Starbase101
Sr Member
Got the doors up. Not keen to the closet's bottom guide, but I've got a darker one I can swap it out with to see if it looks better.
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Star Trek TOS Inspired Home Office Remodel
- Thread starter Starbase101
- Start date
Starbase101
Sr Member
The wife's side of the room is put back together and she's started "moving in". Her crafting area doesn't have any theming, but get a good look because you'll never see it this clean again! My desk isn't scheduled to ship until Dec 4th.
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Starbase101
Sr Member
While waiting for my desk to ship, I get to sort through quite a few boxes putting away various photoetch, decals, and resin upgrades with their respective kits that I didn't have access to while they were stacked in the closet. This is roughly half of my stash and with a bit of luck all these boxes get fitted into the room's closet. The rest of the kits (not pictured) will remain where they are for now.
For anybody who might be interested, the complete stash (although always growing) can be seen here: Starbase101 - Stash
For anybody who might be interested, the complete stash (although always growing) can be seen here: Starbase101 - Stash
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DazzlerFan
Sr Member
Starbase101
Sr Member
Thanks, most of the larger kits are in a bigger closet in another room. Some day, some day Jennifer, these are going to get built.
Starbase101
Sr Member
All the kits made it into the closet with a little space leftover (Tetris master).
Soon I will be needing to paint 8 rocker switches, which I am told do not like to take paint very well (some sort of nylon plastic).
These will each be painted one of 8 different colors from at least 3 different paint brands for color-matching (Krylon, Rustoleum, Testors).
My plan is to pre-treat the plastic with an automotive-grade adhesion promotor. The hope is for the paint to adhere better to the plastic and also be more resilient to normal use (these will be installed into my desktop). Although I've got extra switches to experiment with, I am wondering if anybody's got experience using any of these plastic adhesion promotors and if one might be better than the others:
Soon I will be needing to paint 8 rocker switches, which I am told do not like to take paint very well (some sort of nylon plastic).
These will each be painted one of 8 different colors from at least 3 different paint brands for color-matching (Krylon, Rustoleum, Testors).
My plan is to pre-treat the plastic with an automotive-grade adhesion promotor. The hope is for the paint to adhere better to the plastic and also be more resilient to normal use (these will be installed into my desktop). Although I've got extra switches to experiment with, I am wondering if anybody's got experience using any of these plastic adhesion promotors and if one might be better than the others:
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Rogviler
Well-Known Member
If it is nylon you'll probably find that the biggest issue is a reaction with enamel paint, similar to vinyl. The reaction being that the paint with stay tacky indefinitely. Do experiment first and make sure it dries properly and stays dry, as it might be a few days or a week before the tackiness starts to form.
Bulldog is the best adhesion promoter for sure. Good luck.
Bulldog is the best adhesion promoter for sure. Good luck.
Starbase101
Sr Member
Thanks - won't the adhesion promoter create an isolation film between the plastic and the paint, so the paint isn't coming into direct contact with the plastic?
Rogviler
Well-Known Member
No, adhesion promoter is more akin to plastic cement (the liquid stuff). It's basically designed to eat into the plastic slightly to grab on and then the next layer can chemically grab on to that. If you let it sit too long it just evaporates, so it really has no substance to it.
Additionally, I and others have made the mistake of thinking that primer or a compatible paint laid down first will provide a barrier, but it only delays the chemicals leeching through to the incompatible paint. So, I'm not confident in saying there's an easy way to create a barrier between the two. Kind of like if you try to paint over Sharpie, no matter how many coats you use it always manages to show up again.
All of this is to say that you'll have to test before you commit. Generally, water-based paints are fine, as are lacquer-based ones most of the time. Enamel is almost always out. Easy way to tell is if the "cleanup" section of the label mentions acetone or mineral spirits then it's enamel, lacquer thinner is lacquer (95% of the time anyway).
Additionally, I and others have made the mistake of thinking that primer or a compatible paint laid down first will provide a barrier, but it only delays the chemicals leeching through to the incompatible paint. So, I'm not confident in saying there's an easy way to create a barrier between the two. Kind of like if you try to paint over Sharpie, no matter how many coats you use it always manages to show up again.
All of this is to say that you'll have to test before you commit. Generally, water-based paints are fine, as are lacquer-based ones most of the time. Enamel is almost always out. Easy way to tell is if the "cleanup" section of the label mentions acetone or mineral spirits then it's enamel, lacquer thinner is lacquer (95% of the time anyway).
