Painting Melded Arrays?

[kynetx]

My first melded array is a a little... rough. I used JB-Weld on the rear of the assembly and it did a fairly good job of flowing into joints and filling gaps. Now I need to paint them to cover the grey areas. Do I need to use something like Krylon Fusion or will any spray paint work?

[David Carter]

My first melded array is a a little... rough. I used JB-Weld on the rear of the assembly and it did a fairly good job of flowing into joints and filling gaps. Now I need to paint them to cover the grey areas. Do I need to use something like Krylon Fusion or will any spray paint work?

I started to use Krylon Fusion hammered texture spray paint, but the black shade wasn't dark enough for me. I ended up using a Rustoleum hammered texture spray paint that was also advertised as being "for plastic." Others may work, but I never tried anything that didn't specifically say that it was for plastic surfaces.

[jswingchun]

I painted mine with the Rustoleum hammered finish paint too. I did mine with the silver paint and I like the look of it. It stuck to the plastic really well and the hammered finish helped to hide the imperfections in the array. Here's a pic before the cabs were all the way done.

[kynetx]

That's pretty slick. I like the silver.

[Scott Brochu]

I did not spray mine on the wedge horns I built because they are hidden behind a grill and filter. But if I were to have them out I would of tried Duratex, I just would of covered up the center with a piece of tape or something.
An idea

That silver looks very well done.

[LelandCrooks]

Duratex, Krylon Fusion, regular Krylon, rustoleum will all work. Fusion flat black is my preferred finish.

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

Duratex, with very low pressure and a fine nozzle. Be sure to thoroughly mask the throats.

[jswingchun]

Be sure to thoroughly mask the throats.

I took the elements off before I painted so I wouldn't have to mask.

Thanks for the compliments on the silver, I like the look of them too. In two weeks I will be using them for real the first time. I'm sure those bright silver piezos will be a conversation starter.

[DrDoug018]

I painted mine with the Rustoleum hammered finish paint too. I did mine with the silver paint and I like the look of it. It stuck to the plastic really well and the hammered finish helped to hide the imperfections in the array. Here's a pic before the cabs were all the way done.

Hmmm.... When I cut my piezos there were small semi-circles left where the screws go on the four corners. I remembered seeing a post about using a soldering iron to enlarge them so that's what I did and now I have (fairly) nice round holes for the screws.

Did you cut yours so that there were no holes or did you fill them in with something?

Thanks,

Doug

[kynetx]

Be sure to thoroughly mask the throats.

I took the elements off before I painted so I wouldn't have to mask.

Thanks for the compliments on the silver, I like the look of them too. In two weeks I will be using them for real the first time. I'm sure those bright silver piezos will be a conversation starter.

I've got a really strong urge to paint mine fire-engine red... Argh.

That'll be too attention-grabbing so I won't, but I want to.

[jswingchun]

I've got a really strong urge to paint mine fire-engine red...

Do it!! It'll be schweeeet!

Did you cut yours so that there were no holes or did you fill them in with something?

I laid mine down face down on wax paper then filled the holes from the back side with the black pvc cement. Then I put some bondo on the holes in the front and lightly sanded them flush and then hit 'em with the paint. I only have screws in the untouched top and bottom four corners of the array.

[David Carter]

Did you cut yours so that there were no holes or did you fill them in with something?

I laid mine down face down on wax paper then filled the holes from the back side with the black pvc cement. Then I put some bondo on the holes in the front and lightly sanded them flush and then hit 'em with the paint. I only have screws in the untouched top and bottom four corners of the array.

Doug, don't worry. You're doing exactly what you need to. Only having screws in the the four corners of the array works on an OT cab because the melded array doesn't need an airtight seal around it. But in a DR cab like you're building, you have to have the airtight seal, so you need screws all over the place and gasket tape around the edges of the array. You don't absolutely have to enlarge the holes with a soldering iron (I did mine with with the drill as I drilled the pilot holes for the screws), but that certainly is one valid way to do it.

Carry on. You're doing fine...