WMD Part III by G-gnome

Author: Peter Dickison
Published: 5th June 2006

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Paint & Polish

To protect parts from dust, while lacquer and paint dried, I made a spray booth. Doubled plastic and gaffer-tape make the front, with a piece of dowel along the bottom, to weigh it down. The box is the one my innovatek stuff came in. Everything was polished with a flap-wheel on an electric drill, followed by a 280-grit brush. The drill shown is the second one I used - the first burnt out.

WMD Part III by G-gnome Paint & Polish

To clean all the stainless steel I used a cleaner called 'Sheila Shine'; not only does this wipe finger marks away easily, it also leaves a clear protective coating which resists further marks and gave the steel a nice lustre. It smells pretty funky though. To degrease parts before lacquering or vinyl dyeing, I used mineral turpentine.

For clear coating, I used a couple of different sprays. To clean off residue from masking tape, I turned to 'Big Kevs Goo Remover'. Big Kev is a bit of an Aussie icon - a large, loud bloke (with louder shirts) who assaults you (via the TV) with the joys of home cleaning products. I'm sure there must be a clone of him in the USA somewhere.

Weighing In

With any project, I’m usually asked a dozen times, 'how much does it weigh’. So this time I weighed it.

WMD Part III by G-gnome Paint & Polish

Some strapping through the frames, hooked up to a set of fishing scales, suspended from my home gym. I don't fish, but used these scales to weigh my pack in the army (we did many marches where our gear had to weigh a certain amount) - hence they go up to 45KG (around 100 pounds), which would otherwise be one massive fish. As you can see, the case was a smidgeon over the maximum 45KG.