Starbase101
Sr Member
Great information, that's why I asked for input. I do have several extra rocker switches so I will experiment before committing the "hero" switches to paint.
Starbase101
Sr Member
Vintage rocker switches (the same kind used on the original Star Trek series) and laser-cut black plastic bezel arrived today.
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Starbase101
Sr Member
Does anybody have a can of Krylon 8813 Gloss Sky Blue they'd be willing to part with? It's a discontinued color and the last one for me to source. Can't find it for sale anywhere!
Can't help you there, wish I could though. I wanted to mention that you've inspired me to try painting some of the doors in my home and I was wondering how you determined the red and blue colours. I'm going to Home Depot tomorrow morning. I'm also wondering how much paint I should get for 3 red doors and 2 blue doors.
Starbase101
Sr Member
Thanks. I'm looking into the Krylon Peekaboo Blue as a possible substitute. I bought one gallon of the Top Tomato because they told me I'd need two coats not being from the Marquee One-Coat range, and they were right - it took two coats to get a nice rich color. But I bet I could have done it with a quart - I've got nearly the whole gallon leftover. I bought just a quart of the Tahoe Blue and even though it's a one-coat guaranteed paint I put on two coats anyway....and still have almost the full quart leftover. The red color was pretty easy - it was the only one in the store (Home Depot) that had the right orangy-red look. I spotted it from 4' away. All the other sample cards were just too red or not red enough. It ended up being the blue that was tougher to choose because each color looks different under different lighting. I'd pick out sample cards that looked right in the store, get them home and they looked totally different (the grays too). Maybe it's not blue enough (set-tour-corridor-05.jpg), but in combination with the gray and red I think it turned out okay. Once I had the gray and red picked out (you can't beat the name "Distant Star" for the gray) I could put various blue samples next to them until I had a trio that looked good together.
I'm currently collecting up supplies for some more modifications to the walls, involving holes cut into the drywall....
I'm currently collecting up supplies for some more modifications to the walls, involving holes cut into the drywall....
Starbase101
Sr Member
I got semi-gloss finish for its durability. I would have preferred eggshell, especially for the walls, but the higher up you go on the glossiness chart the more resilient the paint is when your yeoman is cleaning. I did NOT want a full-on gloss finish, so I went with semi-gloss. If you don't care as much about durability then eggshell would have a better look. Two quarts costs the same as a gallon, so if you're going to buy two quarts then the gallon will be a better deal (4 quarts for the same price). I'd bet you can do two doors with just one quart, and between a quart and a gallon for 3 doors. The red I used is Top Tomato, not Hot Tomato. The photos really don't do the colors justice - they look much better in person.
I'm very nit-picky about details (just ask my wife!) and you're going to see that as more of this project moves along. The reason the paint phase seemed to happen so quickly is because I had already done weeks of research before starting this thread. I'm now again in a research and acquisition mode before the next phase of construction begins, so there's a little bit of a lull on noticeable progress. But progress is being made, like acquiring one of these (true vintage like the rocker switches, not a replica):
I'm very nit-picky about details (just ask my wife!) and you're going to see that as more of this project moves along. The reason the paint phase seemed to happen so quickly is because I had already done weeks of research before starting this thread. I'm now again in a research and acquisition mode before the next phase of construction begins, so there's a little bit of a lull on noticeable progress. But progress is being made, like acquiring one of these (true vintage like the rocker switches, not a replica):
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I got eggshell. I had to buy some other paint as well so I kept it all the same finish. Also, I cheaped and went with different brand Glidden, maybe I should have stuck with Behr. They mixed the colours fine, but warned it may not be exactly the same as the card unless I used the Behr line.
The Top Tomato looks a bit 'orangey' on the dab dot they put on the lid, I never realized 'orangey' the red actually is. I was scanning through some 1st Season TOS episodes last night get a sense of the door colours and it was quite difficult because they used lots of spot lighting in scenes so its quite hard to tell the exact colour because the spot lighting can make the colours appears lighter than they really are. Some of the doors even seemed more orange than red.
Well now I've got my own ST painting to do. Thanks for the inspiration
The Top Tomato looks a bit 'orangey' on the dab dot they put on the lid, I never realized 'orangey' the red actually is. I was scanning through some 1st Season TOS episodes last night get a sense of the door colours and it was quite difficult because they used lots of spot lighting in scenes so its quite hard to tell the exact colour because the spot lighting can make the colours appears lighter than they really are. Some of the doors even seemed more orange than red.
Well now I've got my own ST painting to do. Thanks for the inspiration
