You don't always get it right

Having erected my screen and filled and smoothed the cracks with jointing compound, I've ended up with a nice smooth semicircular screen.  I started to paint it this evening with undercoat bought at our local DIY store in Christchurch - it was, I thought, good value.  However, the result of the first coat going onto MDF looks very disappointing

I'm going to give it another coat in the hope that it was just the first coat soaking in and sealing, but I've got my doubts.  The answer is don't buy cheap, I suppose?

Cheap Paint! :-(

On a more positive note:  I emailed a well-known paint supplier in New Zealand and Australia, Resene, to find out if there is a special paint that can be used to provide a good reflective projector screen and it appears there is.  This is the information I've received back: "Apply a coat of Resene Quick Dry Primer Undercoat to the bare MDF then apply 2 coats of Resene Spacecote Flat tinted to Resene Silver Sand N80-006-102." - Courtesy of Resene Paints (http://www.resene.co.nz/)

Screen paint swatches - Need to check which shade the email refers to