Dollieh Sanctuary

The same company that makes the amazing(ly tacky) 1:6 scale Gloria Happy Hour Play Set (aka The Barfly Barbie Playset... and you all have one, right?) also makes a marvelously pink plastic piano to turn the happy hour bar into a piano bar.

I purchased one of these kitschy pink pianos last fall, and only today has the weather been warm and dry enough for me to open up the box and begin assembling it. By "begin to assemble it," I mean paint the pieces so they're a little less pink.

Or a lot less pink.

Since I'm using spray paint, I had to wait until, like, freakin' winter was over before I could start. Winter isn't completely over yet, but we had a brief respite from ridiculously cold and wet today, so I took advantage of the relative warmth and dryness to get moving on this long-delayed project.


Gloria piano play set – box – costs less than twenty bucks on eBay


Gloria piano play set – box and contents – gloriously PINK contents... and a green plastic plant


Gloria piano play set – instructions printed on the box


Gloria piano play set – spray painted parts

Rather than a glossy piano-like finish, I'm going with a mottled matte finish for three reasons:
1. The matte finish should result in fewer problematic reflections in photos
2. A mottled matte finish is more in alignment with my skill and patience level.
3. I ran out of black spray paint so I finished it up with dark brown.

There's a flaw in the plastic on the top of the piano lid that resulted in a goobered up spot in the paint. I kinda-sorta want to try sanding it down with steel wool and repainting it. But the spot will probably never show in photos, and sanding it down would almost certainly require stripping and repainting the entire top of the piano, which would very likely mess up the plastic surface and turn in to a big mess, so... it's gonna be a piano bar piano, it gets stuff spilled on it all the time, and drunk people dance on top of it, so of course the lid is scuffed. That's plausible, huh?

More photos when I move on to the assembly step.

I say it makes a fine, well-seasoned bar piano! I prefer vintage shabby chic to shiny new anyways. And it made me remember Frank, how is he?

Throw a piano shawl or some spare sheet music or a cat or a singer over the flaw.

I'm curious to see how the paint holds up over time.

neon_jellyfish wrote:I say it makes a fine, well-seasoned bar piano! I prefer vintage shabby chic to shiny new anyways. And it made me remember Frank, how is he?

The plan is to rouse Frank from his self-induced stupor sooner rather than later. There's a storyline bouncing around in my skull that I should probably jot down before I forget it.

DollyKim wrote:Throw a piano shawl or some spare sheet music or a cat or a singer over the flaw.

I'm curious to see how the paint holds up over time.

Or a candelabra! (Oh, how I wish I could find a realistic Liberace action figure!)

I'm a bit concerned about the durability of the paint, even though it is a "bonds to plastic" type. I may look for a clear finish to spray over everything.

I have one of these that I painted black too.

maywong wrote:I have one of these that I painted black too.

I'd like to see it! Perhaps you could share a recent photo either here or at the other forum.

Were you happy with how yours turned out? My painting skillz leave a lot to be desired.

Today I gave the whole thing another light misting of brown ('cuz that's what I have on hand) paint after assembling the pieces to even out the color a bit more.



And a little while later, Frankie brushes up on Chopsticks:





It's still a work in progress, but it's coming along. In the photos, it is evident that a bit more buffing and touch-up will be required to get things camera ready, but it's almost there.

The interior mechanism with the "strings" is a printed cardboard insert. I misted the surface lightly with spray paint to cut the gloss. In most cases the interior of the piano will not be visible. This photo was taken with flash illumination, so more details, and flaws, stand out. Considering it's just printed cardboard, I think the interior looks reasonably convincing.

I think the piano turned out great, and I think any flaw on the top of it is easily explained by "people dance on it."

Great job, Frankie looks pleased.

Eseme

It looks great

Nice job. I will have to see if I can dug mine out.

Yaaay, Frank is back! Remember - shabby chic! Those aren't flaws, the instrument simply has a soul of its own!