Category: "Old Garage"

Garage door - part 6

by brae  

Continuing work on the garage door. I aged the panel inserts using the same method as the rest of the door.

I thought an old garage door could use a busted window pane, so I drew a bullet hole freehand with an X-Acto blade.

I was rather pleased with how it turned out.

Just one hole in the window and one on the center of the panel. I didn't want the garage to have been used as target practice. :D

Before installing the panes, I did some aging with spray painting, barely catching them with over spray to simulate dirt.

I bought a Cricut Maker after the last post on cutting the window trims. Since there were so many and the Explore didn't cut all the way through, I decided to re-cut with the Maker, and the results were much cleaner. I painted them black and then aged them with charcoal grey acrylic paint to tone down their crispness.

I also installed metal hinges on the back. I supplemented the supplied nails with epoxy.

The door itself is now complete and I can move on to the tracks and motor.

Garage door - part 5

by brae  

Continuing work on the garage door. I worked on the window panels for the garage door about a month ago. The main panels are part of the original design, but I needed to design and cut the windows and the interior trim. I used my Cricut Explore One to make the initial cuts but had to finalize the cuts by hand.

I used scissors to cut around the outside and an X-Acto to cut out the interior.

The rounded rectangle I designed didn't match up exactly to the insert, but it was easier to trim than to try to make an exact match.

From the front, the window insert looks clean.

The trim covers any gaps.

Next up, finishing the paint on the panels and painting the trims.

Garage door - part 4

by brae  

Continuing work on the garage door. I backtracked a bit here. After removing the center 3D printed hinges, I decided that I really needed five hinges across instead of three for better stability. I would need to add styrene under the additional hinge surfaces to make them the same height as the others. I didn't like the look of the small brackets with this new setup, so I removed those and replaced with long strips of styrene. I primed and painted for the next steps.

I thought about doing this from the beginning on both the front and back, and I probably should have done it then...but, I like the front enough to not start that over.

When you buff the metalizer lacquer with a paper towel, it becomes shiny and metallic. It's a delicate surface that needs to be sealed, but its delicate nature makes it easier to age. I began lifting the silver paint to expose the darker under layers, bringing out the finer details. It was a tedious process but worth it. :]  The bottom panel is what it looked like before and the upper panel is after the aging.

I didn't worry about lifting too much paint since I plan to add acrylic paint details in the final finishing.

On the front, I wanted more of the silver lifted than the salt technique removed. Here is the before on the left and the after on the right.

Just enough to even out the corrosion.

Delightfully ratty! :D

Garage door - part 3

by brae  

Continuing work on the garage door. I primed the backs of the panels flat black and then sprayed with Model Master Metalizer Lacquer in Aluminum Plate. The initial finish is light matte silver. More on this later....

On the front, I added some burnt sienna to the corners, around the brackets and other random areas.

I thought I was going to be able to keep the middle 3D printed hinges on the back, but they were going to bind with my metal hinge substitution so I cut them off, patched and puttied the gaps. I touched up the paint and returned to the front.

I again consulted a great tutorial on achieving chipped paint on plastic models. I had used this before on my abandoned bathtub.

I used water and regular table salt, concentrating on the corners and the rest leaving to random patterns.

Once dry, I sprayed with Model Master Metalizer Lacquer in Aluminum Plate.

I removed the salt with a paper towel and washed the panels with soap and water.

After you buff the metalizer lacquer with a paper towel, the surface gets all shiny and metallic. The dark brown and rust color under layers do show, but this won't be the end of the aging I have planned.

Garage door - part 2

by brae  

Continuing work on the garage door. On the backside, I found the 3D printed hinges to be rather delicate. During the first dry fit, I popped one off completely (luckily, I had a replacement panel), but I split another one while fitting the screws. I'm planning to use metal hinges instead since I don't trust myself to not break these after it's all put together, so it was back to the drawing board on aligning the door with the track.

I've used a Timberbrook garage door before (a wooden residential door), so I am using that as a guide. It has rollers on the sides that fit inside a wooden track.

Since I'd like to use the 3D printed track detailing, I can't add rollers and will have to use the bolts as recommended. But, since I'm replacing the plastic hinges, they won't fit or align the same way. This actually works in my favor since my plan would make the front of the garage door closer to flush with the front of the track, which will be easier for me to fit to my building.

Using the spare eliminated fifth panel as a test piece, I drilled a pilot hole in the side of the door panel and then added a bolt.

I determined the length needed to fit in the track without binding or slipping and snipped the head off. This seemed like it would work well, so I moved on to the actual panels.

I shaved off the plastic hinges and filled with putty as needed before adding thin styrene patches for stability.

I used white putty to fill in the gaps where the parts join. After an initial primer coat, I could better see where I needed to fine tune the putty application. Filling the gaps was never going to be perfect, but I could try to make them look less like "errors" in building with the putty.

After sanding, I touched up the primer and sprayed the fronts dark brown.

I used some really old spray paint, and it gave me an orange peel texture, which on a new piece would mean sanding and sanding and sanding. On an old piece, it will save me some time and work in my favor. I didn't necessarily want a shiny finish, but there are so many layers still to come it doesn't matter.

More to come....

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