Mr. Blond
Professional
DIY Paintjob Tutorial.
Supplies needed:
Racquet obviously
New Grommets
Paints (Lowes brand spray paint)
Primer (Lowes Brand)
Paint remover (Tuff Strip also available at Lowes)
Steel Wool (Chore Boy Stainless)
Sand Paper (Various Grits ranging from 200 – 600 Grit)
Latex Gloves (The Nitrile Gloves Hold up better)
Masking Tape (painters tape is easier to work with in my opinion)
Cheap brushes to apply the stripper.
The first thing I did was remove the old grommet from my head liquid metal fire. I then applied the paint stripper to the frame and waited the allotted 15 minutes. The paint from the decals and logos bubbles up almost instantly and one might be tempted to try to scrape the paint off at this point. Patience is key, the more you let the stripper work, the less you will have to sand. I, being the most impatient person in the world, gave into weakness and started to scrape the paint. After realizing that I would not be successful this way, I decided to give the stripper some more time and reapplied the paint stripper. The best advice I have here is to just keep brushing the stripper on the frame until all of the paint us bubbled up and falling off, it is pretty easy to see when it is ready to go.
Once the stripper has worked its magic, you can then use the steel wool to begin removing the paint. I found that if the paint stripper was still really wet, the action of the steel wool with the stripper got off most of the really tricky parts. If the stripper dries out, just re-apply it and keep at the stripping. The key here is that you want the frame bare of any paint and primer before you begin applying new paint. I had been warned about that prior to attempting this and did not realize the importance to removal of ALL PAINT for good results. The primer will be the hard part to remove. The extra tricky areas in corners and such will probably use a bit of sand paper and elbow grease. Patience is key and you should use the finest grit possible to get it done, because any imperfections created now will show on the final paint job.
Once the frame is completely bare of paint and primer, I then brought it into the house for a good washing with a mild soap. The wifey thought I had lost it when she saw me washing my racquet in the kitchen sink, but I digress. The reason for the wash is you want to remove any of the stripper residues as it will affect the binding of the primer coats.
The primer coat is really easy to apply because of the nature of primer, use wide strokes and stay around 6-12 inches away as you spray. This will use more primer, but the end result is much better. I found that applying a start coat and waiting a few minutes for it to get tacky before spraying a finishing coverage coat worked best. I can not stress enough here that patience is key, don’t try to apply too much paint in one coat, and do not spray too close to the frame because that will make the primer run or drip.
After the primer is applied WAIT 24 HOURS TO APPLY YOUR FIRST COLOR COAT!!!!! The primer will claim that it only takes a little while to dry, and it is dry to the touch, but you can not sand or prep it for 24 hours. The bottom line is, the longer you let the paint/primer cure, the better it is to work with, so make life easy and go play some tennis while it dries. (I rushed it, and had to strip and start over again!)
After the 24 hours have passed, you want to inspect the racquet for any imperfections that might need to be sanded. I personally wanted a flawless job, so I was very particular here. If you find a ding or dent in the primer give it light sand until it is smooth. Again, when sanding always use the finest grit possible to get the job done. When you finally paint the color on, gloss will show every imperfection, so you want to fix it in the primer coat. Serious gouges and dents can be filled with body filler if you have some.
I then applied a second coat of primer after sanding a couple of imperfections. Again I waited 24 hours to dry.
I was then ready for my first color coat. After a final inspection of the primer coat I sprayed the inner hoop gloss yellow with the same spray technique mentioned earlier in this article. Take your time and don’t spray too close, paint runs much easier than primer, so don’t get greedy in your application. It is easier to add another coat than to strip the whole thing if you make a mess of it. I then waited 24 more hours to let the paint dry. After the dry time, I used a 600 grit sand paper to give the hoop a light sanding. This allows the paint to have a really nice smooth gloss after the final color applications. After the sand, I wiped the dust off carefully and re-applied another gloss yellow coat inside the hoop. Again, I have to wait 24 hours for the paint to cure.
I then masked off the inside of the hoop using painters tape and was ready to apply my matte black finish to the rest of the frame. When taping you just need to be sure your lines are straight and that your tape is adhering snuggly to the frame.
I then sprayed the matte black to the entire frame using the spray technique mentioned earlier. I waited 2 hours dry time between coats (matte dries much faster than gloss) and applied 3 coats of matte back over all. After around 6 hours of dry time for the final matte coat, I removed the tape and installed the grommets.
Things that stick out to look for when doing this:
Don’t rush let the paint cure between steps.
Imperfections under the paint are VERY visible through the paint.
Being meticulous is not a bad thing when doing this.
