BarbieOldNewGreenRedo : spray painting tips

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Happy New Year!

I'm really hoping to get back to posting fun projects and the doll stories this year. I sure have missed being in the craft room and 'playing' with the dolls.

I last left the Grand Hotel in late September when I finished all the spray painting!

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September was perfect for painting this faded/pink to peach monstrosity!

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Once I removed all the masking after spraying with Satin Spray paint for plastic, I was left with lots of details to work on. Not all the window treatments were the same on the outside of the building. The far-right and far left walls and windows did not have the translucent windows or the same trim.

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Here is those grayed windows getting a light blue trim added, they won't be translucent from the inside, but since I use the walls fully opened across the front--they will blend with the others.

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Lots of detail---lots of multiple thin coats of craft acrylics.

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Here is a translucent window---unfortunately I couldn't get rid of the peach under the window edges. I know that these windows are brittle and chose not to remove them for fear of cracking.

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I chose to do those peachy panes in white, it took three layers of acrylic white enamel to do these.

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Secret to painting areas like this is the perfect size brush and a steady hand.

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Okay, now there was the orange behind the arch filigrees...I managed to mix gray that matched the spray paint...and these peachy areas were grayed, but then the blue filigree didn't show up---so I started to do those white..here is a first coat!

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Sorry I'm bouncing around here...but with drying time between coats I was constantly moving around the building. Here is my first attempt at enhancing the edge treatment. I basically used a firm sponge loaded with white paint and brushed it across the trim. This ended up being two coats, and lots of q-tip clean ups.

The corner stones---were hand brushed in a light gray and then sponged with a bit of white. Again, lots of wet q-tip clean up--immediately.

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Here is a glimpse of some of the front done...slowly coming together.

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I didn't quite know what to do with the center blue railing...I used the blue paint I used on the grayed windows and it was just too much blue.

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I did a marble treatment on the marquee... and a bit of dark gray...still not satisfied---waiting for something to pop this?

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Several days of more painting, and of touch-ups...and a little of this and that!

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Finished, in the end the second story railing got some soft silver gilding along with the light fixtures below.

I cleaned up all excess paint and more minor touch ups. Extra bits of the the white. This hotel will need a poly-acrylic spray in Spring to help make everything scratch proof!

Inside was a a bit easier!

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The masking really saved a lot of issues...however I managed to stick my finger through the upper mirror on this cabinet(crappy cardboard) so that will need a new replacement. Since this area is going to be a beauty shop---I left this cute cabinet as is!

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There's going to be a coat rack in the right corner and a cushioned bench from the cabinet to the coat rack!

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Upstairs there was a little peach touch up, but the telephone cabinet sprayed nicely.

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This cabinet showed great detail and will make a nice reading nook.

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The closures did not get all the white spray--since I didn't want it to go to the outside...so this was hand painted over! The apartment walls to the second story foyer will probably be right on this edge, so won't show anyway!

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That was about all that I had to do on the inside. I left some of the windows white framed, so as not to limit the interior designs.

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Next, I will be putting it all together with the floors, the removable walls, the foyer railings...and eventually the bakery/restaurant and the beauty shop. Lara will have a small office in the lobby for managing the building. The fictitious third, fourth, and fifth floors...will have many unusual tenants.

I will need to add new doors, interior foyer railings, and apartment walls. Much of this will be sheet acrylic to give an open feel. That will be a challenge, as I have to get back into the doll room, after an eight month absence.

I can't wait....hope this will hold you for now! If you want to follow the entire process...these are the posts in order!

Sindy's Big Decision

Hotel Project Part 2

Demolition: Men at Work
Grand Hotel:Lara surveys Progress
Tutorial:Grand Hotel Demolition
Grand Hotel: Grand Hotel Demolition Secret

Grand Hotel: Floors, Walls and Tile.

Thank you for visiting, I will try and respond to every question and comment.

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Thank you for your cooperation, Sandi

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Finally I'm getting back to the Hotel!

With great weather for a day, I was able to get around to painting the Grand Hotel.

