Painting isn't my thing yet

Paulbo agreed with Piet: the thinner the paint, the more coats you need, but the smoother the result. His advice is to rub down lightly after the first coat with 1000 or 1200 grit (available from the car parts shop) to remove the raised wood fibres. He had painted his own gunports four or five times and each time they got a little better. Hans Groenenberg doesn’t sand finer than 400 grit himself and wondered whether you notice any difference between 1000 and 4000.

I still had some 3000 and 4000 grit paper lying around, I think. Bought a few very fine sheets on AliExpress once; the finest is 5000, I believe. Honestly you notice little difference between those grits. The advantage is that you get painted or varnished surfaces perfectly smooth with them without damaging the paint. It obviously won’t remove grooves, but after sanding it feels smooth as glass.

I’ve decided that if it’s going to be a ten-year project anyway, it might as well be neat, even if that takes a bit longer.

Here’s the latest attempt at painting. Painting isn’t quite my thing yet: I still can’t get the paint on thin enough. Practice makes perfect, let’s say; I’m sure I’ll get the hang of it. There are now two coats on one side and three on the other. Next time I’ll paint even thinner.