Painted boosters, pocket vent plus one more coat of white

Today was high 80s with a 15-20mph breeze! Not a perfect painting outdoors day, so the garage had to suffice.

First on my list of blue pieces to tackle next were the aluminum booster covers and the "blue" part of the pocket vent. I wiped them down with some acetone then let them dry for 20 minutes. I also tried to de-clog any of the grooved areas of the boosters of any dirt or debris.


As luck would have it, primer really amplifies any dirty spots. But thankfully, a once over with 400 grit makes getting rid of it easier!

The middle section of the booster is a real challenge to get paint into. I'm also learning that as a computer person with some carpal tunnel issues, repeatedly tapping the spray paint nozzle can hurt after a while! I was begining to really feel the pain!

However, after using the Krider Formula, followed up with 2 coats of clear coat, here's how they look...

...and of course, with the day being so windy, somehow some debris managed to get on the wet paint between coats. You know what? I'm just going to leave it. Only myself and a few zillion R2-D2 Builders will ever notice that being there. Perfection is a lofty goal...for the SECOND droid!


With the blues outside drying, I had the garage clear to resume the white parts.

I needed to go over each and every part with some 400 grit to clean up things. It was dusty work and in highsight, maybe wetsanding would have been better. Or if I had an air compressor to blast the dust clean. I seemed to spend a LOT of time wiping the dust off the parts. Areas like the sides of the feet were just tough to keep clean.

That said, I used my last 2 cans of Satin White to give everything a good once over.

My gloved fingertip managed to get into the spray stream twice, so the ankles each have a little blob of paint on them. My solution is to gently take some 400 grit to those. Then, after picking up another can of Satin White, I'll give the outer legs a thorough final coat. No gloss on the white, as I plan to weather the droid in the near future. So enjoy him while he's showroom clean....R2's getting dirtied up!

Tomorrow's forecast looks decent so perhaps I can get the coinslots painted.

For some reason, my utility arms simply will not fit the rods that mount them into the carrier. I tried them when they were unpainted and can't understand why they wont fit. More debugging tomorrow!

For my good friend Boubacar....Go Celtics!