sqlkev said:
The prep coats were done with Bonda Wood Hardener. This was then sanded and recoated a couple of times before applying grey primer and then the finish coats.
Have you considered chrome effect for the silver areas?
You have to do a number of layers to get the chrome effect, but looking at you previous spaying jobs, this shouldn't be to hard for you!
Check out the results on chromepaint.com
I would make those lovely angled front baffles look like they are made of polished alloy or stainless steel.
You have to do a number of layers to get the chrome effect, but looking at you previous spaying jobs, this shouldn't be to hard for you!
Check out the results on chromepaint.com
I would make those lovely angled front baffles look like they are made of polished alloy or stainless steel.
Mutley666 said:
You need spraying skills way in excess of what I can do to convincingly lay down chrome finishes and have it actually look like chrome.
I tried something similar from Rage's colour selection. You start off with a black base coat and then spray the chrome on to that. After around 3 coats you get the right coverage. The only problem with mine was that the finish had orange peel effect and trying to flat it out creates scratches in the chrome that are impossible to remove. You also can't just band aid the whole thing by spraying laquer and then flatting that out instead because the mirror image is created within the chrome layers and if its uneven... well it looked rather naff.
Reading the instructions they list on their site, you apply a base coat in black, then a clear coat which should be left 10 days to dry to help achieve the true chrome finish.
Then you aply the chrome layer using a "dusting effect", which is to say small amount of material and lots of air. This I believe is the key as they state "Please note applying too much paint will result in a dull silver finish".
Next it is advised that you use a very soft lint-free cloth to remove any of the excess dust/overspray from the surface, and they quote "If you complete this step you will notice a drastic improvement in the final appearance"
Then you apply a number of clear coats.
It does sound like a lot of work! I may have to invest in some equipment and give it a go.........
Then you aply the chrome layer using a "dusting effect", which is to say small amount of material and lots of air. This I believe is the key as they state "Please note applying too much paint will result in a dull silver finish".
Next it is advised that you use a very soft lint-free cloth to remove any of the excess dust/overspray from the surface, and they quote "If you complete this step you will notice a drastic improvement in the final appearance"
Then you apply a number of clear coats.
It does sound like a lot of work! I may have to invest in some equipment and give it a go.........
Here's the flatting process, simple to do but care is required. I used a palm sander with 3M 2000grit paper then after this I went over and did the edges very carefully so as not to push through the laquer. Afterward is was a simple case of elbow grease and copious amounts of Farecla G3 rubbing compound and then onto ultra fine cutting polish. The final stage is to apply a wax based polish but I haven't done this in any of the shots yet and will come later after the paint has fully hardened in a week or two.
The finished result, an awesome gloss finish:
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The finished result, an awesome gloss finish:
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
Vikash said:
Thanks Vikash, that looks great what you've done. Wish I knew how to do that and I could save a fair amount of time.
I particularly like the red and black... hmm.
Don't be daft. If you can do that in the real world, then photoshop will take you but a few second to figure out 😉ShinOBIWAN said:
Thanks for the pics. They are inspiring - especially as I'm about to start my first base coat 😉 The last spay session went really well BTW thanks to your help.
Or how about adding an airbrush to your collection of tools (one can never have too many tools). A gradual blend from a light charcoal to the black? Yeah, maybe to subtle for now.
Sheldon
Sheldon
ShinOBIWAN said:
Your forgetting that I'm 27 though Al. I'm at that point where I've almost got some taste but not quite there yet.
All black seems a little monolithic. I think it needs a 2 tone to break up the size the thing. I made them as small as I could but they're still large speakers and especially the depth.
Maybe I should have veneered afterall
Its not to late to consider a veneer. I'm still partial to the mappa burl. An italian Rosewood would also work well.
http://www.oakwoodveneer.com/samples/samples4.html
http://www.cd-konzert.com/Produkte/Ebellaluna.htm
http://www.oakwoodveneer.com/samples/samples6.html
BTW, the black laquer turned out fantastic!
edit: oh and you can also see what the black and brushed aluminum looks like on the duvell site - it doesn't do much for me personally, but you could do this for your speaker (i.e. aluminum veneer).
I'm agaisnt the chrome,
I like speakers to be rather subtle and classy.
I think a somewhat dark color would go with the gloss black real well. Maybe gunmetal grey?
I like speakers to be rather subtle and classy.
I think a somewhat dark color would go with the gloss black real well. Maybe gunmetal grey?
Come on Ant, I really can't wait much longer to see how these turn out 🙂 😀
Yeah gunmetal / anthracite would look great.
Also very dark red, almost burgundy (not a hint or purple though 😉) goes nicely with gloss black. So does very dark green for that matter.
Yeah gunmetal / anthracite would look great.
Also very dark red, almost burgundy (not a hint or purple though 😉) goes nicely with gloss black. So does very dark green for that matter.
