And with that done, I pass through a door, into a major new reality.
To say I am pleased, just doesn't cover it. Even so, there's just a bit of disappointment, which I will get over.
This is the same sort of disappointment I felt with my recent Jeep top purchase, in that Lil' Willy has had that white top forever. But it was old, and the windows were becoming harder and harder to see through, and it had been repaired a lot. And then one day, part of it tore! So finally I had to make the change. The only problem is, they are available in any color you choose, as long as it is black, like Henry Ford's Model T. And we didn't feel black was the right color top for Lil' Willy. Would we still know him? Would we even recognize him?
But, once I paint his wheels the medium to dark gray intended, the colors will work again, and in fact, the black top is kinda growing on me now! He seems a little more spunky too (I think he likes the new look).
In Lil' Queeny's case, it is the "uneven sheen" and rougher than expected texture, caused by some combination of the inexpensive HF spray gun not being up to the task, less than perfect spraying environment, and lack of practiced skill on my part.
Still, I did it. It's a good sense of accomplishment, pride, less money spent than what could have been. So we've got that going for us, which is good. :)
It took two days to spray. The first day was very long. I started on top using the ladder, a hand to brace with and went center-line outward to the first seam (the top panel is a four foot wide panel, seamed close to the rounded roof/wall edges). Then re-positioned the ladder and did the next roughly 3' section until one full length was covered. Done on one side, I moved to the other. Up there I had good visibility and satisfactory face distance from the spray surface. But playing with spray pattern adjustment and air pressure adjustment, I soon realized the spray pattern was only going to get one siding segment width at a time (3-4" max height pattern), and it was laying down the paint much slower volume than I had hoped for, requiring a pattern adjustment closer to round (like a spray can) than the taller fan shape I had expected. I was going to have to work really hard to fear runs.
Down on the camper sides, my face was closer to the project. Had to clean up more frequently, and that one side with the lesser light was a bit of a challenge too. But control was easier standing on the floor, and I could do the whole length in one spray run. Still, it took a long time.
Then I went underneath to the cab-over surface. It's kind of hard to spray upward with a gravity feed sprayer, if you know what I mean. I got my correct angles and hit it from both sides. I think I got a good coverage there, but again, it was kind of dark, and the bifocals don't work looking up, so I had to just use the safety glasses and get closer, so some of that part was by touch. I HATE painting by touch!
When I moved around the cab-over curve onto the vertical surface, I discovered one siding ridge where I had missed with the tack cloth. Shoot. Dang! Just keep spraying.
Then on the next row I discovered another siding ridge I had missed with the tack cloth. The I looked further. Are you kidding me! I missed this whole panel! Not just with the tack cloth, but with the previous wash job! OH NO SLUGGOOOOOO!
So I set aside the paint stuff and grabbed a rag and the bucket of water and washed down the whole behind-the-cab wall, carefully wiping up into the fresh paint line, trying to hit it at an edge of the siding to prevent visual indications, because the seam was just below where I needed to wipe. But I got it pretty good and went back to painting.
By the time I got that surface done I was tired. Many hours had passed, so I cleaned up the paint equipment and some of the other mess. And it was MESSY! Powdery paint dust.
The next morning, all fresh and stuff, I did a final masking on the entry door (which I had forgotten about until now) and got it and the other access doors and vents ready to spray. Tacked off the surfaces again, both for a first coat on the extras, and a second coat on the camper.
I set aside about a cup of paint for future touch ups, and through the course of the day I got a good two coats on all accessories, and the lower majority of the camper. I skipped a second coat on the cab-over horizontal section, and on the top of the camper the width of the four foot panel (between linear seams). Even so, with the extra in the gun, I was able to spray around both roof vent openings with two coats, and between the front edge of the camper and the first vent opening. I also got three or four good coats on the cab-over leading face surfaces.
Cleanup was horrible! The dust is worse than sheetrock dust. It wipes off, but best with a damp or wet rag. It won't spray off with the air hose. It barely sweeps off, after a few passes. And it got past the tarping. It's not stuck on like dried paint, but it was airborne paint dust that landed EVERYWHERE! The one place in the garage where it was't TOO bad was under the two-wheel dolly shelf, itself under the fridge. (Can see in one of the above photos).
I'm thinking I could have got a similar final-finish using a roller. I'm not sure spraying a big job in my garage will ever occur again!
But - like everything else in life, bad memories fade, and joyful memories just get better. We'll dwell instead on Lil' Queeny's new dress! She didn't say anything, but you can tell she feels pretty!
