023 The Augusta Railway - Prep Backdrop for Painting

Ok, let's do the final prep work on the backdrop before painting. My lovely assistant Marie has volunteered to help teach me how to paint the base coat.  She does a GREAT job at painting walls, so I hope to learn a few tricks.

I've got to go around the backdrop and sand smooth all the spackle spots.  To do this I'll use a 3M coarse grit sanding sponge and a 3M fine grit sanding sponge.  Both of these have been slightly dampened with cold water.  Actually, these aren't 3M sponges.  They are from Harbor Freight.  I do prefer the 3M, but pick these up from time to time at the Harbor because they are much cheaper.  The 3M sponges you can rinse out and use repeatedly.

I didn't want the camera out in the dust so I didn't take many pictures.  Essentially I use the coarse grit sponge in the left hand to grind away the major part of the spackle, and then use the right hand fine grit sponge to finish the spot delicately.  It is very handy being ambidextrous!  This stuff makes a VERY fine dust that gets all over everything.  As I mentioned today on the LDSIG e-group, my next one is plastic, not hardboard.

I'm very sensitive to dust and am prone to getting sinus infections.  My dust mask and safety glasses help keep it out of my eyes, but once I'm done sanding I immediately vacuum up the dust.

This dust is powder fine and gets all over everything.  You must get it up quickly.

The household vacuum just doesn't work well enough around the baseboards, so I dug out the 1 gallon shop vac.  It will suck a golf ball through a garden hose.

There!  All sanded and ready to paint!  Now...I need a painter!

The floor is nice and clean as well.