Well it's been a long while between updates, so I thought I'd better do one.
Since my last post, I have under-coated the cabinet and back box, and then started what I thought would be a quick process of getting some blue paint matched.
Unfortunately the blue is one of the most difficult colours to get matched, and every place I went to I got the “Yeah, we can match that”, which soon ended with a “Sorry, we can’t do it”.
My initial hope was that I could get a paint that I could spray myself, but I soon found that my only option was going to be an automotive 2-pac style paint – which unfortunately I can’t spray. With that in mind I sourced a local sprayer to do the blue for me, which he reckoned he could do in mid-January, which was going to be great as I had 3 weeks off from Jan 13. But as luck would have it, the mid-January booking has had to be delayed until the 2nd week of February as the spray-painter has a few more urgent jobs to do.
With that unavoidable setback, I then decided to tackle to playfield clear coat as I had done all the repairs. I found a thread on playfield clear coating (on the other Aussie site) in which a 1-pac clear coat called ‘KBS Diamond Finish Clear Coat’ was used. There is an extensive thread on this by a guy called ‘Darksoul’ – who is also an infrequent AP member.
The thing that appealed to me about using the KBS clear was that I could put it down with a brush or a roller and still achieve great results. KBS clear can be sprayed, but it has the same issues that 2-pac does.
So today I took the plunge and laid down the first coat – using a roller. I reckon I re-read all the info I could find before I started, and found a heap of excuses to not go ahead. I started having second thoughts and got that uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach as I've never done this before. The sort of feeling you got as a kid when you climbed the 10-m diving tower at the pool and first looked down. I suppose my biggest fear is – “What if I stuff it up, what then???”
After a bit more stalling, I finally opened the KBS tin to prepare the mix. When I opened the can, it was sort of like opening a bottle of soft drink, as thousands of tiny bubble started appearing it and rising to the surface. Here’s hoping that’s a good sign.
Using a large horse syringe, I then put 150-ml of the clear in a glass jar, and using a smaller syringe added 45-ml of KBS #1 thinners. My reason for using syringes is that it helps maintain accuracy with the mix, and prevents getting the clear in the tin/lid channel as apparently if the clear gets in the channel you won’t get the lid off again. The horse syringe was about $4.50 from a horse supplies store, and the 10-ml ones about $0.50 from a chemist.
Once mixed the clear is quite runny, probably similar to a really runny honey
To apply the clear I used a 160-mm medium density foam roller that I got from Bunnings and a 180-mm paint tray which I lined with foil. I lined the tray with foiled as I wasn’t sure if the clear would react with the plastic tray.
I then applied what I believe to be a thin coat (as recommended) and left it to cure – which apparently should take a couple of hours. The clear is supposed to be ‘self-levelling’ and any bubbles that form should burst before it cures, unless the clear is applied too thick or isn't thinned enough.
Having looked at the playfield just then after 50 minutes of curing (at 29 degrees and 29% humidity) it appears to be relatively flat, but there are heaps of ‘divots’. The thread that I read states that these divots will be ‘filled with the second thicker coat’. Fingers crossed on that one.
Later I’ll give it a light sand (800 grit) and then look at putting on a second coast this afternoon.
Andy