Patience patience patience
Overall I am pleased with the racquet, I just don’t know if the work is worth the results. I am concerned about the durability of the paint, but only time will tell how that works out. I hope this helps all you guys.
the finished racquet can be seen in this thread:
http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showthread.php?t=110373
Supplies needed:
Racquet obviously
New Grommets
Paints (Lowes brand spray paint)
Primer (Lowes Brand)
Paint remover (Tuff Strip also available at Lowes)
Steel Wool (Chore Boy Stainless)
Sand Paper (Various Grits ranging from 200 – 600 Grit)
Latex Gloves (The Nitrile Gloves Hold up better)
Masking Tape (painters tape is easier to work with in my opinion)
Cheap brushes to apply the stripper.
The first thing I did was remove the old grommet from my head liquid metal fire. I then applied the paint stripper to the frame and waited the allotted 15 minutes. The paint from the decals and logos bubbles up almost instantly and one might be tempted to try to scrape the paint off at this point. Patience is key, the more you let the stripper work, the less you will have to sand. I, being the most impatient person in the world, gave into weakness and started to scrape the paint. After realizing that I would not be successful this way, I decided to give the stripper some more time and reapplied the paint stripper. The best advice I have here is to just keep brushing the stripper on the frame until all of the paint us bubbled up and falling off, it is pretty easy to see when it is ready to go.
Once the stripper has worked its magic, you can then use the steel wool to begin removing the paint. I found that if the paint stripper was still really wet, the action of the steel wool with the stripper got off most of the really tricky parts. If the stripper dries out, just re-apply it and keep at the stripping. The key here is that you want the frame bare of any paint and primer before you begin applying new paint. I had been warned about that prior to attempting this and did not realize the importance to removal of ALL PAINT for good results. The primer will be the hard part to remove. The extra tricky areas in corners and such will probably use a bit of sand paper and elbow grease. Patience is key and you should use the finest grit possible to get it done, because any imperfections created now will show on the final paint job.
Once the frame is completely bare of paint and primer, I then brought it into the house for a good washing with a mild soap. The wifey thought I had lost it when she saw me washing my racquet in the kitchen sink, but I digress. The reason for the wash is you want to remove any of the stripper residues as it will affect the binding of the primer coats.
The primer coat is really easy to apply because of the nature of primer, use wide strokes and stay around 6-12 inches away as you spray. This will use more primer, but the end result is much better. I found that applying a start coat and waiting a few minutes for it to get tacky before spraying a finishing coverage coat worked best. I can not stress enough here that patience is key, don’t try to apply too much paint in one coat, and do not spray too close to the frame because that will make the primer run or drip.
After the primer is applied WAIT 24 HOURS TO APPLY YOUR FIRST COLOR COAT!!!!! The primer will claim that it only takes a little while to dry, and it is dry to the touch, but you can not sand or prep it for 24 hours. The bottom line is, the longer you let the paint/primer cure, the better it is to work with, so make life easy and go play some tennis while it dries. (I rushed it, and had to strip and start over again!)
After the 24 hours have passed, you want to inspect the racquet for any imperfections that might need to be sanded. I personally wanted a flawless job, so I was very particular here. If you find a ding or dent in the primer give it light sand until it is smooth. Again, when sanding always use the finest grit possible to get the job done. When you finally paint the color on, gloss will show every imperfection, so you want to fix it in the primer coat. Serious gouges and dents can be filled with body filler if you have some.
I then applied a second coat of primer after sanding a couple of imperfections. Again I waited 24 hours to dry.
I was then ready for my first color coat. After a final inspection of the primer coat I sprayed the inner hoop gloss yellow with the same spray technique mentioned earlier in this article. Take your time and don’t spray too close, paint runs much easier than primer, so don’t get greedy in your application. It is easier to add another coat than to strip the whole thing if you make a mess of it. I then waited 24 more hours to let the paint dry. After the dry time, I used a 600 grit sand paper to give the hoop a light sanding. This allows the paint to have a really nice smooth gloss after the final color applications. After the sand, I wiped the dust off carefully and re-applied another gloss yellow coat inside the hoop. Again, I have to wait 24 hours for the paint to cure.
I then masked off the inside of the hoop using painters tape and was ready to apply my matte black finish to the rest of the frame. When taping you just need to be sure your lines are straight and that your tape is adhering snuggly to the frame.
I then sprayed the matte black to the entire frame using the spray technique mentioned earlier. I waited 2 hours dry time between coats (matte dries much faster than gloss) and applied 3 coats of matte back over all. After around 6 hours of dry time for the final matte coat, I removed the tape and installed the grommets.
Things that stick out to look for when doing this:
Don’t rush let the paint cure between steps.
Imperfections under the paint are VERY visible through the paint.
Being meticulous is not a bad thing when doing this.
Patience patience patience
Overall I am pleased with the racquet, I just don’t know if the work is worth the results. I am concerned about the durability of the paint, but only time will tell how that works out. I hope this helps all you guys.
the finished racquet can be seen in this thread:
http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showthread.php?t=110373
