Need advice on painting colors for tank stand...

[flipz]

Hey everyone. I wasn't sure where I should post this, but I figured DIY would be the best place for people with good design. Haha.

I have an old tank stand that I am re-enforcing before I use it. I added 2 pieces of wood to the top for extra strength (and because my tank hung 1/8" off of the left and right side) and painted those black. I also painted the doors black because they were a puke green with gold handles. Totally 70's. lol.

The problem is the rest of the stand is this white wash color, so I'm trying to decide if I want to paint the whole thing black, or leave it as is, or do a second color. If it was personally for me I would probably just go all black, but it's for my girlfriend so I want it to look a little more "decorated" and like some more effort went into it.

Can anyone give some advice? I've attached a picture to show what it looks like now. Should I go all black, paint it a second color, or just leave it as is. If second color... what color! Thanks!

-brent

 

[fishfreek]

I think a solid color would do best.

 

[trenac]

Why don't you stain it

 

[flipz]

I considered staining it except that the 2 pieces I added to the top were left over from a construction site (shh. don't tell anyone. haha. but hey... free high quality wood. :| ) and they already had markings on them for whatever they used it for. I assumed that with a stain that would show through. It is a very light coating of paint though and you can actually still see the wood grain.

I talked to my girlfriend today (she's out of town while I'm doing this) and she said she would actually prefer all black. Which is what I would have done for myself. And I agree with you fishfreek, it really would look best 1 color. So I'm just going to do that. Maybe I'll try to find some sort of fish stencil from somewhere and paint some fish on the side for her. 8)

-brent

 

[fishfreek]

The top looksl ike pressboard so it would not look all that good stained.

 

[Christmasfish]

Pressboard isn't real good to constant exposure to moisture either, every spill over will cause it to swell and deteriorate.
Maybe cover the board with counter material, tile or floor tiles of pseudo marble. Good ol liquid nails can be your friend...
You also liquid nails a trim of tile fish or little fish marbles and seashells.
or sumfin like dat

 

[flipz]

Thanks for the advice. I'll look into covering the top with something. The stand was free, and the wood was free, and considering I've been out of work for almost 6 months, I'm dealing with what I can. haha. Well plus this stand only needs to last 1 year... 2 at the absolute max.

So what I've decided to do is paint the whole thing black (it's drying) and I bought some stencils and some very light pink spray paint and im going to put sea shells, fish, sea horses, etc on the sides. it should look good. I'll post pics when I'm done.

-brent

 

[flipz]

why did i even try this?

i have no creative ability whatsoever. i can build a computer from scratch in 10 minutes. i can fix any electrical problem, but damn i never should have even attempted this. it seems so simple right? just painting. well im thankful that when it's finally done none of you will ever see it in person, and i can just take a very lo-res picture. hah

seriously though. the black spray painting is barely even. ive already tried and failed 3 times on using the stencils with spray paint. took me like 10 mins per stencil to figure out how to cover it completely so that paint didn't get on everything, yet it still managed to. the paint got in places that was covered! so i had to keep repainting it black.

so then i went to the store and just bought hand paint. the guy picked it out for me, and it's main advertising point is that it's guaranteed to not leave brush strokes. well damn, it might as well be advertised as "if you want the brush stroke effect, use this paint." it looks horrible, and ive done 3+ coats. i haven't even taken the stencils off yet but i know it's going to look bad. i can already see several places where the paint went under the stencil.

*sigh* i just wanted this to come out good for my g/f.

-brent

edit: well... it looks even worse than i could have expected. they came out horrible. for a cheap project this is adding up.

4 cans of krylon x $4 each = 16
1 small can of paint = $3.50
1 paint brush = $0.50
stencils = $5

all a waste.

*sigh again... sigh*

 

[smilla4]

Don't ya know? The brush textured look is so in these days

It's probably not as bad as you think. Hey, if my bf went to that trouble for me I wouldn't mind that it didn't come out perfect. I'm even a "creative" type and I know that paint and me mix like oil and water.

 

[jsoong]

Stenciling is an art to itself, tough to get it just right ... so don't be too hard on yourself.

Couple thoughts: you need a stenciling brush to do hand stencils - this is a stiff brush with lots of short bristles, and you don't brush it on like ordinary paint brush, but you "dab" it. You load the brush then gently dab the paint on with a tapping motion - you want to put overlapping dots of paint on - no stroke mark. Oh & don't overload the brush - you want to paint wiht tiny dots & gradually build up the stencil. As with any painting project - many thin coats looks much better than one thick one.

second - to get even result, you need to practice - not on your final piece!! Get a scrap piece of board or even cardboard. Practice until you are satisfied the stenciling is even. Then, do the real work ... saves you from repeatedly covering over with black!

So, don't give up yet, a bit of practicing & you'll be surprised at what you end up with!

 

[BillyZ]

jsoong's the man. practice a few times on cardboard.

another tip i learned for stenciling (if you don't have a stenicil brush) is to start ON the stencil paper, and pull your stroke INTO the open part of the stencil. This puts paint over the edge of the stencil and keeps it from going under the stencil and ruining the line of the edge. And I'm going to say the same thing as jsoong as it should be stressed. Don't over load your brush (when doing it with or without the stencil brush). Dip in paint and brush off as much excess on your paint tray, and I even then run the brush once or twice on a scrap piece of cardboard/wood before I go to the actual stencil to be sure i get those first one or two heavy strokes off the brush. Yes, to get an even solid cover of the paint you will have to go over it once or twice, but this is the surest way to get a clean line from the stencil (and should help reduce the brush marks )

don't worry mun... the more hassle this is to complete, the more your gf will appreciate what you've done for her. (make sure you mention how much hassle it was... always score browny points when you can!! )

Keep us updated!