So the time has come for some courage and to start painting. To say I am relieved as I write this is an understatement.

I did two loads of degreasing indoors. The first with methylated spirit and kitchen towel took off a lot of black muck. The second, again with meths, was done with a soft cloth and there was a lot less muck.

I then moved the frame to the garage where I had set up a painting platform and some extra bright lighting. I did another degrease this time with paint thinners and a new clean lint free cloth.

Here are the frames ready to be primed.

I primed the frames with UPOL #8 Acid Etch Primer. It went on really quite well and I did 3 light coats.

Here we are after coat 2.

And here is the finished work

Overall I am quite happy to have got this far without incident.

I am now leaving it in the garage for a few hours. I have a heater on in there and will then bring the frames inside for the night.

It takes 24 hours for the primer to go off properly.

I am planning to brush paint the frames. I will start with the red on the interior to see how we go with that and might revert to spray for the exterior which will be more on show.