I drilled the base today and attached the woofer enclosure. I didn't have the rear brace fitted as it needs some rework in order to ensure its adjustable, this will aid putting the whole thing together as it should just slot in and adjust to length, well that's the plan anyway. So I'm ditching the 2" steel rods (from butchered speaker stands) that I used on the old base and instead replace them with break fast bar legs as shown here:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=4442886483&rd=1&sspagename=STRK:MEWN:IT&rd=1
They're 1 inch height adjustable so they'll slot and then adjust to full tension. Hopefully this makes the combining of the base and woofer enclosure much more easy, the last method was giving me headaches about cutting the legs to the right size, at least with this method I'll have an inch of adjustment.
I was also thinking of filling the hollow part of the pole with concrete. Do you think there'd be any benefit to this?
On another note, I was amazed at just how sturdy the thing is without the rear support. There was no wobble, no creaking and signs of stress around the base/woofer enclosure junction. I'd be so brave as to say that it could very probably hold the whole thing up without the leg but I think that would be foolish since there's always the chance of external forces comming to bear on the enclosure. I'd feel safer with that rear leg anyway, so its still getting done. I'm also defintely not concerned about sideways forces that aren't tackled by the rear leg, this thing is rock solid (famous last words 🙂 )
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=4442886483&rd=1&sspagename=STRK:MEWN:IT&rd=1
They're 1 inch height adjustable so they'll slot and then adjust to full tension. Hopefully this makes the combining of the base and woofer enclosure much more easy, the last method was giving me headaches about cutting the legs to the right size, at least with this method I'll have an inch of adjustment.
I was also thinking of filling the hollow part of the pole with concrete. Do you think there'd be any benefit to this?
On another note, I was amazed at just how sturdy the thing is without the rear support. There was no wobble, no creaking and signs of stress around the base/woofer enclosure junction. I'd be so brave as to say that it could very probably hold the whole thing up without the leg but I think that would be foolish since there's always the chance of external forces comming to bear on the enclosure. I'd feel safer with that rear leg anyway, so its still getting done. I'm also defintely not concerned about sideways forces that aren't tackled by the rear leg, this thing is rock solid (famous last words 🙂 )
I also tried out the pearl finish but I used a 30% black tint mixed with paint to tone down the effect. Its now more subtle but I'm still not sure about it. I'm thinking I can do better.
Oh and here's a couple of comparison shots between the ATC standard and super dome mids:
Gotta love them drivers 🙂
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
Oh and here's a couple of comparison shots between the ATC standard and super dome mids:
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
Gotta love them drivers 🙂
ShinOBIWAN said:
It looks a LOT better than the silver. I'd have to see it with the black laquer to judge further.. You know there is this lexus charcol finish I thought was particularly nice at the auto show (..for some reason it just "jumped" at me visually more than any other paint finish).. should look excellent with the black and the aluminum surround of the tweeter.
(smokey granite mica)
http://www.lexus.com/models/is/gallery_exterior_colors.html
frankly you can't tell at *all* what the paint looks like from this though..
and yup, VERY nice drivers!
Oh..the bar legs look great! (Innovative 😀 ) I've found working with similar "tubing" that it can be dampened extremely well with silicone caulk (though it needs a LOT to fill the void). If the legs look to shiney (in comparison to the tweeter) you might consider frosted-glass finish laquer (..media blasting might be to much for a thin plating of chrome).
ScottG said:
Hi Scott
It was hard for me to get a shot with it in place against the gloss black since the paint on the baffle is still soft and I didn't want to leave impressions in the paint by resting it on something. I did however get someone to hold it roughly in place and I had a look around. At some angles it looks superb, especially when you get the dark green facing off against the gloss black but from others like when you see the bright purple, it just looks tacky, cheap and comes off as trying to hard to impress. I want these to be understated and this paint, from certain angles, cheapen what I've tried to achieve with the cabinets. With the pearl finish it reminds me of something out of the carnival or fair.
The gloss black on the other hand really does suit the look I'm after.
That's the direction I'm wanting to head. I want to keep it monocromatic, with shades of grey, silver but not too bright, definitely no colour as I think it moves the whole look into cheapness, that is, unless its a very dark shade as Quickie has already suggested.
So I've scrubbed the pearl and the sparkling silver, next up I'm going to try and track down something like gunmetal grey or the Lexus granite that you've shown. I'd prefer a metallic if possible as a solid dark grey would probably be too boring.
I was thinking of filling it with postcrete which is a quick drying cement mix that's normally used for anchoring fence post. I'm thinking that this would do a similar job to the silicon. I really don't want to fill them up with silicone since it would cost a small fortune and I've already got a couple of bags of the postcrete spare after landscaping the garden.
Also I've got the choice of chrome or brushed steel finishes for the legs. What do you think? The chrome looks nice and shiny but the brushed steel would look good in a more understated way.
cotdt said:
Eh 😕
The house has a roof on it, I thought that would be clear from the photo's. Maybe I'm missing something? Or do you mean my fantastic little workshop hutt, if so that has a roof too and even electricity! 😀 The snow on the ground was free.
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