First: Steps to removing stickers and gunk from Mattel Plastics

Give your house, furniture, or vehicle a good wash. I use a kitchen spray cleaner with a bit of bleach--(Some of the items I get are really disgusting, but Cheap!) and a complete rinse. Let dry.
Work on the stickers you wish to remove. (Almost all of the ones in this Hotel were crooked and faded. This was a PINK house, faded to icky apricot.) Gently score the stickers with a plastic spoon or knife edge. You want to cut through the surface of the sticker but not scratch the plastic walls. Pull at any stickers that are lose---they won't all come off, but usually some of the shiny top will rip off.
I use Goo-Gone in the bottle. The Spray, I only use outside. Carefully Saturate the stickers, move on to the next one, etc. Let sit and then begin to use a plastic scraper and remove as much as possible. Depending on how old your item is---the harder it may be to remove. Those exposed to lots of sunlight are easiest to remove as the glue has dried up.
Repeat application of Goo-gone if necessary. Sometimes, three applications are necessary.When all the residual gunk has been removed, (You may have to use nail polish remover to get the gunk off and get a cleaner surface.) --
Wear gloves and saturate some paper towel and wash down all areas with Alcohol where you have used the remover oil. (You may have to use nail polish remover to get the gunk off and get a cleaner surface.) I wash the entire surface with clean paper towels and alcohol. This gives a good clean surface for paint.
Do this cleaning twice to make sure you don't miss any. You will get crazing, and snakeskin texture, and sometimes paint will not stick at all if it isn't oil free.
Masking: Once clean, mask all the areas you don't want painted with removable painter's tape. You can use sheet paper to mask off large areas, just make sure you seal the edges tightly.
You can see I have masked off the windows with green tape, and the side entrance with paper. I did the windows on both sides, as I wanted to retain the blue windows. My windows were quite brittle, so taking them off wasn't an option.

You can see the horrid fading of the Mattel plastic. This toy was probably outside or on a sun porch!

I got so excited to start spraying I forgot to photo the inside at the masking stage. Here you can see where I have starting to mask the big areas off over the finished white.

Painting

Many spray paints are now designed to spray on plastic. It's amazing how well it sticks, and I love all the colors available. I chose white for all the inside, and a darker gray for the outside. I will be touch up painting by brush lots of details and and textures on this building. Remember to spray outdoors or in a ventilated area (like a porch).

I prefer Satin finishes, which are more durable than flat finishes.

You certainly can brush on with a paint of your choice and then seal it. Lots of work that way.

Spray smoothly and quickly trying not to overlap. This is hard without all the little crevices. I made about 4 quick passes across the whole interior.
In the next photo, you can see the phone and cord covered.(Mask all electrical areas) Luckily the paint dries within 30 minutes or so. A breezy day that is dry and warm is even better.

Preparing for the exterior side spraying.

I reversed the large entrance papers and tape to the inside now! The house is still glowing peachy. I'm hoping the Gray will block that out!
I didn't paint the floors, but I did the underside ceilings. Remember I have new wood floors for both levels. The Pillars were tricky, and had lots of crevices. Since I will be using all angles for photos and through the windows, I really tried to cover everything.
It two cans completely to do the inside + touch ups.

Masking the insides!

Now that you have your inside basically painted. Allow to dry and then use the painters tape to very tightly mask off any areas where the darker exterior will seep through.
I closed up the house after this and used a blocking paper to keep from going into the hole in the middles at the top.

The grills on top are very detailed so I tightly masked them, underneath.

Here are some missing parts? I don't know if I removed it or not...I'll come up with something! The exterior windows have lots of detail...I masked them off in long pieces, rubbed hard and then trimmed them all with an exact knife. There will be lots of touch up painting when the masking is peeled off.

After the first coat, you can see a bit o peach showing through. This was evened out with a second coat. The outside took about 2/3 can. Darker colors have more opacifiers in them.

Yellows, whites, some reds and oranges will need many coats.

Curing!

When I finished, I moved the whole thing into the garage for two days! Can't wait to remove all the tape and papers, and see what I have left to do! Let the paint stand as long as you can before you do other treatments.

Next Post: Details and touch ups...I have no major plan, I will try and do some dry brushing with craft paints to see if I can bring up all the details!

Listed here in order are links for all the Hotel posts:

Sindy's Big Decision

Hotel Project Part 2

Demolition: Men at Work
Grand Hotel:Lara surveys Progress
Tutorial:Grand Hotel Demolition
Grand Hotel: Grand Hotel Demolition Secret

Grand Hotel: Floors, Walls and Tile.

Thank you for visiting, I will try and respond to every question and comment.

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