Star Trek TOS Inspired Home Office Remodel

[EKF5]

For the adhesion question - I wonder if taking an approach like setting tile would work for you. Mask off the area on the wall where the tape will go and apply a modest amount of the adhesive. Put a similar amount on the back of the tape and then place the tape on the wall. Use a rubber roller to press the tape to the wall to ensure good contact for the adhesive surfaces.

That should remove the high spot/low spot concern. I hope this helps.

 

[Starbase101]

Yes, I've been using a rubber roller to press the tape onto the wall (before removing the protective film on the chrome side), but the problem is weak adhesive on the tape. When applying pressure with the roller, it sounds like walking on bubble-wrap - "popping" sounds as pressure is removed due to the adhesive losing contact with anything other than the highest areas of texture. That would be fine if it remained stuck, but a few hours later the tape is completely separated from the wall. That's no good. I'd prefer to use an instant adhesive for this so I've got an ultra-thin permanent double-sided tape ordered (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07MQGBC5Y/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1) and will see how well it works before considering something messier.

The tape wasn't applied cold, both the walls and the tape were warmed with a space heater before applying last night. This morning the tape is detached from the wall, held on only by the shelving. If this had been applied to an area with nothing over the tape, it would have been off the wall completely and laying on the floor. At $2 per foot I would expect a very strong 3M adhesive on it instead of the crud they're using.

 

[PhuketAussie]

Wow, that's an awesome project you've got going there! I look forward to seeing more. You're not alone, I've been working on my own TOS office project for almost 12 months now, on and off as time permits. If you're interested in having a look, check out my post: Star Trek themed workstation under construction! | RPF Costume and Prop Maker Community (therpf.com)

 

[Starbase101]

Wow, that's an awesome project you've got going there! I look forward to seeing more. You're not alone, I've been working on my own TOS office project for almost 12 months now, on and off as time permits. If you're interested in having a look, check out my post: Star Trek themed workstation under construction! | RPF Costume and Prop Maker Community (therpf.com)

Yep, I'm already subscribed to your thread - it was one of the inspirations for starting my own project. Lately it seems everything I've tried to work on has been cursed to fail. It's starting to get a bit frustrating.

 

[Starbase101]

Having given up on painting the closet doors myself, they're being done today by a professional painter who's got the equipment to do them right.

(The doors are "off-site" being painted at a house under-construction where he's doing other painting work, so that they can be painted indoors.)

 

[Starbase101]

Well, here's how things have been trying to move along.

The painter isn't liking the Behr paint any more than I am - the color is great, but the paint is a "bear" to work with. The sprayed doors didn't turn out much better than using a foam roller, so he's going to sand them back down and re-spray them using Sherwin-Williams paint instead of Behr.

For the bottom door guide, there seem to be pretty much 3 colors to choose from - glaring bright white, tan, or a darker reddish-brown. They're all made from a nylon plastic, so then I got to thinking....well hey, I've got a 3D printer, and nylon filament exists, and in a red color, so why not make my own? I've got a spool of red nylon filament ordered and will try making my own floor guide to see how well it blends with the doors.

The final tape selection for silver striping will be the expensive ABS tape. Everything else is too thin and wall texture shows through. The double-sided "permanent" tape has arrived so I'll be testing that out tonight to see if it holds the tape to the wall. If not, then I'll need to work out a different approach using something like Liquid Nails, Power Grab, Gorilla Glue, etc. I'm also going to experiment on a scrap piece with toning down the shine using fine steel wool (thanks for that suggestion). If I like how it looks then I'll treat all the tape prior to attaching.

Gray paint hasn't been sticking well to the melamine shelf boards - well, technically it sticks to the Gripper primer just fine, it's the primer that peels away like vinyl shelving paper. I had sanded the smaller shelves prior to painting and the paint is holding just fine, so I took my heat gun to the remaining shelves and stripped away the coating. I'm sure the primer and paint will bond better to bare wood. (Yes, I actually typed "bare wood" ....haha) Unfortunately the big long shelf has a different baked-on enamel coating that is impervious to the heat gun and will need sanding off. (It's also very resistant to 60-grit paper, so maybe it doesn't need to come off completely - just rough it up so the primer bonds better.)

Hopefully there will be good photos to show towards the weekend.

 

[JamesM242]

Fingers crossed for you on the double-sided tape test this evening!

 

[Starbase101]

I re-applied the first stripe using the "permanent" tape, and I'll tell ya not much likes to adhere to latex wall paint. (Unless you don't want it to, then that's another story.) The good news is there were no "popping" sounds as I burnished the tape down, but it still separates easily when pulling on it. (I know, then don't pull on it. But I wanted to test how well it "sticks".) So for now, it's a wait and see how she looks in the morning.

I won't be buffing the surface to dull it. With 0000-grade fine wool it looks "scratchy" and I really don't want to spend the amount of time it would take to process 60-feet and end up looking worse than having light reflections from the tape, so shiny chrome it will be.

