried making their own?

[CovKid]

Scour local pound and discount stores. I'm fairly sure the Blackstar range or whatever they're called, does them.

These odd tips do get added to the WIKI all the time. The 'How To' is a lot bigger than it used to be and I do have an updated PDF (as of today) - will PM you. As mentioned before, Chickenkoop and I are working on a seperate project that extends beyond the original You Tube video we did. Have some more work to do on that this evening. There is a reasonable charge attached to that to cover the hours of work editing and doing all the dubbed commentary, but a bargain for what it is. Much more concise.

[dugcati]

Just a thought about soaking the roller!

I haven't tried it but maybe wetting the roller with solvent before soaking will help it absord the paint?

My idea here is if your paint pot is big enough put the rolller in the pot when your finished and close it up - that way it will soak up paint and not go off

[CovKid]

I'll often put roller and tray in a plastic bag overnight - seems to work well.

[dugcati]

Any more than about 2 days and I find the paint thickens in the roller hence me trying the dump it in the tin method - will report on how well this works when I re-open the tin in a few days time

[CovKid]

Trouble is Dugcati, the rollers begin to disintegrate then. Not sure I'd want to leave one in there that long. Better to start with a fresh roller at least every hours worth of painting. Same if you catch a rough edge somewhere, they break up rapidly. Better really to just work a new roller on a bit of scrap than chance mystery lumps in your paintwork.

[HarryMann]

As mentioned before, Chickenkoop and I are working on a seperate project that extends beyond the original You Tube video we did. Have some more work to do on that this evening. There is a reasonable charge attached to that to cover the hours of work editing and doing all the dubbed commentary, but a bargain for what it is. Much more concise.

Look fwd to that becoming available

Plastic bag sounds good for a short while, but the rollers aren't the problem I would have thought, the mixed paint is what I need to keep for a good few days.

Ah! Blackspur... I'll keep my eyes peeled.

[gaz f]

Well I managed to get the vans first coat rubbed down and a second coat applied before I had to head back to Scotland for work again. Here is a pic of the van rubbed down again.


It did go straight through the paint in places but to be honest all this has done is improve the overall flatness of the base.
Here's a pic of the second coats finish.
#

Worth a note is the fact I changed rollers for the 2nd coat and found them a lot easier to get bubble free before starting to apply the paint, this pic shows the difference between the ones I had bought from BnQ thinking they would be perfect and the smaller size of the ones I am now using.


I have also been painting the inside of the van to hide the original army green paint job that was never covered when it was done in white, pics of that I will stick on the thread I have in the modified section. I'm at work for the next 2 weeks so it will be nice and hard and ready for another sand down before the 3rd coat goes on.

[CovKid]

Nice job Gary. Helps convince those that say you can't match a spray job. As I've said from the beginning, you can get a better finish than many paint finishes on cars straight out of the factory - if you flat back. On the rollers, yes those on the left are wrong type. Its the small ones with rounded ends that do the biz. Are you flatting back by hand or with an electric sander?

Ralph

[gaz f]

Are you flatting back by hand or with an electric sander?
Ralph

I did buy a cheapy electric sander and went over the big panel sections and the roof sections with it first. Then I went over the same sections again by hand (just quickly though) to finish them off as I found that although taking the strain out of doing the large sections it wasn't as good a result as doing it by hand. Maybe I was just being a bit too careful with the sander though.

I think I will do exactly the same again before I paint the next coat. The sander does cut the time required down considerably but for me at least I feel giving it a quick final sand by hand is the best way as you can 'feel' that you've removed any high spots from it. If that makes sense!

[uniB]

That's looking great Gary, I'm amazed by the finish you can get.

It's a far cry from the finish my neighbour got when I was a kid when he decided to paint his Ford Anglia with a roller you use on walls – I just remember a big blue square on the road and pavement with a car shaped square left in the middle when he drove off!

[HarryMann]

Does seem a lot of this magic is down to having discovered these mini rollers with rounded ends...

.. then combining it with the paint from Rustoleum and the disposable nature of the trays and thoe rollers

Oh! and persevering with improving the method!

[CovKid]

Well, its all in the WIKI, including pics of the correct rollers.

Have completed first 30 minutes of the new video this evening - very theraputic watching Rob do all the work. It'll be about an hour long in length and include all my WIKI notes as well as a few tips we've learnt through doing the job so many times. Theres nothing like seeing someone actually doing the job to show whats involved. Video will include how to finish the paintwork.

Should be ready by July I expect - possibly sooner. Not sure of the price yet - will consult with Rob.

[HarryMann]

Theres nothing like seeing someone actually doing the job to show whats involved.

As I found, definitely helps to have seen someone in action, to acquire the right approach and technique (and dispel nerves )

Looking fwd to getting on to 2nd coating some areas...

[martin t25]

third coat on, getting easer to apply now ive found by just draging the roller accross with just the weight of the roller 3 to 4 mins after wet it virtualy takes all blemishes/bubbles off.
put all black bits back on for mot today , everyone thinks its been sprayed which is good enough for me