Ended up doing that exact thing with a big piece last year and yeah, people were way less excited by the final version. Now I only post like one or two early sketches or a vague color block, keeps the hype alive.

@the_riley nailed it - Troll 2 is a masterpiece of chaos.

@jamie_smith did you try warm water on that residue or just scrub it dry?

Damn, that hits close to home. I had a similar situation with a Corsair unit last fall. Looked totally fine, multimeter showed steady voltage, but it was crashing under load every couple weeks. Finally put it on a scope and found those same hairline cracks you're talking about. I felt like an idiot for not catching it sooner. Now I just hit every transformer joint on anything that's not brand new. It's annoying extra work but beats dealing with pissed off customers coming back two months later.

Used to be a two-coat guy all the way. Then tried primer on a dark wall and one coat covered it perfect. Primer saves paint and your time.