With all that I have going on here at the workshop I still get a good surprise once in a while. This was the case this morning while working on a paint test project that I had set up weeks and weeks ago. I originally wanted to test out a painting idea that I had with a simple blank part. I wanted to do a multicolored part and then lay down several coats of clear to finish it off. Something I had not done before.
I decided on something simple like a "Smiley" face. The blank was made with a twelve inch diameter plywood base to start. Then a Styrofoam blank disk the same size was attached to it. The foam was shaped and sanded into the rounded shape that you see in the photo above. When this was completed several layers of fiberglass was applied to the assembly.
When the fiberglass had been cured and smoothed out properly I painted the assembly gloss white. Then a vinyl decal was applied to create the Smiley face and a layer of gloss red was applied and I crossed my fingers.
Here's how the test part turned out this morning. I carefully removed the vinyl decal that I had laid down on the white paint and sure enough there was "Smiley"! It turned out perfectly. The gloss on the sign is so good that you can see me in the lower portion of the face and the window reflections in the upper portions.
The shape of the Smiley sign turned out much better than I had hoped for with this test now turned finished project.
So now I have another new display to hang either on my workshop wall or some other place in my home. That's the really good news. I want to try to make another test part as I do not plan on laying down any more paint onto to this nice little guy. The new test part can wait for another day as I have other projects that need my attention at the moment but as I said from the start this test part gave me a nice surprise this morning and that is always a happy thing to happen in the workshop. Have a good day in your workshop and maybe you'll get a nice surprise as well.
No comments:
Post a Comment