UC rehouses and paintjobs

[oldangelmidnight]

build again.

build again.

build again.

[UglyCasanova]

do you apply anything extra between the decal and the painted enclosure? or is just the wet glue that comes with the decal enough?

yer kind of giving me an itch to build again.

Making you build again was my mission all along.

The layers go: white base coats, acrylics, lacquer, water decay (lacquered to seal print because I'm using laserjet water decals on an inkjet printer), resin. I think the resin stays clear forever and since it doesn't let oxygen near the lacquered parts, my theory is that whites won't turn yellow over time. If you leave it in the sun for months, then maaaybe. I'll definitely let you know if I see it happening on my RM-1N though.

[UglyCasanova]

On the first TAFM finish I did, I got the resin mixture wrong, so it was perpentually sticky. It was pretty gross, so I made a new enclosure:



More pics: https://www.instagram.com/p/BpKD9E8FF4j/

Drilled the holes by hand by just looking at the old TAFM, so the knobs and toggles are a bit off. It also made some of the hardened resin bits that came off during the drilling stick between the resin and the paint (by the toggles and right footswitch). Eh, it's for my own board, so it's fine. Always learning.

[BetterOffShred]

Just out of curiosity did you try to strip It, or bake and then sand It? I'm not sure what chemicals you guys have access to, but I've had good luck with paint thinner.

I think it looks sick!!

[UglyCasanova]

I don't know what you're talking about.

If you mean the resin/aluminum residue, it's actually stuck between the resin and the box itself. I don't think there's a way to get it back out again.

Thanks though!

[Jwar]

He means taking off the original finish if you did.

[UglyCasanova]

Pretty sure that's impossible. Might as well get a new enclosure at that point.

[Jwar]

Pretty sure that's impossible. Might as well get a new enclosure at that point.

Oh no way man! I've done it a hundred times. There are strippers that will literally just remove it and you'll have a tiny bit of sanding. It's actually super simple.

[BetterOffShred]

Pretty sure that's impossible. Might as well get a new enclosure at that point.

Oh no way man! I've done it a hundred times. There are strippers that will literally just remove it and you'll have a tiny bit of sanding. It's actually super simple.

I knew my experiences weren't unique

[UglyCasanova]

I would really like to see you try. Like, It's almost as if I would like to send you an enclosure just to see you strip off the resin without damaging the print and acrylic paint underneath. the print and paint is very fragile by comparison. Crystal resin not like working with a normal clear coat finish. It's like 20 times harder, thicker and more glass-like. Unless you've worked with crystal resin, I don't think you know what you're getting into, tbh. Just mentioning sanding made me laugh. Sanding crystal resin in general, no matter how thin (after chem peel), and especially with a print underneath, is a bad, bad idea. Cloudscapes, back me up here.

If you wonder why, these pics might help shed some light:

NSFW: show

[Paul_C]

I think the suggestion is more "strip it back to bare metal and start again" than just taking off the resin.

[UglyCasanova]

In that case, I stand by this statement

Might as well get a new enclosure at that point.

[crochambeau]

These are beautiful!

Having personally been on a work crew removing an improperly mixed batch of epoxy from a job site I can attest to it being simpler to just roundfile it and start over.

[UglyCasanova]

It's been a while. Currently working on the first batch of BioMoons now that I have some time off. Thought I'd share some work in progress shots.

Painting the enclosures


Some clear coating


In da sun


All dried and waiting for the next step


Knobz. These are are real pain in the ass to make, but I really like the look.


Finished product


I hope you are all well. I will try to update this thread more often over the summer.

[UglyCasanova]

Also did this one-off thing for ILFSS (gated/ungated oscillating fuzz) using a different technique involving setting the paint on fire. It was fun.