Well, instead of me posting a new thread about every little nit-picky idea I have that storms my brain in the dead of night, I figured it would be simpler to post them in one single thread. So, onto question number 1. The best way to paint over anodized aluminum (blasphemy you say?) Well, yes and no. I found this really very pretty shade of green called deep jewel green (thank you advance auto parts! haha!) So, I grabbed the remaining 4 cans in my store (Yeah, sadly I work there now. :-/ ) as well as some self etching primer they carry. (Not the SEM stuff, but, it seems to work ok ) So, do I simply sand the anodized finish with 400 grit and hope for the best? OR do I sand it down to bare aluminum? Question number 2: I have the main logo for the alliance I am a part of in EVE online, called Star fraction. The logo in question is seen here : http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u132/jodah175/SFLarge.jpg?t=1267415125 Now, here is the really big question. I have this crazy idea that I could somehow make the flying lady out of copper, either by making a mold and sort of stamping it into a very thin sheet of copper. My friends suggested that maybe I just carve the thing outta wood and paint it copper, but, if I'm going to do it, I may as well do it properly. Any suggestions on options? (this one truly has me stumped! Question # 3: Let's say I'm somehow able to make previously mentioned flying lady out of copper, the white star behind her i want to have made out of frosted acrylic with white LED's lighting it from the sides, or maybe just have a few behind the lady, giving it a halo effect, which would look better do you think? (I'm thinking halo effect, but I'm somewhat unsure as to how it would look) Question # 4: The lettering. Light it up? Leave it as a vinyl/painted? If it were to be lit up, I think another piece of frosted acrylic backing, lit again with white LED's would look best. Not a damn clue as to how I'm going to achieve cutting those letters out of 1mm aluminum and still having them be recognizable as letters. Now, having asked all these questions, I DEMAND ANSWERS! haha, no, I don't demand them. But, they would be appreciated. Also, any (and I do mean ANY )suggestions are welcome! On a side note, if you've indeed read all of my ranting, congrats! You have more spare time than I do!
Take a piece of opal white perspex, paint everything but the star black on the back side. Then engrave the black paint with mirrored text (the letters apears normal when seen from the front. Then you can shade the letters with transluctent paint. It would look even better if you had double layers of perspex. One thicker backing in clear perspex, back side black painted, with the star cut out and an opal white star as an inlay. Do the text as proposed and then cover the whole front with a very thin sheet of clear perspex (use some special glue to bond the layers together. Then you can put light from the back, its only emitting where there's no black paint to stop it.
#1 I hate attacking anodized surfaces. It's easier to just prime it and then sand the primer. #2 Check this wiki article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Repoussé_and_chasing
#1. Although I'm no expert on painting, I believe a simple grind that's able to keep the primer attached should be enough. You might want to be careful though, because I've seen it happen quite a few times that if the old paintjob was dark, it would show through the newer paintjob. If you have an electric grinder or something similar, this would be a really good time and place to put that to use . #2. You mentioned using repoussé to model your design. I think this might be a good approach to form the model, because making a mold can be quite laborous. #3. I think this is mostly up to you. However, I'd go for the frosted acrylic. #4. It would look very nice if the frosted acrylic showed up somewhere else besides inside the star. I'd suggest just making the letters a bit bigger, and perhaps using a font that's easy to cut. Hope that helped you a bit .
thank you all for your incite. I'm sorry to say though Vils, i didn't understand a single sentence about what you were trying to describe. (i am a bit dense at times though) As for the flying lady, I read that wiki (ty Javerh!) and that is the way i intend to make her. Heck, the local art store evens ells kits for doing this! The Green i want to use is very dark (think almost black with a green tint to it). So, my plan is to just lightly sand it with 400 grit, and use the self etching primer I have to lay down the first coat, followed by 3-4 coats of color, and finally sealed in with 3-4 coats of clear. The lettering I am having my g/f work her magic on in photoshop, laying out a bunch of similar, albeit easier fonts to cut out. Both the star and the letters will be frosted acrylic. I have some clear plexi, but I the test sample I did to see how I could achieve the frosted appearance bombed horribly. (apparently 400 grit leaves too many scratches for a nice even finish)
Sorry about that, I shouldn't have tried to write something the last hour on my night shift... I' ll try to make a sketch, rephrase me and get back later.
