AAACCKKK! Derby car paint emergency!

[cubmom]

I was tring to get a nice smooth finish on my son's car. We used the gloss spray enamel, and I was sanding between each coat. Unfortunately I guess we did not sand well enough initially, and these darn grooves kept reappearing with each coat. I said the heck with it and decided that one last coat would be it, but now I have a terrible mess (maybe I didn't shake the can enough - don't know what happened but it came out all bumpy) I tried to wipe off the last coat, off course now I have to sand again and repaint. I think maybe I have TOO many coats on it now - if I want to strip the paint off and start with primer (like I should have done to begin with!!) what is the quickest way to do this? It's just a small (7" x 2") pine car, but the derby is getting close and we are running out of time!! I can only work on it at night after work, so I just don't have time for all this drying between coats darn it. But we really wanted it shiny and smooth....any advice?? I am definitely no expert when it comes to paint!

[SR540Beaver]

Well, you're ahead of me! Our derby is on the 25th and we are still sanding the wood. Primer would have helped in the beginning. I'd suggest getting a tack cloth from the hardware store to use after sanding. It is cheese cloth impregnated with a waxy substance that will remove all of the sanding dust. I'd give it a good sanding, tack it and put one final coat on and hope for the best. Trying to sand it all off and start over would not be worth it. You may as well start with a new block if you go to that trouble.

[Quixote]

I thought the Pinewood Derby was for kids, not adults.

 

[cubmom]

Of course it's for the kids. That's why I'm knocking myself out over it, right? :-) Actually, this is his dad's (my ex) fault. He's a crab and wants nothing to do with the derby. GRRRRRR.....

Anyway - guess I'll try sanding one more time when I get home (sure hope it's dry) and then give it another go.

[mk9750]

My thought exactly! I just figured that either cubmom mispoke, or there is a division for adults. By the way, it is an absolute blast for an adult to make a car and race it. I always made two identical looking cars. One would be my best effort and would race against the other adults, and the other was made to go slow enough to lose to the boys' cars. They had a blast beating the cubmaster, and I had patches made up that said "I beat the Cubmaster".

 

One year, the adult division actually rmoved all of the rules. We permitted anything that didn't require fuel. That was a blast! It was my last year in Cubs, but I know the boys were clamoring to open the adult races to boys who made a second car without the restrictions. Our Pinewood Derby my best memory in Cubs. The most cherished picture I have is my two boys and I holding our cars at the top of the track my oldest son's last year. I almost tear up when I look at it.

 

Mark

[SR540Beaver]

It is for kids, with adult supervision. Would you turn your 7 year old loose with a power band saw or even a coping saw? Or a can of spray paint? I'm making my 9 year old build his, but Dad's fingers are on top of his when running the wood thru the saw. He was born with 5 digits on each hand and I intend for him to have all of them when he leaves home someday.

[Twocubdad]

Jousting at windmills again, eh Quixote?

 

Sounds like you're trying to put on the paint too thickly. I'm guessing the grooves you mention are actually runs or sags. At this point, you need to sand the car down to a smooth finish, if not all the way down to bare wood. Sand paper and elbow grease. Chemical strippers will just make more of a mess.

 

Once you have a good smooth finish, go back with the same enamel paint. (Primer really doesn't help at this point.) Apply several very light, thin coats. Keep the paint can at least 12 inches back from the car. Use short, quick passes. Less really is more in this case.

 

In the future (or if you strip the entire car down to bare wood) try using model laquer or epoxy spray paint. Both dry faster (especially the laquer) before dust and crud can settle and stick to the wet paint. They also go on thinner.

 

Here's another trick. Cut and bend a wire coat hanger so that you can insert two points of wire into the axels slots of the car. You can then hold the car by the hanger while painting and then hang the car up to dry. No finger prints and no waiting for the top to dry so you can paint the bottom.

[ASM1]

Simple fix! Make sure it is totally dry, use course sandpaper and sand it ALL off. The spray with Auto sandable primer. When dry sand smooth with 400 grit wet sand paper using water to sand. Dry totally. Spray with your choice of colors, let dry, sand with 600 steel wool, wipe clean, and spray with clear coat. let dry and your done. Make sure you do not mix laquer with enamal though. stay with one or the other.

 

ASM1

[cubmom]

Yeah kwc57 - yeah - what you said.

 

mk9750 - I certainly did not *misspeak*. You don't really mean that you let your kids loose with spray paint and saws do you? Obviously my son does as much as he can. But the stuff where he can get into trouble is my responsibility. Personally I wish the rules stated that the cars had to be build by kids alone, with NO help. Obviously the cars would look far inferior, with very simple designs, but it sure would make my life easier!

 

 

I did sand the car back down - pretty much to the wood - and started over. I did not use any primer as I just don't have the time now. I sanded it pretty good tho - and the second (very thin) coat is on. I had thought about using a clear coat - but did not see one in the same enamel base that this spray paint is. I figured I'd have to use the same type. Thanks for the advice!

 

 

[LauraT7]

you're on to something with the clear coat -

 

We learned a couple of things in our years of derby cars.... mostly that POWER TOOLS are AWESOME!

 

(and you guys have been holding out on us gals and not sharing! LOL!)

 

My son built all his cars himself, except the ONE he built with my ex-husband. Dad would not let him use anything but hand tools - Dad did the big cuts and did not have the patience to 'do it right" - Dad then compounded it by screwing a whopping big weight on the bottom that rubbed the track and slowed the car.

