Another NX-Studio build

nlitworld · « **Reply #40 on:** 19 Jan 2022, 07:49 am »

Pictures DO NOT do it justice, but here are some teasers.

The base color is a specialty blue flash metallic that shows sparkly green shade blue head on, but rich red shade blue on the side. The candy is a blue candy with some glitzy PPG Liquid Crystal series pearl tossed in there. Without the light flashing directly on it the color is a rich blue, but once the lights hit, holy crap.

Tonight the temp dropped and some rain fell which spiked the humidity in the garage. Not good weather for painting at that point. I'm going to clear coat these in the morning and then these things are going to look really something special.

Hobbsmeerkat · « **Reply #41 on:** 19 Jan 2022, 01:20 pm »

That color looks incredible!

nadirmg · « **Reply #42 on:** 19 Jan 2022, 01:57 pm »

Amazing, dude! Very nice.

Tyson · « **Reply #43 on:** 19 Jan 2022, 05:41 pm »

Once they are dry and fully finished you should take some pictures of them outside in daylight - that will give you much better pictures.

nlitworld · « **Reply #44 on:** 19 Jan 2022, 05:46 pm »

Oh there will be some good photos later. Just trying to post as I go and be as informative as possible for anyone wanting to follow along to the painting process steps and tips. Once I get clear on them today, they'll really pop. Still a long way from done, but I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Tyson · « **Reply #45 on:** 19 Jan 2022, 05:55 pm »

Quote from: nlitworld on 19 Jan 2022, 05:46 pm

Oh there will be some good photos later. Just trying to post as I go and be as informative as possible for anyone wanting to follow along to the painting process steps and tips. Once I get clear on them today, they'll really pop. Still a long way from done, but I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel.

That light is an oncoming train, lol.

Peter J · « **Reply #46 on:** 19 Jan 2022, 05:59 pm »

Looks really nice, N.

Pray tell, what is that filter fabric you have draped over fans? I know, I know, not really on topic, but my curiosity gets the better of me.

nlitworld · « **Reply #47 on:** 19 Jan 2022, 06:13 pm »

It's a fiberglass media exhaust filter that goes in the paint booth that happens to cover the 9 box fans I have hooked up exhausting out of my garage. I dont want to poison my neighbors so I try and filter as best as possible. Regular furnace filters don't do much but paint booth exhaust filtets have to meet a 96% effective rating. Usually I get the 20"x20" pre-cut exhaust filters and tape them on the fans. I recently found a box of these sitting at work and theyre perfect as they are a nice big single blanket filter so it's super simple to work with.

Tyson · « **Reply #48 on:** 19 Jan 2022, 06:49 pm »

Those are going to look amazing.

VinceT · « **Reply #49 on:** 19 Jan 2022, 06:53 pm »

Pimpin

Digi-G · « **Reply #50 on:** 20 Jan 2022, 02:46 pm »

Very nice.

nlitworld · « **Reply #51 on:** 20 Jan 2022, 04:04 pm »

Got clear on them last night. Going to let it cure through today before I start sanding it all flat to spray logos on and airbrush a bit.

Really I just can't wait to sit and listen to them again. I need to remember to slow down and enjoy the process. More to come soon!

Uncle Elvis · « **Reply #52 on:** 20 Jan 2022, 04:28 pm »

They look great! Love the blue. I am always impressed by people that can spray nice finishes. It's an art.

NXSTUDIO-DRUMMER · « **Reply #53 on:** 20 Jan 2022, 08:35 pm »

Speaker Challenged · « **Reply #54 on:** 28 Jan 2022, 04:01 am »

Quote from: nlitworld on 20 Jan 2022, 04:04 pm

Got clear on them last night. Going to let it cure through today before I start sanding it all flat to spray logos on and airbrush a bit.

Really I just can't wait to sit and listen to them again. I need to remember to slow down and enjoy the process. More to come soon!

Nice progress. They are looking great.
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nlitworld · « **Reply #55 on:** 28 Jan 2022, 04:40 am »

Thanks for all the kind words. I spent some time earlier this week to prep them out and make them dead flat perfect. I went super light with 1200grit so as not to sand through the clear, but I'm going to come back with scuff pads to get the sanding scratches I need to get the next steps to stick. Now that I have them sanded down I should hopefully have the airbrush shading on the waveguide, the stencils for the logo on the side and silver leafing the GR logo on the front done by the weekend. Really it's just one long afternoon of painting, then sand down and one final re-clear and buff it til it's shinier than Mr. Clean's bald head. Then it's time to bring the noise!

Speaker Challenged · « **Reply #56 on:** 28 Jan 2022, 04:55 am »

Quote from: nlitworld on 28 Jan 2022, 04:40 am

Thanks for all the kind words. I spent some time earlier this week to prep them out and make them dead flat perfect. I went super light with 1200grit so as not to sand through the clear, but I'm going to come back with scuff pads to get the sanding scratches I need to get the next steps to stick. Now that I have them sanded down I should hopefully have the airbrush shading on the waveguide, the stencils for the logo on the side and silver leafing the GR logo on the front done by the weekend. Really it's just one long afternoon of painting, then sand down and one final re-clear and buff it til it's shinier than Mr. Clean's bald head. Then it's time to bring the noise!

Well said. Can't wait to see the end result.
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nlitworld · « **Reply #57 on:** 31 Jan 2022, 05:27 am »

Last night I was able to get the NX-Studio stencils sprayed and the GR Research logo silver leafed and also added a little more candy to darken the waveguide to make it look even deeper than it did. The silver color for the nx-studio stencils was a special ultra fine bright silver that's in a couple fancy car paints like the Nissan GTR or the SLS Mclaren Mercedes. The silver leafing is always such a pain with how delicate and ultra static clingy it is but it looks so good! I brushed it with a slightly stiffer bristled brush than the usual ultra soft makeup brush in hopes to distress it ever so slightly. Since it's been pretty cold here during the evenings I didn't feel comfortable hammering on a ton of clearcoat to really bury the lettering. Instead I decided to do 3 medium coats which typically results in a little orange peel and thinner film builds over the lettering which would prevent sanding and polishing straight away. Better safe than sorry, so instead I spent this evening sanding them dead flat again and will get the final coats of clear on them tomorrow afternoon. After that I'll sand and polish them, then spray the top ramp section in SEM trim black (satin black) then I'll be done painting! My hands will be excited when this is all done. Did I mention that sanding is labor intensive?

The end result will be awesome but I'm enjoying the process.

Peter J · « **Reply #58 on:** 31 Jan 2022, 06:01 am »

OUTSTANDING! They are flat out gorgeous. I gotta ask because... well, just because. What do you have planned for the recess on the top? Anything special?

I'm curious about what you used for size on the silver leaf. I've done some gilding, but always used oil-based sizing which doesn't play well with solvents in automotive paint.

Speaker Challenged · « **Reply #59 on:** 31 Jan 2022, 06:24 am »

A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!

Your an artist. They have to be the best painted NX Studio enclosures I have seen. Well done.

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