11-04-2010, 11:53 AM
I really like the idea of using an old hard drive. They're pretty hefty for their size. I should also have the materials for the gussets. I wasn't particularly sure if that would work on something of this size, but evidently it will.
As for how I did that band, I spraypainted a portion of the wall white. My calculations showed that the size I'd figured for the band was about an inch and a quarter if I recall correctly. So I layered two strips of 1" blue painters tape where the band would be, then gave it a light coat of white again to seal down the edges of the tape. Then I hit it with the red for the brick. I believe it's Boxcar red. It was a pretty intense brown-red. After that, I removed the tape so I had a nice white strip. I carefully masked the bottom and top 1/8th of an inch of the band with more blue tape, then ran a few layers of 2" masking tape on the top and below the band, then covered most of the wall with a sheet of scrap cardboard to save tape. I tried something different and sealed the tape down with dullcote instead of more white paint. It worked. The exposed part of the band was then sprayed black. I was really surprised it all worked exactly as planned the first time. The lettering is done with dry transfers, which I found a little cumbersome. I was often picking little scraps of letter off the building, where my fingers had rubbed an odd part of an O on something when I was really laying down a G or something. In the future, I would probably use regular decals.
I'd planned on hitting it with Dullcote today before attempting an India Ink wash but the weather conspired against that.
As for how I did that band, I spraypainted a portion of the wall white. My calculations showed that the size I'd figured for the band was about an inch and a quarter if I recall correctly. So I layered two strips of 1" blue painters tape where the band would be, then gave it a light coat of white again to seal down the edges of the tape. Then I hit it with the red for the brick. I believe it's Boxcar red. It was a pretty intense brown-red. After that, I removed the tape so I had a nice white strip. I carefully masked the bottom and top 1/8th of an inch of the band with more blue tape, then ran a few layers of 2" masking tape on the top and below the band, then covered most of the wall with a sheet of scrap cardboard to save tape. I tried something different and sealed the tape down with dullcote instead of more white paint. It worked. The exposed part of the band was then sprayed black. I was really surprised it all worked exactly as planned the first time. The lettering is done with dry transfers, which I found a little cumbersome. I was often picking little scraps of letter off the building, where my fingers had rubbed an odd part of an O on something when I was really laying down a G or something. In the future, I would probably use regular decals.
I'd planned on hitting it with Dullcote today before attempting an India Ink wash but the weather conspired against that.