 

[Starbase101]

Nope, already pulling away from the wall:

Next contender to try will be Loctite Clear Power Grab construction adhesive....

 

[Starbase101]

Custom-mixed Sherwin-Williams paint to be used on the closet doors (Behr on the left, Sherwin-Williams on the right):

Pretty good color match to the "Fire Cracker" color, so the doors will be sanded yet again tomorrow for yet another painting. (No, I'm not keeping count anymore at this point.)

Here is the Sherwin-Williams "recipe" for the latest red paint:

 

[Starbase101]

Yay - it looks like the construction adhesive is holding the silver tape down. Again, the-morning-after will show for sure, but the tape hasn't lifted during the adhesive set time so it's unlikely to occur past that. If it still looks good in the morning I'll have a path forward for the remaining stripes.

 

[Lt Washburn]

I just wanted to give you my sympathies and encouragement. I feel like this is how any project of mine goes. I see people who do all kinds of crafty/hobby things and they seem to have remarkable success, making it look easy and fun, but once I try something, it just never goes to plan. I'm sure it will look great in the end though, keep at it!

 

[Starbase101]

I just wanted to give you my sympathies and encouragement. I feel like this is how any project of mine goes. I see people who do all kinds of crafty/hobby things and they seem to have remarkable success, making it look easy and fun, but once I try something, it just never goes to plan. I'm sure it will look great in the end though, keep at it!

Thanks, isn't that the truth - some people make things look so easy, their projects practically build themselves. Yes it's frustrating now, but later when this is all done it will be worth the time spent. The first silver stripe is as pretty this morning as she was last night, so I can now finally apply the rest of the stripes and then start getting furniture set up. It's too bad I didn't know a week ago what I know now or I could have had all the tape up by now.

 

[Veldmaat]

Nope, already pulling away from the wall:
View attachment 1411316

Next contender to try will be Loctite Clear Power Grab construction adhesive....

Have you tried heating it with a blow-dryer?
It looks like it wants to curl back into a rolled up state.

 

[Starbase101]

Have you tried heating it with a blow-dryer?
It looks like it wants to curl back into a rolled up state.

I agree it's wanting to revert back to its coiled state, but even flat (in the middle of long lengths rather than just at the ends) there is little adhesion to the wall paint. Having an ABS base I think it would need to get pretty warm for it to "relax" and I don't want to risk damaging the chrome finish. Besides, it bonds well to the wall using the Loctite glue so there's no longer any issue with the tape. I have learned to uncoil a long segment and let it relax flat for about an hour which helps remove the curl from the tape.

 

[Starbase101]

Moving right along with the striping - temporary mess in order to hide the tape ends behind shelves and cabinets, but it will start getting put back together tomorrow in final form (including moving in my new desk).

As you can see, the new gray color really isn't terribly dark and it's great that the walls, window shade, wall plates, and my new furniture will all match.

 

[Starbase101]

Another milestone today, and considering how much effort it took to get this upstairs we are not looking forward to bringing up the bigger piece.

 

[Starbase101]

Ended up getting lucky (yeah, it happens sometimes) and realized some of the furniture parts can be disassembled. This was a lifesaver for moving the larger desk piece upstairs:

The photo is washed out from the window lighting, but you know there will be another pic later when it's all assembled and I'll take that one in the evening so the window is dark. But see how well the colors match now:

The furniture brand is Maverick and pretty pricey, but I've settled for "cheap" office furniture all my adult life so I'm treating myself to high-end thick wood (hah!) solid construction. Tonight I will start modifying it for power cord routing and re-assembling it. (There are still two more large pieces in the garage to move up yet, and another order being shipped at the end of the month.)

 

[Starbase101]

As I suspected, the new desk does not fit with the wall base so it's got to be removed. It's not pretty, but it will be completely covered by the furniture:

Due to full modesty panels, an opening needs to be cut for electrical access:

This is only 2/3 of the desk. It's huge (insert Michael Scott remark) and just what I was wanting (as Jack Napier would say, "it's got lots of space"). It's currently resting on height-adjuster feet which I'm planning to (maybe) remove because I don't like how they make the desk look like it's "floating" above the carpet. Also, the weight will then be distributed evenly along the board bottoms instead of at 4 pressure-points.

After all the pieces are in and I set up my work computer system I'll decide where to cut in the desktop intercom.

It is thrilling to finally see this actually starting to come together!

 

[Starbase101]

Now I've done it - first hole cut for electrical access. I painted the cut edges to help them blend in (looks like they need a second coat).

Measurements were good and the hole aligns with the power outlet (it looks offset in the photo only because of the viewing angle, necessary to prevent light glare in the picture). The rough corners are not a concern because a plate is going over the cutout.

The second piece placed so I could appreciate how much hobby space there will be (6' x 6'):

They're not attached yet because a few more modifications are needed before bolting pieces together, but the "feet" are now removed from the bottom and I think it looks better this way.

Another heavy piece got hauled up the stairs: