Dulux Icestorm Question

[Cmar-Ireland]

Hi All,

I've just painted my viewing surface (wall) with icestorm 6. Two coats so far. I sanded the wall before appling the paint, so should I fine sand the first coats I've applied?
I was thinking of getting sone super fine powdered filler to give a "skim" coat to the surface and sand and recoat.

--OR--

Should I just get a sheet of 8x4 mdf and paint that instead?

Either way I an putting a 2" x 1/4" strip of timber covered on black velvet around the screen.

The set up consists of a VW10-HT projector, profigold component cable, DVP-NS955 dvdplayer(soon!) and a totally controlled room(bedroom) lighting (blackout blinds).

So what do ye think?

Ta
Ciaran

[Kramer]

I'd suggest the MDF option. Never liked "painted wall" screens.

[Cmar-Ireland]

I used a small roller to paint the wall, It's a fine sponge/foam type.
Would I get better results using a different type roller?

[MikeK]

Depends - you may get a finer finish with a paint pad, if it's normal water based emulsion you are using - it's quite difficult to get rid of the fine sponge roller marks completely with this type of paint IMO. It can often look OK to the naked eye, but when you project a solid colour onto it, the marks can become visible. In fact you can often see them yourself if the room light is just at the right angle....


If you go down the MDF route, try getting a litre of eggshell mixed instead of emulsion - being solvent based, it's much easier to apply (with a fine foam roller) without leaving any roller marks, is much harder wearing than matt or even silk emulsion (and is slightly lower sheen than silk emulsion too), and is easier to clean (it's hard to clean matt emulsion without it going a tad shiny where you rub it)

[inzaman]

Also if you go the mdf route and are not pinning it to the wall at both the top and bottom of the screen, i.e you are just hanging it from the wall then you will need to paint both sides as it does have a tendancy to curl.

[Cmar-Ireland]

Just bought some plush black velvet from ebay. I'll use it to make a frame for the screen. I think I'll also try to make up some kind of masking system for different aspects. No sure which way to adjust them yet though.

Paint pad might give a smoother finish, maybe I'll try it.

[PJTX100]

Originally Posted by inzaman

Also if you go the mdf route and are not pinning it to the wall at both the top and bottom of the screen, i.e you are just hanging it from the wall then you will need to paint both sides as it does have a tendancy to curl.

That is excellent advice. I used batons but even then had to pin it to the wall to get it 100% flat. MDF does make an excellent surface though, for the price. I used matt white but the eggshell idea looks interesting...PJ

[Decadence]

I used a paint pad...rollering is definitely not the best way to go when trying to get a smooth finish.

[Cmar-Ireland]

Hmmm,
Seems like the paint pad idea is the way to go. I'll pick up a set this evening and report back!

[MikeK]

Sorry, but what I forgot to add about the eggshell paint, is that when I used it, I matted it off with a mixture of talcum powder and white spirit (mixed into a thin paste first). If you don't do this, I suspect that even eggshell's low natural sheen could lead to hotspotting on a projector screen! Never tried eggshell straight from the can though, and as it's a long while since I tried it at all - that's why I forget about this bit (which may well be important)!