A Few weeks ago Jan and I went to the ReStore to look for a solid core door to replace the hollow core door that separates the kitchen from the garage. We found a beauty of a door, and new too, just a couple minor flaws that were easy to fix. We ended up reversing the hinges to the left side so when the door would open,so you could access the light switches. Because apparently someone was not thinking when they did the doors originally, no insulation was used around the frame and when the door was open you can’t get at the switches. Any way we were happy with the end result. But that’s not what this article is about….
But now I had this junky hollow door to do something with. There were holes and dents and gouges in the wood and some nasty varnish with bits of dirt and a few pieces of hair stuck under the coating (yes lovely to look at). My youngest son’s room did not have a door on his room, and material recycler that I am, thought I would take a whack at it.
Here’s the door in all it’s original glory. note i had already started sanding on it, when I remembered, I need some new articles for this blog.
Fully sanded, the flaws are not so apparent in this light.
Bondo to the rescue. why? It’s a cheap filler, and I still had some left on the shelf. And for the purpose of this project I was not looking for perfection.
A quick dab of primer (rattle can) just to break up the texture of the wood and Bondo a bit.
I did about 3 even coats of that $5 mix match paint that I love (sadly it’s almost gone) on each side of the door with my HVLP gun (you have to greatly reduce the paint with almost 35% water to make it spray evenly. Note use a filter!)
After some quick talk with Sam, he wanted a Superman Door, and I’m thinking some riveted iron behind the ‘S’ would look awesome. So taking some thin like tape (that I cut down from a wider roll, because I’m cheap and thin line tape is expensive) I approximated the Superman logo, at least close enough!
I mixed up a lighter blend of gray for my airbrush and did my initial highlights and rough texture. since I no longer needed the tape it was pulled off (see why I don’t spend money of the special tape, it was only on the door for a few minutes).
Using just a simple plastic triangle I block out the overlapping ‘steel’ plates, going at a pretty quick pace.
I used opaque black for starting up the darker shadows and to flesh out the Logo’s dept a little more.
A small circle plastic template and some transparent black are all I need so start the rivets.
A little dab of white paint with the airbrush to give it a quick 3D look to each rivet. and some basic soft light reflection on the logo and plates.
A couple more light touches (of rust) and some quick spray painting of the door handle and hinges (I can’t stand the cheap look of brushed brass) to a flat black gave it the right look. I turned out good and my boy was very happy with it (and also having a door). Since I didn’t buy anything for this small project I can’t really say it cost me anything more than a weekend, but well worth it.
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