 

we had an adult division, too - so Mom built a car, too - for example and testing of technique - we would "try" something on "my"

car or a chunk of wood, and when it was the way Jon wanted it, he would do it on his car. He did quite a bit of carving with the dremel and the car clamped in a vise, and with the electric sander. Jon became very proficcient with the tools at a young age - though he was never allowed to run them without safety equipment and an adult by his side.

 

We did learn with the paint to do clear coats - start with color and then add clear for shine and depth.

 

With stickers or decals - put them on and put some clear coats over them - makes 'em STAY on and look loads better!

 

Nail polish is great for details.

 

one tip for speed ... make sure the wheels are straight as can be, free spinning and not rubbing and de-burr the axels!

 

sometimes your car runs better BACKWARDS than forwards!

 

Sometimes I wish Boy Scouts did Derbies! that was FUN!

 

And the upshot of all that derby work?

 

When Jon was in 3rd grade, i bought an OLD (25 + yrs) camper and my son helped me replace most of the rotted plywood, rusty lift cables, new tires and wiring. he really made a difference.

 

last year, jon was in 6th grade, & i remodeled my kitchen. Jon did most of the sanding and painting of the cabinets, while I refinished the doors (the chemicals I used to strip and bleach the wood I would not let Jon handle - it would burn skin right off) he also helped with the multiple poly coats and re-hanging of doors and cabinets,new hardware and new tracks for the drawers.

 

REAL SKILLS - learned from building derby cars!

 

 

[mk9750]

Here's what I can tell you. When both my boys were in their first year of cubs, I cut THEIR design out on the bandsaw, and I did a lot of coaching, but almost none of the rest of the work. After that, I watched while they cut their own car out on the bandsaw, and never once had any other involvement in their cars unless they brought a question to me (Well, actually, I brought them into work to weigh them).

 

How did they do? Never once did either of them win, even in their own age group (I think my youngest son got a third place ribbon one year). Never once did they win best looking car. Only once did either of them win most boy made car (they did a better job making them good looking than most of the kids voting for the static awards could recognize, I guess). What did they win? In each of their rooms, both boys have all of their Derby cars diplayed, in prominent places. My youngest son yells at his buddies that come over when they touch them. I hear other guys in our Boy Scout Troop say they don't even know where their car is, or that right after the Derby, they taped a rocket pack to it to see how high they could make it go.

 

I know I am sounding snobbish, but I'll take my kids' memories without a trophy over letting them think they only won a trophy because their dad was better than the other kids' dad (actually, that wouldn't have helped either).

 

And, cutting to keep a boy safe is one thing. Sanding and painting isn't going to cause lost digits. At the risk of sounding too much like Rush Limbaugh, this is one of the things that is weakening our country. We think kids can't do anything for themselves. Keep them safe, Gosh yes I'm all for it. Keep them from doing for themselves? Whenever I start thinking like that, I have to slap myself.

 

Mark

[cubmom]

Sounds like you have a good environment for you guys to work in. No way would I let my son use a dremel, in our current setting. I don't have the space to set up a proper "shop", so any work that needs to be done is completed in less-than-adequate conditions, with plenty of room for getting in trouble. If I had a workshop, he could certainly handle more of the actual woodwork himself, with me supervising. Unfortunately most of the work we do takes place on the dining room table. And I LIKE that table.

[mk9750]

No, no work shop at our house. We had to go over my brother in law's house to use the bandsaw. Most of their work was actually done on a 1" x 12" plank laid over top of the washer and dryer in the basement. I'd love to have provided a better place for them towork, or better tools. Maybe they could have done better. But they worked with what they had available.

 

Mark

[cubmom]

mk9750 - you should know that everyone is not so *blessed* as to have a workshop, a bandsaw, or even a place to PUT a bench vise. Most of us do this work in the kitchen - at least that is the case in MY house. "Sanding and painting isn't going to cause lost digits" - Of course not, and when we are able to any work outside, he does so. He did ALL of the sanding himself. ALL of it. I put on the last coat of paint that went on - *I* sprayed it, and *I* I failed to shake the can, so *I* screwed up the paint job. Also, my son has every one of his derby cars in an honored spot in his bedroom. So don't make so make so many assumptions - you know what they say about making assumptions. And if you think I want memories of my kitchen floor being stained black, or that nick in the cabinet over there from where the saw slipped, you're wrong. You are going a bit overboard here - get off your high horse and come back down. As far as child-rearing, I am completely confident that I have set the bar very high for my son, so you don't even want to go there. This is WAY off topic now, so I'll just close now. Again, thanks for all the advice everyone.

[mk9750]

cubmom,

 

Sorry, I did not mean to offend. I didn't make any assumptions, I spoke about what our family did for Pinewood Derbies, or answered comments from you and others (losing digits, etc.). I certainly did not mean to imply that no one but my sons could care about their cars. I only stated that I have heard other boys say the things I mentioned. I know their dads did much of the work on their cars, so I guess I am guilty of drawing a conclusion based on what I have known to be true.

 

I did not mean to imply that I think you are doing all of the work. I said that my sons did all of their own work. Saying so does not imply anything else.

 

I think (I don't want to assume) that I've hit a nerve, and again, I am sorry. But I believe what I said: We as an American society don't let our children do enough for themselves. That was not a comment about you, but about America today. And I stand by it.

 

One more time, I am sorry. I do think your appoach is wrong, but I believe fiercely that you have the right to make that determination yourself. I truly meant only to give you an oportunity to see a different point of view. Good luck with the Derby.

 

Mark